<p>Okay, here goes.</p>
<p>GPA (4.0): 3.925
Rank: 4th
Curriculum: IB, toughest school has
ACT: Composite - 28 (I know)
Essays: Pretty good I think
Extracurriculars: Academic Decathlon, Cross Country
SAT II: Spanish (650) Literature (630) US History (680)</p>
<p>Schools I’ve Applied:
Princeton
Brown
Cornell
Northwestern
Univ. of Minnesota
Univ. of Illinois (in-state)
Univ. of Wisconsin</p>
<p>I don’t see anything that makes you stand out.</p>
<p>Given your test scores, Princeton, Brown, Cornell and Northwestern are reaches.</p>
<p>Can you retake ACT? That really stands out – in a bad way.</p>
<p>Good luck however.</p>
<p>Did you apply SCEA? Your 28 is a huge red flag. And you’ve only been a part of two extracurriculars which is FINE, assuming you’re like one of the best in the country in both of them.</p>
<p>why would you all say that - he’s got a 3.9… in an IB curriculum and he’s an AA, that raises his 28ACT to a ~32. Competitive.</p>
<p>Just because he’s black doesn’t mean his ACT will jump up four points. You’re saying someone with an SAT equivalent of 1860 will magically rise to a 2130 because he’s black. That’s not how it works. Being black and having an ACT score of at least a 31 or 32 would help you. Also, it’s not like his SAT IIs are good (grade inflation). I am also curious to see what his IB scores are, what type of a school he goes to, and how “disadvantaged” of a URM he is. He also doesn’t really do anything outside of school except for academic decathlon and cross country. Unless he’s like outstanding in these activities, the most compelling thing about him is his skin color.</p>
<p>Sorry if this sounds harsh. It’s just annoying when people are like “OH HE/SHE IS BLACK HE’LL GET IN.”</p>
<p>In all honesty, this applicant has better chances than an asian with a 2300.</p>
<p>^In all honesty – another whining “Asians get shafted” post. Puh-leez</p>
<p>You’ve got issues. You benignly beg for people to chance you at various top colleges and then slag this guy’s post about his own chances because he’s black. you’re entitled to whatever raging you may feel. Do it on your own (multitude) threads. What great character you exhibit.</p>
<p>In all likelihood, this guy will get swamped by higher achieving blacks. You’re not in the same pool. There are tons of entitled kids w/high stats applying too.</p>
<p>I agree with T26E4. The AA status can’t cover up every single deficiency in the college app. There will definitely be others in this category with higher scores. I’d say the Ivies are all reaches as of now. Try retaking the ACT.</p>
<p>T26E4 is very experienced in these matters and it is worth taking any advice he gives to you.</p>
<p>T26E4: Sheep claims to be a white male and has made some disparaging remarks directed at Asians in the past.</p>
<p>Don’t mind these folk. A 28 on the ACT definitely isn’t bad, especially considering the fact that you didn’t give sub-scores. My 31 in science ended up being a deal breaker for me between a 33 and a 34-35 on the ACT. </p>
<p>I wish you the best of luck, and I have an odd feeling that you might just surprise a lot of people when decision time comes around.</p>
<p>-A fellow AA/NA 2016 hopeful.</p>
<p>See: [Princeton</a> University | Admission Statistics](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/admission_statistics/]Princeton”>http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/admission_statistics/)</p>
<p>Although a 28 is not a bad score, last year the overall acceptance rate for a student submitting an 1890 SAT to Princeton was 1.4%. (A 28 ACT is equivalent to an 1890 SAT, according to the College Board SAT-ACT Concordance table.)</p>
<p>You are overqualified if you are in fact an AA applicant.</p>
<p>^^ What’s this? Either you’re 1) quite unversed w/the applicant pool, 2) making a joke or 3) making a racial remark or 4) a combination of any of the first three.</p>
<p>Regardless, it’s not funny.</p>
<p>Stop the AA debate, it is true that the 28 ACT is too low for almost a recruited athlete but being AA does raise it to a lower quartile of standard acceptances. I’m too lazy to search but I actually found an article in like NYT or washington post about how for Ivy leagues being AA raises competitive SAT score 310 points so its not like people are being offensive.</p>
<p>Lets put it this way, I went to Princeton and from my experience, there are quite a few people there who have far worse stats than OP does.</p>
<p>It’s true I don’t know much about the applicant pool, most certainly not as much as T26, but I know quite well the actual composition of my class. No matter how you put it, AA / recruited athletes / legacies do get a huge leg up. Fact.</p>
<p>FYI, before any AA vigilante trolls me again, I’m not saying that I agree with admissions policies at Princeton. This is just how I see the system based on all the people I’ve interacted with during my 4 years at Princeton.</p>
<p>^When I was a student at Princeton way back when, no one ever talked about their high school grades or test scores. My son, a current sophomore, says the same is true now. So how would you know what your classmates high school records were like?</p>
<p>Resumes. I don’t know about your time, but chances are your son would list his SAT score on his resume especially since its almost a requirement for some recruiters nowadays.</p>
<p>In my senior year I screened applications for a summer internship program popular with freshmen and most, if not all, will have their high school stats such as GPA and rank on it.</p>
<p>I’m not going to elaborate specifics but the information is out there.</p>