<p>I'm currently in my sophomore summer (will be a junior next year) and I recently started seriously looking at colleges. My GPA is a solid 3.7. I took five honors and two curriculum 1 classes last year. In June, I took my first SAT II and got a 600, I will be retaking it in the fall. My question is will I have a better chance of getting admitted into a selective college because I was born in Turkey (moved to the US when I was 10) am Kurdish, Shia Muslim (non-practicing,albeit) ,I'm fluent in Turkish, as it was my first language and raised by a single mother. I plan on doing a home-stay next summer in Spain so I can learn Spanish. I'll be the first in my family besides my brother to ever go to college. Do colleges take into account these things or does it not matter? Will these things help me during the college admissions process?</p>
<p>Yes, especially the first generation college thing!</p>
<p>How selective? My position is you have to fall within the range of stats, ECs, essays and LoRs a particular college targets. After that, they can look at factors that offer balance or diversity in the school. Your geographic location, poss major, etc, can also affect chances.</p>
<p>Depends on the school.</p>
<p>Kurdish/Turkish/Muslim/Shia would not be a “check box” race or ethnicity that matters, but if you write an interesting story around your background, it may attract the attention from an admissions person. Some schools do have some bump for first generation students.</p>