So... What are my chances

Colleges and Universities A-Z Colgate University
1

<p>Alright... I am kind of freaking out because Colgate is my number one school for a large variety of reasons, and I am definitely not sure if I can get in. I have anxiety over it, cannot sleep... And I have received mixed reviews from people that have never heard of Colgate. So, if you have time to read my profile, I would immensely appreciate it. </p>

<p>Ok, so I plan on applying ED in November, which should improve my chances, but I am not sure if it would put me over the edge.
Academics: I have a 3.5 high school gpa at a nationally recognized high school for its rigorous academics and my weighted gpa is 4.0.</p>

<p>Prospective majors: Neuroscience and German</p>

<p>The following is my course schedule all through high school, including grades for both semesters. (CC) means that I received community college credit for it because many of the classes were audited for credit.
Freshman year: Honors accelerated Chemistry/Physics B/B, German I/II (CC) A/A, Honors World Civ. A/B, Honors English and Speech B/B, Honors Geometry B/C (One "C") shouldn't hurt me too bad hopefully, especially since I can attribute it to health reasons. I also took World Politics at a college and received a B and Western Civ. and got a D, but the class syllabus was not correct and often times, the professor gave us misinformation and more health issues, and as long as I am descriptive, the admissions office at Colgate said it should not be a problem.</p>

<p>Sophomore year (I had health problems, as I have said, affecting my two first years in high school, and I know it should not be an excuse, but perhaps it will help deflect the very low grades): German III/IV (CC) A/A, Honors American Lit. B/B, Honors Algebra II B/B, Marine Biology blocked for three periods (CC) A/A </p>

<p>Junior year: AP Chemistry (CC) B/B, AP Stats (CC) A/A, AP English Lang. (CC) B/B, AP German V (CC) A/A, AP American History (CC) A/A, Marine Biology II (CC) A/A, Honors Precalculus B/B. I also took psychology at a local college and received an A in it.</p>

<p>Senior year (next year's schedule): AP Env. Sci (CC), AP Lit. (CC), Marine Bio (CC and advanced independent study), AP Biology (CC), AP Physics (CC), AP Government (CC), AP Macroeconomics (CC).
I will be obtaining my AA degree in December, just retaking Western Civ. and taking Speech. Right now, I have 70 college credits with a 3.5 college gpa.</p>

<p>Test scores:
SAT Math: 690
SAT Verbal and writing: 610 each
ACT:26
I took the ACT my sophomore year, so I could do a lot better if I retake it this year. My SATs are the biggest thing hindering me from acceptance. I have excessive anxiety, especially when I take the tests, so I just need to relax. I am not too worried about my math score or my writing score because I know the writing score is not as looked upon, but it wouldn't hurt bringing it up. So I'm kind of anxious about that... </p>

<p>Extracurricular activities:
Central Campus Marine Biology - Lab supervisor - 200+
Quiz Bowl - Team Captain
Central Campus - Student Ambassador - 40+
Marine Biology - Teaching assistant
Ecology Trip to Florida - Participant - Three weeks
Cultural immersion trip to Germany - participant - two weeks
Employment - Coffee-maker and other - 20 hours a week
Employment - Grocery store clerk - 15 hours a week for two and a half years.
Scuba diving - assistant in helping others for certification - 50+
Independent - running to prepare for athletics in college and in some high school
Independent - Writing original poems and lyrics for others.
History Day participant</p>

<p>My school is not comprehensive, and nearly all students do not attend all day, so there are nearly zero extracurricular activities. The lab supervisor was something my teacher and I had to create. I also live in a very suburban and commercial area... and no e.c. chances within reasonable walking distance. My parents have problems driving me places because of their jobs and their hours. </p>

<p>My counselor can explain it all, and I am sure that she will write a GREAT recommendation for me, along with my teachers. I plan on applying ED, I think my essays are pretty good, and I plan on sending in additional writing supplements. I don't know... I am just really freaking out, and I would like some feedback from people who know Colgate more than I.</p>

2

<p>Your SAT's are much lower than my son's (a current Colgate student), an much lower than my D, who was wait listed at Colgate and now attends Cornell. Your GPA is OK, but , again, lower than my two kids.</p>

<p>What you do have going for you is that you are from Iowa, your HS is nationally recognized, you're applying ED and your prospective major is less commen.</p>

<p>Make sure you keep taking the most challenging courses, keep your grades up and retake the SAT or ACT.</p>

3

<p>Colgate has become incredibly selective over the past few years even. Your course schedule is slightly more rigorous than mine and your GPA is a little higher and I'm a girl, but I had very similar quality and quantity of activities, come from an underrepresented state as well, applied ED and as a neuroscience major, and come from a nationally recognized private school. My SAT scores were M700, CR740, W800 (2240) and I had 3 teacher recs, a letter of recommendation from a notable alumnus, and phone call on my behalf from another alumnus. I also sent in extra essays and was in contact with the cross country coach and on a first name basis with the asst dean of admissions. I was deferred and then waitlisted and decided not to stay on the waitlist because I found somewhere that was an even better fit.</p>

<p>The one thing I can tell is to try not to freak out. I fell in love with Colgate, but there's always more than one school out there for everybody. Whether you get in or not, the important thing is to enjoy your college experience. I'm off to Bucknell in the fall and I couldn't be more excited! Best of luck.</p>

4

<p>Stoener, Are you from Des Moines, Iowa ? If so, I assume you are referring to Central Academy so you must be enrolled at one of the local public high schools which feed students into Central Academy for some or all of their advanced or AP courses, ie, Roosevelt, Lincoln, North, etc.. Due to a surge of central Iowa students applying to East Coast schools (including Colgate) being from Iowa is no longer much of a benefit. I would encourage you to take the ACT again and apply ED. I believe that the media ACT for the class of 2012 was 31 and the mid 50% range was 30 to 33. Good luck.</p>

5

<p>Yeah, I'm from Des Moines. I realize there is a large influx of applications going out to the east coast... So, I guess there isn't much I can do about that. Yeah, I plan on taking the SAT and ACT as many times as I can before November... I just need to get the test scores up. Would anyone happen to know how AP scores affect decisions in admission?</p>

6

<p>Just visited Colgate, and like everyone else, really want to go there after seeing the campus. </p>

<p>ACT: 30
94.3 GPA unweighted 121.3 weighted
Top 10%
National Honor Society
From the strongest high school academically in Maine
State Champion in indoor track 2 mile
Captain of XC team</p>

<p>Should I just give up now?</p>

7

<p>I have a good friend who was admitted to Colgate with a 1270 combined reading and verbal SAT score, 3.4 GPA in the IB program at our public school, and not too many extra curriculars. So I guess it really all depends on the situation.</p>

8

<p>30% of the class at Colgate has an SAT of 1270 or below. Probably many of those are athletes or legacy or have something else very interesting about them. All else even, it probably takes a much lower SAT to get admitted from IA than NY or NJ. Someone posted on here that the average SAT for the enrolled non-athlete white male last year was 1384.</p>

9

<p>longshot- you definitely have a great shot if you apply early. i got in with similar stats and a 30 act</p>

10

<p>I am going into my junior year. So theres some room for improvement. I think the edge that I have is that I am a diver. I would dive for Colgate, who has no divers on there mens team. The coach is also from my town. M extracurriculars are through the roof too.Anyway, here are the stats...
School:
GPA 3.3
Top 50% at very competitive school in CT
plan on taking 3 AP classes junior and senior year
have not taken SATs (1200-1250 expected)
ECs:
FBLA member
SADD member
Class Senator(elected)
Young Republicans (vice president)
Blood Drive(co-head coordinator)
Model U.N
Sports:
Freshman Football
Track 2 years(1 varsity)
Swimming and Diving 2 years varsity (two time class L state competitor)
Work:
Lifeguard
Volunteer work:
Camp councilor
Relay for life(3 years so far)
Ill have excellent essays and reccomendations
So what are MY CHANCES?</p>

11

<p>You have an edge. But your gpa is low, as is your expected SAT. You should try to improve your scores. </p>

<p>Let's see how you do on the SAT. But again, you do have an edge. A kid from my kids hs got in to Colgate (a minority=edge) last year, beating several other kids(whose first choice was Colgate) with higher SAT's , GPA's and difficult courses(college level classes-our hs does not have AP, but credits from Syracuse). These other kids were either wait-listed or rejected. Unfortunately, the kid who was accepted went to Oberlin instead.</p>