<p>am i aiming to high, ie. stanford, yale, and harvard? i have a pretty bad SAT score (1550, i shouldve studied) but i plan to get it up to at least to a 2000-2200 range. the highest my gpa can go is a 4.3 W by the end of my junior year. and im in pretty decent EC activities. </p>
<p>im mexican so it puts me into the URM category. not that many people of my race do care about grades and college in my school. im kinda hoping that me being an URM would go to my advantage.</p>
<p>so heres the story why a below average person to those schools wants to apply to them:
when a yale representative came to my school, he said he was looking for more people who were capable of this one guy that applied to yale. he said to not be afraid of applying to top schools like yale and harvard. that opened me up and made me think "why dont u try it out?" so i looked them up and became interested into these colleges. i want to try at least but i want to get a clue if its worth it. the last thing i want to do is throw 60-80 bucks down the drain to know forsure that im going to get rejected. Stanford, Harvard, and Yale are not my dream schools, but, like i said, i want to give it a go. </p>
<p>so what do u guys think? should i go for it or save some money to buy something for myself? my dream school is UCLA but getting into Harvard, Yale, or Stanford would be nice. Also, should i depend on my status of being an URM so much? i keep telling asian kids my chances are better with a 4.1 than a 4.6 GPA just cause im a URM haha...</p>
<p>Honestly, 1550 is a bit too low for those schools. If you get those scores past 2000, and you have great ec's then you stand a good chance of getting into at least one of those schools, only cuz of the URM. It's not wrong to use that to your advantage, but you shouldn't go bragging about it, lol.</p>
<p>haha actually they do the bragging, i back myself up with that haha. yeah 1550 is really low, i know i only have one more shot on the sat for harvard so im giving all that i got on the march one. (i know i get to choose which sat score i want but u never know harvard).</p>
<p>Your competition is not going to be the Asians, but the other Hispanics that did study and have very competitive stats of which there are thousands all over the US.</p>
<p>You apply for undergraduate once in your lifetime (for most people :P) I say go for it. You're definitely in the URM category and that'll help you a lot at those schools. Get even decent SAT's (2000+) and a higher GPA, and you'll be as competitive as those with 3.9 UW GPA's and 2200 test scores. Good luck!</p>
<p>No harm in trying. You'll probably be super successful when you're older so you'll pay back all the app fees in a week. But if you get into harvard maybe itll only take 2 days</p>
<p>1500 is too low. For an URM, you need to break at least 2000. </p>
<p>you can't just go to ivy league for having good grades. you should ahve something you're pretty darn good at or even if you suck, you're COMPLETELY passionate about and devote your hours to it as well as get good grades.</p>
<p>im a junior so i dont need to apply for now. i still have a year to go. so go for a 2000+ for the SAT? or should i go for 2200+ just to be sure.</p>
<p>Plenty of hispanics have scores better than yours. Just because kids in your school don't care about their grades doesn't mean that holds true for all hispanic kids. Even if you get the SAT scores up, being an URM is no golden ticket into the ivies. URMs do get rejected at the top schools.</p>
<p>however, just because a rep said you should apply doesn't necessarily mean you have a good chance...i always hear stories (in the news and from friends) about how some big name college sent them a personalized letter inviting them to apply then not even being waitlisted and completely rejected... you should apply because you want to...not because someone is trying to improve their stats</p>
<p>that having been said, i wish you the best of luck :)</p>
<p>Keep in mind most posters are applicants themselves and don't know everything a school may be looking for. If a Yale rep is at your school encouraging people to apply, they are interested in your school's student population. That rep would be happy to have a talk with you and tell you honestly what it will take for you to get in. Give the rep a call or send an email with your stats and background.</p>
<p>There's no reason (except perhaps financial) that you shouldn't apply to this school, despite whether or not it's a match for you. Aim high and you might be surprised, the worst that can happen is you end up the same position you are now - not admitted to the college...and minus a couple application fees.</p>
<p>Study hard for the next SAT sitting (and/or try the ACT, too). And, if as your screen name implies you are a serious and good soccer player, with enough skill to be recruited, this may "add" some points to your score.</p>