Wellesley hopeful! What are my chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Wellesley College
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<p>Here’s my unnecessarily-wordy mini resume type thing. I know most of you won’t want to read all this stuff, but I just copied/pasted it from my profile at another website. If you could just skim over the important stuff, though, that’d be great.</p>

<p>GPA: 3.75 UW (Weighted GPA not available at my HS)
SAT I: 710m, 650v (1360 total)
SAT II: English (740); US History (660 -hehh); Math IC (670)
Teacher/Counselor Recs: I haven’t actually seen them, but I’m assuming they’re quite good, as the teachers I had fill out the recommendations really like me. :slight_smile:
Essays: Very strong. I’m hoping that my excellent writing skills will be what ultimately wins them over. :)</p>

<p>I’ve taken every single advanced course available through my high school although quite frankly, there aren’t many. My high school is quite poor and has been forced to make some drastic budget cuts in the last few years. We have only two AP courses available: AP US History and AP English Literature, both of which I have taken or am currently taking.</p>

<p>CLUBS are pretty generic, due to the serious lack of opportunities at my high school, but here they are:

  • ASB Assembly Committee (Committee Chair; 12)
  • Astronomy Club (9)
  • Business Professionals of America (Club President; 10-12; competed in Graphic Design Promotion, Desktop Publishing, and Website Development team, and have made it to the national level multiple times.)
  • International Club (11-12)
  • Inner Visions Literary Magazine (Chief Editor; 11-12)
  • Environmental Club (10)
  • Key Club (11-12)
  • Political Science Club (Club Treasurer; 11-12)</p>

<p>VARIOUS OTHER ACTIVITIES include

  • Pianist (7 years)
  • Choir (2 years)
  • Community Service (Approximately 100+ hours, including work done for a local hospital, a Democratic campaign for a state representative, and a low-income housing complex.)
  • Track & Field (11, Shotput and Discus)</p>

<p>I’ve taken part in about 5 summer enrichment programs for high school students. </p>

<p>AWARDS/HONORS: I participated in my local Junior Miss competition against 15 other girls this year, and won the Scholastics Award. I’ve won numerous other awards through my high school, including an award for Academic Excellency in Spanish, of which I took three years of class. I’m also a member of National Honor Society and was listed in Who’s Who. I’ve always been on the honor roll, and have been the Student of the Month multiple times.</p>

<p>WORK EXPERIENCE: I started midsummer at RiteAid, and average 10-15 hours a week.</p>

<p>OTHER FACTORS. These I’m not so sure about, but I’d like to know if they’d have any effect on my chances of admission.</p>

<li><p>I’ve lived in a small town in northern Idaho almost my entire life ~ would that help my chances of admission at all? I know some colleges seek geographic diversity, but I haven’t heard whether Wellesley does or not.</p></li>
<li><p>As for ethnic background, I’m of a very underrepresented minority called Uighur – we don’t even have our own country. It was occupied by China some decades ago and to put it bluntly, we never got it back. There are only about 500 Uighurs in America. I suppose this technically makes me Asian, but whenever the ethnicity question comes up on a college application, I check “Other” and write in “Uighur.” Since the average American thinks of shorter, narrow-eyed people with oriental hair, etc. when they hear the word “Asian,” I usually don’t label myself Asian. Trust me, I look nothing like a Chinese person ~ I’m 5’10" and have often been spoken to in Spanish by individuals who have mistaken me for a fellow Hispanic, lol. But yeah, I came to the United States when I was two years old – my parents were immigrants. Would any of this help my chances at all?</p></li>
<li><p>Also, my family of 4 (parents and a younger brother) is living on a total annual income of somewhere between $30-35,000-ish – I’m not sure of the exact amount. I have no idea if this means anything, but I just thought I’d stick it in. Is Wellesley’s admission process need-blind?</p></li>
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<p>I’d just like to know how my chances are for Wellesley. I’ve fallen in love with the school, but I know it’s quite a prestigious institution and not too easy to get into, so I don’t want to get my hopes up too soon only to be crushed. ^^</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

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<p>I think you probably have a really good chance.</p>

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<p>I think the Uighur thing is very interesting and I hope you wrote about it. This and Idaho could make a big impact on your application. Your gpa is good, but if it was not a hard school then they were probably relatively easy to come by. Your SAT's a tad low. Why do you want ppl to handicap your chances, anyway? No one really knows, all you can do is apply, which I guess you did. What are you really seeking?</p>

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<p>Thank you rigged and bettina~ ^_^</p>

<p>And yes, I did write about me being Uighur and being from Idaho in my essay. Yeah, I guess no one here can really know for sure, but when you've sent in your application and know you won't be receiving any kind of a response for at least a month or two, you get really anxious and sometimes need reassurance. I know that even if 50 people replied to my post and all said I would get in, or vice-versa, it wouldn't necessarily mean that their predictions would come true for sure. But I suppose that's all I'm really seeking, reassurance. And thanks for it, too. :)</p>

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<p>Well good luck to you. FYI, when top school evaluate ppl who didn't go to schools with much opportunity, they won't penalize you for it but they will look to see if you reached out elsewhere, like taking community college classes or doing other EC's. You EC's do look pretty good anyway, though.</p>

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<p>Titania,</p>

<p>I'm Chinese, and I also "look nothing like a Chinese person."</p>

<p>And I also "have often been spoken to in Spanish by individuals who have mistaken me for a fellow Hispanic."</p>

<p>Please don't make stereotypes about what Chinese people look like.</p>

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<p>My comments that you referred to were not intended to offend anyone or come off as rude. Frankly, I'm surprised anyone even brought any of that up. And it's not so much a stereotype as much as what the average Chinese person looks like. Lastly, my point was that while I was born in China (which technically would make my nationality Chinese), I do not at all consider myself Chinese. If you yourself are Chinese and are proud to call yourself one, why should image matter to you? Again, my intent was not to offend, only to clarify my point.</p>

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<p>allure, i'm pretty sensitive to stereotypes as well, but I can believe Titania in this instance - many Uighurs do look quite different (not in a good or bad way, of course!) from what most people would be able to readily identify as Chinese from their physical appearance. Uighurs are of some Turkish descent, am I right, Titania?</p>

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<p>Titania, no offense taken. I understand what you mean, I was just a little taken aback. :)</p>

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<p>You are correct, mea! Uighurs are of Turkish descent, which is why our culture, language, appearance, etc. are all so distinctive from Chinese culture. You're actually one of the very few people I've spoken to who even know Uighurs exist - out of curiousity, what part of Asia are you from?</p>

<p>Glad we got that cleared up allure. After re-reading my previous post, I'm sorry if I came off as a bit defensive, no hard feelings? :)</p>

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<p>lol, no hard feelings at all, Titania. in fact, i think you're the type of person i would like to meet in college --i never knew uighurs existed before this! (sorry... ignorance)</p>

<p>so do you speak persian and chinese or just persian? and when did you come to america? if you don't mind sharing.</p>

<p>i came over when i was 3 and a half. still remember a little bit of stuff.</p>

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<p>Thanks, you seem pretty nice yourself! Naw, don't worry about it, 99.9% of the people I meet don't know anything about Uighurs either. In fact, when people ask me what my nationality is, I simply tell them, "Well... I was born in China..." and I always get the raise-of-eyebrow/confused expression in reaction to what I just said when compared to my appearance. That's when I get to go into a loooong drawn out explanation of my ethnicity, everytime, hehe.</p>

<p>I know a little Chinese (not hardly enough to have a real conversation, though), and I speak/understand Uighur (which, yes, is very similar to Persian) almost perfectly. I'm assuming you speak Chinese? And actually, I came to the US around the same age as you -- when I was almost three. Seems like we have a lot more in common than I might have thought. :)</p>

<p>Judging by the other posts I've seen you've make around the Wellesley boards, can I assume you're already a student at Wellesley? Freshman?</p>

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<p>titania - hong kong ;)</p>

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<p>titania - whoa, i sound like a wellesley freshman? haha, no. actually, i'm just a senior applying to wellesley. i probably seem to spout fountains of knowledge (ha) only because i overnighted there and got to know the place pretty well. helps to have a sharp visual memory too. yes, i speak chinese.</p>

<p>mea - i take that to mean that you're from hong kong. i was actually born in guangzhou, so that's pretty near hong kong.</p>

<p>wow, lots of bonding going on this board! :)</p>

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<p>yes, allure, from hk. I was in pennsylvania for half my life and that's pretty close to ny. :D. bondbondbond. </p>

<p>Titania - I'm trying not to sound overly interested, haha, but are any Uighurs blonde?</p>

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<p>yeah, it appears that mea and i have some Uighur fetish now. haha. so mea, do you speak mandarin as well as cantonese?</p>

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<p>Allure - haha, yeah, you seemed to know so much about the Wellesley campus and transportation, etc. (in the "What don't you like [about] Wellesley" thread) that I guess I just assumed you were already there! I'd love to visit the campus someday, I hear it's absolutely breathtaking. It's too bad I live on the other side of the country. And that's cool that you're a fellow high school senior, did you apply EE? Wouldn't it be incredibly ironic if we both ended up going there and did meet each other after all? lol</p>

<p>Mea - Actually, yes ~ there are some Uighurs who are so fair skinned/haired that they could pass for a person of European descent. Only thing is, I'm not one of them. :) So are you also a high school senior applying? International, then, I presume?</p>

<p>Hurrah for bonding! The responses to this topic alone (not to mention those of many other threads here at the Wellesley boards) make me want to go to Wellesley even more ~ everyone here seems to be so complex, intelligent, and just fun to be around, and it excites me to think that this would be reflected in the people I would meet if I actually attended Wellesley! :D</p>

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<p>i've noticed that the wellesley student body really is intense, intellectual, complex, and still actually fun to be around. </p>

<p>and i've also noticed that this thread has quickly evolved into a Titania-Mea-me thread. </p>

<p>the transportation thing - that was just because i was so irritated by the 45 minutes it took me to get from boston into wellesley, and i was carrying my luggage the whole way. (obviously i don't know how to pack, as i always bring too much stuff. maybe it's a girl thing, since i see guys able to subsist on just 0.023 lbs of stuff.) well, actually, it was longer than that. at south station in boston i got the wrong directions from some delightful (sarcasm) greyhound woman ("Hello my name is Felicia"), and i got so messed up that it took me five hours to finally stagger onto the wellesley campus. yep. so i suppose i'm suffering from emotional scars and post-traumatic stress syndrome.</p>

<p>yes, i applied EE. </p>

<p>did you get a call from the admissions office lately???</p>

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<p>Titania - I met a Uighur girl in passing once and she had such striking blonde hair that I was tempted to ask if she'd dyed it or not. I didn't think it would be polite tho, so I decided to ask you :p. I think I'm international; I'm a US citizen studying overseas, but with Wellesley and their separate/extra form, seems like I'm considered an int'l. But yes, high school, senior, RD. </p>

<p>allure - should I have gotten a call :S?
I'm a nut packer too. I can't leave anything behind. Same goes for my email inboxes actually...I'm such an email packrat, my hotmail was always pushing 95% before the internet was blessed with gmail :D.
English is by far my first language. I do speak, read, write essays etc. in Mandarin, when compelled to by relatives/school. Cantonese I can understand, but my accent is awful. Most people here do speak Cantonese as a first language, then English/Mandarin.</p>

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<p>hey mea, yeah, cantonese i would say is my first language. and then mandarin would be my second native language. too many numbers in dealing with this, ugh, forget it! haha, my cantonese accent is off too. it's not completely atrocious, but people think it's got an american sound to it. my mandarin is fine though, which is ironic, considering that (here we go stereotyping again) that the cantonese are mandarin-challenged. you know that saying about "fear not the heavens, fear not the earth, but fear the cantonese person attempting mandarin"? that's what comes to mind. i speak/read/write it too. speaking is easier. i do the other two on a more rudimentary level. i don't write letters in chinese. too time-consuming to look things up in the dictionary or pester my parents. telephone's the way to go. </p>

<p>nut packers dominate! just shove your whole house into your suitcase! </p>

<p>about the call, i'm not sure if everyone gets one. well, maybe they weren't going to make a long-distance one or whatever. mea, did you apply EE like me an titania? i think the call was basically based on that. </p>

<p>jennifer desjarlais called my guidance counselor and was like, "she's phenomal!" although i'm sure my counselor exaggerated. it was kind of flattering though, and i'm so relieved to know that hopefully i'll get another option than binghamton come spring.</p>