Oh dear, do I have a chance?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Swarthmore College
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<p>What are my chances for Swarthmore if my GPA and class rank are on the lower end, but my SAT scores and ECs are really good?</p>

<p>Korean female, very competitive public MA hs</p>

<p>GPA ~3.8 UW
Class rank ~40/390, could be lower or higher
Course load: most challenging available
AP: Bio, US, Eng Language, Calc, Psych, Econ, Eng Lit, Latin Lit
SAT: 690 math 710 verbal as sophomore, I took the Nov 6 SAT so waiting for scores, hopefully 1500+
SAT 2: Taking after I finish my APs, probably Bio, IIC and Latin</p>

<p>EC: VERY heavy focus on debate, which is my absolute love and passion, plus I have a record that'll be very unique and impressive-- there's A LOT under this category, like 2 pages of resume's worth
A lot of politics, like DNC volunteer, volunteer for Kerry campaign, Dean campaign, US House and State senate campaigns, State senate intern, hopefully DC page, organized voter registration drive for Asian American voters
Asian Club, president
Amnesty International, president
Viola, districts and soloist and allstate whatnot, musical pit orchestra, summer orchestra, local youth orchestra, principal violist, chamber groups
Piano, 13 years, sending in tape with viola, violin, and piano pieces
Violin, various orchestras
Young Democrats, school branch and state branch
I help autistic kids learn Korean on occasional Saturdays
The Other Side (satire magazine) Editor in Chief
English language editor, New England Korean Journal
various church stuff, participated in fasting program for world awareness
published author, various essays and poems</p>

<p>NHS, National Latin Honor Society, National Forensics League, National Merit Semifinalist at least I think, National Latin Exam gold and silver medals, Congressional Award Silver Medal (working towards gold)</p>

<p>Any advice? Suggestions?</p>

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<p>What do you mean you'll take SAT IIs after you finish your APs??? In May?? It will not matter then! You have to take them now (ASAP). (You should probably take Writing instead of Latin or Bio.)
Your ECs are very good. Try to make sure the class rank is in top 10% by the end of first semester, and you'll be very competitive (just don't put off those SAT IIs).</p>

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<p>Nngmm, I think she's a junior.</p>

4

<p>she says national merit semifinalist...i'm thinking senior</p>

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<p>If she was a senior she would know that she was a semifinalist. :)</p>

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<p>true, cangel...didn't think about that</p>

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<p>Yes, I am a junior :)</p>

<p>I'm hoping to God I made the semifinalist cutoff, but MA has the highest in the nation. Thank you for your remarks, any others would be greatly appreciated.</p>

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<p>banana:</p>

<p>I think that you have good chance at Swat, particularly if your "very competitive HS" is one of the Latin schools: Roxbury, Boston, Cambridge, etc. BTW, you will probably find that your class rank increases at the end of Junior year as the "weighting" of advanced courses really kicks in.</p>

<p>Without studying your EC list in great detail, I see two challenges for you. First, you have so much "stuff" on your list that you are really going to have to focus on a couple of key areas. Think about which activities you can group (like politics, writing, etc.) so it looks more like a few interests in depth rather than a million activities scattered all over the board.</p>

<p>Second, (and I mean this in a positive way): I see a big opportunity for you to couch your interests in a way that is not "stereotypical Asian" application. Just off hand, I think that your political interests, especially registering voters in the Asian community, would potentially push a button at Swarthmore. Also, I would give some thought to emphasizing the humor magazine. There is a slightly-offbeat humor that is a pervasive element at Swat -- to the point where it is pointed out in the Admissions Office FAQs.</p>

<p>Anyway, I think you are a reasonable Swat candidate, if your "very competitive HS" is one where being in the top 10% is an accomplishment.</p>

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<p>Thanks, the only EC that I am absolutely super passionate about is debate, and that'll play a central role in both apps and my essay. I'm not sure whether my HS can compare to Boston Latin, we're a bit above Cambridge, being ranked 44th in the state. I'm sure my GPA and class rank would be a lot better if I actually cared about school, but I'm a bit of a slacker and I found something that I love.</p>

<p>Thank you all so much for your input, any further would be greatly appreciated.</p>

10

<p>OK. My daughter's Mass public high school (rural/suburban/I-495) shows up anywhere from 36th to 50th on the statewide rankings, depending on whether you are looking at MCAS or SATs. I would not describe her school as "very competitive". In Mass., I would save that description for schools like Lexington (which got multiple students into Swat this year), Newton, Hamilton/Wenham, etc. </p>

<p>I could be wrong, but I don't think that somebody ranked near the top 10% cutoff at my daughter's school would have had any chance at Swat, barring an extreme hook. Your school might be different, of course. Especially if it's an in-town school, the state-wide rankings may not really reflect how strong the top of the class is. Where have people with a similar class rank been accepted?</p>

<p>You need to do some soul-searching about whether, as a self-described "bit of a slacker who doesn't actually care about school", Swarthmore is really the right place. I would not describe my daughter as a "grind" in high school. It came fairly easily for her and she finished 2nd in her class. She is finding Swarthmore to be quite challenging...both in the amount of work and the expectation level of the professors. I think that the majority of freshmen Swatties are finding that they have to step it up a notch and the majority of the professors make sure they kids know it! Let's put it this way, on the Calculus mid-term, the HIGHEST grade was a "B" and there was only one of those!</p>

<p>Debate can be an effective EC for Swat. There are several friends of my daughter's who rode that pony to the rodeo. The debate team also has a ton of money (from a specific endowment). They give the best parties when hosting visiting teams. As my daughter jokes, "Only at Swarthmore could the best parties be given by the Debate Team!"</p>

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<p>interesteddad: I don't know if you're from Boston (I live in Brookline), but Boston Latin, Roxbury Latin, and Cambridge Rindge & Latin (one school now) are not comparable at all. At least the third isn't. Rindge is a mess. If you get good teachers, your education there can be great; if you don't, it can be horrible. I certainly don't think it's highly regarded at all, although its sheer size probably means that they get a good number of students into a lot of schools.</p>

<p>Also, for my own curiosity, where did you get your opinion of Hamilton/Wenham? I went to school there until 8th grade, and took some courses at the high school. The elementary and middle schools are great, but based on what friends of mine from Brookline, Masconomet, Acton-Boxborough, and other schools have told me about their experiences, I'm not sure the high school is all that competitive.</p>

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<p>You can find rankings at <a href="http://www.boston.com/mcas%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.boston.com/mcas&lt;/a>, but they're atrocious. The top schools are up there because people who can afford to live in those towns are more successful—and their kids have better parenting and better genes, and thus are smarter and score better on the MCAS than most kids from, say, Southie. Those kids would succeed no matter what school they went to. What's important is how much the schools help kids. As far as I know, there's no way to measure that accurately.</p>