Please Chance Me

Colleges and Universities A-Z Swarthmore College
1

<p>What are my chances as an RD (possibly ED2) applicant? My SAT scores are not great, but I worked hard to make everything else the best it could be. Please chance me. I will be applying for Engineering and Biochem. </p>

<p>Academics

[quote]

GPA: 3.83 UW | 4.2351 W
Percentile: Top 2.5%
Most Rigorous Curriculum, will have 9 APs before graduating and all other Honors, taking AP Physics A through Stanford's EPGY program because I couldn't fit it in at school
Tests
SAT: 2020 (600CR, 700WR, 720M) --> took twice, just can't do well on these no matter how much I study and I took an online class too
SAT IIs: 730 Chem, 720M
AP Test: 4 Psych, 5 US H, 4 Chem, 4 Eng Lang/Comp

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<p>Activities

[quote]

Daedalus/Yearbook Staff (10th-12th, Editor, Academics Section Head, Community/Index Section Head)
NJIT Chemistry Olympics (10th-12th, Co-founder of school team)
Banner/Newspaper Staff (9th-12th, Editor)
Raider Robotics (9th-12th, awards and such listed below)
Volunteering at St. Peter's UH (10th-12th)
Peer Tutoring Program (10th & 12th, Co-founder of second tutoring program)
Mosque Establishment Project (Project Leader, 240 Hours of Service) (9th)

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<p>General Awards

[quote]

Honor Roll (9th-11th)
High Honor Roll (9th & 10th)
National Honor Society
French National Honor Society
Governor School Nominee
AP Scholar with Honor</p>

<p>St. Peter's University Hospital Service Award</p>

<p>Robotics-related:
Ramp Riot Champions, 2005
Pennsylvania Annual Robotics Challenge Champions, 2005 & 2007
South Carolina GM Industrial Design Award, 2005
South Carolina Regional Finalist, 2005
New Jersey Regional Delphi "Driving Tomorrow's Technology" Award, 2005
New Jersey Regional Champions, 2006
New Jersey Chairman’s Award, 2006
Las Vegas Regional Champions, 2006
Las Vegas Delphi "Driving Tomorrow's Technology" Award, 2006
Monty Madness Champions, 2006
Championship Event Newton Division Winners, 2006
Duel on the Delaware Champions, 2006
New Jersey Regional Champions, 2007
New Jersey Regional General Motors Industrial Design Award, 2007
Championship Event Galileo Division, Third Place, 2007
Battle O’ Baltimore Champions, 2007</p>

<p>Daedalus/Yearbook-related:
Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Medalist, 2006
All NJ Diamond earned at Garden State Scholastic Press Association Yearbook Contest, 2006 & 2007
Hobbies
Quote:
Hobbies:
Skateboarding
Unix-like Operating Systems (Linux (Gentoo/BSD Project Contributor,Gentoo/AMD64 Project Contributor, On the track to becoming a developer), FreeBSD)
Distributed Computing Projects (World Community Grid sponsored by IBM (
FightAIDS@Home, Human Proteome Folding 2), Folding@Home by Stanford University)
Digital Art & Photography
Religion & Politics

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<p>Subjective

[quote]

Counselor Recommendation: It should be really good. My counselor knows me well and likes me. She also mentioned the part about my taking physics through Stanford's EPGY program, since it couldn't fit into my schedule.</p>

<p>Recommendations: AP Chemistry teacher, AP US History teacher, Yearbook advisor; all of them should be really good as these teachers really like me</p>

<p>Essays: I wrote about being a Gentoo Linux contributor and volunteer developer for the CommonApp EC essay and related that back to humanity and community. I wrote a really powerful essay on Islam and what it means to me, and I really tried to dispel some stereotypes. My teacher thought that my passion came out really well, and he really understood how Islam is important to me.

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2

<p>Obviously nothing is sure, but I think you definitely have a good shot. Sure, the SATs aren't amazing but I talked to people while I was there and Swat seems to look more at GPA anyway. It's not like they're terrible or anything. They'll see that you do really well in your AP classes and figure you just aren't the best tester. I'm sort of the same way, so I'm also hoping they'll be understanding.</p>

<p>By the way, I love your essay idea. There are so many crazy stereotypes about Islam when it's really an amazing religion. People say that religion is a little dangerous as an essay topic, but you probably did it very well and I think it'll be great for Swat.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

3

<p>Thank you for the vote of confidence. I wish you the best of luck too. </p>

<p>I'd greatly appreciate other people's opinions.</p>

4

<p>You didn't mention whether you are applying as a diversity student or not, but if you are not, then I don't believe you will be accepted. your SAT's are not high enough. Since Swat isn't your first choice and you will need to apply in the ED2 round to even have a chance if you don't get accepted by your ED choice.</p>

5

<p>I'm not sure what a diversity student is. I'm Pakistani. I have that marked on my application.</p>

6

<p>People have had lower SATs and gone to Swat... I could look up specific examples on the board, but I only have about 20 minutes of time to mess around on the computer so I won't. Even though SATs are important, Swat would still pay more attention to tux's GPA and the difficulty of the classes. Top 2.5% is not bad at all.</p>

<p>More specific information about SATs at Swat:
(This is the middle 50% of first year students)
Critical Reading: 660 - 770
Math: 660 - 760
Writing: 650 - 760</p>

<p>Math and writing are in those ranges.</p>

<p>So CR is a little low, buuut:</p>

<p>59% of freshman at Swat have an CR score 700-800
39% 600-99
9% 500-599</p>

<p>(All those stats are from collegeboard)</p>

<p>So I don't think those scores will keep tux out of Swarthmore.</p>

7

<p>tux:</p>

<p>I'd put in in the big pile of applications that could go either way -- as opposed to the small pile of sure bets to get in and the small pile of no chances. Basically, you're in the same boat as everyone else. Send your app in and cross your fingers!</p>

<p>As with most apps, you can identify shortcomings. However, you also have some stuff that will be attractive. The robot stuff is pretty big at Swarthmore and I believe that they are trying to get to, or maintain, critical mass on the Islamic community.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

8

<p>Thanks for your feedback, everyone. I really appreciate it.</p>