my dad is crazy....

Northstarmom
Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:04:52 +0000

“outside of school i work 30+ a week to help my mom with some bills”

This is extremely impressive, far more impressive than if you were holding, for instance, a statewide office in a student EC.

Still, Harvard is a reach for you as it is for virtually everyone, so don’t count on it.

I do hope, however, that you’re applying to some other top 25 universities, as I think that due to the financial challenges you’re successfully dealing with, you’ll have a shot at some of the top universities. They all would understand that your grades and scores would be higher if you weren’t employed so many hours a week.

It may be a good idea to include an extra recommendation by your work supervisor. It needn’t be elegant to help you with your college apps.

I also think that the tip you may get from your work experience will outweigh any tip from minority status. Actually, African immigrants and their kids are overrepresented in top colleges.

Best of luck to you!

(I do not estimate chances nor do I provide private consultations, so please don’t anyone take this post as encouragement to PM me about your situation. I confine my responses to message boards like this).