skibro

Hi, I'm from the northeast and I'm really interested in Middlebury (1 because it's a good school and 2 because I'm outdoorsy). Could you please chance me for early decision and regular decision? Here are some stats:

GPA: 3.7 unweighted

SAT I: 700 CR 740 M 680 W (I am retaking again so they might improve)
SAT II: 720 US History 760 Chemistry (I am taking the math II, will probably be in the 700-750 range)
AP Scores: 5 AP US History 5 AP Chemistry

Course work:

Junior Year
AP Chemistry
AP US History
Honors American Literature
Honors Precalculus
Honors Spanish 4

Senior Year
AP Economics
AP Calculus AB
AP Law and Government
AP English Literature
Honors Physics

With the exception of Physics and Calculus this year, I am taking the hardest courses available at my school (there's AP Physics and AP Calc BC, but I'm avoiding AP Physics because it's taught by a horrible teacher and I thought BC would be over the top)

EC's:

Eagle Scout
Leader of independent study course at school (we're building and updating an electric-hydrogen fuel cell hybrid vehicle)
Member of the Free Thinkers Club (intellectual debate, etc.)
Member of BuildOn Club (aka Building with Books, charity organization)
Member of Ski and Snowboard Club

Personal stuff that might/will affect admission:

Caucasian Male
No financial aid needed
I'm a big traveler (have been to 6 continents)
Outdoorsy (have skied literally everywhere, am an Eagle Scout)

Thanks a lot, this means a lot to me, and I'll be willing to chance you back!

limabeans

You're in their ballpark. Can't say much more than that. It's a tough school to get into. Did you say yes to their Feb admit?

PS: what was your Eagle project?

skibro

Hi limabeans,

I restored a playground at a local church. I mulched the playground over (it had sand before), installed a fence, and did some landscaping. I had to raise over $2000 for the project but it was definitely worth it!

arcadia

Does your GPA put you in the top 10% of your class?

OldbatesieDoc

If you really want Middlebury, consider ED. I'd also visit, ask to stay overnight, contact a teacher/EC advisor who might think you are special, and in general make a pest of yourself. My genius white middle class New Yorker son-800 CR 760 M 690 WR with 3 SAT-2s in the >750 range, a 4.0 GPA in IB, president student gov., editor in chief of the newspaper, who won NYS best editorial page and best Editorial, and personally progammed the on-line version of the paper, with excellent recommendations, was wait-listed. Be very much in their face, because once they take all the athletes, alums, first-generation, ethnically interesting and geographically diverse students, there just aren't that many spots left for you!

lagunal

Waitlisted?!
So the 'white' and 'new yorker' part may have been too crowded?
What percentage are from the West Coast?

Modadunn

Just going to throw this out there and not trying to be snarky in the least: 690M on the SAT is not a genius made. In fact, while excellent I agree, 2250 is only slightly above the school's mid-50% range (1930-2210). The previous year 50% was 1900-2230 (a slightly larger range).

Still.. I would agree that a lot of kids have great stats (just like middle class NYer) who apply and fall in all three camps: Accepted, denied and waitlisted. I would also agree that if you are sure Midd is the school for you, your odds might be better early decision since last year more than half of the incoming fall '09 and feb '10 classes were accepted ED. Also based on last year's offers of admission, it would also seem to work slightly in your favor to come from a private school. Of course the year before slightly favored public schools. And while I am pretty sure New York is not considered New England, 71% of this year's class are non-New Englanders.

OldbatesieDoc

Well, I know I'm his mother, but he is a genius. What I really meant was, there are so MANY qualified students, and not many spots.He wouldn't retake his SAT1 because "the writing part doesn't count"

OldbatesieDoc

And for anyone still holding their breath, he got in off the wait-list. But it took what I would describe as "grease".His dad is an academic and made lots of phone calls.It was a hard lesson for my son, but a realistic view of how the world works.He was very stubborn and wouldn't do anything beforehand to use connections, because he thought it wasn't fair.Ergo waitlisted at Harvard, Dartmouth, Amherst, Tufts and Middlebury. Talk about bad luck! It was his second choice(after the BIG H)which is why he didn't do ED.

tmat91

When you say geographically diverse, does that mean in the US too? Because I live in a very rural part of Washington State, will this give me an advantage over other applicants?

OldbatesieDoc

I say yes. Not big, but yes.

arcadia

If you're smart and from North or South Dakota, then you're in very good shape. Washington State is actually the 10th most represented state at Middlebury (just behind #9 New Hampshire). The 5th most represented state is California.

urbanslaughter

Hey Arcadia, I'd love to see those numbers. Where did you get them? Thanks.

arcadia

They're from the 2008 Middlebury Fact Book.

urbanslaughter

Thanks Arcadia!