Swarthmore, Barnard, and Columbia prospective!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I’m a junior in high school but want to have people chance me so that I can better myself and decide where I want to apply ED. :slight_smile:

-Colleges I’m applying to: My ‘reach’ schools are Columbia and Swarthmore. My ‘level’ schools are Barnard, Carleton, and Davidson, and my ‘safety’ schools are Smith and GW.
My top three schools are Swarthmore, Barnard, and Columbia, in that order. I’ve visited Swarthmore and will be visiting the other two over spring break.

-Unweighted GPA 3.98

-Weighted GPA 4.8

AP Courses

  • AP Human Geography - 5 on exam
  • APES: 5 on exam
  • AP German: have not taken the exam yet but I’m a projected 5.
  • AP French: " "

I am an IB Diploma candidate, so I am taking:
IB Mathematics SL
IB Chemistry SL
IB History of the Americas HL (and this will be 20th century topics HL next year)
IB English HL
IB French HL
IB Art HL
TOK
My grades in my classes this past semester were:
Mathematics SL: 94
English HL: 95
Chemistry SL: 91
History HL: 93
AP German: 97
French HL: 97
TOK: 99

Next year I am taking all of the same IB Classes and Arabic 1.

-Class rank/size
I am ranked third in a class of 300.

-My ACT score is 32. The breakdown is MATH: 31 ENGLISH: 35 READING: 34 SCI.: 28. I got a 31 on the writing.
(I’m taking it again in March and will hopefully do in science.)

ECs

  • Model UN, secretary/VP freshman year-present.
  • Cross Country, Indoor Track, and Spring Track, freshman year - present (Except not track season of sophomore year and XC junior b/c of an injury). I’m on the varsity team.
  • Youth For Human Rights Club, NC Chapter, Vice President.
  • I am a youth leader in my church youth group and choir, and have been since sixth grade.
  • I am a coordinator of Food For All. We fund-raise, buy food, make meals, and deliver them to people in the community who are hungry.
  • Secretary of the French Club, freshman year-present
  • More volunteering: I do a lot of volunteer work at my church and at food banks. I also am starting to volunteer at a nonprofit bookstore this semester and will be working there 3 hours a week for the foreseeable future.
  • Piano: I have been classically trained in piano and have been taking lessons and giving performances since the fourth grade.
  • Arabic: I studied abroad in Morocco this summer and spend 1 hour a week at Arabic lessons outside of school.

These are my main ECs, I’ve done a bunch of other stuff, but these are the most important to me.

-Employment
I babysit once a week. I’m probably not going to include this in my applications because it seems like fluff.

Honors/awards

  • Model UN: Honorable Mention at UNC MUN, Excellent Delegate at App State MUN
  • CIEE Global Navigator Scholar: I received a full (mostly merit) scholarship to study Arabic in Morocco last summer.
  • Inducted into both the National Honors Society and French Honors Society.
  • By the time I apply to college, I will have received a Presidential Service award.
  • I should also be an AP Scholar by then.

Short explanation on recs

  • For my recs, I’m having my French teacher and my math teacher do them. I’ve had French every year in high school and am a really strong student in class, and I’m a prominent member of the French Honors Society and French Club. I’m also very passionate about language and culture. My math teacher really admires my work ethic and I’ve shown a lot of improvement in a class that is not my forte.

Additional information

  • Hooks: Studied abroad in Morocco
  • Native German speaker/citizen
  • Volunteer work

So what do you think my fit is at these three particular schools? Thanks!

2

So you are not a US citizen? What is your financial situation? What is your state of residence? Also, regarding having your French teacher write your rec, be careful if they are not from the US. Sometimes a teacher from another culture will also point out your weaknesses in their letter, which can out you at a disadvantage.

3

@intparent I am a US Citizen! Sorry for not clearing that up. I’m from NS, and so is my French teacher. She has also written recommendations for me before.

4

What is NS? And are you seeking financial aid?

5

Also, I will be participating in the Davidson College Summer Program this summer!

6

@intparent I’m from NC, sorry. And yes, I will be. :slight_smile:

7

Have you run net price calculators for all these schools, and they are affordable? The Net Price Calculators are on each college website, usually on the page about affording the college or the financial aid page. Note that if your parents are divorced, have a small business, or own rental property, the calculators may show more aid than you would really get. The thing that made me ask about this was wanting to make totally sure that your safe schools are affordable (because they aren’t safeties if you can’t pay for them). You might consider adding a couple of in-state schools (UNC and NC-State) – just to make sure you have options in the spring no matter what.

8

Not sure if Barnard, Carleton, or Davidson would be ‘match’ schools since their acceptance rates are quite low… Maybe low reach. I think GW would be more a match school

9

Do you have two identical threads running? I replied to this OP’s question but don’t see my reply here.

10

GW and Smith are a bit too selective to be considered safeties. Low matches? Sure, but I’d suggest switching out a school for one that’s a bit easier to get into just in case.

11

I would definitely do Swarthmore ED if that’s where you want to go the most–honestly, you’re a unique candidate and your stats are in range (GPA is a little low, but IB should make up for that) and I’d argue you’re a pretty sure shot if you take the plunge and do ED. Make sure you can explain why each of the ECs you do are important to you–I understand the language, humanitarian, and MUN connection (are you thinking IR? You’d be formidable competition at the UN.) as supplements are so important at LACs. Best of luck!

Chance me back?
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19229298#Comment_19229298

12

Oh, for heaven’s sake. Don’t ED unless it is clearly your first choice school, the NPC looks affordable, and you don’t need to compare financial aid offers.

13

@intparent i’m definitely checking NPCs for all the schools and will talk to admissions people before applying! @usualhopeful they are more low matches than safeties, I phrased that incorrectly! thanks :slight_smile: @lostaccount I thought one didn’t post so I posted the other… sorry for confusion. thanks for the comment on the other!