<p>I like this sub-forum. Guilt free chancing!</p>
<p>Honestly, I'm just killing time, as I hear back from Reed College ED today at 7:00 EST. I'm sure you can appreciate that seems a LITTLE too distant right now.</p>
<p>So here's my list:</p>
<p>Reed College (ED)
Whitman College
Colorado College (EA)
University of Chicago
Swarthmore</p>
<p>Lewis & Clark College
University of Vermont
University of Tasmania (Aus.)
James Cook University (Aus.)
University of Otago (NZ)</p>
<p>Middle-class white kid in a pretty good, if not quite ranked, school in rural Vermont.</p>
<p>UW GPA: 3.35 (BUT: 4.0 for first semester this year). Not sure about weighted, but my highest grades are in my hardest classes.
Rank? No idea.</p>
<p>ACT: 33 (36 R 35 W 29 M 33 S. Or something like that).
SATs: 2140 (710 CR, 690 M, 750 W). One sitting, last January. Not sent to all schools.</p>
<p>Courses: 5 years of English, 5 years of Science, 4 years of Social Studies/Math, 4 years of Spanish. Miscellaneous fine and practical arts. AP classes in English, Biology, US Gov, Statistics, Spanish, and a writing course at the University of Vermont. Our school doesn't offer all that many compared to others I see here. Is there a pattern in the courses? Yes. In both English and Biology, I took classes generally a year ahead of the crowd. Also, a few independent studies.</p>
<p>Essays: Writing is my forte, and they're the best part of my application, I'm sure.</p>
<p>EC's: Cap'n of the Telemark Skiing Society / 4 yrs. Varsity Cross Country / Track + Field / Nordic Skiing / Political activism / Environmental Action Club etc.</p>
<p>Awards: University of Vermont Writing Contest Champion / National Merit Commended Scholar / School science stuff.</p>
<p>My 'hook': I have a strong passion for tropical ecology. To the extent where I enjoy memorizing the binomials of parrot species. More specifically, I'm fascinated with the island of New Guinea, and that region of the South Pacific as a whole, both from a biological and anthropological perspective. And just for the romance of it - the last great unknown part of the planet, arguably. </p>
<p>So I spent all of junior year fundraising (I was sponsored by, among others, Patagonia gear and some prominent tropical and arctic explorers) for a solo trip to do some research and exploration in New Guinea. Which I did for three months last summer. It WASN'T a service trip, nor affiliated with any sort of school activity. I was just winging it, if it's possible to wing it when you have such a nerdy encyclopedaeic knowledge of a place, and good contacts.</p>
<p>Anyway, I did the first avifaunal (bird) survey of a tribe's land, and studied the behavioral ecology of pygmy parrots, etc. Now, I have two grants pending: One with the National Geographic Society, the other with the Explorer's Club. Both have been preliminarily approved for an expedition next summer to a remote mountain range in Papua New Guinea.</p>
<p>It's all pretty well stressed in my app, but watered down so my other aspects (natural writing ability, interest in history, etc.) shine through as well.</p>
<p>So - what do you fellows think of my chances at some of the selected institutions above?</p>