What are my chances? (Brown, Davidson, etc.)

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

My last thread didn’t get many responses, so I made a new one with updated information.

I’m a 16 year old white female NYC public early college school student; I’ll be graduating with a high school diploma and a complete A.A. degree. The first two years at my school are entirely devoted to completing the high school requirements, and the second two years are all college classes. As such, our high school grades are out of 95 (kind of; our school doesn’t give A+'s) and our college grades are out of 4.0. The college gpa is the one listed on the common app, but the high school transcript is sent in as well along with the school profile. The school is world-renowned and EXTREMELY rigorous. I’m sure you’re sick of hearing that last sentence on this forum, so I’m now going to apologize for typing it. I’m sorry. I’m very sorry.

According to data from last year’s graduating class, ~80% of the students in the college program had gpas of below 3.5, with the majority being between 3.0-3.5. Top 10% is probably around 3.7-3.8. No one really gets higher than a 3.9, though legend has it a few have slipped by over the years. The school does not officially rank.

SAT I: 2230, 1450 CR+M
SAT II: Taking Bio and Literature on June 6th. Also took World History in 10th grade but I’m not sending it
ACT: none

Essay: Not done editing since the flow needs some work, but I’ve been told the writing is strong and the tone is good. The topic is my love of comedy.

High school GPA: 88.7 (Higher because of art class; a buncha b+'s here and there and a three c+'s and a c…yeah, i know.)
College GPA: ~3.7 (hopefully raised to a 3.75+ by the end of this year. My progress report for this semester had me at a 3.85)

Letter of Rec: from my Bio teacher (upward trend in that class), seminar teacher (apparently my writing is some of the bed he’s read all year), and painting teacher.

Counselor Rec: Going to be good, I think! My advisor and I are super duper tight.

Awards: None :frowning: My school doesn’t really offer any. No honor roll or anything like that either, and I’m not a very competitive person so I don’t really apply for many competitions, though my friend did give me a “most anxious for no reason award” he wrote on a piece of paper.

Senior Year Course Load (predicted, since we can add/drop next year): Immunology, Calc II, Sophomore Seminar, Gothic Literature, Latin 203, Advanced Painting, possibly Health

Supplementary stuff: artwork, photography, writing… the usual stuff, really.

Extracurriculars: painting, violin (private lessons and a chamber music group), senior editor of school art magazine, design editor of yearbook, founding member of sci-fi appreciation club, set design for school plays, babysitting, involved in school activism network (helped moderate a school-wide conference, attended protests, etc.), summer job as a camp counselor, volunteering with that camp company throughout the school year, summer illustration/photography intensive courses, etc. I also taught myself to make typography videos for fun and I write prose and sample TV scripts sometimes.

Schools (from most to least liked):

Brown
Davidson
Skidmore
Northwestern
Vassar
Oberlin
Tufts
Bowdoin
Grinnell
Mount Holyoke
Goucher
(insert more safeties here)

Thanks! :slight_smile:

bump? (sorry :frowning: )

This may sound weird but I’m pretty positive I know what school you’re talking about. My mom begged me to apply there :)) . School with acceptance rates so low (under 20%) should always be considered a reach to some extent. You’re pretty tough to judge because while you high school gpa is on the low side, you’re college gpa is excellent. I’d say you have a strong chance for skidmore, oberlin, and grinnell, but I wouldn’t count you out for schools like davidson, vassar and northwestern. It’s unpredictable how they’re going to take your associates into account, but I think you have a shot especially if your stats are accompanied by strong essays and recommendations. In my opinion, your biggest reach is brown. But if that’s your first choice I would 100% apply. It’s better to try and get rejected than to not know if you would’ve been accepted. If you can chance me back that’d be great, I really want some unbiased opinions :slight_smile:

Thanks for the input! Yeah, the naviance from my school basically puts the avg. accepted gpa to skidmore, oberlin & grinnell at ~3.5, davidson vassar and northwestern at ~3.6, and brown and the other ivies at ~3.7-3.8, so I think your assessment is pretty accurate. :slight_smile:

Sorry, but I doubt the “love for comedy” topic will get you far, no matter how well it is written.

Why do you say that?

I think any well written essay works. On a side note, you are strong for all but brown, for which an award or two couldn’t hurt. You have a chance, but not as much as, say, the best basketball player or Intel winner. Good luck

@andyis Yeah, I’m starting to realize now I should have entered more competitions sophomore/junior year, but I’m really not that type of person at heart. All I have to my name is a National Merit Commendation on the PSAT, which is basically insignificant. Thank you for your input!

Np. It isn’t going to hurt you in most colleges, except when competiion is too haRd. In such a case, perhaps write a really good essay

@andyis That makes sense. I’ll try my best on the essay.

Bumpity bump?

Update: My college GPA is 3.72 and my high school GPA is apparently higher than I thought: 90.58.