Swarthmore Acceptances - any miracles?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Swarthmore College
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I am applying to Swarthmore EDII this year, and was wondering if anyone knows anything about Swarthmore taking risks in accepting students? What I mean is, has anyone heard of Swarthmore accepting a student whose grades are not fully up to par but has some other trait(s) deeming them worthy of acceptance? I don't mean the normal stuff like athletics or race, but stuff like character or interests.</p>

<p>My grades are not horrible by any means - I have taken the hardest classes always whenever possible - about a 3.5 UW GPA, 2120 SAT (1500 crit+math), 5 on BC calculus AP test, taking 5 AP's this year and getting B+/A-'s. They are just....not up to par with those getting accepted @ Swarthmore. I grew unmotivated and became tired of seemingly trivial work in (public)HS, and put in minimal effort for pretty much the majority of my 4 years. I guess I was just frustrated at what I could be doing outside of the classroom instead of working for a letter grade. I have always found school to be slow and meaningless. I guess you could say I had a small philosophical struggle? </p>

<p>But now applying to colleges, I really want to make amends for wasting my last four years. I'm applying to Swarthmore for good reasons other than superficial things, but really doubt my chances. When I say I found school to be pointless, I mean I could be devoting my time to work that actually helps people and has a notable effect (seriously). I have always wanted to have a significant impact on things and after searching for other methods, college just seems to be the only logical way. Most of my extracurriculars revolve around my church and volunteer work, but it's not stuff that is flashy by any means - none of it was aimed towards looking good at college admissions.</p>

<p>Sorry for the babble - I know that if I'm truly determined to work tirelessly for changing the world, I should find a way regardless of what college I attend, it's just I think Swarthmore would benefit my purpose the most.</p>

2

<p>I have a similar problem. I overshot and took 6 AP classes last year and ended up with a low unweighted GPA, but a good weighted GPA. I hope Swarthmore at least appreciates that I tried to learn as much as I could.</p>

3

<p>Yes, these so-called “miracles” can happen if the applicant conveys his/her extracurricular worth through the application (i.e. through the commonapp activity slots and essays).</p>

<p>No, true miracles do not happen if you are not able to convey your extracurricular worth through your application (i.e. your activities don’t look flashy in the activity slots and/or you couldn’t express their value in your essays).</p>

<p>The admissions process is imperfect, and a lot of kids with dull-sounding activities, or who aren’t very good at writing essays, will get unfair evaluations. But conversely, a lot of applicants game the system by choosing glitzy activities, or are just lucky that their particular skills lie in the art of conveying passion in 500 word essays. Oh well.</p>

4

<p>Yeah, pretty much what I expected. Oh well.</p>

<p>Thanks~</p>

5

<p>lol ricesteamer im in the same boat except you have a higher SAT score than I do. Personally I’m hoping my essay will redeem the rest of my application but I can only hope. Good luck getting in</p>