<p>I have a very large gap between my grades and my SAT scores.
My GPA is probably between 3.5 or 3.6, which I think is below average for most selective liberal arts schools, but I scored a 2290 on my SAT (800 CR, 700 Math, 790 Writing) which is much better on the percentile scale.</p>
<p>I was never on a team, I was never in student government or anything, I'm going to be on frisbee club for 2 years, was in Community Service club for 4 years, Orchestra for 2 I took 1 AP junior year, and will take 3 senior year and will not go on a "senior slide" and I scored a 5 on my AP econ test.
I plan to major in some english oriented category, most likely creative writing or journalism, maybe economics and maybe minor in an environmental science. </p>
<p>What are my chances for being accepted to
Middlebury
Williams
Amherst
Carleton
Cornell
Swarthmore</p>
<p>And does it look like I'm eligible for any merit based scholarships?</p>
<p>Your SAT scores are good, but not outstanding. Remember, you have to look at the 75 percentile for selective schools because the first 25% are from athletes, URMs, and legacies. I don’t think your extracurriculars are very outstanding either. To be honest, I don’t think you have much of a chance at any of these schools. You can apply, but it’s up to you to pay the application fees and spend time filling out supplements. I think you should try looking in the College Search board for a less selective college that would still meet your needs.</p>
<p>Or did you have something significant affecting your life and schoolwork? If you do, you should try to play that up as much as possible.</p>
<p>I think that’s a little harsh, chaos. Swarthmore and Cornell are definitely big reaches though.</p>
<p>Yeah, my gpa is probably in the lower 25th percentile for those schools. But according to us newa and world report I’m above the 75th percentile for all of the schools in cr and writing which is really all I care about. I’m 60% sure I’ll get into middlebury because that’s one of the only schools where the cr/reading average for most accepted applicants is hire than math. Cornell is mostly a pipe dream, and I am pretty sure Amherst/Williams will be hard but I thought swarthmore was the least elective out of all these schools?</p>
<p>Uhhh, if you had read my post, you would’ve realized that 75% is more like 50% if you don’t have any hooks. So maybe you’re in the 60%, but without substantial ECs or grades to back it up.</p>
<p>Swarthmore is very selective. Probably top 5 among LACs.</p>
<p>Are recommendations any help? What about publishing a story in a journal or something like that? I’ve considered doing so. I really do not want to go to a public college. And I want only cold liberal arts colleges, in the literal sense.</p>
<p>You also have to realize that most LACs do not offer majors in creative writing or journalism–I know Carleton doesn’t. You’d major in “English”.</p>
<p>The schools you listed do not give much merit aid at all. At most, you might get $1000-$2000 a year for being a National Merit Finalist…are you one?</p>
<p>I would do much more research and expand your list to include less selective LACs (there are plenty of them). Look beyond the top 10 USNWR-ranked schools, and recognize that liberal arts colleges place more value on extracurriculars than public universities in general, which might put you at a disadvantage.</p>