<p>Please help me decide whether or not I should apply to the LACs Wesleyan, Vassar, Hamilton, Swarthmore & Carleton based on my high school credentials and experiences. </p>
<p>I am a rising junior, and have not taken any official SAT/ACT exams, so I understand the decision will fluctuate according to my test scores, but I am still curious as to see how I would match up to accepted students of the above stated colleges.</p>
<p>Ethnicity: South Asian
Gender: F
GPA: 3.85, prior to IB GPA credits (out of a possible 4.0)
Academic Programs: the rigorous International Baccalaureate Programme
Potential Majors: Psychology, Pre-Law, English
Career Interests: Attorney (International Law), Psychologist (Clinical practice)</p>
<p>ECs:
1) Executive Board IB Student Council
2) Executive Board Class Council
3) Officer- India Association
4) Mock Trial (Team 1)
5) Select Choir
6) Band, Pep Band & Marching Band
7) Co-Editor School Newspaper
8) Counseling Dept. Student Board Member (1 of 2 chosen out of entire student body)
9) Multiple volunteering organizations/projects
10) Volunteer Barista at a local non-prof Coffee Shop
11) Interned at a local newspaper for 1 year</p>
<p>Personal accomplishments and interests:
1) I have written a novel, which I am now trying to publish (hopefully excerpts will be published prior to my graduating)
2) I'm very interested in student organizations and community interaction
3) Awarded MYP English Student of the Year
4) Active in local writing groups
5) Working toward the Presidential Service Award (completed 183 hrs. in the last year)
6) Liberal
7) Environment-lover</p>
<p>Any questions? Thank you so much for reading this!</p>
<p>haha Hamilton was my top choice! :)</p>
<p>I actually think it would be a great school for you:
- There is a strong focus on writing there and its applicability to all fields
- It’s smaller than average, so you’ll be able to be a part of student organizations
- I know they have a community involvement type thing going on in nearby Utica
- There is a great mix of political views there. Our tour guide was very liberal, but there is also a wealthy clientele that goes there, so you will also get conservatives if you don’t want homogeneity
- The campus is in a beautiful part of the country. I live in Maine right near Acadia National Park, and Upstate New York was still absolutely breathtaking in comparison, and I think there is like a forest right near campus :b
- Also, there is an open curriculum to quench your various interests, and I think they also have a pre law advising track, although it is not a major</p>
<p>Plus even the snooty Fairfield County kids were really nice when I visited.</p>
<p>Actually, the only reason I’m not going there is that my parents were adamant that I go to a more prestigious school that gave me crazy good financial aid. You should def apply and live out my dream :b</p>
<p>My problem is with the way you list your ECs. They seem to be listed by order of prestige rather by order of your individual leadership in them. Even the “co”-editorship of the school newspaper comes in at #7. The whole thing raises more questions than it answers. I know this is just CC forum and you were probably just posting off the top of your head, but, you have to learn how to look at yourself the way an experienced adcom would. The schools you’ve listed are all at the tippy-top of the ranks and carry a high degree of skepticism when it comes to what applicants put down as ECs.</p>
<p>I agree with CelaPlusAimaple that Hamilton is an excellent and often overlooked NESCAC college.</p>
<p>Thank you both! </p>
<p>CelaPlusAimaple: I honestly haven’t looked at Hamilton as closely as I should, but your response has urged me to! The focus on writing is a definite plus for me 
Your response was so incredibly detailed and helpful, thank you so much! </p>
<p>Johnwesley: Thank you as well for that observation-- you were right, I did just list them off of the top of my head. I didn’t know that order mattered, i’m so glad you alerted me though! So should I list my individual leadership positions first rather than the more prestigious clubs and activities when applying?</p>
<p>yeah, basically, I think everything you put on the application reveals something about you. Listing the editorship of the school newspaper seventh out of eleven ECs tells me it doesn’t mean so much to you.</p>
<p>^^ lol no prob. I was very enthused with Hamilton and like 7 other LAC’s :b</p>
<p>I think you should definitely give Carleton a shot, although its admissions can be really unpredictable - obviously I’m biased but I think it’s truly an amazing school and I’d recommend that )almost) anyone take a lok at it. </p>
<p>I honestly think you’re qualified to attend any of these schools, though a lot will depend on your junior.senior GPAs and test scores. However, admissions to any of these schools are chancey because of the sheer number of people who apply. That being said, don’t let it keep you from applying, because you never know what will happen!</p>
<p>Johnwesley: Thank you! i’ll definitely keep that in mind, I hadn’t thought of it:) </p>
<p>CelaPlusAimaple: What other schools did you apply to if you don’t mind me asking? And where did you end up going? </p>
<p>Reesezpiecez103: Thanks for the response! I agree, its very competitive, but hopefully if I do a few in-person interviews and write a really good common app I may leave an impression? Do you go to Carleton? What made you choose it over other LAC’s (assuming you did look at other LACs).</p>
<p>As far as LAC’s go, I applied to Hamilton, Haverford, Colgate, Grinnell, Lafayette, and Trinity (in Hartford), which was way to much, but I loved all of them soooo much lol (definitely don’t apply to that many 
)</p>
<p>I got amazing financial aid from Brown and Colgate, so I’m going to Brown, which I’m pretty excited about, but I kind of wish I were going to a smaller school at times. </p>
<p>Anyway, if you have any questions about any of those schools, (I also visited Amherst and Conn College) I can answer some questions about campus and feel and the surrounding area, etc.</p>
<p>Congrats on Brown! Amazing, say hi to Emma Watson for me jk. Colgate is a great school, but I thought it was kind of a reach school-- my grades definitely aren’t Brown and Colgate material unfortunately. Trinity is always there, but I’m more interested in Wesleyan. What was your favorite out of them? (other than Hamilton and Brown)</p>
<p>Thanks lol. I did really like them all haha, but here it goes:</p>
<p>I think the academic attitudes at all of them were really the common thing that made me like all of them, and while Trinity and Colgate seemed to have a less cerebral “preppier” feel (to me at least) they both had amazing campuses (I honestly think Trinity has the best campus architecture in the country) in great locations (I’m really crazy about Hartford for some reason lol; I went to the Wadsworth when I went to see Trinity, and Upstate New York is amazing)</p>
<p>I think Grinnell might be a good fit personality-wise, although slightly more hippyish, but it is pretty far away, and Grinnell, Iowa was pretty boring at least when I visited.</p>
<p>I think Haverford would probably have been the best fit for me, but practically it’s more selective than the others (its selectivity isn’t too far below that of Swat), so it really depends if you want to use it as a reach or not. I think if you like Wesleyan, Swarthmore, and Carleton more, I would just keep them. I’m not really sure about how selective Bryn Mawr is, but the impression I got at Haverford is that it had a pretty similar campus culture</p>
<p>Also, you don’t have any test scores yet, but I think that everything else balancing out, 2000+ SAT’s with good essays would give you a really great shot at all of them</p>
<p>I will be attending Carleton in the fall. For various reasons I chose it over Hamilton, Amherst, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, UVA, Bowdoin, and Macalester, but mostly because I loved the atmosphere and the location. I really like Minnesota, the campus is beautiful, and the people are smart - my host was scarily smart - but also laid-back and not cutthroat at all. After visiting/exploring the above schools, I felt that Carleton was truly the place where I’d feel the happiest, so I’ll be a member of the class of 2014. It also gave great FA.</p>
<p>On a different note - I was interested that you said your grades are not Brown and Colgate material, but you think they’re good for the schools you listed above. In terms of academics, I would put Brown and Colgate with the LACs you listed - actually, I think Colgate’s ranked lower than Swarthmore, Carleton, Vassar and Wesleyan, so I think you’d be just fine applying there. Brown is competitive and selective, yes, but so are all the schools you listed (Swarthmore probably most so). You are definitely qualified to apply to any of them. Who knows? You might be surprised. :)</p>
<p>*Note: I’m not saying that the “official” college rankings define schools, only that it’s a little silly to say you aren’t good enough for Colgate (or Brown) when it falls right in with the other schools you’re looking at.</p>
<p>You guys are so helpful!
CelaPlusAimaple: I agree about the small college attitude: I need to be at a school where I actually meet my professors, not only the TA’s. The preppy feel is okay, as long as the school I choose is open-minded and economically diverse. I understand about the love of Hartford-- CT is one of my favorite places in the world. That’s why Trinity and Wes are strong contenders, although I still have time, I’m pretty sure I’ll end up applying to both.
The thing about Grinnell however is that, although its an excellent school, I’m not sure I’d be comfortable all the way in Iowa. Location is tres important for me-- I’d like to go somewhere in the Northeast/New England area, up by the Great Lakes or in California. But i’ll still consider Grinnell for the sake of its excellent academia and new experiences. </p>
<p>I’ll definitely keep all you’ve said in mind! If I progress more academically, I’ll shoot for it, and probably Swarthmore, Vassar and the others. Thank you so much for helping out, you’ve definitely changed my views on those schools for the better. The best of luck at Brown and whatever else you choose to pursue in life </p>
<p>ReesezPiecez103:
I hadn’t considered Carleton as much as the others, but now that I have researched it a bit more it is an excellent institution and I will probably consider it as an option profusely in the future. I’m actually going to request information right now after hearing your positive feedback </p>
<p>About the above post: they are all so competitive-- I’m not entirely sure if I’d be able to compete with any of their applicants unless my GPA becomes a bit more stable. However, junior year is considered to be the most challenging, so it’ll all depend upon that. Sorry if that wasn’t clear before! 
All of them are such great schools and most of them end up competing with one another anyway. But I will apply to a lot of them still, because you are completely right, who knows? It was a little silly of me to overlook the rankings, huh?
But are there any other LAC’s that still offer small class sizes and academic support etc. (but are lower ranked) that you’d recommend?</p>
<p>It’s very hard to assess your chances at any of these schools at this stage of the game. So much depends upon your junior year grades and your test scores.
If you want to start investigating some LACs that are slightly less selective than those you have mentioned, but are still excellent schools with a lot to offer check out the following:
Bates College
Lafayette College
University of Richmond
Bucknell University
Bard College
All of these will give you the type of academic environment that you are seeking.
If your stats come out on the high end after junior year you should add Bowdoin and Middlebury to your list as well.
Good Luck.</p>
<p>FYI, it’s very difficult to publish a novel in a way that adcoms will take you seriously. Because most reputable publishing houses will not take unagented submissions seriously, and it’s hard to get a good agent, and publishing as a process moves veerrry sloooowly. If you aren’t being paid a decent amount (at least $100+) to publish excerpts of your novel, then the publisher isn’t legitimate.</p>
<p>Haverford’s campus culture is distinct from Bryn Mawr’s campus culture. Colgate is not on the same level as Brown in terms of selectivity.</p>
<p>Other LACs to consider: Macalester, Davidson (a reach, but low on Asians), Knox (ought to be a safety, if your scores are high enough for a decent shot at Swarthmore), Pitzer, Oberlin (still a reach unless your scores come out on the high end).</p>
<p>Thank you Tuftsalum and Keilexandra! </p>
<p>Keilexandra: Thanks! I didn’t know about the pay amount for excerpts. I am planning on contacting as many agents as I can, I think I may have a shot at publishing if I edit well enough. </p>
<p>And the LAC info as well: I’ll definitely look into those! thank you :)</p>
<p>^Keep in mind that I just made up that number… I know the genre pro pay rate is somewhere around 5c per word, higher for mainstream. I honestly don’t know of any place that accepts novel excerpts for publication.</p>
<p>I’d be submitting to creative writing magazines and publications that only take short stories for an excerpt, but will still try my best with query letters. Thanks so much though, now at least i’m on the alert in case someone is going to cheat me :)</p>
<p>^^I second the nomination of Bates and Lafayette. Also maybe Colby, Reed, Connecticut College, Kenyon College, Kalamazoo College, Davidson College, and Oberlin.</p>
<p>Glad to hear you liked what you heard about Carleton!! :)</p>