What are my chances at the moment?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Colgate University
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<p>Location: Pennsylvania
School: Extremely Competitive Large Public School
Class Size: 560
Class Rank: 56/560 (expected to improve after AP Tests and 3rd/4th marking periods)
Race: Caucasian
Cumulative Weighted GPA: 4.2 (School uses % Scale – 98% W)
Cumulative unweighted GPA: 3.9 (95% UW)
SATs: M 770 CR 600 WR 640 (Total: 2010) (Retaking in September – goal is 700CR)
ACT – Taking in April (32+ on practice tests so far)
Honor Roll: 9, 10, 11, 12
Classes: 6 AP (3 this year, 3 next year)
AP Chem II
AP Calc AB</p>

<h2>AP Physics B</h2>

<p>AP Calc BC
AP Bio II
AP Latin IV Vergil</p>

<p>AP Scores: Have not taken tests yet. Expecting 4’s and 5’s.</p>

<p>8 Honors
Honors English 9th, Honors Algebra II, Honors Earth and Space Science,
Honors Biology, Honors Chemistry, Honors Precalc/Trig, Honors Latin III,
Honors Biochem</p>

<p>Awards/ Honors
National Honors Society
National Language Honors Society
The National Society of High School Scholars
Selected for several National Youth Conferences</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities
Latin Club – 9, 10, 11, 12
Key Club – 10, 11, 12
NHS – 11, 12
NLHS – 11, 12
Rugby Club – 9
School Soccer – 9</p>

<p>Volunteered with:
National Honors Society: 40 hours by graduation
Bethany Village Retirement Home: 250+ Hours by graduation
Notre Dame Club of Harrisburg: Several events such as working soup kitchens
Ronny Powley Center: Helped distribute donated foods to poor families</p>

<p>Leadership Experience:
Junior Class Vice President
(Expected) Latin Club Officer 12</p>

<p>Research (Possible hook + essay topic):
Columbia University Medical School – 11/12 (Researched new therapeutic proteins under Dr. Jonathan Barasch, M.D., Ph.D, over the summer for 8+ weeks)</p>

<p>Employment:
Wegmans Food Company – 11, 12 (15 hours per weekend stocking shelves)
Universal Protective Packaging – 11, 12 (10 hours per week unloading trucks)</p>

<p>I worked both of these jobs at the same time for a number of months during the school year.</p>

<p>Intern at Pennsylvania House of Representatives Speaker of the House’s Office (Another possible hook + essay topic.) – 10 (40 hours per week, summer of sophomore year, helped welcome foreign delegates and volunteered for National Conference of State Legislatures held in Philadelphia, PA)</p>

<p>Hobbies:
Skiing and Surfing
Guitar
Tricking, Parkour, Free running, etc
Lifting
Pickup soccer weekly at a local park + indoors</p>

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<p>are you currently a junior?
you sound like a very interesting applicant, however your SAT score is a little low.
Colgate’s median SAT score was 1390 for the class of 2014, and you are a little below that.
it sounds like you can improve both your writing and your critical reading. try and focus on that - improving 50 points (which shouldn’t be hard for you, judging by your stats) should put you in a much better position.</p>

<p>good luck!</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the reply! Yes I’m currently a junior and once I take the ACTs in April I’m going to practice reading/writing until september. Going for that 2100!</p>

4

<p>are you sure that you want to take the ACT? it maybe just me, but if i were you i would work hard on aiming toward the 2200 SAT score (or at least improve my writing / reading in 50 points) and would take the SAT as many times as I can to do so.
also, 770 on the math means that you had 1-3 mistakes, so you’re obviously good at that.
by taking the SAT a few more times you’re giving yourself a shot at 800 (and a 30 point increase to your overall score).
for example, 800, 650 and 690 mean 1450/2140 which is competitive.
good luck!</p>

5

<p>My dad thinks I may have a better chance on the ACT so he says I should take it. It’ll be a one time thing though and then i’ll be working on those SAT scores from there. I missed 1 question for the math so there may be a good chance I can get an 800 but I’m not too worried about that. My main question - does a low CR and high M score hurt my chances more than all around average (like 680 each) would?</p>

6

<p>I don’t know about that. I got 780/660 and was accepted.
That being said, 600 is too low as Colgate’s mid 50% CR SAT scores are around 650-720.
So I would definitely try to get at least a 650 on the CR.</p>

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<p>It’s definitely worth it to take the ACT. I did wayyy better on the ACT than on the SAT (34 vs. 2030). So you never know which you’re better at until you take both!</p>

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<p>right, but the OP says that he’s estimating a 32 on the ACT, in which case I would just stick to the SAT and improve my score there instead studying for another test…</p>

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<p>@giaviv: i scored a 31 on my practice test and a 32 on a real test before I got my score. I think it is worth it for him to take the ACT in April, see which he likes better in an official setting, and then work on studying from there. </p>

<p>@goldendomer-you will definitely be in the running, keep up the hard work!</p>