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Hey guys, I posed my stats a while ago, but thought I might do it again, cause, ya know, why not.


White, middle-class female - attending Catholic school in Dallas, Texas. I live in a kinda rough neighborhood, if that means anything.


PSAT: Verbal: 70 Math: 69 Writing: 72

GPA: 3.92 – upward grade trend
Class of about 200, top %15

AP/Honors:
9 – Honors English I
10 – Honors Spanish II, Honors English II
11 – AP US History, AP Psychology, AP Language and Composition, Algebra II/Trig-Honors
12 – AP Literature and Composition, AP Government, AP Computer Science, AP European History, Pre-Cal Honors – Considered most challenging curriculum at my school

Honors/Awards:
Nominated for NCTE – one of two students in the school (won’t know results for awhile)
All-Star Team, ice hockey, 10
Achievement awards in geometry (10), journalism (10), and health (9)
1st honor roll junior year
1st honor roll sophomore year
2nd honor roll freshman year
Quill and Scroll, 11
Nominated for Dallas Youth Commission Board 11

ECs:
Ice hockey (Mostly goalie, also forward) - Varsity and Select B teams 8-11
Newspaper – contributor, 10; Sports Editor, 11; and I will be assuming the Editor-In-Chief position my senior year
Work in the CAVE (computer repair) at school 9-11 (had to quit recently because of conflicts with work)
Church nursery volunteer 9-11
Volunteer at elementary school 10-11
Member of Poetry Club 10-11
Member of Sci-Fi Club 10-11
Attended Quest Leadership Camp at Sky Ranch – Summer 9, 10
Will have 100-150 hours of community service by graduation

Employment:
I’m the editorial intern at the Dallas Observer – Dallas' alternative weekly newspaper. I write for the paper and have work published weekly (with byline), as well as doing extensive research and transcription work for my boss. It’s an unpaid job, excepting freelance fees, which I’ve been doing since June and expect to continue through my senior year.

Anticipated major: English

Also, I am a pretty good essay writer and should receive excellent recs, especially from my English teacher.

Colleges I'm looking at:
Bard College
Brown University
U. of Chicago
Colby College
Colorado College
Columbia College
Hampshire College
Harvard College
New York University
Sarah Lawrence College


Thanks for taking the time to read my profile! Any and all comments are appreciated.
- Mary

By Qwert271 (Qwert271) on Sunday, March 21, 2004 - 05:38 pm: Edit

Out of all the colleges I assume are reaches for you (Brown, Columbia, Harvard), you will probably have the best chance at Columbia because you seem very balanced. If, for example, Brown is higher on your list than Columbia, you should make sure to come off an a more English-oriented person. That is, focus on SAT II. I am assuming that you a junior because PSAT.

All your other colleges look like decent fits.

P.S. U Chicago is cool

By Marestar20 (Marestar20) on Sunday, March 21, 2004 - 06:42 pm: Edit

Thanks for the comments, Qwert!

I hope U. Chocago's cool - it certainly comes off that way.

And I'm a very English-centric person, so I'm glad to hear you say that about Brown.

- Mary

By Mjl86 (Mjl86) on Sunday, March 21, 2004 - 06:51 pm: Edit

u chicago is way cool, but brown is the best

By Yodisistim (Yodisistim) on Sunday, March 21, 2004 - 06:55 pm: Edit

I didn't even know that these schools had journalism programs (if that's what you were looking for)
If that was the case, I probably would have applied to some of them

By Arcadia (Arcadia) on Sunday, March 21, 2004 - 06:57 pm: Edit

If you're into ice hockey and English, I recommend you look at Middlebury College, which excels in both...

By Marestar20 (Marestar20) on Sunday, March 21, 2004 - 06:58 pm: Edit

I don't know if they have journalism programs. I love journalism, but don't want to major in it because I feel like it's too narrow. That's why I'd rather major in English.

By Marestar20 (Marestar20) on Sunday, March 21, 2004 - 07:02 pm: Edit

Middlebury College? I haven't heard a lot about that one. Hmm... must investigate.

- Mary

By Qwert271 (Qwert271) on Monday, March 22, 2004 - 03:57 pm: Edit

Are you recruit-quality in ice hockey? If not, you could at least contact the coach, chat around a bit. If so, you're all set for Harvard. I'm sure you're aware that they have a top team.

Btw, I heard mary kate & ashley go to NYU. Major bummer if it's true.

One more thing. Do you think superb SAT II or SAT I scores are more impressive?

By Welshie (Welshie) on Monday, March 22, 2004 - 05:25 pm: Edit

Hooray for Hockey goalies. Ice or roller?

By Marestar20 (Marestar20) on Tuesday, March 23, 2004 - 12:39 am: Edit

Welshie: Ice all the way, dude. Got to escape from the Texas heat!

Qwert: I don't think I'm recruit-quality, I just really enjoy the sport and hope to persue it at a Division III or club level. And I heard about the Mary Kate/Ashly thing too - so not cool. And I'm not sure about SATs - I guess the SAT I scores are more impressive because they tend to denote innate ability, rather than whether you've learned how to write chemistry equations or not. But, SAT IIs show that you have actually gained knowledge from the classes you've taken, and gives the grades you recieved some validity. I guess it all depends upon what information one is trying to gather from the scores.

By Marestar20 (Marestar20) on Tuesday, March 23, 2004 - 09:07 pm: Edit

Bump!

By Edrico_37 (Edrico_37) on Thursday, March 25, 2004 - 05:51 pm: Edit

you play hockey? lol you must be so butch.


Bye bye Edrico!

<moderator>

By Marestar20 (Marestar20) on Thursday, March 25, 2004 - 09:07 pm: Edit

Chick goalies don't have to be butch - just flexible.

- Mary

P.S. Thanks, Mod.

By Doveofpaece (Doveofpaece) on Friday, March 26, 2004 - 12:47 pm: Edit

Please, noone respond to this thread, someone has been posing as a moderator and editing posts, Edrico was wrongly banned.

DoveOfPeace,
Moderator

By Brownlovespink (Brownlovespink) on Friday, March 26, 2004 - 08:31 pm: Edit

Do you by chance go to Ursuline?

By Marestar20 (Marestar20) on Friday, March 26, 2004 - 10:00 pm: Edit

I do. Do you live in Dallas?

- Mary

By Marestar20 (Marestar20) on Sunday, March 28, 2004 - 10:18 pm: Edit

Bump!

By Brownlovespink (Brownlovespink) on Monday, March 29, 2004 - 09:35 pm: Edit

Nope, but I've got a bunch of friends that went there. My carpool actually moved here (Houston) after her freshman year there. She's a senior now. Ursuline's a great school. I go to St. Agnes here in Houston.

By Mrbesch (Mrbesch) on Monday, March 29, 2004 - 10:33 pm: Edit

You're the only other hockey player I've heard use the word innate!

Well-versed hockey players unite!

By Marestar20 (Marestar20) on Tuesday, March 30, 2004 - 12:50 am: Edit

Totally, Mrbesch! It's so hard to find hockey players with vocabularies that extend beyond the basic four-letter expletives.

Brownlovespink - Ursuline is a great school; I didn't like it my freshman year, but I came around. If you know which classes to take and which teachers to talk to, it's brilliant.

- Mary

By Ohio_Mom (Ohio_Mom) on Tuesday, March 30, 2004 - 01:13 pm: Edit

Hi, Mary
I think that you may be in a position where you will be able to submit a porfolio to at least some of your school. If so, the more work published under your name, the better. Contests, work, whatever. Some colleges look at this, some don't.
As you know, the weak spot in your app will be your rank in class. If you are truly interested in Brown, try to visit, develop an ongoing relationship with them, and apply early if possible (from a financial standpoint).
With all your RD colleges, get your app in early so the adcoms will have time to read it and look at your portfolio.
You seem to have a pretty good mix of colleges selected at various levels of competitiveness. Now is the time to start visiting (if possible) or emailing to better decide if they are a good fit.

By Marestar20 (Marestar20) on Tuesday, March 30, 2004 - 07:08 pm: Edit

Thanks for your comments, Ohio Mom. I don't know if I will be applying anywhere ED, not because of the money, just because I'm not sure that I want to enter into a binding agreement of that magnitude so early in the process. But I am *very* interested in Brown, though I probably won't be able to visit until August due to scheduling, but when I'm there I definitely plan on speaking with whomever I can.

I do intend to send a portfolio to schools that allow such materials; I have work from both my school newspaper and from my professional newspaper that is bylined, and some of the former may be receiving awards in the coming months (if I'm lucky).

In regards to my class rank - which, as you mentioned, is definitely a weak point - I hope that it's a hurdle I'll be able to overcome in the admissions process. It's mostly due to my freshman year grades - which hovered around 3.7. Unfortunately, I have a particularly competitive class and most years my GPA would place me in the top 10%, but this year I'm just a few hundredths of a point out of it. I hope that colleges will see that I've pushed myself both in my courseload and in my extracurricular involvement, and be able to look past my less-than-stellar rank.

Again, thank you for taking the time to comment,
- Mary

By Marestar20 (Marestar20) on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 - 06:07 pm: Edit

Bump!

By Marestar20 (Marestar20) on Friday, April 02, 2004 - 09:31 am: Edit

Bump!

By Marestar20 (Marestar20) on Saturday, April 03, 2004 - 10:04 pm: Edit

Bump!

By Skyhawk (Skyhawk) on Monday, April 05, 2004 - 01:38 pm: Edit

Marestar, a gentle reminder: repeated bumping drives the CC moderators crazy. If anyone has more to say, believe me, they will. Instead of bumping, ask another question. Thank you. Moderator Skyhawk

By Marestar20 (Marestar20) on Monday, April 05, 2004 - 09:16 pm: Edit

Sorry, Skyhawk! ::grovel::

- Mary