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Hi! I am going to be a
junior at a highly competitive high school in New Jersey and am commencing my college search, and I
was wondering if you could help me decide if I should consider Reed. My unweighted gpa is a 3.7 and my
weighted gpa around a 4.0. I am taking all honors this year (4.5) except
for math, and am enrolled in the most demanding english and history program
(seminar) in the school (you have to apply for it, and we write 16 10+ page
papers a year). My senior year schedule is all AP courses (5.0), and by senior year (best case scenario) my weighted gpa would be a 4.44. My
highest SAT's so far are 790 verbal (I'm working to bring this up to an
800), 800 writing, and 690 math (I'm taking a class to bring this up). I am
student representative to the Board of Ed in my district, student
representative to the districtwide school improvement initiative committee,
member of the New Jersey All- State Chorus, first- chair soprano II in last
year's Region I Chorus, first- chair soprano II in Bergen County Chorus, in
my school's Vocal Jazz ensemble, Maroon and White (selective recital program
at my high school) performer, Walter Engel (recital) performer, attended
JHU- CTY for 3 consecutive summers, have played harp for 2 years, member of
the German Honor Society (selection for NHS is next year), peer tutor at my
high school, attended NSLC on International Diplomacy, and will be co-
President of Model UN and Model Congress next year. I also hope to apply
for NJ- Governor's School and/ or study abroad with AFS my senior year/
summer before my senior year. I love to read, write and discuss; I tend to
do better in seminar- style classes in which there is a great deal of
discussion and writing. I'm definitely more of a humanities person; I love
history and international studies, as well as the social sciences and
English/ foreign languages. I would major or minor in any of these topics,
as well as Arabic, Italian, Chinese, Music, journalism, and Asian or Middle
Eastern studies. I am very much a city person and would prefer a school in
or in close proximity to a city. I would like a more intellectual than
preprofessional atmosphere, and I tend to be shy, so I wouldn't want to go
to an overly large university; I am looking for a small- to mid- sized
college. I live in New Jersey but am comfortable going anywhere in the
country; a plane ride away from home wouldn't bother me at all. I want a strong focus on
undergrads; I don't want a big research university- type of experience. Do I stand a chance at getting into Williams, and should I look into it?

By Nyclyzz (Nyclyzz) on Saturday, September 04, 2004 - 07:20 pm: Edit

I mean Williams, sorry (wow, I feel like such a ditz)!

By Momrath (Momrath) on Saturday, September 04, 2004 - 11:08 pm: Edit

Nyclyzz, Your stats and ECs are good for Williams. Williams is strong in most all social sciences and humanities, but notably weak in many of the languages and cultural studies you mention. Each of the various top LACs has a strength in one or two of the minors you're thinking about, but none offers strong departments in all. The school that comes to mind as a good balance of humanities with an Asian flavor is Pomona. As part of a consortium, it is a small school with the medium sized feel.

PS, You should stop agonizing over your SATs. For the person with demonstrated interest in non-math/science areas, they're fine. It's time to start concentrating on putting together a persuasive application.

By Mini (Mini) on Sunday, September 05, 2004 - 12:20 am: Edit

If you are a city person, and want something in close proximity to a city, and are heavily into foreign languages, Williams is definitely NOT your place. There are plenty of wonderful, wonderful schools who will love to have you -- but, really, Williams isn't one of them.

Pomona, Scripps, Macalester, maybe Wellesley and Smith, would all be much better choices.

By Nyclyzz (Nyclyzz) on Tuesday, September 07, 2004 - 11:30 pm: Edit

Thanks for the advice... what other schools should I look into based on my criteria (all comments are greatly appreciated!)?