Chance me for Univeristy of St. Andrew’s (Scotland), College of William and Mary, UNC Chapel Hill, University of Washington @ Seattle, Trinity Dublin (Ireland), UVA, UCSD, UMich!
I moved in the middle of my junior year from Hawai’i to Colorado so some things to consider are the different honor societies and APs I didn’t have available to me in Hawai’i but my counselor says school profiles should discuss those topics.
Basics: not a legacy, not a first generation college applicant, white, female, military, either out-of-state or international (American) for all colleges
Courses:
9: H Bio, H Freshmen English, H Geo, H U.S. History
10: H Alg 2, H Chem, H Sophomore English, AP World
11: AP Psych, AP Lang and Comp*
12: H American Lit, H Pre-Calc, AP Gov and Pol, AP Lit, AP Bio
My three AP scores are for World History (4), Psychology (4), Language and Composition (5).
*I took Spanish up to level 3. The regular courses I took throughout high school were subjects like Street Law, Anatomy and Physiology, Trig, Intro to Drama, Film as Literature, Photography 1 and 2, and Drawing and Painting - all of which were taken because I took all of the honors courses offered in Hawai’i.
**I took all of the honors courses my high school in Hawai’i offered by junior year.
GPA: 3.8 (W), 4.6 (U) I got mostly straight A’s with the exception of 2 B’s.
ACT: N/A
SAT: 1350 which I know is not the most competitive score for these schools.
SAT Essay: 22/24
Class Rank: 34/365 (top 9%)… competitive high school (19th in state)
- was valedictorian at other school, not sure if important to note at all because not exactly a competitive school but maybe helps with the fact I continued to get mostly straight A’s on the mainlamd
Extracurriculars:
Hawai’i - 5 seasons of club outrigger canoe paddling for five years for short distance season, 1 season of club outrigger canoe paddling for long distance, 3 seasons of outrigger canoe paddling with the school, 1 season of track and field, art club for two years, photography for one, NHS for one, employed as a student helper at a local library from Dec 2015 to Dec 2016
Colorado - employed at a local movie theater since early May of 2018, NEHS, Rho Kappa, Key Club, NSHS, NHS***, Girls State
***I joined all these clubs either second semester junior year or first semester senior year because none of these clubs were available in Hawai’i.
Community Service****:
HI - Friends of _____ Public Library, _____ Canoe Club (beach cleanups and selling merchandise), painting a school mural, _____ Mortgage Players (series of plays where I worked concessions)
CO - book reviewer on local library district’s website, soup kitchen volunteer, numerous NHS type club in-school community service hours
****I know the services aren’t entirely consistent because of the move, but I have about 100+ hours.
Essays: They are on being a military dependent (9 states and 11 schools since I was born) and paddling the Na Wahine O Ke Kai (an international 40+ mile long distance race between the Hawaiian islands of Moloka’i and O’ahu) at 16. I think I’m a talented writer and that these essays are well-written.
Recommendations: College counselor at new school is going to talk about me being military and well-traveled/adaptable and the other rec is from AP Lang and Comp teacher at new school. Both are positive and I am confident in them.
Awards: AP Scholar junior year, Excellency in English 10 H sophomore year, Principal’s List (4.0+) every year, and a certificate from Girls State junior going into senior year.
Possible Majors/Interests: law, political science, history, international relations
I know some of these are reach schools, I just don’t know if they are too much of a reach that I shouldn’t apply??? I’d be applying early action to all the American schools that allow early action. I visited William and Mary in August and I absolutely love the campus (and their JD program w/ St. Andrew’s) but the only thing I’m wary about is that they only have regular or early decision, which is binding, and one of the colleges (either UVA or W&M) said on tour that applying early is statistically advantageous. Also, if you think there are any schools I should be considering - the only one I didn’t mention was Boulder - let me know!