Steph,
I am in awe of your response...I think it rivals all of my posts up to this point in length! After reading your comments a few times over (I wanted to make sure I understood all of what you had to say!), I thought of some additional things I wish to share with you.
While I am thinking of it, I guess I'll share a bit more information "from the inside". I was working in admissions yesterday and was able to take a peek at the master list of admissions decisions, many of them for RD candidates. After flipping through it quickly (it was hundreds of pages long!), I came to the conclusion that admission into Lafayette this year is ultra-competitive. We got a ton of applicants for the Class of 2010, and stats (GPA/rank/SATs) were surprisingly high for many applicants (higher than my year for sure!).
In short, getting in just got a little tougher here at Lafayette, but don't let your hopes down yet!
From what you have said in your post, Steph, your high school is "above average". The public high school I went to would be considered somewhere between "competitive" and "very competitive" by Lafayette, and 96% of my class went on to college! Our average SATs were around 600 for both Math and Verbal (I'm not sure as to the exact figures, though). We usually get a good amount of Ivy acceptances...in my class of 283 students, I can think of about 20 Ivy acceptances and MANY upper-tier acceptances as well (Georgetown, NYU, Swarthmore, etc.) My high school offered about 15 APs.
I am just trying to place your high school in context, against "competing" high schools that wish to have their students go to Lafayette. Then again, you really didn't have much power over which high school you attended, did you? What admissions officers want to see is that you took advantage of all your particular high school has to offer.
Your grades are your strong point, and that is where it counts! Even though you may be a bit disappointed with yourself over not having taken a few more APs, three out of eleven is better than many Lafayette applicants (believe it or not!).
Hey, I am so glad to hear you are excelling in your Calculus class...that SAT Math score will be overpowered by an "A" in that course! You know, MANY Lafayette students come in from high school not having taken calculus, let alone AP Calculus. You are in the minority in that respect, which in this case is a great thing!
I am glad to hear your interview with the college chaplain (was it Rev. Colatch?) sounds like it went well. Keep in mind that about half of the applicants to Lafayette are not even offered an interview simply because there just isn't enough time to interview everyone. The fact that you had an interview with someone from campus is a plus, as long as you think it went fine overall.
I agree with your guidance counselor that your application has that inconsistency in what your scores show and what prospective major you selected on the application. The fact that you wrote about your interest in the science/medical field will most likely compensate for any apparent inconsistencies, though.
NHS seems like a fine addition to the résumé, just as I expected. I am also glad to hear about the extent of your participation in Club Ophelia. You were selected as one of six mentors from a class of 535 students? That's great! I'm very glad to hear you wrote up a little explanation for Club Ophelia because it will help carry more weight from an admissions officer's point of view. Same goes for your "volun-teen" position at Gran View Hospital.
Don't think those leadership conferences will necessarily HURT your chances of admission...they just won't really do much either way. So many students are offerred the opportunity to go to programs like those, and all it takes is a few dollar bills. Oh well!
Colgate is VERY similar to Lafayette, as I am sure you know. Both are about as tough to get in (Colgate is actually a tiny bit harder, actually!). Bucknell is on the same level, and is a great school as well. Ursinus is a solid choice, and even though you did not intially see youself there, if you were to get in and decide to go there, I am positive you would fit right in.
I know it is hard to think clearly about college admissions when all of your classmates are getting in ED while you wait to hear RD from all your schools, but don't let it get to you, Steph. You'll see clearly once you find yourself sitting at your desk at whatever college you end up attending. The first words out of your mouth at any college will be, "Damn, college is amazing!" The same thing happened to me...all my friends got in ED to all these amazing schools, but I just didn't have the balls to go ED anywhere. I ended up getting into great schools RD, and decided on Lafayette.
The rest, as they say, is history!
In response to your question about the importance of essays/recommendations...the rec from the guidance counselor (especially from a public high school such as yours) won't mean squat unless something terrible/amazing is said in it (doubt it!). The teacher recs are more important, yet unless they say something totally amazing/terrible, they really don't do much for your chances of admission.
The essays are your opportunity to distinguish yourself from the pack, your chance to shine...I hope you took advantage of that opportunity! The essay, more than any other part of the application, separates the "ADMITS" from the "REJECTS". The subjects of the essays doesn't matter...what matters is how you approached those subjects.
Steph, I know you probably already toured the campus, but if you feel you would like to check it out again (and maybe leave Colgate in the dust...) I would be more than happy to take you around personally. Either email me ahead of time telling me you are coming or just take a tour MWF at 11am (those are my times). I'll give you the inside scoop on anything and everything, and promise not to hold back with the honesty of my responses. Is Bucks County just south of Northampton County? Aren't you within a quick drive to campus? I get a good vibe from the attitude of your responses on this board and think you would benefit from a personal tour, just you and your family.
If you want to take me up on my offer, just shoot me an email at
saydej@lafayette.edu. If not, no problem! Don't feel pressured into coming if you have already seen the campus a hundred times.
You are right that college is "extremely busy", but I will ALWAYS find the time to respond to questions from prospective students such as yourself. I don't get paid to do all this posting...I just love doing it.
Well, did I reclaim the crown for longest post in this thread??? It is very possible that you have been defeated! Ha-HA!
All the best,
J