What are my chances for various liberal arts schools?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Bowdoin College
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<p>Hi, I am new to College Confidential so please bear with me if I mess something up.</p>

<p>I was wondering if anyone could tell me how I stand with getting into some of the better liberal arts colleges (Not the Swarthmore type but the Bowdoin type, if you know what I mean.) I am considering applying to Bowdoin ED, Carleton, Middlebury, Colby, Bates, Grinnell, Washington and Lee, Denison, and Kenyon.</p>

<p>I have a 4.1 weighted GPA and a 31 ACT (I am expecting the ACT score to go up when I re-take it.) The relatively low GPA can be attributed to my miserable freshman year, though I have received mostly A’s since then (I am a rising senior.) I have heard that colleges, especially liberal arts, like improvement. Is there any degree of truth to this? Also, my high school is supposed to be one of the best, if not the best, public school in the country. I have taken a rigorous course load, with lots of honors and I will have taken six AP’s by the time I graduate. I have consistently taken summer school or taken lunch out of my schedule to accommodate all of my academic classes and music classes.</p>

<p>In terms of extra-curriculars, I have done a lot with music (I have heard that colleges like it when you have a passion and stick to it). Concert band for four years (clarinet), jazz band for four years (alto sax). Piano lessons for about eleven years. Pep band. Pit band. A/V stuff with school concerts. MYA (Midwest Young Artists, and we got to play at Millennium Park!) I have been a counselor at the local summer camp. During freshman year, I was an assistant coach for middle school science olympiad. I take tennis lessons. I am probably forgetting some things, but that is the gist of it.</p>

<p>I have not done much with the essays yet, but they will probably be pretty good–my teachers have told me that I am a good writer.</p>

<p>My teacher recommendations, or at least one of them, should be great. (My math teacher liked me so much that he invited me to help him teach the class next year. I don’t know if I can because of scheduling conflicts).</p>

<p>I am a white male–no help there.</p>

<p>I think that just about covers it. </p>

<p>Thanks,</p>

<p>Andy</p>

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<p>A lot depends on your essays I think, I had a mediocre GPA as well, high SATs, good teacher recs, strong ECs, etc and I still got into bowdoin. Don’t screw up your ACT, and do well on your SAT2’s.</p>

<p>Modesty aside, I think I wrote a pretty damn good common ap and supp essays, they were the only things that could set me apart from other people and I think I did a pretty good job at that.</p>

<p>And add Williams college to your list, I know it might seem unreachable, but I managed to get onto the waitlist despite doing a less than satisfactory job with my supplemental essay. Davidson is also a good school. Tufts too, though it is a university, it offers a liberal arts education as well as a good location in the form of Boston.</p>

<p>Also, do NOT screw up your senior year grades. Improvement is good, but with the heavy AP load and college apps, settle for at least maintaining your grades.</p>

<p>ALSO. I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. START WRITING/PLANNING YOUR ESSAYS DURING SUMMER. I ended up having to pump out 14 essays in three weeks because I thought I had forever to write. You will go through an identity crisis that will take you weeks, but more probably months to get through, and you won’t be able to REALLY write until you’ve gotten through the bulk of it.</p>

<p>And you might think about waiting a few weeks to settle into the senior routine before starting to write, but trust me the workload gets worse as you go on, so just get all that college essay stuff started so that you can get through the identity crisis stuff when you aren’t busting your ass in school. Of course you can scrap essays/ideas from summer if you encounter any new revelations as you approach the deadline, but if you do, make sure you can pump out something equally or even more amazing.</p>

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<p>Hey sorry for hijacking this thread but does it make sense to submit ACT <em>and</em> SAT II scores?</p>

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<p>Frag–</p>

<p>Thanks for the great info! Do you know when colleges release their prompts for admission essays?</p>

<p>Also…I just got a 32 on the ACT.</p>