OP, don’t be fooled into thinking that the ivy league and top 20 schools are the only path to success. Although it’s usually the norm that Asians have better stats than other ethnicities and still get rejected, I’ve also seen Asians on this thread get into top schools with well below average stats. Just apply where to you want to with some badass essays and hope adcoms think you are special enough to diversify the incoming freshman class.
If you can get that SAT score up to at least a 2150, you will have a much better shot at schools like Carnegie Mellon, Emory, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, which may not be ivies, but what they offer is just as good or even better.
@JustOneDad You’re right. I probably should’ve worded it as “things we are good at.”
I just realized that everyone thinks that I’m applying to these schools for STEM. I’m not. I’m applying into humanities or social science. Also, I have more schools, but these are my TOP choices so far.
Before you blame your racial background, work hard to bring up your GPA and scores. Your current stat hurt your chance for those top schools more than being an Asian. For schools that match your current stat, race is usually not an issue at all.
I think you may have bought into the “harder for Asians to stand out” mantra, when the reality is that your scores are likely just too low. None of the standard “less Asian” advice will make up for that at those top schools. If your SAT was 2200+, maybe a different story.
I think too many kids fall into one of two camps:
1). I’m special, look at my stellar XX, which should compensate for my average XX, both of which are actually average, or
2). There is nothing special about me bc I did not win state or intel or cure anything, despite near perfect scores, 4 years committed to very time consuming ECs, and great writing skills.
The first gets disappointed bc they find out that they are “average” to these schools. The second often shoot themselves in the foot thinking they are in no way special!
My advice, accept who you are, and what you do. Make the best of it, bc that is still a great package you present…but be prepared for rejection, not bc you are Asian, but bc you are below that school’s average. Then find the schools that will love you, and love them back.
There are two issues floating here- the idea the Asian background will hurt and the issue with finding the right match for stats. And then the mention of Ivies.
HRSMom makes good points. I’d add: and not just because your stats are lower, but because you have to know what else besides stats make one a match. Wishing won’t make it happen.
I do know that my stats are average and below average for the schools I’m shooting for. I’m also not trying to use the “it’s harder for Asians to get in” excuse because my stats are average, and instead I’m worried that schools will question why my stats are below the average of other Asian applicants who do have a STEM background.
Second, I don’t think that my extracurricular are that unique and therefore I wondering and asking what I should or should not include in my application in regards to my family or racial background.
The top schools don’t ask why your stats are lower than those of other As-Ams. They will wonder if your stats show you may have some trouble with their high level of classes and the level at which your peers will be prepared.
Many seem to think this is only about getting through the admissions gate and then everything is just fine. But adcoms are concerned how you will manage over the four years.
@Xinjie, don’t fall into that other trap of not seeing the “special” in you. Your ECs are fine. Embrace them! You are special! It’s just your scores are not high enough in comparison to other Asians, as well as Whites, Blacks, etc…all admits to those schools.
It doesn’t mean anything other than that you need to be realistic when picking your overall list.
@lookingforward If you say that my stats are showing that I’m not at the same level of preparedness, should I enter my AP scores on my application, and would that slightly make up for my test scores? I am planning to take both again. I took AP European History(4), AP Psychology(5), AP English Language and Composition(5), AP Biology(4), and APUSH(4) and am planning on taking AP Gov/Econ, AP Calc AB, AP Literature, and AP Physics C next year. I have also taken SAT II Chinese with Listening(780) and am taking SAT II French, Literature, and Math II in October.
We are all saying, you need to find the right matches and safeties.
And I’m also saying, you have to read what these schools want. It’s more than a few hs club titles, some unnamed vol work, and a dream. They also want the sorts of kids who are thinkers and doers, savvy enough to dig to learn what these colleges are really about…
If you want to be successful, you find the schools that will foster that, for you. It’s not the name on the diploma. We say that all the time.
Have a realistic list is the best advice. Do t worry about other students, for one, you can’t control that, and second there are plenty of high stats students that get rejected every year, not just Asians or Asian-Americans.
Not only is most of this blatantly wrong, it’s just bad advice. If piano is what you truly like, then write about it; if tennis is a sport that you play, then that’s fine; if you’re interested in STEM, don’t be afraid to show it. What makes your application weaker isn’t writing about “generic” topics, it’s writing generic essays. If you read your essay and it sounds like something anybody who played piano or tennis could write, then that’s the problem.
I included my piano playing in my application (keep in mind that I’ve never played in any competitions or been awarded with anything. Just hr/day for fun). Saying that I should’ve given up, or “sacrificed” this activity, just to look “less typically Asian” to an admissions committee isnt just silly - it’s absolutely inane. You’re pandering to what you think adcoms want and doing yourself and your application a disservice.
My SAT Math score was also higher than my Reading and Writing. Whoops!