<p>What are all of you talking about??? He doesn't sound too much different from the rest of the Ivy applicants to me. If all of you thought he was a URM, then you're all wrong. If he was qualified to take 5 AP classes his sophomore year, he obviously isn't unprivedged and has plenty of opportunities available to him. The EC's and GPA that he has are also average for the schools he's applying to. So, if he write good essays and have sweet recs, then he will have a decent shot at HYSP. And by decent I mean about 15-25%. So, don't get his hopes up and I advise him to apply to a safety.</p>
<p>Nice stats. A good essay = a great shot.</p>
<p>man<em>on</em>fire, colleges don't consider your financial background in making a decision. That's why poor asians, whites, and blacks don't get in at a higher rate than rich asians, whites and blacks. The opposite is usually the case in fact. A URM describes black, hispanic, and native american applicants, so in this case, the OP is a URM.</p>
<p>my great great grandma is indian will that help me? lol</p>
<p>actually i should probably say she WAS an indian.....</p>
<p>1/16 is the limit for Native American ancestry.</p>
<p>i think that means it does help me if i calculated it right eh?</p>
<p>Amused - actually, some colleges will consider economic background, especially if you are quite poor. However, it's nowhere near the factor that URM status is.</p>
<p>well yes if you lived on an impoverished Indian reservation or in the city ghetto, they'd probably pay attention but i they don't really differentiate between a poor Asian male living in the suburbs and a rich Asian male living in the suburbs.</p>
<p>according to 100,000 admission decisions 50% of the blacks that applied to stanford back in 1990ish? got accepted, so I think he has a great shot at these schools. Also back then, only 600 blacks a year scored over 1200 on the SATs</p>
<p>ur probably in, they'e big on affirmative action nowadways, i can testify to that (not Ivy, but near). But do apply to a good safety just in case.</p>
<p>With those stats he doesn't need AA. His stats are bettere than probably 99% of people applying to college.</p>
<p>I think that your chances are far better than average of getting into some of the country's top 10 universities or virtually any place you choose to apply.</p>
<p>I suggest that you talk seriously with your parents about financial considerations. Based on the APs that you've taken, I assume that you come from a reasonably privileged background. I think that all of the colleges that you listed give only need-based aid. While there's a chance that your family may qualify for some need-based aid (that can happen even if parents make more than $100 k a year), more than likely, your family stilll will be expected to pay a lot of money for your education.</p>
<p>Some parents are willing to do that. Some are not. When it comes to URMs, some families may not be comfortable paying what the colleges deem "their share" of the colelge costs because the parents may have responsibilities toward extended family members, and the colleges may not take that into consideration when it comes to aid.</p>
<p>Be aware that with your high stats and that combined with being a URM, you would have excellent chances of getting excellent merit aid from many universities, including top ones. This includes Washington University, Emory, Rice University, UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke, University of Virginia and Carnegie Mellon. You also could qualify for some excellent outside merit aid.</p>
<p>I strongly suggest that you look at the financial aid/merit scholarship pages on the colleges that I mentioned. You can boost your merit aid chances by taking on some leadership positions. That's the one thing that I don't see in your ECs.</p>
<p>In addition, it would be worth it for you to go to the Washington Post website and pay the couple of bucks to buy the complete article that I quote from below. It was published in fall, 2003.</p>
<p>"As one of only 192 blacks who scored higher than 1450 on the SAT this year, Alice Abrokwa is being wooed by some of the nation's most elite colleges. </p>
<p>Boston University held out the likelihood of financial aid for the shy high school senior from Alabama before she had even applied. Massachusetts Institute of Technology paid her to attend a six-week summer program.. ...</p>
<p>"The competition is particularly ferocious for blacks and Hispanics with SAT scores that put them on par with the most talented white students. According to the College Board, only 1,877 black students (about 1.5 percent of blacks who take the tests) scored higher than 1300 out of a possible 1600 on the SAT in 2003. Only 72 scored higher than 1500. </p>
<p>Among the overall student population, 148,024 (about 10 percent of test takers) scored higher than 1300, and 13,897 earned scores higher than 1500. </p>
<p>"Most of these students don't realize that they are being fought over," said Joy St. John, an Amherst admissions officer..."</p>
<p>hmmm, Black Male:</p>
<p>How did you take all those AP's in soph and junior. Does your school offer all of that? Calculus in sophmore year when 3/4 of the rest of the nation is in geometry?</p>
<p>My school only offers 1 AP sophmore year and we're National Blue Ribbon.</p>
<p>I had similar scores, GPA, and ECs, and my application results were waitlisted, in, waitlisted, rejected, and waitlisted.</p>
<p>Your mileage may vary.</p>
<p>Yea um...you're stats are horrible. 1530 sat LOL COME ON you can do better than that. Your list is way out of hand for you pal. Maybe you should look into some community colleges. GOOD LUCK HAHA.</p>
<p>I think I'm with jr86 on that one.</p>
<p>Your stats are outstanding. Your credentials are excellent and they can do you in even without AA. The fact you are Black will help you and it will be the major factor I guess.</p>
<p>What are you planning to study?</p>
<p>Adventrx327, you stand a very good chance at all 5 schools. African-Americans with SAT scores of 700+ V and 700+ M will be applying to the same schools. What sets you apart, is that you scored 700+ on 4 SAT II subjects in different subject areas and 4's and 5's in some very demanding AP subjects. You also have a high GPA in a rigorous curriculum. The pool of such African-American applicants is small, unfortunately.</p>
<p>Northstarmom gave you some good advice on financial aid. If your parents' income is over 100K, your EFC will be high. I, also African-American, was accepted at Princeton ED and my parents make over 100K. My EFC is 29K. You need to talk to your parents first before applying. I did and my parents are willing to pay. </p>
<p>Do not slack off in your senior year. That will go against you. You also will be hearing from all of the schools that Northstarmom mentioned.</p>
<p>Start your applications early. Harvard and Yale will send you applications before the beginning of summer. You can apply to Princeton using the online application in September. I do not remember anything about MIT and Stanford because I had no interest in those two schools. They will write to you, so you would know.</p>
<p>On a side note, have you ever considered tutoring and mentoring other African-Americans who are not so fortunate? I do. We have a lot to share with them.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Inhaven,
A big hug to you for suggesting that he tutor and mentor other African Americans.</p>
<p>I am so glad, too, to see that you are giving back. I encourage you to start a thread sharing information about your experiences so that others, including parents, will follow in your footsteps.</p>
<p>I have worked closely with a variety of high school and college students for almost 20 years. This includes working with hundres of black students. I have been sorry to see that in general, the black students who are doing very well do nothing to help out other students.</p>
<p>Most black students with high scores, rigorous coursework, etc. have those things because they were lucky enough to be born into a family with some of the following advantages: high enough income to live in an excellent school system; involved parents who made sure that the student took classes that would put them on track for college; parents who made sure the student studied, got tutoring, got support from teachers; parents who moved heaven and earth to get the kid into private schooling or a magnet program; educated parents who were sophisticated about what students needed to do to be college bound; two parent families with parents working jobs allowing them to be home at a time to supervise the kids' studying; parents who were willing to pay for enrichment activities; parents who believed in the importance of education and held the students to high standards instead of making fun of the student because of their academic interests.</p>
<p>To my sorrow, however, many black students who have made it due to the above factors which were due to their good luck, look down on other black students who aren't performing as well as they are. The high achieving black students even may try to prevent other black students from achieving. The high achieving students can act like there's room for only one excellent black student at the top or they may have the attitude, "I've got mine. They've got theirs to get," and not share information with other black students.</p>
<p>While I know that some low performing black students are unsupportive of the high achieving black students, calling them names, etc., some high achieving black students lack empathy for how other students may be struggling through no fault of their own. If one has educated, married parents, can travel widely, get things like dental braces, computers, it can be hard to recognize how difficult things can be for students whose parents were unmarried teens who didn't graduate from high school.</p>
<p>There is in general a big difference at S's school between the lives of the few black students who are on honor roll and taking rigorous classes and the many black students who are not. I had not realized until recently, for instance, that many of the black nonhonor roll students will be the first in their families to graduate from high school. For that reason, they lack basic knowledge about how to succeed in even high school. They are in big need of a helping hand including from their peers who are more fortunate.</p>