Hi.
I would be so grateful if someone could chance me for applying ED (and ED1/ED2) to these schools:
Mount Holyoke College
The College of New Jersey
Skidmore College
Here is a blurb about me:
I am a female Junior at EXTREMELY competitive public high school. Asian (from India), upper-middle class. Have no hooks.
Freshman year taken all honors, ended up with B-s, Bs, and B+s. Sophomore year same deal, except ended with C in Algebra II. Junior year took 2 APs. Ended with a D in AP Physics 1, B- in PreCalc, A-s and As in everything else.
My physics grade is pretty awful, and foils my chances of attending my dream schools. How much would this impact me? I’m voluntarily repeating the class at a community college over the summer to show that I’m proficient in physics. I am planning to write about the D experience in my essay (in a non-cliche way). Also, I would like to mention somewhere that the class I took was actually AP Physics 1 & 2, but since schools aren’t allowed to offer it in a year, my teacher just called it AP Physics 1. The class was extremely fast-paced and rigorous, and I worked my butt off but to no avail.
GPA: VERY LOW
Weighted: 3.48 - 5.52 (This is a range because my school hasn’t let out an official GPA yet - I calculated it myself)
Unweighted: 3.3something
Senior year, taking 2 APs and 1 AP-weighted class.
All APs:
Spanish - A-
Biology - to be taken
Physics 1 - D
Psychology - to be taken
Also taking a college level English course (Had the option of taking AP Lit or this, obv AP Lit looks better to colleges but this college level English class lets me skip first year of required writing class in college if I choose to do so).
Will get recs from Honors English teacher jr year, and either regular physics teacher from fresh year or AP bio teacher from senior year.
Qualified to take Spanish at Princeton University my senior year because I was one of 3 students to take AP Spanish V as a junior. Only nonnative speaker to be offered this course (this was before they saw my GPA plummet after I took physics), but my spot still holds and I might take the SPA 207 class during my senior year of high school!! If i take this course, I will most likely have to drop AP Psych (but I think its totally worth it in terms of experience, and colleges might possibly think so as well)
SAT:
Took old SAT thrice, superscored to 2080 (got 780 and 720 on writing and reading respectively, bombed math and got 580 so 1600 score is 1300. Will not submit my SAT score.
Will take ACTs, hopefully am more prepared this time and will get a higher score. Took practice test, already my cumulative score was a 32!!. Taking ACT lessons right now, expected score is 34-35.)
Unfortunately most of the schools I am looking at are test-optional… I was hoping my ACT would sort of offset my GPA but it won’t at these schools.
ECs:
Pretty solid.
-dancer since 6 y.o (will give solo 4 hour debut performance summer after senior year)
-cellist since 7 y.o(play for prestigious local youth orchestra & school honors orchestra)
-actively involved in schools Amnesty International club (but no official leadership role)
-volunteering at local hospital since freshman yr, 100+ hrs
-youth justice advocate at family court since junior yr. Super cool and unique experience where I provide advice and stuff to lower income students who have committed crimes.
-string quartet club at school
-got a job at local market summer before senior yr. Work aligns with what I’m interested in - sustainable agriculture, protecting environment.
-Spanish Honors Society (will hopefully get more next year)
I’m not sure if I’m going about this all wrong, because my physics grade really ruins my chances and this may be a little to optimistic. I really want a smaller, close knit intellectual community and a strong liberal arts education. I really want to major in environmental studies and minor in Spanish. I want to work with sustainable energy, and possibly eventually go on to study environmental law at law school.
I also want a solid music program so I can continue my cello in a orchestra setting or through chamber music. Also looking for strong foreign language program, diversity (don’t wanna be the only Indian), strong study abroad programs, strong international student body presence. want to stick to small, liberal arts schools if possible.
So, back to the colleges.
I have some targets and safeties, such as Drexel and Hampshire, but I want to apply ED to any of those three schools: TCNJ, Skidmore, and Mount Holyoke.
MHC: I visited Mt. Holyoke summer before senior year. My interview went very well. I went sort of dubious about how an all girls education would be, but I absolutely fell in love with the college and the entire consortium. Hampshire’s alternate education seems a little risky to me, so I wouldn’t want to attend there but I really want to be a part of the 5 college consortium. I don’t want to go to UMass (I could just go to Rutgers and save a lot of money instead), and the other colleges (Smith and Amherst) are too far off grade wise for me to apply to. I loved MHC’s faculty, student body, campus, and programs. Would it be too much of a reach to apply ED to MHC? I don’t want to waste my ED on a school I have no chance of getting into. However, I loved MHC’s environment so much. MHC’s ED only goes up 1% from its RD (55%/3000 applicants for RD to 56%/250 applicants for ED).
TCNJ: I love the atmosphere here, but would I only have a decent shot if I applied ED? I love the school, but do I have a shot if I apply RD? I am well rounded EC wise, and I’d be applying for environmental science, which isn’t as tough to get into as their bio program, I think.
Skidmore: I heard 68% of the ED students here are admitted. I love this school as well, but would I only have a shot if I apply ED?
Overall, what are my chances for applying ED to MHC, TCNJ, and Skidmore? I won’t want to be too risky and apply ED to a school too far out of reach, but I also don’t want to waste my ED on a school I could get into RD.
Thank you!
Will chance back for sure!