<p>I am a rising high school senior from Massachusetts who is completing my last two years of high school by taking a full college course load at Harvard Universitys Extension School. I am a ballet dancer and dance professionally with a company in Boston. I am also a competitive figure skater and compete at fairly advanced levels in individual free-style and ice dancing. </p>
<p>My first year of high school was completed at a very competitive public high school where I took the maximum number of honor courses and received all As. In my second year I attended a well-respected arts conservatory (for ballet) with a very good college preparatory program and again received all As.</p>
<p>This last year at Harvard I completed a program that included Calculus A and B; a 300-level World History class; Expository Writing; a 300-level Conversational Spanish course; Bio-chemistry and Earth Science courses and a course in the English novel. My unweighted GPA is 3.75. </p>
<p>In addition to my ballet and skating, I have participated actively in a Model UN program for home-schooled students. In August I will travel to lecture at several Model UN programs in Puebla, Mexico. I also tutor 4 high school students in Spanish and participate regularly in 3 volunteer community groups.</p>
<p>This summer I have a paid internship as a research assistant in a highly respected molecular biology laboratory at Tufts NE Medical School, a position I held last summer as well. </p>
<p>My SAT score (first time) was 2100+ (700s across the board). I took the biology SAT II freshman year and received a 710. Recently I received at 760 on Spanish Sat II and a 690 in Math2. </p>
<p>I am beginning to look at colleges for the fall of 2008. I intend to enter as a freshman. There are few things important to me in a college The school should have excellent biology and language programs. It should also present me the opportunity to partcipate in either dance (ballet) or figure skating. A cohesive school spirit would be great. The only school I’ve looked at to date has been Dartmouth, which has a great skating program and an interesing and flexible curriculum (the D-Plan). I am interested in both LACs and universities in the northeast and west coast.</p>
<p>I would like your feedback on the attractiveness (or not) of my application at Amherst with suggestions as to whether or not this a fit for me academically and extra-curricularly.</p>
<p>You look like a very strong applicant. Your scores are within range and being a professional dancer is definitely a hook. As always, work hard on your essays (but don't feel that you absolutely must start right now).</p>
<p>Well, if you're interested in Dance, but also want an LAC experience, you may want to consider Swarthmore because of its proximity Philadelphia, PA. Amherst really is in the middle of nowhere, and you're really screwed if you don't have a car. Swarthmore, however, is located right on public transportation, and students can easily go to Philly, and Boston, DC, and New York via Amtrak, which is on the public rail line.</p>
<p>Haha - I visited Amherst, and your description of Amherst as a 'vibrant college town' is more euphemistic than President Bush's explanation of using tax dollars to support religious organizations. </p>
<p>I think you're just jealous. [;-)] Amherst is all right, it's just not in one of the largest cities in the country.</p>
<p>I was there at the end of July. I really don't understand why some employers prefer graduates of the little three - especially Wesleyan... and admitedly, though not by much, Swarthmore was more competitive than all three this year. I think it was only Pomona and CMC that were more competitive (at least in terms of LACs).</p>
<p>Swarthmore was not "more competitive", though it's about equal to Amherst, Williams, and Pomona. Philadelphia is a ghetto city.</p>
<p>I said Amherst College was in a vibrant college area - between Amherst and Northampton, there is as much good food, good independent theaters, good music shows, museums, andsmall arts festivals as most people could ever want. Sounds like you're the bitter one - I'm sorry that employers don't prefer your school! It really is a fantastic institution, don't worry.</p>
<p>I was there at the end of July. I really don't understand why some employers prefer graduates of the little three - especially Wesleyan...<</p>
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<p>Because little three graduates tend to cover the spectrum in terms of career choices: Steve Jobs, Bill Bellichick, Bill Kelleher, people like that. Swarthmore tends to steer people into academic careers.</p>
<p>^^ Actually, it was slightly more competitive this year (not by much at all, but it was). Amherst accepted 17.5%, Williams accepted 17.4%, and Swarthmore accepted 17%. </p>
<p>And actually, I am bitter about jobs. I applied to ~15 jobs in late May and was rejected from all of them. Many of them had 'hiring now' signs in their windows. Seriously, WT F%$k?! If only I had matriculated at Amherst or Williams...</p>
<p>So? Acceptance rates give you a very incomplete picture. Also, Williams' 17.4% figure was prior to going to the waitlist - I'm not sure if Swarthmore did that, Amherst did not. Amherst also caps their ED acceptances at under 30% of the incoming class...they could have easily lowered their acceptance rate had they chosen to accept more people ED.</p>
<p>fhimas88888888 - Swarthmore is not more competitive than Amherst and Williams. They're equals. Also, Swarthmore doesn't have the benefit of a small town bustling with students from four nearby colleges, so it's hard to see how Swartmore is that much more connected to civilization. I mean it's fine if you're POed about not getting your internship, but taking shots at Amherst and Williams is kind of an immature way to vent. And Amherst and Williams wouldn't get you an internship - not even Princeton - your personality and focus are all an employer really cares about.</p>
<p>Haha, I got my internship, just didn't get the job at Target/Starbucks/Barns & Noble/Bagel Shop/numerous restaurants... So very little income. </p>
<p>Guys, I'm not trying to say Swarthmore is better. Merely pointing out pretty meaningless statistics. Your dramatization of my comments is worse than Bush's dark description of the danger Iraq presented to the US.</p>
<p>Uhh, making an Iraq war comparison is dramatic.</p>
<p>But I found your problem. Target, Starbucks and B&N don't give a **** about where you go to college. If anything, going to an elite college hurts you.</p>
<p>
[quote]
And actually, I am bitter about jobs. I applied to ~15 jobs in late May and was rejected from all of them. Many of them had 'hiring now' signs in their windows. Seriously, WT F%$k?! If only I had matriculated at Amherst or Williams...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You know, at Starbucks/Target etc. type jobs, it's entirely possible that the person hiring you hasn't heard of ANY of the top LACs, and even if they have, where you go to college isn't really a big concern. Did you have work experiance before? Because if not/if not a lot, that may have been what hurt you. Or something like that. [/kind of off topic]</p>
<p>^^ Haha, yeah. I'm just being overly-dramatic. I probably didn't get the job cause I wasn't staying through the fall.</p>
<p>^ Dad is a lawyer. He has friends. Though, it's not really a significant internship or anything.</p>
<p>[rant]
Oh, and the other 'internship' that I had lined up but didn't get because the admissions processes was SO SLANTED, was teaching for 'Breakthrough' which has locations around the country and has an 8 week free summer school for promising middle school students designed to help get them into college. Of course, my little cheating-on-everything friend who's going to one of the UWs got it. Given that none of the applicants from my school had any teaching experience, my little friend was no more qualified than me or our val. BITTERNESS!</p>