Now there's no going back, what do you think?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm curious, honestly. Applications are in, and there's nothing much I can do now, so I figure that now's a good time to ask. I've been admitted to both of my fallbacks, so I'm not feeling at all neurotic--at this point, if worst comes to worst, I have somewhere to go. That said...</p>

<p>Applied to:
Davidson
Duke
JHU
Cornell
Vanderbilt
Furman
Emory/Oxford (accepted to Oxford)
UGA (accepted)</p>

<p>Stats:</p>

<p>SAT I: 800 (Verbal), 770 (Math), 800 (Writing: 12 score on essay), all my first sitting
SAT II: 800 (English Literature), 720 (Chemistry), 660 (US History) again, all in one sitting--I left them until November and did them all at once
AP Scores: 5's in Chemistry, World History and US History, 4 in English Language
GPA: 3.5 unweighted
Unranked HS
Course Load: AP English Literature, AP Biology, American Government (1st semester), AP Macroeconomics (2nd semester), AP Calculus AB, AP Latin Vergil (self-study), Internship (1st semester), and AP Psychology (2nd semester). Generally considered very tough for my school. </p>

<p>Subjective:
-Excellent teacher recommendation letters
-Counselor rec probably very nice
-Essay/short answers probably quite good</p>

<p>EC's:
-Volunteer/stable manager/new volunteer trainer at therapeutic riding stable since junior year
-Latin Club/Junior Classical League all four years, President this year
-NHS this year
-Member of Teen Advisory Board--commended by sponsor
-80-hour internship at local veterinary clinic this semester (unpaid but good for school credit)
-Tutored other students in math
-Peer Diversity Leaders this year
-Debate my freshman year
-Provided child care for five-year-old sister all summer (worth a shot)</p>

<p>Awards:
-Volunteer of the Year at above-mentioned therapeutic riding stable
-National Merit Semifinalist (haven't been notified beyond that yet)
-AP Scholar
-Assorted Junior Classical League awards (Roman numerals refer to my level of Latin at the time):
-Sixth in Nation (Sight Latin Reading) (III)
-Sixth in Nation (Greek Derivatives) (III)
-First Place on Greek Derivatives Test in State (III)
-First Place on Latin Derivatives Test in State (III)
-Second Place on Mythology Test in State (III)
-Second Place on Mythology Test in State (II)
-Second Place on Latin Derivatives Test in State (II)
-Third Place on Greek Derivatives Test in State (II)
-Gold medal on National Latin Exam (III)
-Gold Medal on National Latin Exam (II)<br>
-Silver Medal on National Latin Exam (I) </p>

<p>Location/Personal:
State: Georgia
School Type: Competitive public school
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Female
Will probably not be eligible for financial aid</p>

<p>This year, my Latin teacher unexpectedly lost his job and the class for my level of Latin was cancelled with about five day's notice. Rather than give up the language, I joined up with a friend and we wrote our own curriculum. We've been teaching ourselves in preparation for the AP Latin Vergil exam all year, supervised by the new Latin teacher (who is not AP-certified). I included this information thinking it might help explain any discrepancy between my AP scores at the end of the year and my record of love of the language. </p>

<p>I'd really prefer detailed explanations for answers, by the way. I'm most worried about my GPA and ECs--how competitive am I?</p>

2

<p>High SAT, low GPA. 2370, umm I’m pretty darn sure you will get in everywhere. No worries.</p>

3

<p>dw about anything</p>

4

<p>why didn’t you apply to a few more top colleges?</p>

5

<p>why didn’t you apply to a few more top colleges?</p>

6

<p>High SAT doesn’t really make up for low GPA and weak EC’s. I think the list of colleges you chose was great.</p>

<p>Duke - Slight reach
JHU - Weak match
Cornell - Slight reach
Vanderbilt - Weak match</p>

7

<p>low GPA i understand, not too low btw, but i didn’t quite realize that those were weak EC’s</p>

8

<p>In at all 100% chance, except for Duke and JHU, where you’ve got a 60/40.</p>

9

<p>lol LOW ECs? that’s b.s. i hate when people say that people have weak extra curriculars. just look at her awards section. you know how many hours of studying it probably took to get down enough latin and greek material to garner those honors?</p>

10

<p>I’m curious, Flippy–what do you think makes my ECs weak? I asked for detailed opinions for a reason; I really do want to hear people’s reasoning. I’m curious to hear what the rationale is behind the comments I recieve.</p>

<p>I’m aware that my grades are probably the weakest part of my application. There is a slight upward trend, but I probably got two Bs and four As this semester. (I haven’t received my grades yet.) I’m hoping that my courseload, which has consistently reflected the most challenging options offered by my school, will help to balance that out in the eyes of admissions counselors. </p>

<p>And Moizuhk–I didn’t have much interest in attending them, that’s why! My top choices are Duke and Davidson, honestly.</p>

11

<p>btw i think its amazing that you got an 800 on SATII Lit. That test is soo hard for me. nice job.</p>

12

<p>Thanks! :slight_smile: I’m a bit of a Lit geek. It does help to take Latin; the languages are grammatically so different that you have to learn English grammar well to comprehend Latin’s. I’m also extremely lucky in that I test well.</p>

13

<p>i’m not entirely sure about why they said your EC’s are weak but i’d have to say that there’s nothing really out of the ordinary that you do… it’s all pretty common stuff</p>

14

<p>People evaluating GPAs here have no basis for comparison. It’s all in the transcript and school report. A 3.5 with stellar SAT scores, toughest available courseload and 5s on multiple APs, as well as your ECs (which are deep, rather than broad – a good thing, if you ask me) will put you in good stead. Hope you threw lots of passion into your essays!</p>

<p>I would think you’ll have some fine choices come April – maybe not everywhere you’d like, but more than your safeties. (Did you apply for big $$$ at UGA?) I know it’s hard to resist the automatic scholarships there…</p>

15

<p>I did, actually. If I get the Foundation Fellowship, UGA is going to be financially extremely attractive, particularly since I’m fairly sure I’m going to end up getting some sort of graduate degree (am currently playing with the ideas of large animal veterinary medicine or neuroscience). I also applied for Emory Scholar and requested to be considered an Oxford Scholar–the latter I really think I have a good shot at.</p>

16

<p>“i’m not entirely sure about why they said your EC’s are weak but i’d have to say that there’s nothing really out of the ordinary that you do… it’s all pretty common stuff”</p>

<p>^That’s why they’re weak.</p>

<p>Here’s a breakdown of your EC’s:
-Volunteer/stable manager/new volunteer trainer at therapeutic riding stable
since junior year
^That’s pretty cool, but it’s just volunteer work.</p>

<p>-Latin Club/Junior Classical League all four years, President this year
^That’s pretty cool, and you’re president. But like 2/5 of Harvard applicants are President of something, not that powerful.</p>

<p>-NHS this year
^Not an EC. Doesn’t matter whatsoever.</p>

<p>-Member of Teen Advisory Board–commended by sponsor
^Not really an EC. Doesn’t matter unless you really show that you did something productive out of it.</p>

<p>-80-hour internship at local veterinary clinic this semester (unpaid but good for school credit)
^80 hours isn’t that much. Pretty w/e.</p>

<p>-Tutored other students in math
^Anyone could do that</p>

<p>-Peer Diversity Leaders this year
^Don’t know what that is, but it doesn’t sound impressive.</p>

<p>-Debate my freshman year
^1 year of Debate isn’t going to make a difference</p>

<p>-Provided child care for five-year-old sister all summer (worth a shot)
^Interesting, but not an EC</p>

<p>I’m not trying to bash on you. They’re great EC’s anywhere but at CC… If you want to see what good and great EC’s are, there’s a thread here somewhere. Let me look for it.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-whats-good.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-whats-good.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Here we go. Hope that helps!</p>

17

<p>Thank you for the detailed response. I appreciate it. I’m aware as well that my ECs aren’t anything terribly out of the ordinary for CC, but I’m satisfied with them anyway. Although they aren’t the sort of outstanding that makes jaws drop, I think they demonstrate a commitment to the things I choose to apply myself to. They also aren’t going to run me into the ground when combined with my course load, which I think is important. I wanted to stretch myself and do what I enjoyed without burning myself out, and I think I achieved that. </p>

<p>I’m well aware that CC is not an accurate sample of the application pool as a whole–there’s a reason I stayed away from it when I was in my neurotic applying to colleges stage. I ran into this board in November when my father found it and enthusiastically showed it to me; unfortunately, as a resource, CC is not conducive to optimism! So I largely ignored the forum when I was going through the application process so as not to make myself feel bad. Now that I have everything out and done with, I feel more confident and relaxed and hence more open to negative feedback–hence the request for detailed commentary.</p>

18

<p>Sorry it was harsh. I tend to be harsh with my responses sometimes >_<</p>

19

<p>No, it’s not a problem! I prefer harsh honesty with explanation over comforting lies every time. Now, harsh honesty with no explanation, I would have a problem with. </p>

<p>I would rather underestimate my marketability as a student than overestimate it. If I am accepted when I do not expect to be, it is a pleasant surprise. If I am not accepted when I expect to be, it is a devastating shock. I know which I prefer.</p>

20

<p>Bumping, because I’d like to hear as many opinions as I can.</p>