RD Chances at Macalester

Colleges and Universities A-Z Macalester College
1

<p>CHANCES</p>

<p>International student, female, applying RD, need a lot of fin aid</p>

<p>Stats
Freshman year GPA: 3.1
Sophomore year GPA: 3.0 … and then HUGE leap…</p>

<p>British O-level results: 8 A’s in all 8 subjects… (4.0, if converted to GPA)
Junior year GPA: 3.9
British AS-level results: Eco = A… Bio = A… Chem = B (3.67 if converted to GPA)
Senior year GPA (first semester): 4.0</p>

<p>Got lots of B’s and C’s in first two years of high school (class of 50 students). Old school offered only till O levels. </p>

<p>Changed schools to do A levels. New school has 290 students in my batch. Very competitive. Have mostly A’s in new school, except for a B in chemistry. Have toughest course load in class – 5 A level subjects</p>

<p>Class rank = 4/290 (top 1.4%)</p>

<p>SAT II
Lit - 670
Math I - 630
Math II - 550<br>
(retaking in dec)</p>

<p>ECAs:</p>

<p>MUSIC
* over 10 years of training in Indian classical music + Rabindrasangeet
* performed in school events
* sang on television twice
* won numerous awards outside school
* consecutively won the Certificate of Achievement in Music for 3 years in high school</p>

<p>DEBATE/ HOSTING:
* best speaker in semi finals in school debate in 9th grade
* runners up in finals in school debate – 9th grade
* participated in many interschool debates
* parliamentarian in winning team in EFA finals – 9th grade
* participated in 1st International Debate Workshop in Bangladesh 2004 – 11th grade
* parliamentarian in National Bangladesh Television English Debate championships in 2005
* nationally ranked as one of the top 5 debaters in Pre-worlds School Debate 2005
* general secretary of my school’s debating society
* was the emcee at numerous events held on national days outside school
* hosted the Edexcel International Conference in 2005</p>

<p>COMMUNITY SERVICE:
* raised funds for flood victims in 9th grade
* organized a fund raiser in neighborhood to collect money for the treatment of a child suffering from polio
* treasurer of school’s community service club – 11th and 12th grades
* raised funds in school wide food sale for a children’s ward in a local hospital – 12th grade </p>

<p>WRITING/OTHER CLUBS:
* contributed in school yearbooks – 9th and 10th grades
* essay got commended by the royal commonwealth society in 10th grade
* Associate Editor of school newsletter – 11th grade
* Editor-in-Chief of school newsletter – 12th grade
* member of Brine Pickles, a creative writer’s group
* recently was the youngest playwright to have a play staged at the British Council, Dhaka
* founded the first ever A level yearbook in my school (we have over 650 A level students in all the batches). Editor-in-chief of the yearbook.
* chief coordinator of the school’s reading club, which I founded
* completed a course in photography from the South Asian Institute of Photography in 12th grade</p>

<p>ACADEMIC/ NON ACADEMIC HONOURS
* won the Certificate of Achievement in Economics in 9th grade
* won the Certificate of Achievement in English in 10th grade
* won the Daily Star Nation Builders of Tomorrow Award (given to candidates getting 6 A’s or above in their O levels) for 8 A’s.
* chosen by the school to be the Closing Assembly Speaker for the Class of 2004
* chosen by the class to give the speech at graduation</p>

<p>WORK EXPERIENCE
* executive feature writer of Rising Stars, the most popular weekly supplement of a national English newspaper (average circulation figure of 50000)
*tutored a middle school student in 11th grade</p>

<p>APPLICATION
* expecting good recommendations
* want to major in English and International Studies
* essay should be ok/good (suffering from writer’s block, so not sure)
* will mention that I want to be a writer
* SAT I: will give on Nov 5th: possible score:
Critical Reading ~ 700…
Writing ~ 650…
Math ~ 650-ish? (pessimistically speaking)</p>

2

<p>bump.. anyone? :)</p>

3

<p>hmm waitlist?</p>

4

<p>oh.........</p>

5

<p>anyway, my SAT I scores are in:
CR: 780
Math: 670
Wr: 680 (essay 12)</p>

<p>I might retake SAT II in january if my ED college doesn't work out....</p>

6

<p>Would guess you have a chance at Macalester but stats are on the low side for their pool of applicants. </p>

<p>have you considered Earlham or Beloit?</p>

<p>If you would consider a women's college in the Northeast, Mount Holyoke might be a possibility for you--writing is a strength there and they take many international students. </p>

<p>Goucher in Baltimore would be a good "safety " choice and they are looking to beome more international.</p>

7

<p>thank you, pyewacket. i have applied to vassar on ED and will apply to mount holyoke under regular decision if that doesn't work out. :)</p>

8

<p>i agree pyewacket,</p>

<p>mt holyoke is an excellent choice for you!</p>

9

<p>I actually think that she'll get in. Macalester, like many liberal arts colleges, look at the overall picture. Macalester is not scores-obsessed. "Your scores are on the low side" isa ridiculous statement to make, especially if her essay and supplements kick ass. But then again, that may not be the case. Let's leave that decision to Macalester. Who are we, anyway?</p>

10

<p>how are you 4/290 with lots of C's and B's?</p>

11

<p>i changed schools after my sophomore year for my a-levels.</p>

<p>and thanks all of you for your comments. i got into vassar ED1 last month and i'm ecstatic :D</p>

12

<p>wow. :)</p>

<p>congratulations!</p>

13

<p>thank you :)</p>

14

<p>that's amazing. i'm so impressed. :)</p>

15

<p>haha. well, i'm happy because i couldn't have picked a better college for myself. and also grateful that they looked beyond my rocky first two years and focused on the upward trend, senior year grades, ecas, essays and the fact that i was and still am crazy about them. </p>

<p>ps. i retook the SAT and got a 720 on Wr - so my final composite was 780CR / 670 M / 720 Wr - 2170. but it's kinda useless because i got my score after my decision.</p>

<p>anyway, best of luck to all mac applicants. i hear the school has really cute black squirrels.</p>

16

<p>really cute black squirrels?!?</p>

<p>lol. never heard that. :)</p>

<p>i'm not applying to macalaster anymore. :(</p>

<p>congrats!</p>

17

<p>during finals week, (i think, maybe before) I saw a group of kids walking across campus all dressed for the cold, with peanut butter, sticks, long bits of twine, nets, a camera, and stuff to help them climb up in trees. </p>

<p>yes. exactly</p>

<p>squirrel fishing</p>

18

<p>woww. that's interesting. :)</p>

<p>so is it for research?!</p>

19

<p>if there was a point and a purpose behind squirrel fishing i dont think there would have been so much enthusiasm. lol</p>

20

<p>lol that's true :)</p>