Do i stand a chance?





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Discus: Individual Schools: Top Liberal Arts Colleges (LACs): Williams College: Do i stand a chance?
By Jeank (Jeank) on Wednesday, June 30, 2004 - 05:54 pm: Edit

i kinda screwed up in chem class this quarter and my parents have got me worrying about whether or not i can even make it any good schools...ive recently discovered that a LAC might be what im looking for as opposed to all the name brand universities...so if someone who got in or anyone else would take a look at my profile so far...id be TOTALLY obliged.

took keyboarding the summer before freshman year and got an A

freshman year:
patterns of communication A
ancient/medieval history A
conceptual physics A
PE A
french 1 A
algebra 1 A
intro to business A
drawing 1 A
4.0 both semesters

took plane geometry over summer and received an A first semester and a B second semester

sophomore year:
speech A
print/visual media (journalism course) A
AP american gov B (which counts as an A since its weighted)
enriched chem B first semester and C second semester (so they really count as an A and a B since this is also weighted)
PE leadership class A
french 2 A
advanced algebra A
health A
drivers ed B (but that doesnt count in our GPA)
got a 4.0 first semester and a 3.833 second

now all the rest is theoretical...since i'll be a jr next year...here are the classes im signed up for next year...

jr year:
journalism (its a class, but you can only enroll if you were accepted onto the newspaper staff...my position is still pending...hoping to become some sort of editor or columnist by the time im a senior)
american lit
contemporary fiction
enriched bio (weighted)
precalc with trig
french 3
PE (will be a "mentor" in a sophomore class first semester)
special topics:world (its a history class) and is weighted
accelerated intermediate composition
can get a 4.167 first sem and a 4.5 second semester

i might take consumer ed the summer before sr year...if i do, then these are the classes i plan to take sr year

sr year:
journalism (assuming that i dont get kicked off the newspaper staff)
french 4 (is weighted)
AP bio
english literature or western lit
weighted or AP essay writing
advanced bio or intro to health occupations
can get a 4.6 first and a 4.8 second

my total gpa should be somewhere slightly over a 4.0 (dont really know what a weighted gpa is...can someone answer that question?), assuming that i learned my lesson from chem and get all A's the rest of my high school career

i was also wondering if i should take math my sr year...id already have 4 credits by the end of jr year...but i dont know if colleges will look at me as someone who looks for the easy way out...the class i would take senior year is AP calc AB...i dont know if i really need it tho because im thinking ill major in either french or english/literature in college while being premed...or even major in english/literature and minor in french while being premed...if i wanted to be that ambitious

for ecs...
volunteer at hospital since about a year ago
play piano
debate for one year, but stopped cuz i hate it
planning to do either track or cross country for next two years
going to audition for speech team and plan to maintain my position on it for the next two years
french club for 4 years...planning to be an officer for the next two years
three honor societies...the regular one, french honor society, and quill and scroll (which is a journalism one since ill be on the newspaper)

i think thats it for now...

as for any standardized tests...
PSAT as a soph scored 169 and was in the 77th percentile...will be retaking it next year (58 verbal, 55 math [yes, its very weak i know], 56 writing)
on the PLAN 25 was composite score(99 percentile for english, 96 for math, 97 for reading and science)
my estimated sat score was 1100 which i can improve...i know i can...that is just crap...i cried when i found this out
estimated act was 26 to 30
workin really hard this summer on those standardized test scores

ok..i guess thats all i can really tell anyone about myself academically...personality wise, im hardworkin to the extreme...will achieve things if i want it enough...and i want a lot for my life so please dont think im some slacker...

if i cant make it here...would people tell me where i might make it? gosh, after this C in chem, it really made me realize that i might not be made of the stuff that it requires to even go to u of i (and again, i dont mean to make it sound like a bad school cuz its not...its just that i thought i could use that school as my safety...but im starting to doubt myself a lot now...)

i know that my stats arent really quite judgeable right now since nothing is very solid, like my test scores, but how about a rough idea?

sorry for making this so long...i really REALLY appreciate anyone who takes the time to respond to this...

THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH. it means soooo much to me...esp after that damn C in chem...

merci beaucoup mon ami

By Proudmama (Proudmama) on Wednesday, June 30, 2004 - 08:05 pm: Edit

I believe that Williams would be a reach school for you as your resume now stands. Continue to do your best and take the most demanding courses available at your high school. Example- the advanced bio rather than intro to health occupations. Take a math in your senior year, preferrably Calc AB AP. A weighted GPA is when the school increases your overall GPA because of Advanced Placement or honors courses. That is how people wind up with GPAs of over 4.0. You might want to look into some other LACs also besides Williams. Remember, there are lots of great schools out there. Just don't get your heart set on one and only one because chances are that you'll be a good match for several schools. Good luck.

By Piglette (Piglette) on Wednesday, July 07, 2004 - 04:24 pm: Edit

Williams is a spectacularly long reach for you.

By Qt1396 (Qt1396) on Wednesday, July 07, 2004 - 08:04 pm: Edit

you have really good grades (i got into williams with a 3.7) and good ECs but you really need to raise your SAT score to at least above a 1300 if applying ED and at least a 1400 for RD... also make sure you find one particular EC that stands out above all others and will make you stand out among other applicants (e.g., if your spectacular at the piano, submit a piano tape- that was what i did)... well i wish you the best of luck!


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