<p>Hi everyone! I am a white female junior in high school. I am curious if I have any chance at the schools listed above.
My projected major is neuroscience with a minor in piano.
Academics: (H= honors, HH= high honors)</p>
<p>Freshmen:
Bio H: A
Alg 2 HH: B
Global Studies H: A
World Lit HH: A
Spanish 3 H: B
(At my school, global H and world lit HH are the only courses offered to freshmen. No APs allowed. Spanish 3 H is also usually the highest level Spanish that freshmen can take.)</p>
<p>Sophomore:
Chem H: A
AP US Hist I: A
English 10 HH: A
Geometry HH: A
Spanish 4 HH: A
Weighted GPA after this year: 4.5 (out of 5)
I was top 10% of my class of 500 as of the end of this year.
Sophomores can only take AP US history, unless they are taking an elective that's AP.</p>
<p>Junior:
AP Physics B: A
Trig/Calc HH: A
AP US Hist II: A
AP Spanish Lang: A
English 11 HH: A</p>
<p>Senior (not completed, but these are the classes I'm taking.):
AP Chemistry
AP Calc BC
AP Lit
AP Music Theory
AP Spanish Lit</p>
<p>Test Scores (so far):
SAT: 1920 (670 math, 650 writing, 600 cr)
SAT II Chem: 710
I am also taking SAT II Math 2 and the ACT in June. I project to do better on the ACT, as I am not very strong in SAT reasoning.
In general, I am not a very good multiple choice test taker, so this area is probably my weakest.</p>
<p>Extra Circulars:
-I have been playing piano for 9 years and have been taking classical lessons. I have a degree from the American College of Musicians which I got at the end of sophomore year. Music is my strongest EC and my biggest passion.
-Marching band and concert band all four years (trumpet)
-Community band for three years (trumpet)
-Key Club for three years (200+ hours).
-tutoring at library during jr year and over the summer at local program (going into jr year)
-summer job at ice cream place (going into junior year)
-summer internship at local farm society (going into senior year)
-Science scholars summer program (going into sophomore year)
-NHS and Spanish NHS
-Church mission trip to Asbury Park NJ to clean up after Sandy (one week going into jr year)</p>
<p>I have not written my essays yet. I also haven't gotten any teacher recs because I'm a junior. I except them all to be good since I am a good writer and the teachers I plan on asking are very intelligent.
Also, my GPA and rank will probably go up after the end of Junior year since it has not been calculated yet. I project an unweighted GPA of about 4.7.</p>
<p>If anyone has any input, I would really appreciate it! :)</p>
<p>I don’t like the chance me thing, but since you are a pretty close match with my D’s stats and target schools, I’ll take a crack:</p>
<p>UR: match
Kenyon: match
Bowdoin: low reach (although test optional so maybe you don’t submit)
Swarthmore: reach (for everyone, but I would say test scores will be a problem here)</p>
<p>There’s no such thing as a safety anymore, but I would say that you have a very good chance at the first 3.</p>
<p>Sounds like taking the ACT is a good tactical move. Did you not take AP tests? I would have recommended you do this since they should track fairly closely to your grade in the class.</p>
<p>Essays, recommendations, and a little bit of luck can really make the difference for you at Swarthmore.</p>
<p>I would definitely get a Barrons book for the ACT and take as many practice tests as you can before June 14.</p>
<p>@ormdad thank you so much! I did take three AP tests this may (spanish lang, physics b and us history), but I won’t receive my scores until July.
As for practice, I have Barrons for Math SAT level 2 and Princeton Review for ACT. I have found the PR works incredibly well for the SAT, so that’s why I got it for the ACT. </p>
<p>Match for Rochester and Kenyon.
You’re at <em>least</em> 300 points shy for Bowdoin and Swarthmore (with Swarthmore being the harder of the two).</p>
<p>@bigbang394 I didn’t mean to lump Bowdoin in with Kenyon- it is definitely harder to get into. But it is test-optional and your GPA is very impressive, so I think you’d have a better chance there than a peer school that does require testing. Although, even test-required schools will tell you that scores are less important than GPA and recs, assuming the regional admissions officer “knows” the school.</p>
<p>If you don’t end up getting a 32 or over on the ACT, there are a lot of very good test-optional schools that you could take a look at:</p>
<p>In the past it might have been more of a match. Not now, though.</p>
<p>As some have mentioned, test optional is becoming more common and even at schools which require standardized tests those results are carrying less weight. In other words, you should apply to all of the schools you have listed. BUT add a couple of sure safeties. If you visit Kenyon, make sure to drop in at nearby Ohio Wesleyan as well as Dension. Both are excellent academic safeties for you, and both offer excellent financial aid. Denison has a very lovely campus and Granville is a sweet little college town.</p>
I did take three AP tests this may (spanish lang, physics b and us history), but I won’t receive my scores until July.