Emotional and financial hardship (fully documented)
HEOP-eligible for NYU and Cornell
Intended Major
Philosophy
Interests in ethics, public policy, social justice, and community impact
Academics
GPA / Rank / Testing
Unweighted GPA: ~90.5
Weighted GPA: ~94.5 (school-weighted with AP/IB/Honors/College)
SAT/ACT: Test Optional (not submitting)
AP Scores: AP Scholar Award ( 3’s on 3 AP Exams)
Not submitting AP Scores to reach schools (only submitting to SBU + Adelphi + safety schools)
Coursework (By Year)
Freshman Year
Pre-AP English — 91
AP World History — 90
Honors Geometry — 75
Earth Science — 97
Studio Art — 97
TV Broadcast (Morning Announcements) — 100 (Head Anchor)
Spanish II — 94 (never took spanish 1)
Sophomore Year
AP Language & Composition — 90
AP World History: Modern — 94
Honors Spanish III — 82
Honors Science Research — 96
Honors Algebra II — 72
Chemistry — 82
Health — 100
Creative Writing — 96
Fashion Design — 93
TV Broadcast — 100 (Head Anchor)
Junior Year
IB Language & Literature HL I — 91
IB Environmental Systems & Societies — 92
AP U.S. History — 90
College Psychology — 97
College Science Research — 98
Sculpture — 90 (2nd Place, Local Art Show)
TV Broadcast — 100 (Head Anchor)
Honors Precalculus — 40
Severely impacted by documented caregiving and family crisis; explained in counselor letter, essay, and Additional Information
Senior Year (Current)
IB Global Politics — 100
IB Business — 100
IB Language & Literature HL II — 96
AP Biology — 90 (most rigorous course at school)
College Sociology — 100
College Science Research — 95
TV Broadcast — 100 (Head Anchor & Social Media Manager)
Awards & Honors
1st Place Regional Speech Competition (3Ă—)
Town Youth Ambassador Award
Youth Leadership & Service Award
Brandeis University Book Award
Research Symposium Honors Award
Principal’s Honor Roll
National Honor Society (Executive Council)
Rho Kappa Honor Society (President)
English Honor Society
National Art Honor Society (Vice President)
Business Honor Society
Extracurricular Activities & Leadership
Leadership
Founding President, Philosophy Club
President, Rho Kappa Honor Society
President, History & Politics Club
Founder & President, Speech Competition Club for URM students
Vice President, National Art Honor Society
Secretary, Student Government
Executive Council, National Honor Society
Head Anchor & Editor, Student Media Network
Social Media Manager, Student Media Network
Community Service & Advocacy
Junior Manager, Community Soup Kitchen (500+ hours)
Governor’s Youth Leadership Council (District-selected)
Food Drive & Pantry Leader (post-SNAP reductions)
Anti-Bias Initiative Ambassador
Student Representative, Building Safety Team
District-appointed Youth & Community Alliance Rep
Compassion Without Borders — Student Rep
Healthcare & Research
Clinical Shadowing — 30 hours
Clinical Volunteering — 100 hours
Columbia University Summer Program:
Ethical disparities in cancer care among URM communities
Mentorship & Education
Peer Mentor & Freshman Transition Mentor
Community Educator for URM students (5–7 hrs/week since 8th grade)
Sunday School Teacher at local mosque ( when I was a child I was taught here and now I give back to my community in the same way as a teacher)
Languages
English (fluent)
Urdu (fluent)
Pashto (fluent)
Arabic (proficient)
Essays / Recommendations
Essays: Very strong and vivid; cohesive narrative of adversity, resilience, ethical growth, and philosophy-driven purpose
Letters of Recommendation: Exceptional
Principal
NYU alum (APUSH teacher & club advisor)
College Psychology
AP Biology teacher
Context: Growing up in a low-income, first-generation household, I faced persistent instability shaped by financial hardship, strict family dynamics, and early housing insecurity. There were periods when my family could not afford rent, and we spent nights at our local mosque, where all six of us once lived in a single-room basement without personal space. During high school, these challenges intensified when I became a primary caregiver for a family member with dysautonomia/POTS, often staying awake through the night out of concern for her safety. This responsibility, compounded by emotional turmoil and lack of support at home, significantly affected my academic focus during one semester, particularly in math. Despite this, I maintained strong performance in my AP, IB, and college-level courses and demonstrated a clear upward trend senior year. The mosque that once represented survival became a place of purpose: I now teach Sunday school and mentor URM students there, helping them develop confidence and voice through education and public speaking. These experiences have shaped my passion for philosophy, ethical reasoning, and service-driven leadership.
Safeties
Old Westbury
NYIT
LIU
Farmingdale
Suffolk CCC
Targets
Stony Brook University - Regular decision
Hofstra University - Rolling
Adelphi University- Rolling
Reaches
NYU HEOP (ED2)
Cornell HEOP
Northeastern - NYC Scholars Program
You have some you deem safeties - I think some are community college - so if affordable, you’re ok. You’ll likely need to take a math (at least one) in college.
Hofstra and Adelphi - even if you get in, will be a cost issue I’d assume or will the HEOP help?
I don’t see Stony Brook or your reaches possible.
Best of luck.
Wherever you go, once you get assigned a math class, please get a tutor right away.
Congratulations on overcoming so many obstacles and having such a stellar academic record. I’m sure any college you apply to would be lucky to have you. One question: do you want or need to live at home, unless you get into Cornell or Northeastern?
Philosophy major programs typically require courses in logic, which is math-adjacent (proofs in high school geometry may be a very introductory taste of that). Plan accordingly (e.g. check into tutoring or similar resources) when you have to take such courses in college.
Hi! You don’t think I’m a good fit for NYU HEOP? I thought the whole point of HEOP was to help students such as myself? You don’t think I can get into SBU either as a philosophy major?
I’m not concerned about money because I should get money from FAFSA/TAP/PELL. I am just concerned about admission
HEOP is a wonderful opportunity to make a private college in New York State affordable. I’m glad to see that you’re taking advantage of it!
I can see why you have Adelphi on your list. Their major in Ethics & Public Policy seems to be right in your interest area. Another New York college which I’ll suggest that you add to your list is the University of Rochester because they offer a similar major in Politics, Philosophy, & Economics. This is a prestigious major offered only by several dozen colleges in this country and which is viewed very favorably by law schools and other graduate programs. U Rochester is a superb university and I think that you would be a very strong candidate for admissions there. Part of the rich experience which is offered at Rochester is a high number of international students which can really make studying there a global experience. I say that with the caveat that I don’t know how current government policies will affect the number of foreign students coming to US colleges and universities in the near future.
You have a great record but math is your weak spot.
I treated your chancing as I would any other student.
I don’t know what types of admission advantages HEOP would provide but if you were a non-HEOP student, those would be my guesses.
Please note - those are guesses. That’s what chance mes are.
We are not AD Coms - so ultimately, the schools will make a determination on you.
I appreciate your record and your family troubles but that is unlikely why you got a bad math score so I hope you didn’t say that. Why do I say that? You didn’t struggle in other courses - so if that was the reason (family), you’d have struggled elsewhere too.
Personally, I don’t see the admissions that I noted (Stony Brook and the reaches). It doesn’t mean I’m right but you did ask for people to chance you. Kids often get decisions that are different (acceptance or denials) than people on here guess.
Best of luck to you. Keep your eye on the prize - an education - get math help (now in HS) and when you get to college - and you’ll have every chance to be great in life.
To confirm, a 40 in math would not be passing, correct? If so, you only have 2 years of math. I think that may prove difficult for your reaches and perhaps some of your targets. I am not familiar enough with their required/recommended coursework. Best of luck to you!
well math has always been my sore/weak spot so junior year when my circumstances got really bad, math got hit the worst because everything else I can keep with easily. math is the type of class you need to practice for, everything else was writing (which I consider myself to be very good at + love) and history and science which is just memorization, and the other classes such as research and art I could work on during school hours. math needed special priority for me, something I could not provide it. junior year I came home one day and found something terrible and tragic that deeply affected me and mental health. so math took the hit, because it was the one sore spot, the one thing I did not have the energy, time, or luxury to deal with. everything else in school I could get easy A’s in because they did not require the same effort from me as math did.
HEOP is for academically and economically disadvantaged students. It is a program that would provide tuition assistance to low income families + academically disadvantaged students.
SBU I was decently confident about because I was under the impression that philosophy was generally less competitive than their stem majors and because other then math I have really good EC’s, leadership, letters of rec, pretty good essay, rigorous course load, community service, and a high upward trend.
SBU and NYU HEOP are my top schools, all in all, and I guess I was just hoping that I would get into both
I have 3 years of math, enough to get an advanced regents diploma, algebra I, geometry, and algebra 2, and I am challenging the AP Stats exam this year for college credit. SBU and NYU HEOP are my goals
I assume from your OP, you took Algebra in middle school then? Universities often treat classes differently than requirements for high school graduation. Having 2 years of math in high school with Cs and then on year with an F is going to be challenging. I wish you the best of luck, but understand that many universities want to see 4 years of math in high school.
well algebra 1 is on my transcript for high school. and thanks, I was just thinking that because I am a philosophy major, a non heavy math major, it wouldn’t be taken as harshly as a uni would if it were a stem major
You haven’t gotten an answer yet from the schools - so hoping is ok.
But hope is not a plan. Should you not get in - then what would be your next - so you are prepared in case.
Stony Brook says you need 3 years of math - you can ask your counselor if you have that if you don’t know.
It’s always hard to judge a # grade - a 90 = what on a 4 point scale - and some of your classes like broadcast are likely to be removed by a college in their GPA calc (it’s not core).
First gen/low income may and likely do get treated differently - so you never know - so hope for the schools you want but be prepared in case they don’t happen. The goal - getting a great education - remains whether you start at community college of a four year school.
If you get told no, you’ll still attack your goals - so no problem.
The schools don’t get to determine your success. Only you do.
This is for SB
High school diploma or equivalent(Regents diploma preferred forNYresidents) Strong performance in a college preparatory high school academic programthat includes: 4 units ofEnglish 4 units of social studies 3 units ofmathematics (4 units required for engineering, applied sciences, and pharmacology) 3 units of science (4 units required for engineering, applied sciences, and pharmacology) 2 or 3 units of a foreign language.
I have consistently heard that students who struggle in any of the prerequisites for calculus have trouble when they take calculus. In contrast, in my experience students who do very well in all of the prerequisites for calculus (ie, strong A’s) tend to do very well in calculus and find it to be straightforward.
If you need to take any math in the future, or if you need to take anything that requires calculus as a prerequisite (such as some physics classes, and possibly some economics classes), then you are going to need to put a lot of effort into building a much stronger understanding of mathematics. This is likely to include retaking some classes and might be helped by getting a tutor.
I will admit that my response is somewhat impacted by my own experience, and my own experience includes attending very highly ranked and very academically challenging universities for both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. However, I would not think of highly ranked universities as “better” than other universities. It is probably more accurate to think of highly ranked universities as “academically more challenging” than other universities. Cornell is academically very tough. I do not know NYU as well but doubt that it is much different from Cornell in this regard.
I am not convinced that these are the right two schools for you. My wild guess is that admissions will feel the same way.
I think that there are many, many universities that will be a good match for you, and where you can do very well. I just do not expect that Cornell or NYU would be the right fit. Northeastern most likely also fits into this same category. I think that any of your targets might be a better fit.
By the way, being trilingual and having some knowledge of a fourth language is likely to be quite valuable in several different possible careers.
Hi! I meet the requirements, so that’s good! I just searched it up and SBU does not recalculate high school gpa, so that’s good news! Given my low grades, I think my gpa is decent, but one of the reasons I’m going back and forth with you is because you’re the first person who’s told me that I prob can’t get in
thanks! I’m applying to NYU and Cornell under the HEOP program which is for academically and economically disadvantaged students, so basically students like me. I am also applying as a philosophy major, where the only math I need is stats, which I am taking the AP Exam for this year so I could hopefully get college credit
Our Daughter struggled with math and only went through Algebra 2 because of specific learning challenges. She explained this on her common app and she also applied for non-stem majors. She was accepted into nine out of ten schools she applied to. I think your grades on honors, AP and IB humanities courses proves you can handle the academics for a Philosophy major. With that said have you considered other Suny schools, like New Paltz for instance that is strong in Liberal Arts and may not be as challenging to get into as Stony Brook?
Checking what math is needed at each university is a very good idea. Make sure that you check the general university requirements in addition to the major-specific requirements.