Chance me for GW please?

gwgrad
Thu, 02 Aug 2012 08:55:20 +0000

Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Hispanic/Latino
First-generation student
Fluent in both English and Spanish



Good chance with the above. Both can be a good “hook.”

Downside is you’re from Maryland, where there are already a lot of GW students from. Are you from a small town? The ghetto where you had to overcome poverty and… ? The rich suburbs at a top ranking public school? How many people from your school or city apply to GWU? If you know a dozen classmates applying to GWU, your odds go down. Where you’re from influences admission decisions-- they want “diverse” students from every state, tons of countries, blah blah blah.

Good APs. Good GPA of 3.88. Weaker SAT.

Work on test scores this year.

Find a way to focus on one extracurricular and excel at it. I wouldn’t list all those extracurriculars on your app. Everyone applying does those sorts of things… you need to highlight what’s unique about your activities. Only list those that you had significant leadership roles in and accomplishments in. I.e., don’t list peer tutoring or usual memberships as those are too generic. Longer term extracurriculars are better and show your passion in whatever it is-- whether volunteering at some food pantry for 4 years or making varsity football of the high school team. You want to show long-term commitment to something if possible.

Have a good essay.

I’m guessing you’ll get in with the first item I mentioned. Improve the test score and nail the essay, and I would say you have a substantial chance.