How much does race help?

Colleges & Universities Yale University
1

<p>I don’t want to turn this into an affirmative action debate, but i’m curious how much race helps. </p>

<p>I’m a pretty average applicant for Yale
-34 ACT
-5s on all AP tests
-top 1% of high school class
-4.0uw gpa
-Lots of leadership and ECs
-1000 volunteer hours
-work part time</p>

<p>BUT, I am a documented Native American. How much does that help my application if at all? Would it help more if I was black, hispanic, etc.</p>

<p>I just want to get an idea of how much race matters</p>

2

<p>It helps a lot.</p>

3

<p>1000 volunteer hours is not average. o_o</p>

4

<p>Working part time is not average, I bet most applicants never had real jobs.</p>

5

<p>well thank you all for making me blush</p>

6

<p>r6L: Do you have documented tribal affiliation? Follow the link below and the link that post provides.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062330847-post3.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062330847-post3.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>If you can in fact satisfly Yale’s requirements for Native American, I think you will be in excellent shape on Dec 15 ;)</p>

7

<p>vp: yes i do</p>

<p>but does race really boost an applicant that much?</p>

8

<p>It certainly helps to a certain extent. Coupled with your excellent resume, I anticipate good news for you as well. :)</p>

9

<p>You are a shoo-in.</p>

10

<p>Your race will help exponentially. Lucky duck :P</p>

11

<p>Haha…ya native american with 30+ on ACT= auto-admit into HYP </p>

<p>I pritty much wish I was you come Dec 15.</p>

12

<p>It helps a ton.</p>

13

<p>It only helps a ton because you’re an able candidate to begin with. You have a VERY good chance of getting in.</p>

14

<p>You’re pretty much guaranteed admission into any school of your choice in the United States. And we are not even lying.</p>

15

<p>Hey, don’t be so hasty. She might have a criminal record!</p>

<p>Seriously, this will help you quite a lot.</p>

16

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<p>That is an interesting question and I wonder if someone could address this query with data. I have not seen data, but observation of results posted on C.C. suggests that hispanic applicants seem to do better than comparable black applicants. I have seen more rejected black applicants than hispanic applicants. I haven’t noticed too many native american applicants on C.C at least, but I suspect it is a bigger boost than being either black or hispanic. It would be nice to see some data, though.</p>

17

<p>Louise, didn’t you say elsewhere that you are one-eighth NA? So being one-eighth of a minority race, as long as you have documentation, significantly helps your chances?</p>

18

<p>I think being Native American is more eye-catching than Black or Hispanic only because Native Americans are heavily, heavily underrepresented in colleges now-a-days. So a highly successful Native American student will catch the attention of an admissions officer more readily than a Black or Hispanic one. However, I don’t think we can ever really say how much “more” a Native American is “valued” over a Black or Hispanic student.</p>

19

<p>I think it helps a lot, although I am not certain whether mere registered tribal membership is enough to do the trick (as opposed to registered tribal membership and some indication of identification and involvement with the tribe or other NA organizations). But, yes, a registered tribal member with a 34 ACT is rare enough to be pretty special.</p>

<p>If you haven’t already, you should think about applying to Dartmouth and Stanford, two colleges with excellent financial aid that have a strong institutional commitment to having a meaningful Native American presence among their undergraduates.</p>

20

<p>Native Americans get the biggest boost of any URM and you are qualified without any affirmative action boost. Congratulations on your excellent record.</p>