<p>i agree with jasonlee, i mean, when martin luther king said he had a dream, he wasnt really shooting for black supremacy.</p>
<p>and a word on the sat prep, those courses are a waste of time, dont count on them to improve ur scores if ur not gonna put in any effort. showing up in class doesnt mean you'll improve. if you can study by urself, i would recommend the books over the course, and you save tons of money at the same time.</p>
<p>Depending on the teacher or unless you individualized attention those prep courses are not necessarily helpful. Also......haters where in the world are you getting black supremacy? Black supremacy isn't possible in America. As of 1995 Blacks were 13% of the population and owned 5-6% of top level jobs. White men had 62%. I'm noticing that the trend is that people against affirmative action believe that everything is almost completely equal.</p>
<p>"Stop getting angry at others for being better than you and just put more effort into it." </p>
<p>Jason, you will never be BETTER than me. If you died and ressurected yourself, I'd still be at least twice the person you will ever be. I am not angry at anyone. I am very proud of the student I am, and even more proud of the individual I've become over the years. I put forth my maximum efforts inside and outside of the classroom, and if a college can't see that, then that college is definately not the college for me. I don't need your sarcasm, disdain, and snotty attitude on my thread. If you can't give constructive opinions, restrain from visiting this page. All I am asking for is constructive opinions from anyone who will help out.</p>
<p>Haha. This thread is terribly amusing. Quite an arrogant OP. Anyways, I just want to point out that all the "money" required for an excellent SAT prep program is around $70 (the online course, official study guide). $70 may be a considerable investment for some families, but you can always skimp a bit on the online course and just use the official study guide $11 if the online course is too pricey for a fairly decent SAT preparation experience. </p>
<p>My story. 2 months. 2090-2390. For most of the period, I just used the official study guide, but I decided to pay the $60 for the online course a few weeks for the test. Well worth it. </p>
<p>Also, to answer your original question, unless you specifically mentioned low income on your application, I believe admission officers will not know. They, however, may be able to surmise that you are indeed poor if your high school is Downtown Harlem High or in a rather poor area. </p>
<p>Personally, given my own story of SAT prep, I do not believe that money is that significant a factor. Well, unless you had other obligations like working to put food on the table or what not. Personally, I think the education is roughly the same everywhere you go. I went to a rather terrible elementary school in the Downtown Eastside, but I do not really attribute my loss of 10 points to the lack of teaching at the elementary. </p>
<p>Also, the SAT is significant. GPA, SAT, ECs. Ever wonder why SAT right next to GPA? I'm sorry to say that with only a 1180, your chances look extremely slim. The fact remains that the SAT is merely a test of basic grammar, basic math knowledge, basic comprehension, and most of all stress management and speed.</p>
<p>I am not too bright about these things, but was this thread intended as a joke?</p>
<p>No this thread wasn't considered as a joke. I was looking for other people's opinions. I'm glad I was able to get some good feedback.</p>
<p>"I'm noticing that the trend is that people against affirmative action believe that everything is almost completely equal."
sounds like your a minority who benefits from AA and is pro-AA.</p>
<p>fastMed, get a hold of yourself.</p>
<p>"Haha. This thread is terribly amusing. Quite an arrogant OP. Anyways, I just want to point out that all the "money" required for an excellent SAT prep program is around $70 (the online course, official study guide). $70 may be a considerable investment for some families, but you can always skimp a bit on the online course and just use the official study guide $11 if the online course is too pricey for a fairly decent SAT preparation experience."</p>
<p>You must be joking. The only arrogant person here is jason and you.</p>
<p>"My story. 2 months. 2090-2390. For most of the period, I just used the official study guide, but I decided to pay the $60 for the online course a few weeks for the test. Well worth it."</p>
<p>There are some peoples' parents that will not pay $60. $60 is not 'cheap' just because you say it is. That is a subjective interpretation because it is affordable for YOU. Please, get off your high horse. Thanks.</p>
<p>"Personally, given my own story of SAT prep, I do not believe that money is that significant a factor. Well, unless you had other obligations like working to put food on the table or what not. Personally, I think the education is roughly the same everywhere you go. I went to a rather terrible elementary school in the Downtown Eastside, but I do not really attribute my loss of 10 points to the lack of teaching at the elementary."</p>
<p>And that's why students from boarding schools are applying in droves to the top colleges. Don't tell me that part of it doesn't have to do with money. Because it does. My friends are taking prep courses, and they got lower scores than me the first time. Now they are outperforming me. They have taken classes. I have not. I am studying from a book on my own. Yeah, money doesn't 'affect' scores. This is really laughable.</p>
<p>"Also, the SAT is significant. GPA, SAT, ECs. Ever wonder why SAT right next to GPA? I'm sorry to say that with only a 1180, your chances look extremely slim. The fact remains that the SAT is merely a test of basic grammar, basic math knowledge, basic comprehension, and most of all stress management and speed."</p>
<p>For some, the SAT is difficult. Once again, stop acting like you're the smartest person in the universe and can decide what is 'easy' and what isn't.</p>
<p>"I am not too bright about these things, but was this thread intended as a joke."</p>
<p>I think your response was more of a joke than the OP's original post.</p>
<p>Peace.</p>
<p>"I'm noticing that the trend is that people against affirmative action believe that everything is almost completely equal."
sounds like your a minority who benefits from AA and is pro-AA.</p>
<p>Kenny it sounds like to me you missed the gist of the point. I'm a minority, but people make it seem as though AA is greatly hurting every student in the college world. Poeple just need something to vent at pretty much.</p>
<p>Please get the SAT or ACT "10 Real SATs or 10 Real ACT Test" study guide for $20 and STUDY! Poverty will not be an excuse for for test scores. I mentor a student who will be graduating from Wellesley this June who has a $0 EFC and has a 1300 SAT (old version) and five 5s an one 4 on AP exams. So your competition will be other African Americans who are poor and handling their business.</p>
<p>While it is easy to correlate income with test scores and grades, you also must take into account that perhaps parents with a higher income have a greater respect for the importance of high grades and education so they push their children more rigorously, while low income parents might not put as much pressure on their children to succeed in school because they themselves never did either...</p>
<p>Smartbrotha,
Was your SAT out of 1600 or 2400?</p>
<p>Thats what I was wondering ^^^ - 1180/1600 is like 67th%
Although 1180/2400...yeah</p>
<p>Thats what I was wondering ^^^ - 1180/1600 is like 67th%
Although 1180/2400...yeah</p>
<p>Let me add: We can't make the assumption that all people in the high income bracket pay for expensive test services. I didn't pay a dime for the prep and I'm in the high income bracket. But, I did prep! I knew I was going to miss one or two on the math section because of stupid mistakes (I got the score report and missed the 3 easiest questions in the last section! brain fatigue...). I knew also that CR was going to br 6-700 depending on my mood that day, I stopped reading books for a 4 year period (stupid, i know). Writing, however, I knew I could improve on majorly. I got one of the FREE practice booklets 2 days before the SAT (I had to take it standby on a week's notice) and turned the booklet essentially into three writing tests, one for each section. I did the first section, and my score was going towards 500! Rather than wallowing in my failure, I went back and carefully examined the types of questions I was getting right and wrong. By the third section I was going towards a high 600, and on the test day I scored 710. That's a 200 point gain in ~45 minutes of studying over a two day period without spending any money whatsoever. I did not learn how to write better in those ~45 minutes, but rather I looked at the test and began to understand what the test writers are looking for and what they focus on. No, you arent going to become 47%tile points smarter in two days, but you should be able to analyze the test to ensure you get every point you deserve.</p>
<p>smartbrotha, you cannot attribute a score 800-1000 points below your reach school's average solely because you are a URM, the schools aren't going to care if your skin absorbs all light in a 100 mile radius (insert PC apology here...) or if your family's further in debt than our great nation. If you know that you do not have fundamental grammatical and mathmatical(sp?) skills, then you should also be cognizant of the fact that you will struggle greatly at most of the schools on your list. Consider taking some basic english and math courses in CC during a gap year.</p>
<p>btw: if you score is 1180/1600 disregard the last para</p>
<p>EDIT: his score is 1180/1600 and 1780/2400. Maybe low for CC standards, but good scores in the grand scheme of things.</p>
<p>If I were an adcom, I would be willing to add 100-200 points because of your demographic situation which puts you in the running especcially if you have good ECs.</p>
<p>Sry for the many posts, its this darn 20 minute rule!</p>
<p>Hey guys, thanx for all the comments. I really appreciate the feedback. When Thursday comes, I will know for sure whether or not I got in. Anyways, if I don't happen to get in I will attend the University of Miami because they gave me a full tuition scholarship + grants adding to about $160,000 for the 4 yrs. If I get into UPenn, I will have to get offered sufficient aid in order to attend. Again, thanx guys!</p>
<p>Smartbrotha07
"Jason, you will never be BETTER than me. If you died and ressurected yourself, I'd still be at least twice the person you will ever be. I am very proud of the student I am, and even more proud of the individual I've become over the years"</p>
<p>Yes, "smartbrotha07" you are one class act. And by the way, it's spelled "brother".</p>
<p>although Jason does sound kind of arragont in a way, I feel that the quote ""Jason, you will never be BETTER than me. If you died and ressurected yourself, I'd still be at least twice the person you will ever be. I am very proud of the student I am, and even more proud of the individual I've become over the years"" is a bit over....</p>
<p>the top and arrogant...</p>
<p>Hey guys, I want to take this time to apologize for coming off arrogant. I was really upset when I wrote the above mentioned quote. I honestly didn't come on this website to start problems, rather to gain helpful advice. I am actually quite a nice person and I am very easy to get along with. I hope that I haven't offended anyone. If I have, please consider this as my apology. I wish you all the best of luck in your college endeavors. And again, thank you all for your comments.</p>