@soulspit463 There is no order of important. Keep in mind that these are human beings spending several hours every day looking at these applications. They look at the entire application and analyze what you’ve done as a whole and they take into consideration where you’re from. I didn’t have any awards except for a few ribbons from the Moment Math Competition in middle school.
@isolatedmind That’s only sort of true. They accept people who would be much more successful at their new school than their old school. So if you’re from a small town or just generally bad school but it looms like you did what you could and took advantage of what they offered, you’re generally going to be favored. Otherwise, your whole application is still important.
@isolatedmind If more minorities are going to be included, does that mean all non-whites or are asians excluded from that list
Also, does going to IMSA sponsored activies help
@notarapper Yes, that encompasses it. I’ve only heard tidbits from a few students that I know from the Naperville area, but thanks for clarifying that for me. Also is there a gender imbalance at IMSA?
@isolatedind IMSA well, it is about 115-120 beds available for each gender every year and since more boys applying, this results in a slightly higher competition for beds between boys. So, a minority female from underrepresented district will have a better chance overall… Anybody correct me if I am wrong.
@soulsplit463 I’m not absolutely sure. I’m asian, Indian to be exact. I was talking more about underrepresented districts and minorities, town and county-wise. But I’d have to guess that Asians are definitely a majority not a minority there, from what I’ve read in previous posts.
@javascript I’m a female, Indian, and from an underrepresented county, so better chance for me?
@soulsplit463 about the IMSA activites… Definitely! I went to the preview day and 2 hour tours. Not much, but I’ve never been able to do anything else, as I had moved to Illinois 2014, and some of their activities would require a younger age. I wanted to do Summer @ IMSA, but I was abroad so I couldn’t do that either.
I have done RISE and SUMMER@IMSA, both are great programs. I am a boy Asian from cook county. 
you can’t get any worse than that ethnicity wise.
Does doing summer@imsa really strengthen ones application @YoloSwagMaster ?
@isolatedmind I am not an expert, but being a female from underrepresented county should help, however being Asian probably not so much… I do not know what kind of priority will be given this year for admission; however, if grades, SAT score, recommendations, essays are good, the rest is a minor issue and should not be something to worry about. You can not change who you are, just do your best and believe in yourself! [-O<
I honestly don’t know, @floridagators100. I only did it because it looked interesting, and IT WAS. By far one of the best camps I have ever been too and it was cool to stay in a dorm at IMSA. I think they like when you do IMSA sponsored activities, but it’s fine if you don’t. Are you a 9th or 8th grader? Because if you are a 8th grader you can still sign up for summer. Just remember to sign up right when the form release
@YoloSwagMaster 9th 
I was just wondering how effective the camps are.
Oh man, I haven’t done their camp or academic sponsored activities
Are you all trying out for IMSA this year?
Yep @isolatedmind that’s why we made this whole group.
@YoloSwagMaster Do you know when the forms release because my younger sister wants to go to the camps but we do not know when they release
Look it up on the website, idk, I didn’t even sign up. My parents did. @floridagators100
I want to clear a few things up. First, doing summer@imsa does slightly help your applications but not much. If you haven’t done any IMSA programs, it won’t hurt your chances. I didn’t even see IMSA until placement tests. And I want to be more clear about minorities, ethnicities, residence, etc. IMSA does NOT prioritize the minorities (black and hispanic) over the majority (Asian and white). IMSA rates each student in the context of their environment. Typically, the minorities who apply are people from crappy schools who are trying to get out of their schools. That’s why the amount of minorities accepted out of those who applied is generally higher. The only reason Asians happen to be much more competitive is because a lot of the people from better schools and in the Chicagoland area who apply are Asian. For example, if you go to a crappy school with bad academics that doesn’t offer honors programs or academic extracurriculars and end up with a 3.5 GPA is usually going to be more likely than someone who goes to a rich Chicago school with good academics but doesn’t take advantage of their opportunities and may have a lower GPA. Everything with admissions is relative. The fact that Asians are more competitive in applications does not have to do with race and ethinicity. They also don’t really care where you were before the year of your application too much. They consider how well you’ll be able to do at your current school.
Oh, and as far as gender goes, it’s a practically nonexistent imbalance. There are generally as many rooms for girls as boys, and not many more guys apply than girls. For reference, of the class of 2017, the current juniors, 33% of the male applications were accepted and 39% of the female applicants were accepted.
Have you all finished doing your essays?