Do I have a shot at Brown, Princeton, Bryn Mawr, Haverford, Pomona, Smith, Wellesley, Mt. Holyoke?

Chance Me / Match Me
21

I agree if we’re talking “Chance me, I’ll chance you back” high schoolers (and to an extent, college students like myself, because as you say, we have only followed our own app through the process). I disagree if we’re talking about the numerous parents and professionals who give advice on any of the CC forums.

Like, come on:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18792639/#Comment_18792639
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/california-colleges/1802004-so-you-want-to-come-to-california-for-college-p1.html

…Just two examples of many. You can’t say there isn’t a wealth of information here. (Perhaps mainly on other threads, but there is a good amount of actual help being offered in the Chance Me forum too.)

And yes, I am sorry if I missed your point about the ECs.

22

@englishivy thanks for the suggestion–I’d love to run for a college but my times are really slow, because we’re a small school that’s why I’ve been able to run varsity/make captain.

23

If college students…who have only followed their own application… are not qualified to chance, then how can their parents be qualified? Even if a second or third kid applied?

So I can not agree that there are “numerous parents” who can give reliable chance-me advice. As for any professionals who may be posting here, I encourage them to identify themselves.

I can say…and I am going to do it right now…that there is not a wealth of reliable information in chance-me threads, beyond information that colleges make publicly available.

And I will go one step further. I think chance-me threads have the pernicious effect of providing impressionable youngsters the erroneous belief that some posters are experts and are posting facts, when in reality we are all (most of us) amateurs who are guessing…or are projecting what we would do if we were Dean of Admission.

24

Hi,
I’m a senior in high school and I’m trying to winnow down my college list and all thoughts are appreciated.

SAT: 2130 super score from two sittings-- (670 M, 700 CR, 760 W)
SAT II: Biology M (740), US History (760), English Literature (750)
My school offers limited APs, so I’ve taken AP Biology and received a 4 and I’m taking AB Calc this year.

Academics: I attend a small private school where “seminars” are equivalent to an AP–they’re the highest level of rigor at our school.
Freshman/Sophomore year: school requires set curriculum (took French 2H, 3H and Algebra I and Function, Trig, and Geometry–slightly advanced offerings)
Junior year: Precalc Honors, AP Bio, seminar English, seminar French, seminar history, advanced photography
Senior year: AB Calc, advanced photography, seminar science (equivalent to AP Enviro), seminar English, computer science honors, seminar history
GPA is 3.9 unweighted
Class rank unknown

Sports: This is my 4th year of varsity cross country (captain junior and senior year) and I ran varsity track for three years (won’t be this year). Our xc has made the state championships every year (this year’s is in November so we’ll see)
No chance of running for a college team, however.

Honors: book award from an elite college (several awarded by school faculty), selected by faculty and peers to be a mentor for junior high students

Extracurriculars: this is where I fall short!
Photography Editor (senior year) otherwise staffer for school literary magazine (since 10th grade)
Volunteer with neighborhood watershed (re-building retaining walls and removing trash etc.)
Photography: Scholastic silver key, selected to be shown in multiple high school shows, published in Nikon publication, etc.
English history: part of my app, I’ve been reading about it since 4th grade
Jewelry making: work with found objects and donate work to local charity auctions

Summers:
9th: traveled with family to London/Paris, worked in school’s technology lab
10th: traveled alone to Europe, part of Tufts Summit program on French and International Relations
11th: GA Girls State (first from school), Kelley School of Business YWI program (highly selective), GA Tech CEISMC programs

Now the fun part! Thinking about majoring in computer science…
I may be way off with some of these in terms of matching, etc. so please let me know!

Safety/also instate tuition:
UGA, Georgia Tech

Match: (do I have a chance of getting merit aid at these)
Mount Holyoke
Smith

Low Reach:
Wellesley
Bryn Mawr

Reach:
Haverford
Princeton
Brown
Olin
Pomona

Thanks for your help!

25

Bryn Mawr is a small school, too. I’ve known a lot of people who, for example, never rowed in their life and worked their way up to the varsity team by senior year. It’s worth a shot!

26

@englishivy thanks!