alexissss

Greetings.
I am African American and I am currently a senior who plans on taking a gap year.
Sadly, I have not yet taken any standardized tests. T__T I'm so scared of them and I'm quite burnt out. I project getting a 2200 at least on the SAT and at least 700s on my Subject Tests.
I have a 4.5-4.6 weighted GPA and a 3.89 unweighted. I come from a low income, single-parent home and my home life is exceedingly stressful. :/ I plan on writing my college essays on how I overcame homelessness in my quest for academic success.

I took 5 APs my junior year, six this year. However, this year I did not take any AP tests because I could not afford them.
AP Chemistry (horrid score)
AP Calc AB (horrid score)
AP Lang (5)
AP U.S. (5)
AP World (5)
AP Biology
AP Statistics
AP European History
AP Environmental Science
AP Literature
AP Psychology

I've also taken honors Anatomy & Phys., honors Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Language Arts, Trig/Pre-calc, Spanish I, II, and III, and honors Piano I.
My lowest grade for my high school career was a 90 in AP Chemistry.
My high school is #2 in my state.

My dream school is Harvard, but I'm afraid I don't have a chance. Any suggestions? :/

lacrossemom

Take your test soon, but I think you have a great shot. Congratulations on terrific scores!

kareemd

The fact that you have a tough home life and are URM will help, but I wouldn't recommend that you count on that to get in. You have great grades (although the incongruous AP scores are not great). Focus on the academics and EC's, think of URM as something that will help but not necessarily get you in.

Sent from my ThunderBolt using CC

jeni1994

Sorry..I have to call troll on this one. What better way to stir certain people up than to imply that african-american students go into the college admissions process hoping that URM status will help. For people who don't know this, that mindset is not that of maybe 95% of black students applying to top colleges. These students work to their absolute fullest ability and quite honestly WORRY about race after they get into college, in terms of how they will fit into the social context of majority white schools.

alexissss

@kareemd: Thanks! I'm not necessarily counting on it, but I was just wondering if it actually helps!

@jeni1994: Meh. Well, I'm not a troll, but I know where you're coming from. You see, according to various people I've discussed this matter with (counselors, teachers, friends), they all tell me that basically being African American is the only thing that will get me into college. Because I've read statistics on affirmative action and it seem that Caucasian females benefit most from it, I was wondering if being an URM actually does increase one's chances substantially.
Based upon the information I've gleaned from this site in the past day or so, being an URM does not guarantee access into Ivy schools, which is the message my teachers and counselors communicated to me. :/


I have another question. My ECs are not stellar. Will that hurt my chances? Like, I haven't interned for NASA or anything huge, just simple volunteer work and a couple of clubs. I've been in only one academic competition. :/

Soso694

@jeni1994 It's a legitimate question. She's not saying that she can get in just by race, but you can't deny that being a URM definitely helps during the college admission process. Most colleges that aren't HBCUs have an African American population of 5%, 7% being the highest that I've seen. Diversity gives the school an edge, and because of this Admissions might show a little leniency to minority students.

However, you still have to be as qualified as any other applicant; ESPECIALLY with Ivies. But in the case it comes down to the original poster and another white student with the same credentials, the university will most likely pick the original poster.

I'm saying this because I know African Americans who got into certain colleges (Not an Ivy but pretty well ranked) with a 17 ACT score whereas a white person got denied from that same college with a 27. On top of that, the white student had better credentials. This is just a specific college I'm talking about, but the intentions of the school are quite clear.

alexissss

@soso694

But why wouldn't that particular college simply choose an African American will better credentials rather than just anyone? I'm sure there are African Americans out there with better test scores. :/



Also, can anyone answer about the ECs?

Soso694

@alexisss I'm sure the college did admit African Americans with better credentials. But as much as I hate to say this, the amount of overqualified white applicants usually exceed the amount of overqualified black applicants. So sometimes, to meet a quota, they might admit African Americans that aren't as qualified.
Society expects more from whites and Asians, so I can only assume that their academic expectations during the admissions process are higher than that of blacks and Hispanics.

alexissss

Ah, I see.

Okay.

prefect

What were your PSAT scores?

alexissss

Well, my sophomore year was quite rough, so only an 1800.

However, my junior year I achieved a 205(0). My math score was pretty weak-only a 65(0), but my strengths are in writing and reading. In the other two categories I received a 70(0) and 70(0). This needs improvement, but I feel it's a good start.
I'm working on math now so that I might get into the 2200+ category at least on the SAT. I'm only taking it once in October.

NewHavenCTmom

@alexisss-- where else are you applying to? Is Harvard your only option? Have you done anything during your gap year(or are you doing anything) to give back? or anything of interest? I know of a student who went to South Africa to help in clinics for those with HIV/AIDS. This young man had hopes of some day going to med school and also has family members who are afflicted with this disease so this service oppurtunity really spoke to him and he wanted to make a difference during his gap year.

alexissss

Well, Harvard is my dream, but I'm applying to the following as well:
Emory
WashU
Johns Hopkins
Univ. of Chicago
Columbia
Duke
Notre Dame
Williams
Stanford
NYU
Dartmouth
Cornell
UPenn

For my gap year I plan on volunteering in a hospital and in poorer (mostly black) areas of my city. Right now I'm seeking employment, but I should begin the volunteer work in August/September. It would be lovely to travel to other parts of the world in order to help others, but I do not have funds sufficient for such activities. :/ So I shall work in the community.

sherpa

Alexissss - You are a great candidate for some of the best colleges in the country. You have excellent grades in very rigorous courses and it looks like your test scores will be fine. Recognizing the challenges you've faced from being economically disadvantaged, elite colleges won't be too concerned about your ECs.

I'd add Princeton and Yale to your list, and I'd also suggest you look into Questbridge.

I want to wish you good luck, but you don't really need luck. As long as you stay the course you're on you'll have some excellent options, including full need based aid at fantastic colleges.

So I'm wishing you the best.

suprafreshkid

Have you looked into Brown University, Wesleyan University, Vassar College, or Amherst College. I was wondering because I saw Williams and Dartmouth on your list?

I hope the best to you. Just a heads up, NYU is really expensive college and has bad financial aid program. Based you academics success against those odds, you could probably get a lot of outside scholarships to help pay for your tuition. I hope the best once again and good luck with the SAT. There are scholarships for people who to community service abroad. It usually in the summer...here's the link: Our Programs | Scholar Laureate – Delegations For Career Exploration