I’m also considering NYU, BU, Barnard, Swarthmore, Vassar, Middlebury, and Pomona, but Wellesley is my first choice.
Stats:
ACT 29 (30 superscore) I retook the 24th and think I got 1-2 points higher, will find out soon
AP: Lang (4), US History (5), Psychology (5), WHAP (didn’t take test)
GPA: unweighted: n/a weighted: 3.8 out of 4.0 (I have straight As so this will go up at semester)
Rank: 24/259 (top 10%)
Senior Classes:
Government/Econ
Marching Band
College & Career Comp/Writing for Publication
AP Biology
AP Lit
AP Stats
ECs
Marching Band for four years: State Champions the past nine years, compete at Grand Nationals every year, I’m the Drum Major
Editor of school newspaper
Started an organization where high schools give free music lessons to local middle schoolers (Wellesley interviewer seemed very interested at this)
Founded only AP Lang tutoring group at my school, tutored every lunch period
Volunteer at ProLife Wisconsin and the American Diabetes Association
Hooks: mom didn’t go to college and is an Irish immigrant along with entire family, brother has autism, mom has Borderline Personality Disorder which I wrote about
Right now, your ACT puts you at the low end or below the middle 50 for the schools on your list. If you raise it to a 32, you can have a shot at Wellesley, Barnard, NYU, but probably not the others. You should look at adding some matches. How strong is your high school? Your essay sounds interesting and if it is well written could be memorable.
Good luck
I think it was quite interesting; writing is definitely my strong suit. I’m eagerly awaiting the ACT results, which I heard will come out around November 10th. Do you have any good matches for me? Preferably not in the Midwest, I already live here and hate it. Thank you for replying!!
Wisteria100 offers some good suggestions. Keep in mind that as you move into the 30-40% acceptance rate area these days “level of applicant’s interest” becomes more important. If you like Pomona, you might look down the street and also consider Scripps. You are in the range of their average admit, and they say they consider geography and first-gen in their admission decisions.
@otisp Thank you for replying!! I will definitely consider Scripps. I believe it’s an all-girls school, correct? My top three right now are Wellesley, Pomona and Barnard, so I’m definitely comfortable with the all-girls thing.
Yes, it is the women’s college of the 5C’s, which includes Pomona. You can take up to 1 class per semester at the other colleges your first two years and 2 classes per semester during your junior and senior years. And if you want to continue your music activities, can participate in groups in the Joint Music Program (which Scripps conducts with Pitzer, CMC, and HMC) as well as in Pomona’s. Another east coast women’s college similar to Wellesley is Bryn Mawr.
Yeah I did, but since then I’ve gotten a 31 on my ACT and have become a QuestBridge National College Match Finalist, so hopefully the improvement helps me out!