With my low list of ECs can I still get into Middlebury?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Middlebury College
1

<p>I'm currently a junior.</p>

<p>User Name: sisu92
Gender: F
College Class Year: 2010
High School: Public
High School Type: One or two kids are accepted by schools such as Brown and Dartmouth every few years.
Family's income: Approximately $60,000
Location: southern Maine
Race: Caucasian and Native American</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>GPA - Unweighted: 94.83
GPA - Weighted: 97.025
Class Rank: 2 of 218</p>

<p>Classes:</p>

<p>9th Grade:
English 1 Honors
Geometry Honors
Integrated Science Honors
World History to 1920 Honors
Spanish II Honors
Physical Education (Required)
Art Foundations Honors
Computer Applications (Required)</p>

<p>10th Grade:
English 2 Honors
Algebra II Honors
Chemistry Honors
Health (Required)
American History to 1920 Honors
Spanish III Honors
Personal Fitness (Required)
Painting</p>

<p>11th Grade:
AP English Literature
Newspaper I (the school newspaper meets during school)
Advanced Math Honors
IB Spanish I (same as Spanish IV)
Biology Honors
U.S. & World History 1920-Present Honors
Geography (Required)</p>

<p>Prospective 12th Grade Schedule:
AP English Language and Composition
Newspaper II
AP Calculus AB
IB Spanish II (same as Spanish V)
Physics Honors
AP Studio Art
Photography</p>

<p>This past year has been the first year that my school has offered IB courses.</p>

<p>Scores:</p>

<p>ACT: Not taken yet.
SAT Critical Reading: 690
SAT Math: 590 *I know this is bad- I'm going to take it again.
SAT Writing: 690</p>

<p>I also plan to take SAT Subject Tests in English Literature and Spanish.</p>

<p>I have taken my AP test for AP English Literature, but I don't know my score yet.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
-School newspaper for 2 years (by the end of my senior year)--I was a staff writer and member of the art department this year, and I will be the head of the art department next year
-Big Brothers Big Sisters for 2 years (by the end of my senior year)
-First team basketball - 1 year
-First team lacrosse - 1 year</p>

<p>Over the summer I'm going to volunteer at either the local retirement home or the animal shelter. Next year I'm going to join the Interact Club (does a lot of projects in the community) and apply for National Honors Society.</p>

<p>Honors and Awards:
-Yale Book Award 2009 for Outstanding Personal Character and Intellectual Promise
-Women of Inspiration Essay Contest - Honorable mention in 9th grade</p>

<p>Recommendations:
-My guidance counselor loves me and already told me he's going to be sure to right me a very good one.
-My Spanish teacher, whom I will have had for 3 out of my 4 years of high school, will write a good one I'm sure.
-My history teacher really likes me and has told me she respects me a lot, so I expect hers will be very good.</p>

<p>I'm quite good at drawing, painting, and especially photography, so I plan to send some artwork with my application.</p>

<p>Middlebury is my dream college because I want to double major in Spanish and another language (maybe German). My ideal career would be to work as an interpreter for the European Union.</p>

2

<p>You will be a competitive applicant in their pool…keep up the stellar academics, and focus on a passion in your EC - writing perhaps? Be sure you like an outdoor, very cold weather, remote, yet very beautiful campus with very intellectual people!! Be sure to visit!</p>

3

<p>Ok, thank you for the advice. Yeah, I visited it in April, and I thought it was gorgeous. Luckily living in Maine has prepared me for the cold weather!</p>

4

<p>ditto what springisintheair said. you are a good candidate and i suspect middlebury will give you serious consideration. of course, a suggestion is to expand your list of ‘dream colleges’ during this next year. spend lot’s of time on college websites and visit as many as you can. there are so many good schools out there. having a favorite is natural, but being aware of, and open to, options is only going to help.</p>

<p>good luck.</p>

5

<p>I agree completely. You have quite a good shot at Middlebury, but don’t be completely set on it, because no matter who you are, there’s a very high chance of rejection.</p>

6

<p>I got into Midd and my extracurricular activities were not any more stellar than yours are :slight_smile: </p>

<p>I basically had 4 or 5 that I was incredibly passionate about, so just make sure you stress how devoted you are to the ones that you participate in! Further, make sure you study, study, study for the SAT so that you can become an even more competitive applicant!</p>

7

<p>You have an excellent academic record and your ECs are good. You need to get those test scores up. The fact that you’re part Native American will help a fair bit. Good luck!</p>

8

<p>I think you are approx in the 50% of accepted students… your scores definitely need to come up, especially in Math if you’ve been in honors and are slated to take AP next year. I might ask why avoid the AP science, though.</p>

<p>I think the EC’s are fine. But like someone else said, I would push for a deeper connection to something there. BTW what does first team mean? Varsity?</p>

9

<p>I was accepted ED this year and would just like to give a few pointers that have been bouncing around in my head :)</p>

<p>My biggest piece of advice is to not worry so much about the length of your ECs list but rather how in-depth you are with them. This is pretty standard advice, but being President in one club is 10x better than being just a participant in 5 or 6.</p>

<p>Another thing I would say is that if you’re passionate about languages, show that with ECs. Middlebury’s language program definitely attracted me, so I angled my entire application towards my experiences with it and my passion. Sure, some people argue to go for “well-rounded” but if you can capitalize on one subject, then go for it. Maybe start a National Spanish Honor Society at your school? Ask a teacher to sponsor it, and you can then be president. Also, tutor in the language. That would not only show that you’re proficient in it but also that you love it enough to share it with others.</p>

<p>However, this is all dependent on the way you are going to wish to present yourself. I see the ECs you’re thinking of and I really don’t mean to be harshly critical, but I would definitely suggest trying to to volunteer in something new or something that will correspond to your interests but also to the future career you wish to have. One of the biggest things my friends and I talked about this year after the whole admissions frenzy in March (April? Mine was ED, so December for me =P) is that we wish we would have done more involved or less typical ECs. Not saying that volunteering at a retirement home is too “boring” for colleges, but you definitely want to make yourself stand out and show that you’re genuinely interested in helping people and NOT just doing it to put it on the application. Again, this may sound harsh but I mean it with the best intentions.</p>

<p>Also, study for the SAT…! If you work hard enough at it (practice enough tests, learn enough vocabulary, etc.) I guarantee your score will improve. It doesn’t mean 100% of the decision, but you don’t want them to look at it and discount you for it. Also, if you score really well on the Spanish Subject Test it will help you 100x in the admissions process.</p>

<p>Hmmm… lastly, I would also suggest really pouring yourself into your essay. You can show them how different and passionate of a person you are with it, especially if you know how to write well (Middlebury loves good writers!). When I say “pour yourself into it,” though, I do not mean overwork it. What I mean is, just place your most honest and intimate voice into the essay by writing about something fresh, interesting, and unique to you. If you can pull this off, you will definitely impress them :)</p>

<p>So… yeah. I hope all of this helps, and I hope it’ll help relieve just a tiny bit of the stress I also went through applying to Midd :D</p>

<p>P.S. Pick up the book “How to get into top colleges” (or something like that). It has a yellow cover, and is pretty thick. You can probably find it in the library, and it is an extremely valuable asset!</p>

10

<p>Wow, thanks a lot for all the replies!</p>

<p>Modadunn- Yeah, I avoid AP science because honestly I hate science. I get good grades in it, but I’m by no means especially good at it. “First team” is the nice name my school has for the freshman team to make people feel better about not being athletic, haha.</p>

<p>tan2007- Unfortunately, my school doesn’t have presidents for clubs. However, I’ll look into starting a Spanish Honors Society and tutoring. Your advice about ECs isn’t too critical at all. I wanted to volunteer for something this summer, but I could only think of the typical activities in which I could get involved. I definitely need to study for the SATs too. I didn’t study at all for my first one, and my score dropped significantly from what I got on my PSATs (specifically with math). I’ll look for that book, as well. Thanks so much for all the advice!</p>

11

<p>If you can swing it… look for a way perhaps to connect your interest in spanish with the larger community over the summer. For example, there are probably city-wide organizations that over support or services to the hispanic community. You might start there. With a school the size of Midd, there are a lot of opportunities to get involved in the larger community and I think it would be a good experience, both for college admissions and just as a growth opportunity (who knows, it may be a catalyst for a great essay).</p>

12

<p>I think you have a good chance. Pros: Class Rank, Course Rigor, ECs. Advantage: You are a URM. However, those SAT scores do need some work.</p>

13

<p>Should I say it?? Yeah, I’ll say it…
You’re part native-american. The most highly sought after of URMs. You’ve got a good shot everywhere.
Oh, and you have more ECs than I did, haha.</p>