Immigrant

College Admissions
#1

<p>I have already applied to Harvard EA, and I will have my interview next Saturday. But I have a question about my status. I am an immigrant from Iran. I moved to America in July of 2003( I am a Permanent Resident). How much being an immigrant helps? Some people have told me that it helps a great deal while others have told me that it will hurt; they told me that they prefer to take for example a Persian-America instead of a fresh Iranian immigrant.</p>

<p>My other concern is about my standardized scores. When I arrived here, I could not speak a word of English, and as you have already noticed I still lack a great deal in this new language. Last year, at the beginning of school year I took the PSAT, and obviously I did not score well. I scored a 910(330 verbal). Now, after a year of hard work, I am scoring much better; my best practice before this Saturday test has been a 640V and 800M on 10RS, but I think I did even better than 1440 this Saturday. Not good enough for Harvard though!</p>

<p>I am also pretty active outside the classroom. I have started a Philosophy Club in our school last year. I am the president of it, and I have established a strong relationship between my club and Texas Christian University Philosophy Department after a year. We use their professors as guest speakers, etc. I wrote my optional essay about this club. I talked about how I came from an extremely restricted environment to a free place, and how I have used this privilege so far. I talked about how that environment caused questions in my mind, and how it made me to find a number of illegal books that oppose the theocracy’s beliefs such as Communist Manifesto, and study them... Also, I am about to publish two works in English...One is a short, post-modernist, abstract story dealing with infinity and nihilism...My other work is a 35 pages essay about Existentialism( I haven’t found a publisher for this one yet...my teachers are helping me to find one).</p>

<p>My other EC is Soccer. I have been playing it in a long time. My most notable accomplishment is my invitation to Iran’s U-16 international Soccer team...
I also have 5 prestigious academic awards...</p>

<p>Sorry, I know it was hard to read it all because this is a pretty unorganized post with poor English...</p>

<p>I just wanted to give you a sense of my qualification...Let’s assume that I am qualified enough for Harvard, then how will the fact that I am an immigrant from a country with current political issues affect me?</p>

#2

<p>ummm... you've came here for one year and yet your english is better than 95% of american high schoolers, you got invited to Iran's U-16 international soccer team. You're definately in at harvard and playing for their soccer team.</p>

<p>Great chance at any school. Amazing how good your english is.</p>

#3

<p>Thank you very much johntam. I remember last year almost at this time I started one of the biggest thread's on Harvard board. Everyone was posting me one of my misspellings or grammar mistakes. And trust me this post has taken me more than 5 minutes to write! jk
I learn languages pretty fast. I learned Arabic in a short time too(my native language is Persian which is different from Arabic).
But my question is about my immigration status. Is it going to hurt me because I am an immigrant with low income from a country with a lot of political conflicts with America? BTW I don't support Iran's government.</p>

#4

<p>Your english is definitely something to be admired for someone who just immigrated here one year ago. I was just wondering how you got a green card in 1 year... most everyone I know could only receive a green card after 3(?) or 5(?) years of residence in the US.</p>

<p>But that's irrelevant, just something that stuck out. I dont believe the fact that you're from Iran (or any country that's is at odds with U.S.) will hurt you in the college application process. I certainly hope admissions directors are more open-minded than that, especially ones from Harvard. And it absolutely should NOT matter what your political opinions are. Even if you were a communist they have no right to discriminate based on belief. However, it will unfortunately become a factor later on when you seek jobs because of political pressures, etc... but that's also irrelevant.</p>

<p>So in conclusion, I like to digress a lot, and I don't think your immigrant status will help OR hurt you, since I don't believe middle easterners are considered URMs (I may be wrong); and neither are colleges overly eager to fill a quota of Iranians. I think, however, it CAN help you if you present your story in a great essay or two, and if you're able to impress them with your accomplishments in such a short period of time.</p>

<p>Either that or get recruited for soccer ;)</p>

#5

<p>We waited even more than that to receive our Green Card. We applied for Green Card when my younger brother was just born. We waited for 13 years to get it. If you are here then it takes you 5 years to become a citizen-after passing language and history tests.
My personal statement was my family's AMERICAN STORY. How we "escaped" from our homeland and hoped to live in the heaven on Earth-America. My dad didnt have a job, so we were using our whole life savings. Then he discovered he needed a surgery on his elbow, which drained our savings. He decided to have the family returned to Iran. Me and my brother argued with him to let us stay; he consequently gave us a short trial in America-> we did well in school so we were allowed to stay for our education...but my father could not tolerate this new lifestyle so he returned to Iran to work and send us money...then after a while we had a car accident and we lost our car...so I was left with the responsibility of a family who couldnt speak English and didn't have transportation...we couldnt afford another car...so sometimes I had to walk long distances to take care of some family issues(there are no side-walks in Texas!!!)...I talked about different stuff...I even talked about how I have to read and write every bill because my mom doesn't understand a word English...</p>

<p>In overal it was a good essay. I was feeling good about it. I kinda talked about my problems beyond stereotypical problems of immigrants such as cultural conflicts and language barriers. I talked about how I came to realizations about American system-i.e. insurance problems through car accident and surgery...</p>

#6

<p>Wow, sounds like you had to grow up in a hurry. =&lt;/p>

<p>Wish you the best of luck.</p>

#7

<p>Thank you guys. What do you suggest me to do in my interview? Should I emphasize on the facts stated above or should I act apathetic?
I have done too many interviews in my head lately!! I imagine myself sitting in front of the interviewer and answering his questions. Sometime I approach his questions emotionally( not very emotional though), and sometimes rationally. But unfortunately I see a face in front of me that has no reactions!!!!
How would you respond if you were interviewing me?</p>

#8

<p>aite ppl
i moved to the USA last year to
but i never highlighted in my application that i was from a different country
i just played along
do u think theyd be really surprised that my app is basically almost as good as an average app.......an they notice that i just moved here last year?
i dont know
which is better...........really Highlighting it......or just playing along like an average Kid!</p>

#9

<p>damn i can not help but to say DAMN! This guy is a genius! Nothing less. He has arrived here for only 1 year and yet writes perfect english and plays soccer at the international level. </p>

<p>Stop worrying about being immigrants. You're like freddy adu to a lesser extent. I CANNOT imagine any college rejecting you at all.</p>

#10

<p>Thank you johntam. I hope you guys don't consider me as a person who posts to boost his self-esteem. I appreciate your comments.</p>

<p>I don't speak very eloquently! I have a pretty heavy accent...lol</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

#11

<p>Actually, though my circumstances were definitely not as trying as yours (mostly because I was much younger), there were certain aspects of my childhood that can be very emotionally presented. Though, mind you, you should NOT cry at your interview or act self-pitying, relaying the information in a way that reflects how YOU saw/still see it. It is most important to be YOURSELF (I know you hear it all the time and it has probably ceased to mean anything), and carry yourself without too much regard for how you're going to look. Dont respond emotionally because you want to draw pity from the interviewer, and don't act rigidly because you think showing emotion may be a sign of weakness.</p>

<p>In my interview, I talked a lot about where/how I grew up and what it was like not meeting my parents until age 8, essentially. Thinking back on it, there were certainly some aspects that I could not help but present emotionally, but it was natural, and therefore received very well by the interviewer. Really, just react naturally and you shouldn't have any problems leaving a positive impression.</p>