@aquapt I will pass on the suggestion to my son to take a look at Tufts. I have asked if he wanted to apply to any diversity fly-ins and he has basically said that he wants to focus on his senior year schedule/dual enrollment, applications, and his volunteer work/tutorial job he recently got. I left one school off that I know he is applying to and loves (Tulane). I believe that Rice is a fit but he has not taken a look at the school yet. He believes he has his list at the point and it would take something wowing him when looking at any other schools to get him to apply.
The Morehouse/GT program is familiar to him as his mentor and several of my friends came through the program and he is hoping to get a lot of merit aid at Morehouse and my family won’t have an issue covering the last 2 years since we are in-state and he would still be tuition free through the Lottery funded Zell Miller Scholarship for at least one year at GT.
I’ve been reading Anthony Jack’s The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges Are Failing Disadvantaged Students, and the answer to OP’s question might just be this simple:
I knew that the ratios were slanted in favor of more black women attending college over black men, but a 2:1 ratio at selective colleges is worse than expected. I have seen similar numbers at some schools that I have visited, but I have always thought/hoped that the most selective schools might be closer to a 1:1 ratio. @dropbox77177, I have to get that book as I have seen it quoted and have read several articles from Anthony Jack over the years.
I think it’s also worth noting that 1540, which is the SAT concordance to a 35, is the very top of the 99th percentile on the latest SAT report, meaning just under 99.5 percent of test takers score lower. 1470 is the top of the 97th percentile, so maybe a bit under 97.5 percent. That makes the 35 population only 1/4 the size of the 1470 population.
A 35 and 1470 stood out to me as I read the OP, more than a 3.9x vs. a 3.8x., as did being a SAMS alumni.
@RicinPitt Thanks for that input… I don’t see much of a difference in those scores, but maybe that is a bigger spread than I thought. My son took 2 practice ACTs and got a 33 both times right before taking the for real and getting the 35 so I don’t see much difference, but I see where you are coming from. I know that SAMS is big on CC (that is how I initially heard about it), and it seems to have a great reputation, but I have never heard anyone in GA talk about it and I always have to explain what it is when people ask about my son’s summer, which has probably made me downplay its importance on his resume.
Not sure why this would be surprising. Race is not the only demographic variable considered in the URM classification. AA males are under-represented to a greater degree in the applicant pool than are AA females. As such, they are going to get more attention in the effort to attract them.
@pishicaca Maybe it has been surprising to me (the differences between my kids treatment) because my son has been overlooked his entire life. From initially not being tested for the gifted program as a young student until parental intervention (despite being able to read by his 4th birthday and testing in the 99th percentile when tested) and with most of his past teachers not really having much to say about him (due to his introverted nature) he has always fallen through the cracks and he has always stayed away from the spotlight. He is a high school senior who is not a part of any high school honor societies (despite being qualified for pretty much every one that his school offers) because he doesn’t really care about his resume. He does things that are important to him within our community and to grow intellectually and stays in the shadows.
I think what made me uncomfortable about that level of attention on my son (which was definitely more than my daughter received at any college fair that she attended) was that I could see from his own body language that he was uncomfortable. I told him last night that his days of hiding in plain sight are over because the hard work and results he has been able to achieve is going to bring attention and being a black male is only going to magnify that attention in regards to college admissions.