Seventeen Year Old College Hopeful Begging for Reassurance

Applying to College
1

Alright. Here’s my thing.

I am seventeen years old and a junior at a fairly large highschool in suburban Illinois. Currently, I’m in the stage right before the actual <em>application</em> to college, aka, I’m reviewing my GPA, ACT, and rank, and subsequently freaking out.

In the past few years, I’ve been pushed into Drama/Speech, and have discovered I excel at both. I’ve taken major roles in school theatre productions and have won extremely competetive/reigional speech tournaments. I have taken AP English classes all throughout highschool, along with AP Government and History. My ACT score is 29. I am going to Girls State in June, have been active in community service, am a running candidate for Drama Guild, can write very well (from what I’ve been told from teachers and peers alike) and have a weighted GPA of 3.67.

However. I am physically incapable of doing math. Or science.

I’ve found this is a very, very big problem.

The thing with me is, I’m not just “bad” at math. I can’t do math. Currently, I am struggling to get a “C” in analysis, after having recieved a “C” in Algebra 2 AND Chemistry. I know, this sounds terrible. Because of my terrible math and science scores, I am in the top twenty five percent of my class, but not in the National Honors Society. My rank is steadily declining, and my ACT could have been MUCH higher had it not been for the math/science. (My Reading/English scores were 30 and 34, respectively.)

My dillemma is this: I am absolutely dying to attend NYU or Colgate University. I know the chances of this are very, very slim with the grades I’m receiving, but I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on the situation? Or, if there’s no light to be shed, I’d just as soon take a cold slap of reality.

I’m very worried that my prospective colleges will look at these scores and GPA and immediately reject me because of them. The thing is, my intended major will either focus on English Composition/Literature, Sociology/Anthropology, or some work in the social sciences. These careers have very, very little to do with math or enviornmental/chemical science of any kind, and I have proved through my transcripts and test scores that I <em>do</em> excel in the areas of speech, reading, and writing. All in all, math and science, subjects in which I have absolutely no interest in pursuing, are greatly lessening my chances for admission, and I am absolutely freaking out.

Is there any way, if I insist on an English/Sociology/Anthropology/Whatever major, that they will admit me? If not, are there any major steps I can take to get in? Is there any way to convince these colleges that I <em>will</em> do well at their schools, regardless of my sub-par math/science scores? How do the admissions at NYU/Colgate work, exactly?

Any help or advice would be greatly, greatly appreciated. I can be reached at <a href="mailto:swatts1987@yahoo.com">swatts1987@yahoo.com</a>, if for some reason you can’t respond in a post.

Freaking out,

S.

PS: I am currently taking steps to improve at these subjects, though I know it will only hurt my GPA more. For my senior year, along with rigorous AP English and Govt. courses, I am re-taking Analysis 1, and starting Analysis 2 in the second semester. My motivations for doing this are pure: I want to take these subjects until I really, really understand them. However, since I’m on the subject…will this give me a leg-up in the admissions process come fall? Will colleges realize that I’m dedicated and dilligent, or will they just shrug it off and reject me?

2

<p>nyu is a slight reach but i think you have a decent shot to get in their general studies program</p>

3

<p>Well, unlike most of the other posters that I've met, you seem to be very mature about all of this and seem to have thought things through. Different people have different strengths in their applications. For you, it seems to be your personality and all the interesting things you're involved with. Sure, your numbers aren't as high as others, but don't think that it is the end of the road. NYU and Colgate are still reasonable schools, I won't venture to guess what you're chances are, but I'll be the first to say it's their loss for not admitting you. Stay upbeat, continue doing what you're doing, and carefully prepare your application. Without going into it too much, for each of my applications I sent in a lot of extra materials and, among other things, I completely handwrote all my applications (including essays, I applied to 13 schools! Writer's cramp!). It's a great way to break the ice and show your interest if you don't have the money to fly out the summer before to your campuses. And even if you do, it's something that's greatly appreciated by the colleges (so it seems). Start thinking about what you're going to write for essay, plan our your course of action, and you should have a "decent" chance at those schools. Best of luck!</p>

<p>TTG</p>

<p>(as you move further into the application process, I'd be glad to help out)</p>

4

<p>What schools did you apply to, TTG? (If it's all right that I ask).</p>

5

<p>I got into University of California at Irvine, College of William and Mary, New York University (<--- haha, check this out, sound familiar?), Carleton College, University of Notre Dame, Wesleyan University, Middlebury College and, drumroll please....</p>

<p>will be attending the University of California, Berkeley come this fall.</p>

<p>I'm a California kid with mediocre stats, but had a story to tell. I hope I can help ya out.</p>

<p>(As for the schools I was waitlisted/rejected to, they've been permanently erased from my memory bank. teehee)</p>

6

<p>Why NYU and Colgate???? They are not quite as disparate as Swarthmore and UMich, but they come close! I guess they are both in New York. Is there a particular program at each school that interests you. I think these are reaches, particularly Colgate, but not out of the stratosphere, but if you want to go to a rural eastern LAC, what about Vassar?</p>

7

<p>I think it might be useful if your guidance counselor or someone like that would explain the math/science issue and if you're really trying hard in the classes even if they're not you're best thing, I think colleges will think that's a plus. I would contact NYU and Colgate too and ask them how they would look at that. Its good to focus on your strengths though, as long as you're in difficult courses getting good grades in them with high test scores in those areas along with ECS to support it, I can see how that would overshadow the math/science part of your app. Colgate might be a bit more forgiving since its an LAC but I'm not sure on that.</p>

8

<p>Have you tried the new SAT--it has two verbal sections to one math section--it will show that yu are good in language based subjects and more clearly illustrate your math weakness</p>

9

<p>You need to definetely bring up the ACT. Play up your strong suits. Send in videos of your acting. Write steller essays. Try to make sure that (with senior first semester grades acting as your senior GPA) you break a 3.7 unweighted and you will be a perfect candidate for any school!</p>

10

<p>Middlebury places a lot of emphasis on writing if you're interested. Its a top 10 LAC too</p>

11

<p>Which college, if either of them, do I have a better chance of getting into?</p>

12

<p>I think that a number of LAC's would be willing to look past the math. If you are looking at Middlebury as a reach, for example, you might also consider Trinity (in CT), Bryn Mawr and Smith (if you are female), and Macalester.</p>

13

<p>Raise the ACT. The admissions person told me that for NYU, the average ACT was 31-33.</p>

14

<p>I had your same exact problem. Almost failed math throughout high school until finally I took a blowoff math course senior year. My GPA was actually way lower than yours. Believe me, reading this I felt as though this was written by me last year. If it makes you feel better, I got into McGill, which is considered one of the top three universities in Canada.</p>

15

<p>Colgate was one of the colleges I applied to (and was accepted). I would say it might be a reach, but you definitely have a chance. Here's why: My experience with them was that they were much more personal. I felt like they really got to know the person behind the application more than some of the other colleges I applied to. Colgate does non-evaluative interviews, and if you can, I'd recommend that you do one and discuss the issue with your interviewer.
I'm not horrible at math, and the classes at my school are not too hard. I actually finished all the math my school offers my junior year, and retook a class so I wouldn't forget too much before college. My grade wasn't bad, but I explained why I had retaken the class, and Colgate included a note saying they were impressed that I shown the interest in learning or good study habits or something by doing so.
If you have a math teacher you get along well with, it might help to have him/her write a recommendation saying that you work hard and truly care about learning and understanding the subject even though it isn't your particular strong point.</p>

16

<p>Colgate is excellent! I heard it's great for literature and other liberal arts courses, i think you will fit right in there, not everyone is good at everything. Unlike most people here, we are not "balanced", and colleges recognize that, so have no fear, math will not be near(at colgate) :)</p>