Chances at Honors/BK

mada34 · October 22, 2011, 11:07pm

At the moment, Maryland is my number one choice. It’s an awesome school, in a good location, has great course/study abroad opportunities, and is (relatively) cheap.

I was wondering, what are my chances at acceptance to the Honors college? What would my chances for the B/K Scholarship be?

Thanks!

Me:
Gender/Ethnicity – Male/White

9th/10th/11th GPA – 3.9 Unweighted, 4.1 Weighted. ((My Freshman year wasn’t my best (A mix of As and A-s, with one B+), but that was due in part to the death of my father halfway through the year.))

Ranking – No rankings at our school, but I’m in the top 5%, or number 1-3/70, I believe.

Junior year schedule/grades – AP English Lit. (A), AP US History (A), Physics (A), Precalculus (A), and Spanish III (A)

Senior year schedule/first trimester grades – AP Biology (A), AP Spanish Language (A), AP Calculus AB (A), AP English Language (A+), and Physics II (A)

APs taken – AP US History (5) and AP English Lit (5). ((Our school only offers 2 APs before Senior year (US and Lit, obviously) and in Senior year we only have access to 4 (the ones that I’m taking).))

SAT – 2200: 760 CR, 680M, 760 W ((strange, since math has always been my best subject, but oh well.))

SAT IIs – 720 Mathematics Level 2, 690 Spanish, 770 U.S. History. ((The Spanish test is a little bit embarrassing, as I’m near-fluent. I realized after the test that I had not turned to the last page, thinking that I already finished…))

ECs:
– Martial arts all through middle school and high school, began Tai Chi in high school.
– “Little Dragon” martial arts instructor to kids 7 and under, Tai Chi forms and weapons instructor to adults (both since junior year.)
– Executive tutor (paid) with P2P Tutors, around 4 hours per week
– Tutor at the National Center for Children and Families, mostly helping children from abused and broken homes who dropped out of high school to get their GEDs, 1-2 times per week
–Tutor at the National Center for Children and Families’ Greentree Shelter (tutoring math, reading, science, etc to high schoolers living at the shelter) 1-2 times per week.
– Volunteering every Sunday with an ASPCA vet, for a total of well over 100 hours
– Not sure how good this will look, but I ran track in Freshman year, participated in my school’s musical Sophomore year, and played the violin in our Symphonic Rock Orchestra Junior year
–Peer Leader (I work with incoming freshmen and help them adjust to high school life – a leadership role at our school)

Awards, etc:
–Inducted into the Cum Laude Society in my Junior year (top 5% of my class)
–Black belt in martial arts and Tai Chi
–Finalist as well as 3rd place in the US Capitol Classics Chinese Open (Martial arts)
–Tutor of the Month at my tutoring company
–I went on a community service/language immersion/homestay trip to Honduras for one month this summer. I came back with an additional 40+ hours of community service, teaching in a rural kindergarten (an INCREDIBLE experience), and near-fluent in Spanish.
–Wrote a 61-page thesis on the history of the desegregation movement (specifically the desegregation of the University of Georgia) with an analysis of my one-on-one interview with Vernon Jordan for my APUSH class, don’t know if that counts for anything?
–Maryland Distinguished Scholar nominee for Junior year
–High Honor Roll member every trimester since the 2nd of Freshman year.
–One of my short responses was about me starting a round-robin, all parent volleyball tournament at my school where the $10 registration fee went to provide daily snack (the only meal for many children) for the school that I volunteered at in Honduras.

Recs and Essay: Great teacher recs from my APUSH, Spanish, and Precal teachers. All three volunteered to write for me without me asking, which I took as a good sign, and my Spanish teacher went on the trip to Honduras with me, so she’ll be speaking to my out-of-school life.
My essay is pretty deep and creative (my college counselor seemed to like it), and I am a strong writer.

Also, what is UMD’s policy on arts in GPA, if anyone knows? My school includes arts in the reported GPA, and it drops my weighted GPA down to a 3.95 for 9/10/11th grade… Our art teachers almost never give A’s, as they feel that students don’t take the courses seriously. Will UMD recalculate it, along with adding my senior year grades?

Thanks in advance, everyone!

HomeschoolMD · October 23, 2011, 10:05pm

I think your chances at Honors are excellent. But your BK chances are less than certain. SAT scores may be a bit low for BK. Also, you state that you were a Maryland Distinguished Scholar nominee, which I presume that was because your school nominated you and not from your PSAT scores? Plus your gender/ethnicity does not help you (this is not me talking, just how the system works, sorry :)). However your EC involvement is incredible, you have a great GPA, and you are bilingual (although you point out you were embarrassed by your SAT-II Spanish score). I think you should focus on your leadership skills, especially in your essay. UMD would like to envision all of their BK scholars to be leaders of their respective fields in the future. Best of luck to you!

marylandmomof2 · October 24, 2011, 8:15am

The MD Distinguished Scholar program was canceled for this year’s high school seniors after they were nominated, so there were no finalists or semi-finalists, only nominees :(

mada34 · October 24, 2011, 1:07pm

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it! I’m glad that I have a decent shot at Honors, and I was anticipating that BK would be a tossup for almost anyone (especially with SATs under 1500.)

Where in the essay should I comment on my leadership ability? I was having a hard time with this before, actually, as most of the questions don’t seem to lend themselves to showing off your abilities. I chose to write about (1) making Unbroken the incoming freshmen summer reading book, as it showcases the resilience of the human spirit, which I related to the death of my father. And (2) a personal/creative essay about how I (the white, curly-haired, Christian boy) am unique–my colorblindness. Both demonstrate creativity and writing ability, but not so much leadership. Should I consider changing these before I submit?

And yeah, I was confused about the Distinguished Scholar thing… My principal let me know about it during Junior year, but I never heard anything more about it (why I was nominated, what would happen, etc.)

edit Also, before I forget, should I consider changing my prospective major, as well? My guidance councilor told me that, if I have any interest in Physics, I should make it my major, as it will make admission and scholarships easier to get. Is this true? I put Bio as my intended major and, as it’s Limited Enrollment, put Physics as my backup. I’m deciding between a career in veterinary medicine and teaching, and, for both, Bio seems to make more sense, though I’m very interested in Physics.

Drummerdawg · October 24, 2011, 4:33pm

I’m in the same boat as you. Somewhat low SAT scores and a lack of leadership for BK, but a good gpa and involvement. Definitely in at honors (I’d say), but BK is somewhat of a crapshoot. For the leadership, I wouldn’t suggest forcing something into your essay unnatural as your topics sound great, but rather derive leadership from your current e.c’s in your resume/short answers/recommendations. Your major is up to you, I wouldn’t think that they would discriminate BK based on major too much.

HomeschoolMD · October 25, 2011, 10:10am

I agree with D’dawg’s comments - you should be yourself. One key quality of a leader that is important is that they can get people (often who don’t agree with each other) to work together towards a common goal. Do you have something in your EC experience that might reflect this quality? If not, how about something from your EC experience in which you were able to resolve a conflict? If you haven’t had these or other direct leadership experiences, how about observations of leaders you worked with in your EC activities? What qualities in these leaders did you admire? Why do you think they were good (or bad) leaders? You don’t have to “spin” anything, just have a thoughtful essay related to leadership qualities as reflected through your EC experiences.

astrophysicsmom · October 25, 2011, 10:44am

to address your major question, in your case, I don’t think it will matter at all what you put as your major. Your stats are good that you should have no issues getting into the LEP. The only difference that might be in terms of merit aid would be if you requested a major in the AGNR college (for the pre-vet stuff)…they do award money to incoming freshmen from that college…Physics does not (and I don’t think bio does either, but I don’t know)…
I am referring to stand-alone scholarships from the colleges themselves, over and above B/K, presidentials, etc. awarded by the university.

RE: leadership ability…it will show through on your app if you have a lot of leadership experience…via your EC’s, community service, etc. and your teachers/counselor will say more than you can about your experience/qualities.

Good luck!

Chances at Honors/BK

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