The Always Necessary Stats Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z Reed College
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<p>Sooo we EDers were pondering posting stats and I think elinck had a good idea with keeping our stats focused primarily on our essays and what we thought got us in. Sooo.</p>

<p>GPA: 4.2 (or slightly higher) Weighted, our school doesn't show us our UW
ACT: 32
SAT: Took it, sucked on it, haven't the foggiest what my scores were.
AP: I'm currently taking AP English and took one semester of APUSH last year (dropped because I couldn't stand the format of the class) sooo... yeah. Our school only offers three APs.
Rank: 2/161</p>

<p>Level of Coursework Difficulty: In my school there are no honors classes and next to no APs. So my taking 16 of the 20 or so possible weighted classes is what I have to run with in terms of rigorousness. Also I'm taking French and Spanish at their highest levels along with most of the upper level science classes, which I think reflected well on my dedication to my interests (linguistics and medicine)</p>

<p>Activities: I've worked with one organization since seventh grade, been a regional and chapter officer all years as well as competed (with projects like teaching parents about violence in video games, teaching second graders Spanish, and various others) at the State and National Level. So good, I showed a strong interest in the other clubs I'm involved in as well.</p>

<p>Assignment: I sent in three assignments I've done to sort of show a breadth of my thought patterns. One was an essay I wrote on Doublespeak after reading 1984. It was just supposed to be an analysis, but I translated Hamlet's famous monologue into doublespeak and discussed the differences between it an the original, as well as the importance of understanding doublespeak in politics and life in general. </p>

<p>The second was a reader's log over Grapes of Wrath. I believe it was about forty pages (I scanned and sent it in via cd) and included doodles and a picture perfect example of how I connect different ideas (a reader's log for those who don't know involves writing quotes from the story you're reading on one side and then writing your thoughts about the quotes on the other side so mine ranged from dissecting literary devices to connecting quotes from the book to tv shows and musicals). </p>

<p>The last assignment I sent in was actually from my sophomore year and was a claymation I wrote, directed, molded, shot, etc. on the biology and other general information of Harp Seals. I thought this would be a very good example of my using creative talents to discuss more scientific/analytical topics. Plus I'm just downright proud of the thing.</p>

<p>Common App Essay:
[quote]
In kindergarten I began to take myself seriously. While I sorted books in the library it was I who held the key to all of the worlds hidden among the shelves. I worked for a short stint as an architect building technicolor empires from some of the finest building blocks and Legos imaginable. My archaeological team found treasures within pyramids of pillows, and I discovered the bones of the long extinct Barney-saurus in the depths of my closet when I studied as a paleontologist.

[/quote]

Random excerpt from my essay. This was my more creative essay and detailed everything I've ever wanted to be in my life, because I think my wide range of interests is a fairly large component in understanding who I am.</p>

<p>Why Reed Essay:
[quote]
“They’re all nerds like you!” my mother mused after we left the Reed College admissions office for the first time. Now some people, like my aunt and uncle walking beside me, might have found that observation insulting. I, however, was excited to know that I was surrounded by my people. From the moment we parked on campus to the instant we left the bookstore, I felt completely at home.

[/quote]

That's the opening paragraph of my Why Reed essay. I made this essay a little more serious than my general essay (which was Reed specific with the last line being "Yet after everything I've done, the only thing I know I want to be when I grow up is a Reed alumna.") I think they complemented each other very well. My Why Reed essay was also about twice as long (two pages) and thoroughly detailed how I am a multi-faceted personality that needs a school based on uniting opposites to thrive.</p>

<p>Interview: I had an interview in June of 2008 at the campus with Melissa Brown, one of the admission deans, and a student who was shadowing her to learn how to interview. I, personally, think it went very well. We spent most of the interview discussing books (mostly my suggestion of The $64 Tomato), education in general, and the state of youth in America. It seemed much more like a general conversation than an interview. My best moment in the interview was probably when I was asked what I would write my thesis about. I answered (my major interests being linguistics and medicine) that I would love to do a study on the affects of second languages being used in clinics. My worst moment was probably when I missed entirely what the shadowing student was asking me and had to ask three times for him to repeat (my bad hearing, plus him not being sure of what he was asking made for an awkward situation).</p>

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<p>Why did you send 3 assignments? I thought they only asked for one</p>

3

<p>They did, I just figured more would only help them develop an image of me further. Plus I wanted to show multiple sides of my academic self, so I have an analytical piece, a piece showing my thought process as it happens, and a creative piece.</p>

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<p>I hope this helps any prospectives. I think I'm an example of Reed's 'risk taking' in admissions, at least where grades are concerned.</p>

<p>Why I think I Got In: It certainly wasn't the grades. I even had a C+ on my transcript, although it wasn't all my fault. I was a selective slacker, more than anything - I certainly learned a lot, but mainly on my own. Although I did generally get fine grades in my hard classes, and pulled two perfect 100s in a couple of sciences. In any case, this year, I shaped up. My greatest talent is certainly writing, and I pushed this to my advantage as much as possible. I think it was that, and being able to well articulate my passions, which don't have anything to do with humanities, and might have stood out a bit more because.</p>

<p>GPA: 3.34 UW (4.0 first semester/this year). No weighted grades.
No rank (thank god).
ACT (used): 33 (36 reading 35 writing 29 math 33 science-ish)
SAT (unused): 2140 (710 CR 690 M 740 W)
AP: English + US Government/Politics last year, Biology and Probability and statistics this year. I got a 5 on gov, 4 on English, but I didn't send them or think about sending them.</p>

<p>Level of Coursework Difficulty: Well, I don't know. On one hand, I've taken 5+ years worth of English and Science, and 4 years of Math, Spanish and the Social Sciences, all at the highest levels -- but we don't have honors courses or anything. I've taken/am taking four APs, which is more than most kids at my high school take, but doesn't really compare to the 10+ it seems plenty of kids elsewhere in the country take. I'm taking an English class at the University of Vermont -- but it's a fluff bit on JRR Tolkein. I've done a couple of independent studies.</p>

<p>On the other hand, every other day this year, I'm finished with school at 9:30 and go skiing all day. I'm only a full time student because I have an independent study lined up in a favorable way.</p>

<p>Activities: I've run varsity cross country for four years, and dabbled in track, and nordic skiing. I'm 'Captain' of the Telemark Skiing Society at my school. I've volunteered with various candidates seeking political office in Vermont and elsewhere. Importantly, I backpacked and hitchhiked about in the jungles of New Guinea and a few other islands nearby for a bit, doing some ecological research, helping an NGO with some mapping. I don't have any real awards to speak of, other than a National Merit Commended Scholar thing and winning the University of Vermont writing contest twice running.</p>

<p>Assignment: I sent in a paper I wrote entitled "Notes on the habits of Finsch's Pygmy Parrot" for the sanctioned part of the supplement. Like StudiousNutcase, I sent in extra stuff: too much, in fact. There was a short story I wrote the night before and rashly included, an analysis of the political and environmental future of Melanesia, a bad essay about banana slugs, and some other rubbish.</p>

<p>Common App Essay:

[quote]
The leeches around the village of Puzano in Papua New Guinea are especially tenacious. I can say this with some authority, as even after only a week in the bush, I had developed quite an intimate relationship with the bloodsuckers.

[/quote]

It morphed into an 'experiential' piece about what it was like to be the first westerner to the marked village, but I tried to keep it light with as much humor as I could justify (e.g. "I wouldn't trade it for all the roast wallaby in the Pio River watershed.")</p>

<p>Why Reed:

[quote]
Reed College is the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, of tertiary education – a collegiate predatory marsupial of prodigious jaws, unrivaled rarity, and singular and solitary habits.

[/quote]

I took this dubious metaphor and just extended it (with some rather great lines, I must say) to add a little flair to the usual reasons of why anyone who likes Reed likes it. Again, I tried to leaven the pomposity inherent in applying to such an intellectual place with humor.</p>

<p>Interview/Campus Visit: I flew out solo to visit Reed and spent the night. My interview was with a student intern, and it went well. I'm gregarious, and talk about my interests easily and with depth. The high points was discussing the effectiveness of Reed's drug policy, and when it was discovered that I, like she, had read all the reader comments in response to an 'expose' of Reed drug culture in a local alternative newsweekly. The low point was when I was asked about the most interesting thing I learned this week (the only 'question' to speak of): I stalled, and made something up about lemurs she could see through. </p>

<p>Other Schools: I applied early in some form or another to Colorado College, Lewis and Clark, University of Vermont, and James Cook University (Australia). I've been accepted to all of them. CC and JCU make me think 'what if...' at times, but Reed is clearly the place for me to be.</p>

<p>If I had been rejected, I would have applied to Whitman, University of Chicago, Swarthmore, and a few more international schools. I was horrible in picking anything you could call a safety or even a match. Thankfully, it didn't matter in the end.</p>

<p>Looking forward to seeign everyone this August!</p>

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<p>OMG, thylacine FTW! <em>laugh</em></p>