Should I even bother?

heyjjjaded
Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:45:04 +0000

I’m only ranking Yale and Brown because those are the only colleges I feel I can readily commit to. I’m worried my financial situation isn’t bad enough due to my parents’ frugality and their over-commitment to working overtime to allow me to focus on my studies rather than worrying about a job. Should I give Questbridge a shot? Do I even stand a chance?

~55k/3-person household (inflated due to unemployment compensation while my father was unemployed for over a year. Now he’s a temporary, part-time worker who still receives benefits.), property worth approx. 100k, 170k in savings accumulated over twenty years for my parent’s retirement (in a matter of a few years) and emergencies. Elaborating on my parents financially helping and housing my recently-immigrated family members when I was a young kid.

~My parents’ high school diplomas aren’t applicable in the US. They’re Vietnam War immigrants. I’ll be the first in my family to attend college.

GPA: 4.0UW, 4.5W
SAT: 2200 (740 CR, 660M, 800W)
ACT: 31 (35W, 30R, 31M, 27S, 11E) - retaking in October but submitting these scores in the meantime
Courses: I took the hardest courses I could possibly take. My school doesn’t offer much.

ECs I’d list:
-Gay-Straight Alliance (2 years) - VP (11), President (12) - really impacted me
-Second Harvest Food Bank (~150 hours)
-Human Rights Club (1 year) - Co-founder/President
-Diversity Club (1 year) - Co-founder/President
-Scholastic Scrimmage (4 years) - Varsity captain (12), JV captain (10-12)

Honors:
-National Honor Society
-Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honor Society)
-Spanish National Honor Society

Recs:
Counselor Rec: Will be excellent. She knows me on very personal level and is going all-out to help me tough-out the application.
Teacher Recs: Asking my Microeconomics/American history and British Literature I teachers. They both think I am an outstanding student and person and I have consistently gotten the best grades in their classes. They’ll write something spectacular.

Senior Schedule:
-AP Bio
-College-Level English
-College-Level World History
-College-Level Probability and Statistics
-Honors Spanish IV
-2 laid-back extracurricular classes that let me wind down. I needed some buffer classes to keep me from going insane between leading my clubs and school work.

Essays:
I feel that I can churn out some great essays. My absolute academic strength is writing and my English teachers are very willing to help.

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