I used to go to an intercity high school. Parents moved so that we could get a better education. Rent is very expensive so I had to get a part-time job at Outback Steakhouse. I work about 25-30 hours a week.
Gender: Female
Race: American Indian & African American I am not a traditional native student raised on a reservation. I taught myself most of the things that I know and I took language classes.
Residence: Oklahoma
GPA: 3.7(UW), 4.2(W) out of 4.0
Class Rank: n/a,but top 10%
ACT: 33
APs:
AP Bio and AP Gov & Politics(9th grade)
AP Physics A and AP World(10)
AP Lang, AP Psych, AP Calc AB, AP Environmental, AP Seminar(11)
ECs:
Mock Trial (Captain)
Medical club at a local hospital (President)
National Honor Society
Spanish Honor Society
Mu Alpha Theta
co-founder and vice-president of Black Student Union (We recently held a peaceful protest).
in the Ron Brown Guided Pathway Support Program.
WeRNative Ambassador.
Native American Club (vice pres)
President of American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES).
in the Oklahoma Indian Honor Society.
competed in a pageant last year to become a native princess; I won Miss Congeniality and 1st Runner Up. Will compete again this year.
This summer I was one of the 25 native student in the nation selected to go on a 10-day all expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. for an intense medical workshop.
President of a medical club at a local hospital.
vice president of my school’s Pre Med Society.
This past summer (sophomore year), I did lab research at a local med school. I will probably do it again this upcoming summer.
I shadow a surgeon.
I do volunteer work at a local hospital and I help plan all of my school’s blood drives.
Counselor-In-Training for a camp hosted for children who had or have incarcerated parent(s).
Major: Medicine related major or African American Studies or Native American studies with a Pre-med track
I am looking at Stanford, Yale, Spelman, and Howard.
Income: <$50k
I prefer anywhere outside of Oklahoma.
Hooks: First-Generation, low income, Underrepresented minority interested in medicine/STEM, american indian, african american, incarcerated parent
How much (if anything) can your parents pay per year? What is your EFC?
You would be competitive for many schools. What regions/climates would you prefer? Urban, rural, or in between? Do you care one way or the other about Greek life/sports/etc? Campus politics? Religious affiliation? Diversity?
Also, did you take AP exams for any of those classes? What were your scores?
Are you officially affiliated with a native American tribe?
Dartmouth and Wesleyan would immediately come to mind.
I second Carleton, Macalester too. Explore Hamilton, Skidmore, Bowdoin, Bates, Colby.
You have a definite shot at our reaches.
Spelman is a safety but it doesn’t meet need, so you’d need to have more meet need universities.
@lalalemma I am pretty sure my parents cannot pay anything towards college. We have no savings. I’m not quite sure what my EFC is.
I prefer schools anywhere outside of Oklahoma. Location isn’t too big for me. I would prefer larger universities, but I don’t mind smaller ones. I’m pretty much open to any schools, but I’d prefer that it is urban.
EFC = Expected Family Contribution (I believe parents’ direct contributions, savings distributions, student summer earnings and work-study would generally be included. Loans maybe also.)
The tip-top colleges (Ivies, Stanford, Duke, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Chicago, Williams, Amherst, a few others) have enormous endowments which enable them to be more generous with financial aid than other colleges (even ones that claim to fully meet need). Not only will they likely pay for your tuition, room, & board, they will sometimes come up with wads of cash to fund transportation, internships, study abroad, and research.
Given the financial situation, your list probably needs to have multiple types of targets:
a. Full ride or close to that scholarships which are automatic for stats, for safety options. http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/ lists some, but verify on school web sites since some have changed. Note: Howard on your list offers such a thing, but first come first served, so apply as soon as you can (and also be aware of the 3.3 college GPA needed to renew it). See https://www2.howard.edu/admission/tuition (scroll down to see scholarships).
b. Full ride or close to that scholarships which are competitive. http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/ lists some, but verify on school web sites. Assume that they are reach for the scholarship, even if the school is match or safety for admission for you.
c. Schools with good financial aid. Use the net price calculator on each school’s web site to get a financial aid and net price estimate. A net price of $5,500 can be covered by a federal direct loan; you may be able to go a few thousand dollars higher with some part time work earnings. However, most schools with good financial aid are highly selective.
With your background, I would focus on schools that meet full financial need, and also look at applying through QuestBridge. Several schools have fly-in programs where they will pay your way to visit their school. I think you have an excellent chance. Best of luck!