Academy for Developing Entrepreneurs- did pitches against classmates and won many and also did compete against students at local colleges and create business plans
4.5/4 gpa
3.98 uw
3bs throughout high school honors English and AP stats
Class Rank 8/407
8 ap classes
Only took 2 ap exams due to financial cost
APUSH-3 AP World 4
Sat-(1270 sophomore year june) didn’t get to take again but got 1440 on my psat junior year but i went test optional
School never sent anyone to ivies at all
ECS
Class President 3 x
DECA- 2x State Finalist, 1x ICDC Participant,3x districts finalist Historian-Vice President
Hosptial Volunteer 100+ hours
Mentor and Tutor at my mom’s inner-city daycare
Track and Field Discuss and shot put 3x varsity field captain
Founder and manager of tutor club specialized in math and history
Create a youtube channel that interview a famous singer and also helped create food drives for the homeless through brand
Freshmen Mentor- Mentor and President
Historian- Beta Club
Found and Manger of history buff club and econ club
Is my ec list awfully strange
All my teacher recs mention is me doing deca and being class president and how much i love to give back is that bad?
I think you are doing one of two things: either you are overthinking this or you are trying to garner compliments by claiming your profile is so awful. I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume the former. You are totally fine!
Background: Being black and a first gen college student are both going to help you out, along with the fact that you go to a school that doesn’t send that many students to highly selective universities.
Grades/Class Rank: Great
Test Scores: Not having a test score to share isn’t ideal, but it shouldn’t disadvantage you too much! Colleges do like to see them so that they can compare you with other students, so it might be worth your while to try to get one in before your deadlines.
Teacher Recs: What really matters is what your teachers say about your character. I wouldn’t worry so much about what activities they mention (that is what the activities section is for). As long as your teachers like you and know you well, you’re good!
EC’s: First of all, you shouldn’t be concerned about having unique extracurriculars. In fact, you should be pleased! Most of these activities I would argue are pretty standard anyway (class office, DECA, volunteering, T&F, tutoring, Beta club, etc.). The ones that stand out to me are you being a class president, working as a mentor and tutor at your mom’s daycare, founding the history buff club, and running your Youtube channel. Hopefully you talk about those in your essays!
It seems like you are the “round” type of applicant, which means that you haven’t narrowed in and accomplished a ton on a select few things, but had a much wider focus. This isn’t inherently good or bad, but I would try to demonstrate passion for these individual things in your essays, to show that you didn’t just try to pad your resumé. Also, make sure you are making themes that connect your interests emerge in your essays as well!
the essays i created were about tutoring my track team and helping reform my community through tutoring clubs and boosting school spirt could you give me a read if you want
You look to be a competitive applicant with academics and ECs that should get you a serious look at any college. Being first generation and a URM will be considered a plus at some colleges. The rest will depend on things we can’t see such as your essays, LORs, etc.
That said, any T20 college must be considered a reach for any unhooked applicant because there are more well qualified applicants than there are spots available. Be sure to take the time to search out a group of match and safety schools that appear affordable (run net price calculators) and that you would be excited to attend.
Those sound like good essay topics. I really don’t know why you are concerned! I would be happy to give them a quick read-through if you want me to. But really, stop worrying! You have around as good a chance as anyone. With “Top 20” schools, you never know what decision you’ll get…