What are my Chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vassar College
1

<p>CHANCES</p>

<p>International student, female, applying ED 1 to Vassar, need a LOT of aid</p>

<p>Stats
Freshman year GPA: 3.1
Sophomore year GPA: 3.0 … and then HUGE leap…</p>

<p>British O-level results: 8 A’s in all 8 subjects… (4.0, if converted to GPA)
Junior year GPA: 3.9
British AS-level results: Eco = A… Bio = A… Chem = B (3.67 if converted to GPA)
Senior year GPA (first semester): 4.0</p>

<p>Got lots of B’s and C’s in first two years of high school (class of 50 students). Old school offered only till O levels. </p>

<p>Changed schools to do A levels. New school has 290 students in my batch. Very competitive. Have mostly A’s in new school, except for a B in chemistry. Have toughest course load in class – 5 A level subjects</p>

<p>Class rank = 4/290 (top 1.4%)</p>

<p>SAT II
Lit - 670 :(
Math I - 630 :(
Math II - 550 :(</p>

<p>(vassar says it'll consider the highest 2 but still :( )</p>

<p>ECAs:</p>

<p>MUSIC
* over 10 years of training in Indian classical music + Rabindrasangeet
* performed in school events
* sang on television twice
* won numerous awards outside school
* consecutively won the Certificate of Achievement in Music for 3 years in high school</p>

<p>DEBATE/ HOSTING:
* best speaker in semi finals in school debate in 9th grade
* runners up in finals in school debate – 9th grade
* participated in many interschool debates
* parliamentarian in winning team in EFA finals – 9th grade
* participated in 1st International Debate Workshop in Bangladesh 2004 – 11th grade
* parliamentarian in National Bangladesh Television English Debate championships in 2005
* nationally ranked as one of the top 5 debaters in Pre-worlds School Debate 2005
* general secretary of my school’s debating society
* was the emcee at numerous events held on national days outside school
* hosted the Edexcel International Conference in 2005</p>

<p>COMMUNITY SERVICE:
* raised funds for flood victims in 9th grade
* organized a fund raiser in neighborhood to collect money for the treatment of a child suffering from polio
* treasurer of school’s community service club – 11th and 12th grades
* raised funds in school wide food sale for a children’s ward in a local hospital – 12th grade </p>

<p>WRITING/OTHER CLUBS:
* contributor, school yearbooks – 9th and 10th grades
* essay got commended by the royal commonwealth society in 10th grade
* Associate Editor of school newsletter – 11th grade
* Editor-in-Chief of school newsletter – 12th grade
* member of Brine Pickles, a creative writer’s group
* recently was the youngest playwright to have a play staged at the British Council, Dhaka
* founded the first ever A level yearbook in my school (we have over 650 A level students in all the batches). Editor-in-chief of the yearbook.
* chief coordinator of the school’s reading club, which I founded
* completed a photography course from the South Asian Institute of Photography in 12th grade</p>

<p>ACADEMIC/ NON ACADEMIC HONOURS
* won the Certificate of Achievement in Economics in 9th grade
* won the Certificate of Achievement in English in 10th grade
* won the Daily Star Nation Builders of Tomorrow Award (given to candidates getting 6 A’s or above in their O levels) for 8 A’s.
* chosen by the school to be the Closing Assembly Speaker for the Class of 2004
* chosen by the class to give the speech at graduation</p>

<p>WORK EXPERIENCE
* executive feature writer of Rising Stars, the most popular weekly supplement of a national English newspaper (average circulation figure of 50000)
* tutured a middle school student in 11th grade</p>

<p>APPLICATION
* expecting good recommendations
* want to major in English and International Studies
* essay should be ok/good
* will mention that I want to be a writer
* SAT I: will give on Nov 5th: possible score:
Critical Reading ~ 700…
Writing ~ 650…
Math ~ 650-ish? (pessimistically speaking)</p>

2

<p>hate to do this... but... bump!... anybody?</p>

3

<p>I can't help you with chances, but i noticed you are applying to two of my top four choices, namely, Oberlin and Vassar. where else are you applying, and why did you choose those schools?</p>

<p>I picked them because...well, they seem similar curriculum-wise to Brown, which is my dream school.</p>

4

<p>well, i love the vassar campus (haven't visited, but from the pics and virtual tour), the friendly people, great eng dept, the whole... feel... of the school.</p>

<p>about oberlin, i know someone who went there and i probably won't send in my RD applications till i get a 'no' or 'maybe' from vassar in december (i'm doing ED)... however, i like the letters obelin sent, very international student friendly; they waive the application fee for internationals and i thought that was very thoughtful coz outside america, getting a money order/check addressed to an american college is a very bureaucratic procedure...</p>

<p>my heart belongs to vassar tho <em>sheepish smile</em> any feedback on the chances?</p>

5

<p>I wouldn't advise placing too much weight on what the people on this website are going to say about your chances.</p>

<p>I mean, think about it: who's going to be answering you? Other kids that are just as scared and nervous as you are. Unless the dean of admissions from Vassar comes to this website regularly, most likely anything you hear will be BS.</p>

<p>I'm actually pretty intrigued, you're applying to Vassar and Oberlin for almost the exact same reasons I am.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>And just for curiosities sake... where are you from?</p>

6

<p>bangladesh... u? :)</p>

7

<p>Bangladesh? wow. I'm just from America, but I'v ebeen all through the Caribbean and South America. </p>

<p>That's reallly amazing. GOOD LUCK!!!</p>

8

<p>that should make your essay very interesting. i DHLed my application on the 2nd.... i'm kinda worried about my SAT scores though :confused:</p>

<p>thanks and good luck with brown, you doing ed there?</p>

9

<p>finally took my SAT I for the first time. here are my scores. i would appreciate it if you guys read the first post and this one and give me an evaluation :)</p>

<p>CR = 780
Math = 670
Writing = 680 (essay = 12)</p>

<p>thanks in advance, and if there are any ED applicants out there, drop by and say hi. really excited about vassar - so please let me know what you think :D</p>

10

<p>I wouldn't worry too much about your test scores. You have tons of other things to make up for them and besides, your SAT 1 scores are quite good. Your grades show a huge upward trend and your ranking is awesome. All of your ecs etc sound great and combined with your academic information, they paint an interesting picture of who you are, etc. I think you have a good chance, personally, especially with a good essay. </p>

<p>Good luck. :)</p>

11

<p>OMG, I'm from Bangladesh too!</p>

12

<p>thanks for the feedback, seole. i feel slightly more hopeful - i hope vassar looks beyond my SAT II scores as well!</p>

<p>hello, business_freak, that's great. i don't see too many bangladeshis on CC! if you're from dhaka, it's quite likely that i either know you or someone from your school, haha... i love the fact that dhaka's so tiny and everyone knows everyone else. anyway, are you applying to vassar as well? :)</p>