RD Chances!!!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Colgate University
1

<p>I am a White middle class RD applicant from Oceanside, CA currently on a gap year. I'd like to apply to Colgate as a liberal arts option and to continue a sibling rivalry. (my twin brother goes to cornell). I really like Colgate and I feel I am the well rounded student they say they look for.</p>

<p>Objective:</p>

<p>Weighted 3.92 GPA (due to freshman year) Senior year maintained a 4.4
Class rank: 30/742
Attended large public high school with great academics. Most of my friends are attending Berkeley, UCLA, Cornell^^^, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, UCSD, etc.
SAT I: 2080 superscored (690 M, 660 CR, 730 W)
SAT II: 750 USH, 710 Chem, 650 Math II
AP's (9 total): Art History (4), Comp. Pol. (4), Chem (5), USH (5), Eng. Lang. (4), US Gov (4), Calc BC (5), Calc AB sub score (5), Physics B (3), Eng. Lit. (4)</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Lettered 2 years in football (Team Captain, Quarterback)
Lettered one year in basketball (starting power forward)
Founded Beta Club Charter at my high school (served as VP & P)
Member of like 5 clubs.
Lots of community service (300+)</p>

<p>Honors:</p>

<p>AP National Scholar
AP Scholar w/ Distinction
CSF 3 years
Scholar-athlete</p>

<p>Essays & Recs:</p>

<p>I wrote in my PS about how my mothers cancer affected my life. Im a good writer (I think) so Im pretty sure itll boost my app.
I have two really good recs from my calc and lit teachers.</p>

<p>Also, Im currently very undecided as to what Id like to study. I'd like to hear from anyone who felt the same way going into a LAC and what they currently study and why. (Im undecided btwn sciences (chemical, computer, mechanical, math) and economics/intern.relations</p>

2

<p>You sound like a strong applicant for Colgate. My daughter, also from the Los Angeles area, is currently a Junior there. She started off as a maybe-French major, then an art major, and is now a Poli Sci major, so it kind of depends on the professors, ways your interests keep changing, and your life, in general. All possible to do at Colgate. She’s small and feisty and plays Rugby, kind of your typical Colgate girl, I’d say! She really likes Colgate even though she had considered Vassar, BC, Middlebury, Cornell, and others, some of which admitted her outright while others waitlisted her. She decided Colgate the best choice for what she wanted out of college which was a small, but not too small, liberal arts college of top reputation with a lot of interesting things going on, but not a school that had one type of student or was too focused in a few academic areas. Colgate is a “big” small liberal arts college with a lot of types of students of many interests. </p>

<p>If you haven’t visited Colgate and if it’s possible to ever get there (through Syracuse), you should go sometime. Wear a warm jacket if you go anytime in the next four months or so,though! It’s a beautiful rural campus but a little hard to get to and away from anything urban. You make good friends that way, though, since everyone’s not always going off “into the city” (since there isn’t one). Life is on campus and nearby. </p>

<p>Colgate has dramatically expanded its science facilities in recent years with excellent new science buildings and new course offerings. It has always graduated a lot of pre-meds and others interested in science though it was more humanities and social sciences oriented, traditionally. Science offerings have always been excellent, though, and have improved in recent years. Even when I was at Colgate many years ago one friend went into geology, another into archaeology (sort of a science, I guess), and many of my friends went to med school. “Pure” scientists are becoming more common at Colgate due to its very fine science offerings and excellent science facilities. There’s even an astronomical observatory on the hill. </p>

<p>Economics has always been a strong program at Colgate as has history, Poli Sci, and other related fields. </p>

<p>Your test scores and courses look very good. Colgate also has a strong and very old sports tradition of playing serious athletics in Division I, unlike most liberal arts colleges which play more modest opponents, and its football and other teams are often excellent, though football seems to be struggling a little more this year than normal. Maybe an opportunity for you? If you athletic abilities are notable, and you contact the Athletic Dept to see what interest they may have in you, you never know what might happen. </p>

<p>Hope you get a chance to visit, and hope you decide to apply since I imagine you have a good chance of being admitted.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the great reply Colgatedad.
Your daughter and I share the same interest in Colgate, as I too liked the fact that it was a larger LAC. It also offers alot of other things I was looking for in a college. As you said, its in a rural area (I figured Id be working in a city after college) and I wanted to experience something a little different from socal life (hoping for less distractions & more intellectual environment). I also loved its approach to study abroad which is something I really want to pursue (any insight?).
I most likely wont get a chance to check out the campus unless I visit my brother at cornell sometime. If the area is at all similar to cornell Im sure ill enjoy it.
Regarding the science departments, I did notice the money the school has poured into it with the relatively new Ho center. I also like that I have a better chance to perform research if I were to pursue a science degree. The overall undergraduate experience seems top notch at Colgate.
Im planning on participating in as many intramural and club sports as I can. I wouldnt want to waste any time at college as I would be paying for every minute of it. This is the only aspect of college that scares me. If I were to be accepted at Colgate (im now considering applying ED II), Im not sure they would give me enough financial aid to attend. Right now Im kinda banking by college funding on whether I receive a nrotc scholarship. Im well aware that Colgate does not offer nrotc programs, so Im kind of at a loss as to what my options are.</p>

<p>Anyways, thanks for the great insight. I was kind of hoping you’d reply aha</p>