What are my chances of being accepted to Fordham?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Fordham University
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<p>My GPA and class rank aren't the greatest but I go to a public but pretty competitive and highly ranked high school. </p>

<p>Class rank- 49/322
GPA- 3.67
All honors and AP classes
one year advanced in math
ACT- 29
Intended major is biology/ pre-med with a minor in Spanish</p>

<p>Work experience:
Lifeguard and Swimming Lesson Teacher</p>

<p>volunteer service:
Jingle Bell Walk (Team Captain)
Worked with the American Academy of pediatrics on a video textbook that will educate professionals about how to work with adolescents
Child Life Volunteer at the Local Children’s hospital in the oncology (cancer) and bone marrow transplant units (I spent half of the day working with directly cancer paients in their rooms and playrooms and the other half of the day attending seminars about medicine)
I went on a spanish cultural immersion and service trip to Costa Rica where I organized activities for and played with children at a rural elementary school and I also worked on a farm to help farmers harvest crops</p>

<p>extracurricular activities:
Color Guard
Oboe in wind ensemble (honors band)
La Soceidad Honoraria Hispanica and World Language Honors Club
Medical scholars club
National Honor Society
Two varsity swim teams (one for school the other for a club in the summer)
High School CYO at my church (catholic youth organization)</p>

<p>Awards:
Medalist in District and National Spanish Contests</p>

<p>Leadership:
Teen group leader-children’s hospital (I organized and presented a project to the doctors and staff at the hospital about what I had learned during the program)
Medical Scholars Club Vice President</p>

<p>additional information:
academically gifted program (seminar and independent study program because I have a GIEP (high IQ) )
Certified in first aid, CPR and AED.
I'm not sure if this is relevent but I met a physician assistant at the Children's Hospital who allowed me to shadow her for a day in the cardiac intensive care unit and in the cardiac operating room</p>

<p>My essay is going to be about my struggle with a chronic illness called ankylosing spondylitis and how it inspired me to volunteer at the hospital where I'm treated to help other kids with medical conditions and how that experience really impacted me and further inspired me to go into pediatrics.</p>

<p>What do you think my chances of being accepted to Fordham are? What can I do to improve my chances? Thank you so much!</p>

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<p>I would say your chances are good. Your ACT score is in the higher end of their range and your GPA is right around the average, with a challenging courseload as well. Your extracurriculars are very good as well. And yes, you absolutely should include your shadowing of a physician. It’s related to your major and they will like to see it.</p>

<p>As for improving your chances, you can always try to demonstrate interest in Fordham. Demonstrating interest means visiting the campus or attending local information sessions, or signing up for their e-mail list, or calling Fordham to ask them a question. Colleges like to see that kind of stuff because they want students that are passionate about their college. </p>

<p>Other than that, you can try to raise your ACT score. It’s good in itself but I have heard that Fordham really likes high SAT and ACT scores in admissions, and it’s also a big factor they use to determine whether and how much merit aid you get. They are trying to raise their ranking so they almost always accept and give money to people with high test scores. So retaking the test if you think you’ll do better is very good for Fordham.</p>

<p>Good luck! I just applied to Fordham Rose Hill a few days ago. Is Fordham your #1 school?</p>