Would anyone be willing to look at my chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Swarthmore College
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<p>I've never done this before, but I could really use some insight. Swarthmore is a top choice (not quite sure about ED though, finances and parents make it difficult) </p>

<p>Anyways, here are my stats:</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2200 (M: 740, CR: 710, W:750)
[</em>] SAT II: (These are not so good.) US: 680, Math 1: 720, French: 570 Lit: 700 Math 2: 680
[<em>] Unweighted GPA : 97.5/100
[</em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
[<em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): AP US History (5), AP Calc AB, AP French, AP Physics, AP French, AP English
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load:
First Semester: AP Calc AB, AP French, AP Physics, Shakespearean History, Photography, Research in Science (internship)
Second Semester: AP Calc AB, AP French, AP English, Photography 2, US Foreign Policy, Research in Science (internship), What Makes a Modern Classic: Modern Literature
[<em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Awarded a science internship with Westinghouse award winner, nominated and chosen for a writing program at the Juniper Young Institute for Writers (through UMass Amherst) 2 years in a row.
[/ul]
Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Peer Educator- student leaders on hall at my boarding school (Co-Head, 1 year), Writing Tutor (Co-Head, 2 years), Model UN (Co-Head, 2 years) Acting in Plays (3 years), Slavery No More- abolitionist group at school (2 years), Triangle- Literary magazine (1 year), Dance class (4 years), Tango (2 years), Drums (3 years),
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Ben & Jerry's (summer/break job)
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Interning at NYSM in lab, writing a paper with science researchers (2 years) some of the extracurriculars I listed are community service.
[<em>] Summer Activities: Working, reading, etc.
[</em>] Essays: My common app essay was about being short (I'm about 5 ft. tall) but, really, it was about how stubbornly persistent I can be.
My Why Swat is that I didn't want to like Swarthmore because my cousin, who also attended my high school, went there. Ultimately I fell in love despite my bias and am interested in the Honors Program and passion of the student body.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: I haven't read them, but I am very close with the teachers who wrote them
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Again, I have not read this.
[<em>] Additional Rec: One of the scientists whom I am writing my paper with wrote me a rec.
[</em>] Interview: I loved my interview. Time flew by and I think we connected really well. I got to talk about all of the things I wanted to.
[/ul]
Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): NY
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: Private, all-girls boarding school.
[</em>] Ethnicity:White
[<em>] Gender:Female
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):[/ul]</p>

<p>Again, any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I am a passionate student and I love learning. I know that I felt Swarthmore was a great fit, which is the most important thing to me.</p>

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<p>I feel like I have a pretty good armchair quarterback sixth sense about what Swarthmore is looking for and I don’t have a clue how to “chance” you other than to say that you obviously have the “stats” to be accepted at Swarthmore and your app will, therefore, make the cut into the pile that gets seriously considered.</p>

<p>I believe the fact that you headed up your school’s writing tutor program will probably be the thing that gets the most notice. Swarthmore is unusually committed to its Writing across the Curriculum program and is a leader in that area.</p>

<p>The downside? As you have probably already figured out, it’s a competitive stack of applications from white NY females.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>Thank you for your input!</p>

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<p>Your stats are good enough, but not exceptional enough to be desirable. I agree that demographics will hurt you the most; it’s a pity you can’t do ED, since that can mitigate the demographic disadvantage. The combination of writing and science is intriguing. I also like your summer work experience in spite of attending a private boarding school.</p>

<p>I would say you have a reasonable shot, but it’s still a reach.</p>

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<p>“My Why Swat is that I didn’t want to like Swarthmore because my cousin, who also attended my high school, went there. Ultimately I fell in love despite my bias and am interested in the Honors Program and passion of the student body.”</p>

<p>HA!</p>

<p>that is so hilarious. i took almost the EXACT approach to my why swat essay around 4 years ago… </p>

<p>my opening was something to the effect of: </p>

<p>“When I first started thinking about the college admissions process, Swarthmore was the only school in the country NOT on my list. This, of course, is because my brother Eric goes there and loves it to death. I was afraid of being suffocated in comparisons to the overachiever, just like I had been in high school, where I’ve only recently shaken the nickname ‘Baby Eric.’ In a small community like Swarthmore’s, third party association would be inevitable, and, eager to start fresh and be my own man, I was hell-bent on staying away from the place. But that was before I visited campus.” </p>

<p>blah blah blah…i basically went on to describe how my positive experience visiting led me to introduce it into my college admissions process full circle, ultimately realizing that the school’s academic programs were surprisingly congruent with my own academic desires/long-term intentions. i ended with the line: “For Swarthmore, I’m willing to be Baby Eric one more time.”</p>

<p>anyway, i ended up getting rejected cold. i don’t tell you this because i think the angle of the essay is intrinsically flawed–and i really don’t want to make you cynical about your own reaction to the question, as i think the best approach to the Why ‘X college’ essay is an honest one–but i do think they might have perceived my personal riff as somewhat disingenuous and pandering, and rightfully so, since i dont think i really did want to go there at the time. it really is a logical framing device when one’s otherwise uncertain about what to write; the approach conceivably could be hackneyed in the eyes of adcoms. then again, maybe we’re the only two to have ever done it for all i know, and maybe you’ll execute it better than i did–so i suppose you can should make sense of all this however you want and modify your topic at your own discretion.i mostly just thought it would be a cool story to share. </p>

<p>anyway, best of luck…like the others mentioned, you seem like a very impressive candidate… reasonably within swat’s range.</p>

<p>full disclosure: i had a lowish gpa (~3.6!)</p>

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<p>Thanks for replying! fisherman93, I hope you are happy with wherever you ended up for college.</p>