What are my chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Pomona College
1

<p>Hey everyone. I'm a HS senior who's very interested in Pomona, along with a few other similar schools (Reed, Swarthmore, etc). I think Pomona would be a good fit and feel pretty confident I would be able to handle the workload, but I'm not sure my stats are really good enough, and I don't have much that stands out in my application. I'm a white dual-citizen male living in the Midwest, who needs some grant money to be able to attend (we can pay maybe $40000 a year). </p>

<p>My grades and scores:
-3.6 GPA. I go to a very rigorous high school (top 10 in the US) and colleges are supposedly understanding of lower grades. But this is still something I'm worried about. My grades this year are all A's in a very heavy schedule.
-2350 SAT -- 800 reading, 750 math, 800 writing
-800 World History, 770 US History, 770 Literature SATs
-No ACT or AP scores (my school doesn't do APs)</p>

<p>EC's:
-Track for 3 years (nothing special)
-Guitar for 4 years (again, no special honors)
-Theatre -- I've written, acted, and directed for various student productions over the last 2 years. Right now I'm co-directing a 30-minute play, and plan on writing for/directing the school sketch show at the end of the year. I've also been on organizing committees the last two years.
-Writing -- I've written a number of short stories + 1 novel on my own. This year I was hired to write background story for a locally produced video game, but there hasn't been much it yet.
-Writing tutor
-Environmental work in Germany 1 summer</p>

<p>Rec's:
-Counselor - probably moderate
-English teacher - very strong
-Sociology teacher - very strong
(Should I get another one here? Maybe my German or US history teacher?)</p>

<p>Awards:
-National Merit Semi-Finalist
-Second in state German test</p>

<p>My interview went really well -- I met an alum at a nearby cafe and we talked for over 2 hours. I think I did well and the way she answered my questions really convinced me that Pomona would be right for me. </p>

<p>Basically, I'm worried that my lack of really prestigious activities/leadership, along with my low-ish GPA is going to cause problems for me. I think my essays are good but will that be enough to give me a good shot at this?</p>

2

<p>I would recommend applying EDII; the competition in RD might make you less impressive. EDII is the weakest pool Pomona has so you’re likely to stand out better.</p>

<p>You can also back out of EDII if the FA doesn’t work out, while at the same time applying for your other schools via RD.</p>

3

<p>Your SAT scores are good. Of course, many have top scores. Don’t write something in your app that conveys a lack of confidence in your EC’s or qualifications - don’t write what you wrote above. Write about why your activities are important to you. Class rank matters more than grades. Pomona really likes a high ranking. I would caution you about thinking that your high school can actually be ranked against others. That is a fallacy. Some are very tough, of course. Colleges generally know which ones are which. But seeing it ranked highly in something like the WSJ doesn’t mean much. There are 35,000 high schools in this country. Don’t write something like that in your app, either.</p>