<p>I’m currently a Junior who goes to a middle size high school that is 10th-12th grade. Freshman year was still middle school and that’s why ECs are a little broken. The reason I’m posting this is because I’m wondering how much weight my school’s engineering program holds</p>
<p>My school has an Aerospace Engineering centered program with engineering specific classes (AE). Each year there is 2-3 of these classes. Senior year there are classes that one can do research/ join a battlebot team/ or if on the FIRST team(Like I am) take a leadership class that revolves around it. At the end of the 3 years I will receive a “Highly proficient with Honors” endorsement that includes a hefty list of things to do.
[ul]
[<em>]Grade: Junior
[li]State: Kansas[/li][li]**Hooks:**African American Male[/li][li]Class Rank: 48/377[/li][li]GPA: 3.85 UW 4.01W[/li][li]**ACT:**31C 29R 33M 27E 33S First Try still taking recommendations on whether to retake.[/li][li]**Major:**Applied/Engineering physics[/li][li]AP Tests Taking 2 this year 3 Next year. None were offered Freshman and only 1 offered Sophomore[/li][/ul] Courses taken: Freshmen year
[ul]
[</em>]Geometry
[<em>]Spanish 2
[</em>]Pre AP English
[<em>]Biology
[</em>]Theater 2
[<em>]Modern World History
[</em>]Physical Science
[li]Teacher Assistant</p>[/li]
<p>Sophomore Year
[<em>]Algebra 2 Trig
[</em>]Technical Theater 1/2
[<em>]AE(Aerospace Engineering) Chemistry
[</em>]AE Cad
[<em>]Spanish 3
[</em>]Pre AP English II
[li]PE/Health</p>[/li]
<p>Junior year
[<em>]AP US History
[</em>]AP Language and Composition
[<em>]Honors Pre Calculus
[</em>]AE CAD 2/3
[<em>]AE Physics
[</em>]Debate/Forensics
[li]AE Math</p>[/li]
<p>**Senior year: ** What I just finished registering for
[<em>]Intro to Psychology/ AP Psychology
[</em>]AP Literature
[<em>]AP Physics B
[</em>]AP Calculus BC
[<em>]AP Government
[</em>]Contemporary Issues
[<em>]AE Senior Project FIRST Robotics Leadership
[</em>]Advanced Debate/Forensics
[li]Possibly an internship in place of the Psychology classes</p>[/li]
<p>Extra Curricular<em>Includes Senior Year
[</em>]FIRST Robotics-3 Years<em>: Active Webmaster/ Built 2009 and 2010 Site/ Nationals Last Year
[</em>]TSA(Technology Student Association)-2 Years<em>:A group of technology based competitions, going to state this year
[</em>]Debate/Forensics-2 Years<em>: Debate 11-1 Record Forensics has yet to start
[</em>]Archery-4 Years<em>: Olympic Recurve Style
[</em>]Theater-1 year:Both the technical side and the acting side. Main EC before sophomore year. Community Service
[li]200+ Hours with Church/Technology Based service</p>[/li]
<p>Summer Programs:
[<em>]Applying to YESS this year. Hoping to get in.
[/ul]
[ul] Schools
[li]Cornell ED[/li][</em>]University of Illinois Urbana Champaign
[<em>]Brown University
[</em>]Dartmouth University
[<em>]California Institute of Technology(Hiiiigh Reach)
[</em>]University of California-Berkeley
[<em>]Stanford
[</em>]Georgia Tech
[li]MIT[/li][/ul]
I have some in state safeties which are guaranteed admission</p>
<p>OP, do not listen to anyone who tells you that you aren’t a shoo-in at every single college. I am not being sarcastic. You’re probably one of the strongest black applicants in the country! It’s a pretty low bar…You’re fine! Just keep doing what you’re doing. </p>
<p>And p.s. Do not apply anywhere Early Decision! Do not limit yourself! Get accepted everywhere and then choose where you want to go.</p>
<p>Let me be the realistic one here: You are not “guaranteed” admission in any of the top schools. You absolutely have a shot, but don’t let any fool to into thinking you WILL get in. Just write great essays, keep working hard in and out of school, and try to improve your test scores.</p>
<p>don’t listen to Affe. You are in everywhere. the standard for black males that aren’t athletes is not high at all. especially kansas black males. especially kansas black males that want to do engineering. </p>
<p>really, how many rural black guys want to do engineering, with those stats? you are in everywhere.</p>
<p>I understand none of the top schools are ever in’s for anyone. It’s just good to know that I have a chance. Although I do know I am definitely not the top of the bar. The people in the African American forums blow my stats out of the water. I guess I didn’t read Invisibleman’s. It is slightly offensive to generalize a group of people like that.</p>
<p>One thing to add, because I can’t edit anymore, is I’m actually “African” because I was born in Ethiopia and raised in America. I’m also Bilingual with English/Amharic(Ethiopian Language) with Amharic being my first language.</p>
<p>I did not mean that to be an insult. But the fact of the matter is the average Asian applicant is much stronger than the average under-represented minority applicant.
However, the URM is much likelier to get in; that’s just the college admissions version of Affirmative Action. Anyone who denies that is insulting TRUTH.</p>
<p>You’re a Black male from KANSAS who wants to go into Aerospace Engineering. How many people can say that?? I’m not trying to say you’re a bad applicant otherwise, but seriously, your race will play a big role. And once again, i IMPLORE you not to make a binding decision like ED; please just weigh your options come April and see the financial aid packages given to you.</p>
<p>because ur black, u got a decent chance…still kinda shaky though:(
stats like 50/370 arent gonna cut it for schools like stanford and mit and caltech…</p>
<p>even if “the fact” …was that “the average Asian applicant is much stronger than the average under-represented minority applicant”, that would not make it a “low bar”.</p>
<p>The issue has nothing to do with an “average” of an applicant pool, but rather the performance of the top echelon of that pool. To claim that there is a “pretty low bar” to be “one of the strongest black applicants in the country” says that all African American candidates are inherently weak. That is not only offensive, but not true. Schools like Stanford and MIT receive plenty of excellent candidates that are African American. Some of the top students at those schools are African Americans.</p>
<p>I would also challenge your claim about the “average Asian” applicant. There are socioeconomic differences between the two groups that lead to a different number of applications and different target schools. For example, Asian Americans have a higher propensity to take on debt to finance an education compared to African Americans. As a result, private schools see a much higher Asian American to African American application ratio that public schools.</p>
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