African-American/Black Students Class of 2020 Results/Discussion Page

Applying to College African-American Students
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Accepted:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Miami
Syracuse University ($10,000 scholarship annually)
North Carolina State University
University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Rejected:
Pomona College
University of Southern California

Waitlisted:
Elon University (spring admit; withdrew application)

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 27
SAT II: N/A
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8
Weighted GPA: 4.4
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 39/414
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (3), AP Lang (3), AP Statistics, AP Lit
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Statistics, AP Literature, Honors Physics, Honors Pharmacy Technician, Honors Spanish 4, Dual Enrollment Sociology, Music Appreciation
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): N/A

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
HOSA (Officer)
Varsity Tennis 4 Years (Team Captain; Undefeated Senior Year Season)
Varsity Track and Field (Pole Vault and Long Jump | Conference winner for Pole Vault)
NHS
SNHS
Beta Club

Job/Work Experience:
N/A

Volunteer/Community service:
Helped around at Uncle’s Pediatrics Clinic
Volunteered at an Elementary After School Program
Multiple Volunteer Opportunities from NHS and BETA that I’m too lazy to list out lol

Summer Activities:
Internship/Volunteer at a Hospital Emergency Room & Mother-Baby Unit

Essays (rating 1-10, details): Unique common app essay! Essay was in the form of a dictionary entry of my name if that even makes sense lol

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: He was my physics and environmental science teacher. (10/10)
Teacher Rec #2: She was my biology and anatomy and physiology teacher. (10/10)
Teacher Rec #3: My AP English teacher; I knew her before she started teaching in my school bc her husband was my tennis coach. (10/10)
Counselor Rec: Probably good since I am close to him. (8/10)
Interview: One with Syracuse. Went fantastic in my opinion.

Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: of course!
Intended Major: Spanish (Pre-Med track)
State (if domestic applicant): NC
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Top Public High School In-state
Ethnicity: Black (Haitian American)
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 50K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, first generation in America

Reflection:
Strengths: Common app essay, GPA, and rigor of classes
Weaknesses: lack of leadership, ACT score

General Comments:
Not sure where I’m attending but I’m leaning more towards Syracuse. I am so pleased with the schools I got into. I’m feeling beyond happy that I have so many choices. So proud of all of you! Let’s go class of 2020!!! :smiley:

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RESULTS:
Where were you… Decision: Accepted

University of Illinois at Chicago (Accepted GPPA Medicine, Presidential Award’s program $20,000 scholarship)
Applied: Bioengineering
Saint Louis University (Accepted Med Scholars, Vice President’s $72,000 scholarship)
Applied: Biomedical Engineering
Howard University (Accepted for Interview as of writing this for BS/MD program, PRESIDENTIAL scholarship full tuition plus $950 book voucher and laptop) Applied Biology
University of Michigan Applied: Biomedical Engineering
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (James Scholar, $40,000 Illinois ENG Enhanced Scholarship, $40,000 President’s Award Honors Program) Applied: Bioengineering
Northwestern University (Rejected HPME) Applied: Biomedical Engineering
Emory University - Oxford University (Rejected Emory/Oxford Scholars, Accepted early for Essence of Emory)
Applied: Engineering/Premed
Columbia University
Applied: Biomedical Engineering

Where were you… Decision: Waitlisted
Yale University Applied: Biomedical Engineering
University of Pennsylvania Applied: Bioengineering

University of Chicago Applied: Biological Sciences

Where were you… Decision: Rejected
Harvard University Applied: Biomedical Engineering

Princeton University Applied: Biological and Chemical Engineering

Where will you be…Decision: Attending
Toss up between Columbia, Urbana-Champaign, and NU

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2040 (750CR, 670M, 620 W)
ACT (breakdown): 34 (34E, 33M, 34R, 35S 8 Writing)
SAT II: 690 Chem 670 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.88~3.92 (Weighting is weird)
Weighted GPA: 4.6
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 6/288
AP (place score in parenthesis): WH (5) USH (4) ENG LANG&COMP(5) CHEM(4) PHYS I(3)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: English Lit&Comp, Biology, Calc BC, Spanish, Phys C, Micro-Macro Econ (All prior are AP) and two theology classes
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP scholar with distinction, Illinois state scholar, nothing major.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): My extracurriculars become dicey because the later I applied, the more I wrote down as teachers informed me X or Y counted as one or I joined something. Here is the full list.
Theater Technicians: 4 years
Scioly: 2 years
NHS Treasurer: 1.2 years (Became it at the tail end of last year, so only worked for a month, really 1 year of 12th grade)
Forensics: (2 years)
History: (1 year)
Tennis (1 year)
Political Forum (1 year)
MUN (1 year)
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service: Worked extensively via my school and Church for over 200 hours
Summer Activities: See above
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Can’t tell. They weren’t bad, but for some schools such as UChicago it was difficult to express myself.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Have not seen, but I can assume they were good.

Teacher Rec #1:
Teacher Rec #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?:
Intended Major: It switches based on school, but I’m generally set on Biology/Biomedical/Biological Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): Illinois
Country (if international applicant): U.S.A
School Type: Private Catholic
Ethnicity: Black
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 200k (Cut in half due to father’s illness)
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Like everyone here, URM. URM in stem may help too.

Reflection: It’s been a year. Quite a long year. I won’t say I don’t have my regrets from my school experience, I do. I regret not studying harder for subject tests, getting a C in Alg II my 2nd year, not doing better of AP tests, not being more involved in my school until this year, not taking more time with essays, not knowing all I know now about college applications back in August. But I regret those the same way that I regret not choosing a ham sandwich over a grilled cheese. 1 year ago, I couldn’t tell you all the schools of the Ivy Leagues, I didn’t know exactly how prestigious UChicago and NU were despite living near them all my life. I had never heard of a subject test. I’m not the much better for knowing it either. All I can really do now is help the community that helped me. I remember first coming on here for help with essays and Harvard (good help that gave me :stuck_out_tongue: ) and came to discover there was a thriving place. It’s been fun, reading the comments of some of the most talented students America and the world has to offer. And I can assure you I may not have gotten some of these offers if it wasn’t for that. So really, thank you. Although if I were to rail in on this place in general, it would be best to get rid of Chance Me’s because they are one of the most useless activities to partake in, and detrimental. And there are more than a few fools on here, lamenting how some could be so successful. But I digress.

Shout out to S&S twins who may be reading this at some point in the future! Back to what I was saying.

Now it is the class of 2017’s turn. I won’t say I know how I got in, but I can say to avoid my mistakes. I hope my information helps even one person in the future, perhaps 3-4 years from now even. Best of luck to you all, and congratulations to all the people in this thread. Black excellence is real!

23

RESULTS:
Where were you… Decision: Accepted
-Yale University (SCEA)
-Duke University
-University of Virginia (EA; Echols Scholar in CAS, College Science Scholar, and in-state tuition scholarship)
-Washington and Lee University (Johnson Scholar: full ride)
-College of William and Mary (William and Mary Scholar: in-state tuition scholarship)
-University of Richmond ($12k scholarship)
-George Mason University (EA)

Where were you… Decision: Rejected
-Brown University

Where will you be…Decision: Attending
I’m not sure yet; it’s definitely between Duke, Yale, UVA, W&L, and W&M.

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2090, superscored: CR: 630, M: 670, W: 790
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: Bio M: 680, Spanish: 660, Chem: 650
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.94
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5/366
AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A
IB (place score in parenthesis): Full IB Diploma
Senior Year Course Load: SL Spanish VI, SL Math Studies, HL World Topics, HL English, HL Biology II, SL Chemistry II, SL Theory of Knowledge II, Earlybird Honors Choir
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Commended

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Model UN (Co-President), Medical Interest Club (President), piano for 13 years, musical theatre, just General ECs.
Job/Work Experience: Soccer referee
Volunteer/Community service: Science Museum of Virginia
Summer Activities: Spanish immersion program, summer camp counselor, medical research internship, actual jobs, etc.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 10 on the essays I spent a lot of time on (like a month or more)
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 9/10- She saw my ups and downs and I really related to her.
Teacher Rec #2: 7/10- We had four people in our class so I really got to know him very well
Counselor Rec: 5/10, She was just hired and doesn’t know me well at all.
Additional Rec: 8/10 My piano teacher of 13 years, I read this one and I didn’t think it was that great. Or it just wasn’t as great as I wanted it to be.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Cognitive science or Neuroscience if they didn’t offer Cogsci
State (if domestic applicant): Virginia
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Medium public, only competitive at the top
Ethnicity: African American
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: ~200k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM

Reflection

Strengths: Essays, life story, interests, rank, and GPA
Weaknesses: Standardized testing
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My essays

General Comments: I definitely know that I was accepted to Yale and Duke because of my essays. I spent over a month on each essay (on the big ones at least) for Yale because it was my ultimate dream school. Same with Duke. I procrastinated on Brown and did them all last minute and I was really fatigued from all of my other essays and applications that I just kinda threw in the towel (I even crossed schools off my list at the last minute because I just couldn’t write another essay). Now I know that it actually was my essays that led me to acceptances from institutions that are arguably of a higher caliber than Brown.

Advice: Start your Common App essay over the summer when the prompts come out in July (even though the website goes live in August); if you’re done with the most important essay before school you can then devote a lot more time to your supplements. Know your limits (not just with alcohol); I was originally applying to 12 schools then 11 then 9 and finally, 8. This descent was partly due to fatigue as previously stated but also partly due to lack of motivation and realizing that I was applying to a school for its name and not the school itself (pro tip: if you find yourself thinking too hard about what you want to say for the “Why College X?” essay, then you don’t really want to go there). I also didn’t tell anyone where I was applying (except close friends) until the result came out because I didn’t need the stress of being compared to other people. Good luck future applicants!

24

An update for my application.
Today I received the International Engineering Scholarship sponsored by the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. An additional $2,000.00 scholarship that pays for study abroad. Fun!

25

Update:
After thinking about it for a very long time, I have decided to attend Johns Hopkins next fall! Congrats to everyone this year!

26

Update: I received the Ketner Emerging Leaders Scholarship at Cofc which is focused on activism. It gives me an additional $3,000 a year.

27

Deleted

28

yeah,I called Howard today and they said my application was still being processed.

29

@Tookme10mins I’m in the same position you are in !

30

And secondary update. Invited to interview with Howard med school for bs/md. Raises the stakes a bit!

31

@Slytherclaw12

I’m a Mom of 2017er, and I was wondering if Yale or Duke gave you much if any financial aid given your family income. Thx.

@Brajia

Same question for Princeton

32

@3idek3 I got my acceptance letter yesterday through email and I guess the FA package will come with the official acceptance letter,next week? Either way I’m most likely not going to Howard(finally get to end my family’s cycle of everyone going to Howard mwahaha,though that’s not the reason I’m choosing not to go. Lol).I’m deciding between Mount Holyoke and Skidmore. :slight_smile:

33

Which I guess,since that was the last school I was waiting for,I can post my results:
Accepted:
Mount Holyoke College
Skidmore College
Fordham University
Bard College
Howard University
SUNY New Paltz
SUNY Albany
CUNY Hunter
CUNY City College
CUNY Brooklyn
CUNY Queens
CUNY Lehman
CUNY York

Rejected:
Barnard College
SUNY Binghamton
SUNY Stonybrook

Wait listed:
Vassar College

I wish all of you guys much luck in all that you do! :slight_smile:

34

I guess I’ll do a rough sketch on stats and extra stuff
SAT:1960(not sent to most schools though,most schools got the 1880)
GPA:3.9
School:public,NYC
Income: below 20000
Ec’s: private piano lessons,cellist in a trio at the Bloomingdales school of music,committee chair of school’s buddy program, I did chamber music for 3 years at my school mainly on the cello( I go to a music school),but did accompany with piano,mural club and track,but both for like half a year.
Essay:I liked it. 8/10
Supplements:overall pretty good. I did a music supplement,on the piano,for some of my schools(MountHolyoke,Skidmore,Vassar,Bard,and Barnard). I played Mozart’s piano sonata no.7 in F major and Tchikovsky’s June from “The Seasons”.
Overall,I’m satisfied with the turnout. :slight_smile:

35

@nw2this I didnt bother since sending in my complete financial aid info since I don’t plan on attending but those schools tend to be extremely generous

36

@nw2this Duke did; Yale didn’t.

37

@Slytherclaw12

I am guessing Duke gave you a scholarship not need based aid, right?

38

Taking the time to help the African-American/Black Class of 2021 out! Good luck guys!

RESULTS:
Where were you… **Decision: Accepted **
-FIU
-UCF
-UF
-UM
-American University
-Georgetown University (deferred EA)
-Bryn Mawr College
-Barnard College
-Tufts University
-Wellesley College
Where were you… **Decision: Waitlisted **
-None (thank God!)
Where were you… **Decision: Rejected **
-None (thank God!)

Objective:

  • [] SAT I (breakdown): 2100 (CR: 770 M: 610 W:720)
    [    ] ACT (breakdown): N/A
    [] SAT II: Lit (700), French w/ Listening (670)
    [    ] Unweighted GPA: 3.78
    [] Weighted GPA: 4.92
    [    ] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10%
    [] AP (place score in parenthesis): World History (4), APUSH (5)
    [    ] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
    [] Senior Year Course Load: AICE Global Perspectives, Newspaper, AP Art History, AP Gov, AP Lit, APES
    [    ] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): N/A

Subjective:

[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Newspaper (Managing Editor), Class Officers (VP), Model U.N. (Co-Founder and Co-President), City Teen Advisory Board Member
[] Job/Work Experience: Senate Page for one week…that’s it
[] Volunteer/Community service: Odd things here and there, currently a volunteer usher
[] Summer Activities: Odd things here and there like volunteering or little leadership summits
[] Essays: My CA essay and supplements were on average a 7-9/10. In my first couple of applications my essays were a bit shaky and weird but as a gained more confidence in the college application process, I started putting my heart into my supplements and I’m really proud of them.
[] Teacher Recommendation: I never read it
[] Counselor Rec: 9/10
[] Additional Rec: 6.5-7/10
[li] Interview: I only interviewed for Georgetown, Barnard, and Bryn Mawr. Barnard was my best interview (see my post on Barnard’s results page to read more), Bryn Mawr next (I was comfortable at home w/ a Skype interview), and Georgetown third (I was really nervous and kept forgetting little things).[/li][/ul]

Other

  • [] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
    [    ] State (if domestic applicant): FL
    [] Country (if international applicant): N/A
    [    ] School Type: Charter
    [] Ethnicity: :wink: Haitian to be more specific
    [    ] Gender: Female

Reflection

[ul]
[] Strengths: Essays/supplements and demonstrated interest (visiting, fly-in programs, talking to students, interviews, emailing admissions)
[] Weaknesses: I’ve said it on every results page I’ve posted on: I think I’m a pretty average applicant. I’m pretty good at everything, but nothing really stands out in terms of ECs or rigor or scores. I think my writing really gave me a boost.
[li] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: See strengths (but really, who knows?)[/li][/ul]

**General Comments: ** I feel super blessed to have been accepted to all the schools I applied to! This is in no way me bragging about my acceptances or throwing it in others’ faces. I’m just trying to help out the Class of 2021 because I know threads like these helped me out when I was applying. Best of luck to my class, the Class of 2020, and the next class in all that you do, no matter what college you attend!

39

@nw2this No, Duke gave me more need based financial aid. I didn’t get a merit scholarship.

40

@Slytherclaw12

That is really surprising. I thought HYPS gave the most need based aid to higher income families. Thanks, that is really helpful information. Will check out Duke’s NPC.