O Hai! Chanz Me Plz?

<p>Junior male from public CA school
High school send a couple students to LAC…</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>GPA - Unweighted: 3.8
GPA - Weighted: 4.0
Class Rank: top 10%
Class Size: 538</p>

<p>Scores: will all take again</p>

<p>SAT I Math: 610
SAT I Critical Reading: 590
SAT I Writing: 600
SAT II: 640 USH</p>

<p>Leadership positions: </p>

<p>Team Captain Robotics Club (11)
President Republican Club (12)
President of Red Cross Club (12)
Jazz Band Section Leader (11)
Vice President FBLA (12)</p>

<p>Volunteer/Service Work:
Red Cross: hopefully will have 100 hrs. by end of year
Key Club: ~40 hrs. of vol. work
CSF: ~50 hrs. after school tutoring</p>

<p>Total: 200 hours</p>

<p>Other:</p>

<p>-All-District Science Fair Winner in Physics-HM
-Excellence in Trumpet- Cal State Fullerton
-All-District Robotics Competition-4th place
-Engineering Internship at Philips International
-Junior Statesmen of America Summer School at Princeton (summer of 11th grade)</p>

<p>I’m interested in applying for economics and will write essays expressing my passion for politics and how it intertwines with the economy.</p>

<p>Sooo… how do I stack up?</p>

<p>Should I even bother sending in my SAT scores? They look sooo bad :(</p>

<p>If I were you, I'd take the SAT again and see how it goes the second time and then re-evaluate. If your scores don't measurably improve, then don't send them in. </p>

<p>I've sort of been wondering about this kind of thing myself (I'm also applying to Bowdoin for '13). My scores are pretty good, but I have to wonder if they're spectacular enough for them to help my application much. Then again, I've also been worried that if I don't send them in then they'll read a lot into that and be suspicious that I'm horrendous at test-taking. </p>

<p>Yours are already solid, but if you could bump a couple into the 700s, that would be a bit better. </p>

<p>Besides that, your grades look pretty solid, and your EC's are good, probably better than mine. Good luck!</p>

<p>I think the leadership you've shown in your ec's is very respectable and will not go unnoticed by a liberal arts college that prides itself on a comprehensive admissions process. I'm curious to see how your politics will affect your admissions. I was a member of a local young republicans chapter but chose to express my political interests in a more nonspecific way (for example, I mentioned that I volunteered for a gubernatorial candidate but not that he was a Republican). It may have been paranoid, but I didn't want to risk alienating admissions people by talking specifically about my political views in an election year and all. Also, I think you're really going in the right direction by tying in your prospective major with your passion; that's what I did and Bowdoin mentioned it specifically in their admissions letter (again, though, I was nondescript about my political values). The only weak spot on your application are your scores. They are on the low end, especially the math (for an econ major) and the CR (for a liberal arts college). Your other stats look good and if your high school hasn't sent that many to lac's than that helps your chances. Good luck.</p>

<p>thanks, yeah I f'ed up on the SAT haha</p>

<p>hopefully next time will be better.</p>

<p>dude hamburgler whats bowdoin?</p>

<p>I just asked the same question about SATs and it seems like if you are around 700s on all the sections you should send them in. Otherwise it might be a detractor from the rest of your application.<br>
If i were you i wouldn't send in my scores.
bowdoins middle 50% is like CR-650-740 Math- 650-730 Writing-650-730
So unless you take it again and get all your scores at least to 650s i wouldn't send them in.
Not sending them isn't that big of a deal. About a third of Bowdoins classes didn't submit scores</p>

<p>Actually, I think what hamburger quoted is closer to 25th percentile for bowdoin. Don't send your scores. JUst expect the adcom to really vet your academic record, which looks good.</p>

<p>No ekmom they're not, 1800 is bottom of the pile, although I don't see who you were replying to there. Honestly, the line at which you send them in should probably be in the 2000 range. Don't send in an 1800, they would probably prefer not to have to report that to US News etc.. The truth is that for anyone to have a good idea of your chances, they would need to know more about you high school. If your school sends a good chunk of the top 10% to ivy league schools and comparable, you probably have a good shot. If not, then I'd really work on those SAT scores, without athletics or a good student council position, they are going to want to see a great academic record. I applied to Bowdoin with about a 2000 on the SAT and from a small public school that often sends students outside the top 10% to the less competitive ivys and was rejected. Then again, I wasn't too 10%. It's a crap shoot.</p>