Please Chance A Midwestern Boy With Big Dreams

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Background - I'm a white male from St. Louis, Missouri. I got to an elite college prep school, that is ranked #25 in the nation. My sophomore year in high school I was suspended for a drinking incident with my wrestling team (near death experience), but since then I have proved through academics, athletics, and by starting a club to promote a sober student body, I have shown that I have grown past this incident. </p>

<p>Grades - My GPA has a huge upward curve. It started off low freshman year (2.9) and has grown to a 3.72. I have taken all honors and AP courses. My teachers harp on the fact that I am a great debater, and a driving force in class discussions. My two recommendations are going to come from my adviser, who has taught me in World History I and AP European History. (He is a graduate of Kenyon College). My other rec is from my Drama teacher, who has directed me in numerous plays and has watched me become one of the school's strongest actors.</p>

<p>Test Scores - On the ACT I got a 28 (31 reading, 29 English, 28 Science, 24 Math). I have also taken two subject tests. On Literature I scored a 680, and on US History I scored an 800. (I plan on majoring in History)</p>

<p>Common Application Essay - I am an extremely talented writer, and the topic of my essay is going to be about my transformation. The summer in between my Sophomore and Junior year I lost 105 lbs., and this change on the outside masked the metamorphosis that occurred on the inside. </p>

<pre><code> Extracurriculars
</code></pre>

<p>Sports - Two years of Football (had to quit due to concussions), two years of Wrestling (had to quit due to concussions, and for earlier mentioned reasons), two years of Cross Country (two varsity letters), and four years of Track and Field (2 varsity letters)</p>

<p>Theater - By the time I have sent out my application I will have been in 7 productions. I have had my share of small ensemble parts, but I have also been able to play some large roles in plays such as The Elephant Man, The Curious Savage, and soon to be The Tempest. </p>

<p>Clubs - I am the founder of Campus Libertarians. I am also a co-founder of the Dream team (the student body sobriety group I talked about earlier). I serve as the school's newspaper Sports Editor, and I also am a member of the school news station and the Debate team. </p>

<p>Summer Activities - The summer in between my Sophomore and Junior year I worked at film making camp for elementary school aged kids for several weeks. This summer I am going to a screenwriting camp at the University of Tulsa.</p>

<p>Possible Majors</p>

<ol>
<li>History</li>
<li>Political Science</li>
<li>Film Studies</li>
<li>Theater </li>
</ol>

<p>Colleges I am looking at</p>

<p>Kenyon College (#1 choice, hoping that my rec from a graduate will help)
Illinois Wesleyan University
Truman State University
Earlham College
The College of Wooster
Colorado College
Whitman College
Occidental College
Claremont McKenna College
American University
Wesleyan University
Rice University
Trinity University
Rhodes College</p>

<p>I plan on applying to 9 or 10 schools, so any help would be appreciated cutting down the list. Thanks!</p>

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<p>Anybody? 10char</p>

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<p>bump10char</p>

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<p>Nobody wants to chance me?!</p>

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<p>Recognizing that Earlham functions as a safety (and as a fine school), I would drop IWU and TSU. CMC is not a good choice; you want to go to Pomona given your degree interests. Whitman would be a fine choice because of strong theater, but you are not likely getting in there or Pomona unless you get you test scores up above 30. Rice is an odd choice, given the degree goals. Tulane over Rice. How about Oxford/Emory? What do you see in Occidental or American?</p>

<p>But you have the range from safety to reach represented in your list.</p>

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<p>What do you mean CMC doesn’t match my career interests? They are known to be exceptionally strong in the social sciences. I’ll check it out though.</p>

<p>Occidental has a really strong theater program. American’s location (and its strength in political science). </p>

<p>For some reason my parents want me to apply to Rice. I like the school, but I’m in agreement with you.</p>

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<p>CMC has almost a pre-professional feel; preparing people for business and government. It is has a bunch of very specific institutes. I think of Pomona as much more classic LAC policy science. I think that is where the creative type are going to be, other than in Pitzer.</p>

<p>But maybe I mis-understand your intents/interest and CMC is the better choice.</p>

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<p>I’m thinking I should look more into Pomona.</p>

<p>Anybody else chiming in would be greatly appreciated!</p>

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<p>How come people aren’t chancing me? Did I do something wrong?</p>

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<p>Bump!!!</p>

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<p>Bump10char</p>

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<p>Frankly chancing threads are becoming less popular. After all, what can people on CC really tell you since most have limited insight and experience with any of these schools? I think it would be better to reframe it as asking for advice, which is what you are really doing.</p>

<p>So with that in mind, congrats on your recovery and having the maturity to suck it up and make things right. Not everyone comes through that way, many continue to swirl down the bowl.</p>

<p>Before we get to the schools, let me just inform you that I was born and raised in your area, graduated from Ladue. I went to Tulane undergrad, and I now have a D there that just finished her freshman year and loves it. My S will be a senior this year at Truman and has done quite well, and I am very impressed with the place myself. He will be the first to admit, though, that Kirksville can get kind of old. However, he can’t go home as easily as you can, since we now live in Rhode Island. OK, on to the schools, I just wanted to let you know where I was coming from in my comments.</p>

<p>First, there are some things that would be good to know in order to focus better. Is that GPA weighted or unweighted? If weighted, please give the unweighted also. Second, do you have preferences that you would like to match if you could? Things such as size of school, location (i.e. weather), urban/suburban/rural, sports scene, that kind of thing. Judging by your list so far it looks like weather not a big factor, size is small to medium, sports scene not an issue, and neither is outside amenities. Still, like I said, if you do have a preference among those factors or if there are others, please state them. Oh, and are finances an issue? It would be easy to assume since I know where you go to high school that they are not, but I don’t want to assume anything.</p>

<p>Kenyon is a fine school and certainly offers what you want. I agree with UT, Tulane would make an excellent school for comparison purposes (it is about 5700 full time undergrads compared to 1600 at Kenyon, and has active PhD programs) offering strong programs in everything you mention: History, Poli Sci (James Carville is a non-tenured faculty member and has taught classes, with guest lecturers such as Newt Gingrich. I think he is scheduled again after this election cycle), Film Study, and Theater, including Musical Theater. If you can visit this fall, I strongly recommend it and see what you think.</p>

<p>Truman is a good safety for you, and has the added benefit of being a good school, but Kenyon and Tulane probably fit you better. I would also think Tulane fits you better than American, but it is a good school and certainly wouldn’t be bad. I guess it just seems like everyone goes to American to study Poli Sci and/or International Relations, lol. Trinity is a nice choice, could be an excellent fit. I have heard some good things about Rhodes, but don’t know so much about it.</p>

<p>How about Oberlin? Mid 50% for ACT is 27-32, so you would have a shot I think. Seems like a good fit. There are lots of schools that could fit you that you would likely get into, that is why narrowing it down by some criteria is important. Think about what environment you really want every day for 4 years.</p>

<p>Also, did you try the SAT? Some people do better on one test than the other. Might be worth a shot.</p>

<p>Hope this helped some.</p>

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<p>I think you have a good shot of getting into most of the colleges you listed. However, your math at literature scores are a bit low. Wesleyan might be a low reach.</p>

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<p>Pomona is not a realistic option here.</p>

<p>The list does seem good, Wes is probably too big of a reach but the rest seem possible. The big question is whether you need aid. None of the schools where you have a good shot meets need, so hopefully you have a financial safety.</p>

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<p>Truman is instate for him, financial safety if he needs it.</p>

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<ol>
<li><p>I do not need aid, but merit aid would be nice. It’s not a requirement though. And yes, Truman State is my financial safety. </p></li>
<li><p>My GPA is unweighted (we don’t have weighted grades).</p></li>
<li><p>Fallenchemist pretty much sums up my situation/interests perfectly. I don’t really care about a sports scene or weather. I’m looking at small schools, but I’m fine with going to a school with about 6,000 students (not anymore though). </p></li>
<li><p>My major concern with Tulane is the huge greek life there. That has also been a major turn off at Rhodes. Any insight on this? Thanks</p></li>
</ol>

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<p>Greek life at Tulane is about 30%, maybe a little less. I can only tell you what current students besides my D (who is not Greek) tell me. They all say that Greek life absolutely does not dominate or even set the tone for campus life at Tulane. With all the other things going on at Tulane and in New Orleans, it seems to be just another choice, and if you don’t choose it there is tons going on socially anyway. Even when I was there Greek life did not really dominate, but I know it is definitely even less influential now. I think one reason for this compared to some other campuses is that none of the sororities are residential, and the frats have limited space. There are not the huge houses you would find at some other schools. That really changes the dynamics.</p>

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<p>That’s good to hear. Greek life has always kind of scared me away from certain schools…</p>

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<p>I think Hillel is more of an obvious presence at Tulane than the Greeks, lol. At least that is how it looked to me every time I have been there lately.</p>

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<p>I have read that there is a heavy northeastern influence on the campus. </p>

<p>The more I read about the school, the more I attracted I get to it. I’m definitely going to give it a hard look. As you have said, it’s strong in all my interests.</p>