Chrimaya

GPA: B with mostly AP and Honors classes (very low, but I was struggling w/ an eating disorder and family problems at this time)
SATs + ACT w/ writing): Taking very soon (What should I aim for to be even considered for the below colleges?)
Race: African American/ Native American female
I come from a large school in Upstate NY
Graduating class: 732

Recs:
Superintendent
Regional Rep. from Congresswoman Gillibrand's Office (or even Gillibrand herself)
New Visions* professor
Pres./CEO of the Capital District YMCA
My Kiwanis advisor/ former teacher
My Lit. Classics Honors teacher
My Bio. honors teacher
(PS: I know all of these people VERY well)

AWARDS RECEIVED/RECOGNITION

Who’s Who Among American High School Students: 2005-2006

Selected to participate in the 2006 Howard University Center of Excellence, “Future Health Stars of America” Program. This program is extremely competitive to get into. See http://www.cpnahs.howard.edu/ctr_exc...NRAPPL2007.pdf for more information.

Youth Advance ambassador: 2006- attended national convention at Homewood Suites Hotel, Great Valley, Pennsylvania

Recipient of two Time to Shine awards: 2005- Recognition by teachers for doing noteworthy acts of kindness and service within the school

Awards by Faculty- Freshman and Sophomore Nominee: 2004-2005 and 2005-2006

Poetry.com: Semi-Finalist and Recipient of the Editor’s Choice Award: April 2005

Johns Hopkins Talent search: 2004- took the SATs at the age of 12-13 for the program

(Duke University Talent search: 2002)

(Poem Published in the Anthology of Poetry by Young Americans 2001)

Nominated for the 2007 N. C. T. E. (National Council of Teachers of English) High School writing competition at the local high school level. I went on to become one of the five finalists.

Honor Roll Student

Cordially nominated to attend the 2007 National Youth Leadership Forum of Medicine

Selected to attend and honored at the University at Albany’s 2007 High School Achievers of Color Luncheon

Invited to participate in the 2007 Presidential Classroom Program in Washington DC

Invited to attend the 2007 Junior Statesmen Summer School program

Recipient of the Capital District YMCA Outstanding Youth Award and $1,000 scholarship

Recipient of the prestigious Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony Award in Humanities and Social Sciences- Recipient is also considered for a $30,000 scholarship to the University of Rochester

Nominated to become a People to People* Student Ambassador- 2006/2007

Student Honoree at the 2007 Black and Latino Achievers Award Ceremony: Keynote Speaker: The People's Court Judge, Marilyn Milian

Selected to participate in the highly competitive 2007-2008
New Visions Health Careers Exploration program during my senior year of high school (http://www.bocescareertech.org/pdfs/...ionsforweb.pdf) Additional supplement for colleges will be provided. This program is VERY VERY VERY hard to get into. It was a miracle that I got in, but I am getting straight As. Also, a Harvard admissions officer told me that they look @ programs like this more than GPA and/or class rank.

*People to People is an educational exploration program founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Honorary chairmen include: President George W. Bush, Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson, President Richard M. Nixon, President Gerald R. Ford, President Ronald W. Reagan, President George H. W. Bush, and President William J. Clinton

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Co- founder and active member of the Southern Saratoga YMCA Black and Latino Achievers Program- I am currently serving as President for the 2007-2008 school year

SFA Senate (student government): 2004-2005- elected by the student body as a freshman

Visions Committee- Student Team: 2004-2006- a prominent group within the school consisting of a few selected students, administrators, the Board of Education, the principle of the high school, and the superintendent of schools, Dr. L. Oliver Robinson

Key Club:
2005-2007- 100% community service- Northeastern Regional Food bank, hosted Haunted House at Jonesville Fire station, Roadside cleanups, hosted Thanksgiving dinner for senior citizens at our high school, hosted coat drive at our high school, participated in Adopt- A- Family through the AIDS Council. We are still very busy!
- Became the President of Key Club for the 2006-2007 school year as a sophomore
- Currently serving as Lieutenant Governor for District 17 Key Clubs (one of the highest positions a member can obtain in the organization; this position is very demanding and requires exemplary leadership skills)
- I am also the Chair of the Key Club Reactivation Committee for the 2007-2008 service term

Speech and Debate / Member of the National Forensic League: 2005-2007- Speech team- Oral Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, and Dramatic Interpretation: I currently hold a degree with an "Excellence" distinction. I have qualified for State championships in the past, won many 1st place trophies and have competed at Columbia University and Yale University.

Shen Pen: 2005-2007- Staff writer for the school newspaper- I have had an article in every issue since sophomore year. I was selected to become a Columnist for the 2007-2008 school year. Very rare.

Southern Saratoga YMCA Teen Leaders: 2004-

Southern Saratoga YMCA Youth and Government: 2004-

Saratoga Sparks AAU basketball: 2004- “B” Team on an acclaimed girls AAU basketball program; it was my first year playing basketball when I made the team

Southern Saratoga YMCA youth basketball 2007- I currently co-coach middle school girls along with Mr. James J. Celestine

Clifton Park Commons Youth Soccer League: 2004

Albany Church of Christ youth/service group: 2004-2007- 100% community service- Northeastern Regional Food bank, Shut-in visits, work in soup kitchens, yard cleanup for elderly, etc.

Member of the Albany Church of Christ Youth Committee

Ohio Valley University Bible Bowl participant: 2004-2007- travel to West Virginia to compete with hundreds of churches on a book in the bible; this year: Exodus

Participant in the 15-Love tennis program where I was able to meet Venus William

Taught Pre K-K bible school class at Albany Church of Christ- 2004- Fall 2006

Member of the Shenendehowa Leo Club- 100 % local community service (mainly within the school

Member on the Southern Saratoga Board of Managers. I am currently serving as the Teen Representative on the Program Committee.

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
I volunteer on a regular basis with :

The Regional Food bank of Northeastern New York
The Southern Saratoga YMCA
The Capital City Rescue Mission
HATAS
Key Club- various activities
Albany Church of Christ youth group

WORK EXPERIENCE

Coordinator of Recreational Services at the Schenectady Church of Christ Vacation Bible School- 2005

Congressional internship with Rep. Kirsten Rutnik Gillibrand, New York's 20th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. Gillibrand is the first Democrat to represent the district since Edward W. Pattison in 1978 and the first woman to represent the district.
- 2007

Financial Service Associate at Capital Communications Federal Credit Union- June 2007-August 2007


I will be applying to:

Harvard
NYU
Dartmouth
University of Rochester
Howard (legacy/ safety)

Once again, my GPA is low, but I was struggling with a serious illness, that nearly killed me, in addition to other factors. I don't know if it will help, but Affirmative Action could also play a part in getting me into a top college. My sister goes to Cornell and my family has a 3 more kids to ship off to college. What do you think my future has in store for me? I hope to someday become a hospital administrator.

ps: sorry for any bad grammar. It's late and I have tons of NV homework.

mythmom

What exactly is your question? What are you looking for?

Chrimaya

My chances at getting into the colleges of my choice.

enderkin

Some of your awards need to be trimmed from your final list:

CTY Talent Search means nothing to schools of this caliber
Who's Who is a scam
poetry.com is an internet website so that award will garner much fewer accolades than your published work, which I do not really recommend you put down because it was published 6 years ago
nominations for school awards by faculty mean almost nothing
invitations to summer programs are a dime a dozen
nominations for other programs are pretty much the same.

Your other achievements, however, are quite impressive. We can't make any sort of judgment for your chances without scores or your GPA scale, although you usually want to shoot for an A average and a 2150 or above for Ivy League schools. However, you have pretty much the ultimate AA combination, so take in mind the fact that you may very well get accepted with lower statistics.

One piece of advice for your future college and work applications: Don't put every little damn thing down! It was hell wading through all of the non-essential stuff to reach your quite impressive real achievements.

sinistercharity

Your chances look decent. Since you have URM status, shoot for a 2100+ on the SAT.

Remove all the invitations from your list that you did not accept.

UcMichigan

Wait.. so is it me or like 50% of what you put down are just "selected" and "nominated" stuff?
Not really an award if you ask me..

Kinda hard to chance without GPA and SATs, though. Shoot for like... 2200ish

CollectivSynergy

Well first of all if you want a response please clean that up. A little less than half your awards (no offense) aren't worth mentioning, and should not be. These are the "invited" "nominated" for random conference things. They sound a lot better than they are, and college adcoms know that. Since you have plenty of legit awards they should not be on there.

You should also avoid listing pretty much the same things twice or even three times as you have done. Also, get rid of the question marks and condense a lot of your activities. I'm sorry to be annoying and not give you an actual answer to your question, but you're making it as hard as possible to review it.

merpug

It's true that it's pretty hard to even make a guess, w/out your SATs...

But you do have a lot of good ECs (though a lot of them you wouldn't want to mention - and wouldn't have room on the app anyway! ), and Affirmative Action gives you a GREAT chance of getting into any of those colleges - as long as you get maybe a 2000-2100 on SAT (shoot for 2100+ though, if you can..)

Chrimaya

"Selected" is just another word for saying that it was competitive getting in...I guess I could do without the "nominated " piece. Ex) I was "selected" to be a part of New Visions...etc,etc,etc. May I inquire for a better word UcMichigan?

Chrimaya

Soo.. what should I cut out????

People to people
who's who
Faculty awards

seems to me like alot of you feel that my resume needs some tweeking

CollectivSynergy

Participant in the 15-Love tennis program where I was able to meet Venus William

^ If you mention this at least say what you do. Yeah, I've met celebrities too, doesn't mean I actually did anything.

And cut out these at the very least:

Johns Hopkins Talent search: 2004- took the SATs at the age of 12-13 for the program

(Duke University Talent search: 2002)

(Poem Published in the Anthology of Poetry by Young Americans 2001)

Cordially nominated to attend the 2007 National Youth Leadership Forum of Medicine

Invited to participate in the 2007 Presidential Classroom Program in Washington DC

Invited to attend the 2007 Junior Statesmen Summer School program

Nominated to become a People to People* Student Ambassador- 2006/2007

Student Honoree at the 2007 Black and Latino Achievers Award Ceremony: Keynote Speaker: The People's Court Judge, Marilyn Milian

And I suggest you explain a lot of your other ones such as but not limited to:

Selected to attend and honored at the University at Albany’s 2007 High School Achievers of Color Luncheon

What were you honored for? That kind of stuff. Also, don't mention the same Northeastern bank CS 3 times. Not only is that annoying, but it feels like resume-padding. Remember that it's better to have a few activities stand out, not try to barrage the adcoms with the same stuff over and over.

CollectivSynergy

Oh, and also, if you can please repost after removing ?'s and the other stuff that'd be great.

noobcake

Trim the EC; get 2200 in everywhere; ultimate URM combo.

hyakku

She was probably playing tennis....at leas that's what I would assume.

I wanna say goodjob, also, not to discourage you from the ivies or anything, but also look at some of those other top 25-30 schools, you may feel that some may be a good fit (Chicago, USC, Columbia [I realize its an ivy, but being from NY I figured you might like it], etc.) All great schools with good academic reps and social life.

You've done well for yourself though, be proud of that and go on to do great things. I'll meet you at the top .

roboticsgirl

Please don't send in 7 letters of recommendation. Pick the best 4 that show different sides to you. Admissions people don't need 7 letters telling them what a hard worker you are. Extra letters are supposed to add another dimension to you, not reiterate what other letters already said.

Are you currently a junior? If you were a sophomore in 2006-2007, that makes you a junior, correct?