Can somebody tell a clueless Hispanic girl where she has good chances?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>My parents and counselors are pretty much clueless about college, and I have no idea where I should set my sights on applying. I want to apply to some Ivy League schools, but I don't know if I'm being unrealistic. Please help me!</p>

<p>I'm a Hispanic female from Texas (I'm half Mexican and half white). Both my parents went to college but at least on my dad's side he was the first, I don't think that matters though. </p>

<p>GPA: 4.2 W (I don't know what it is unweighted, but I only have 3 high Bs on my transcript)
Rank: 15/468 (hopefully that will go up a few spots by application time)
PSAT: 214 (I should get National Hispanic Merit Scholar and if I'm really lucky maybe Commended)
SAT Math: 650 (I'm taking it again)
SAT Critical Reading: 800
SAT Writing: 800
-(haven't taken any SAT subject tests yet but I should have a high Spanish and high Literature, obviously math isn't my strong point)
AP English Language: 5
AP Spanish Language: 4
AP Psychology: 5 (I know this one probably doesn't count for much)
IB Psychology: 6 (on a scale of 7)
*I'm also an IB Diploma candidate.</p>

<p>My senior course schedule has 6 AP/IB courses.</p>

<p>-Swimming for 4 years (JV 9th and 10th), lettered junior year, Varsity senior year
-National Honor Society (I know it doesn't count for anything, a filler EC if I understand correctly)
-Speech & Debate (I placed 5th UIL All-District in 10th grade for Prose Interpretation, probably doesn't matter much)
-Elected VP of National Spanish Honor Society
-Elected student body Vice-President 12th grade--this takes 10-15 hours a week of work
-really involved in church, about 10-15 hours a week for 52 weeks a year</p>

<p>My EC's aren't that great but I worked 3 jobs this past summer for about 50 hours a week total, and during the school year I work 15 hours a week to save money for college. </p>

<p>I also have about 400 hours of community service spread throughout high school and got a scholarship to travel to Honduras to do mission work last year; all my community service has been trips that I could write essays about, no soup-kitchen-type-things which may make me stand out? I don't know.</p>

<p>My essays and recommendations should be good.</p>

<p>Sorry that this post is so long, I really just have no idea what I'm doing. How much does my being Hispanic help my chances? Harvard Undergrad Minority Recruitment Program has contacted me three or four times so far but I don't know if that means anything. Nobody in my family knows about Ivy League schools at all, UT-Austin would be their dream school for me but I'm already in for the Texas top 10% ruling. Can somebody please help me figure out if I have chances at all at Ivy League schools and help me with other reach/safety schools? So far I know that I'm applying to some UC schools, UT-Austin, Texas A&M, and my number one choices would all be Ivy Leagues.</p>

<p>Thanks so much.</p>

2

<p>I would think you have a shot at some of the Ivy's. Rather than figure out which one you have a "better" shot at, why not figure out which one is your first or second choice? Figure out where you want to be in terms of location, what size school, etc....look at the majors etc. Also I would recommend you go to the College Search forum and read the "one year later it doesn't matter" post. It is all about FIT. I know a sophmore at Texas A&M who absolutely loves it there. My son would hate it there. The UCs are all a little bit different. The UCs are large schools as compared to some of the Ivy's. So...if UT Austin is your safety, what is YOUR dream...then go for it. I will let others answer about the minority question as I have no experience in that realm...</p>

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<p>Awesome stats. Work on that math SAT! It's all practice. But great job everywhere else. You look very impressive and can go to whatever college you want to attend. Being Hispanic does help but the field is still very competitive. You are impressive even without the minority status, though--so you don't need to depend on that status at all.
One recommendation, though: your number one choice is "all Ivy Leagues"? I recommend doing some research (on this site and elsewhere) about the Ivy League and Ivy-level schools. They are all very different--after all, the term Ivy League refers to a sports league and says nothing about atmosphere, academics, strengths, etc. Explore these schools, because they are all so different that you are misguided in wanting to apply to all of them. I don't blame you, though, since the adults around you are clueless about college.</p>

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<p>I have a list of about 20 schools that I would love to attend, but obviously that is way too many and I'm probably being kinda unrealistic about them. I didn't want to seem pompous or anything by posting them at first, but if I posted them would somebody mind commenting on them?</p>

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<p>Sure, go ahead. After all, you said that you need help and that your counselor hasn't been able to help you.
Actually, I think it would be more beneficial if you looked at threads such as this one:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=187335&highlight=yale+harvard%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=187335&highlight=yale+harvard&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=226043&highlight=chose+princeton%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=226043&highlight=chose+princeton&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Should I post this entry in the What Are My Chances forum? I have no idea how this site works!</p>

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<p>It belongs there, but don't bother. It's not good to make redundant threads. And besides, now you're asking more general questions, so don't worry.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the help MallomarCookie. I read those other threads and I'll start looking around in that area of the site more.</p>

<p>My way-too-long list based on: dream schools, good areas (in my opinion), or the fact that they can help me with financial aid.</p>

<p>*my top choices based on research thus far</p>

<p>*Princeton
*Dartmouth
*Yale (I think Yale over Harvard, but Harvard has contacted me a few times by phone lately...showing more interest?)
*Harvard
*Stanford
Georgetown
Penn
UNC-Chapel Hill
USC
UC-Berkeley
UCLA
UC-San Diego (My friend got offered $100,000 there with similar stats to mine, that's pretty rare though)
UT-Austin
Texas A&M
Wake Forest
Duke
Amherst
Williams</p>

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<p>Maybe I missed it in your first post, but do you know what major/field you want to go into?</p>

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<p>Ideally I would like to double-major in Spanish and Political Science and then go to law school with a career in International Relations/Diplomacy or something along those lines (that's why I chose Georgetown). I'm already pretty fluent in Spanish from my family (we don't speak it at home with my immediate family, but extended definitely) but definitely want to further that. I know Columbia has great international programs but I couldn't handle living in NYC when I'm 18.</p>

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<p>You actually have a great list. You can remove some schools, though...Just as an example: Wake Forest.</p>

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<p>You can probably whittle down that list a lot.</p>

<p>I have a few questions, looking at it:</p>

<p>Williams and Amherst sit there kind of lonely at the end of the list -- the only two small colleges. They are both great (and very similar), but if you like them there are a bunch of other colleges to think about, too. Like Wesleyan (where being a Hispanic from Texas would probably help a lot), or Oberlin, or Middlebury (very good international), Macalester (ditto) or lots of others. Would you really think about a liberal arts college, or are those names there just because you've heard they're prestigious? </p>

<p>Also, most of the schools on your list are pretty urban (or suburban), but Williams and Dartmouth, especially, are very isolated. What do you really want? If you don't mind relatively isolated places, you may want to think about Cornell, too. If you do mind, you should think twice about Williams and Dartmouth. And Amherst.</p>

<p>You know you can go to Texas, so you should concentrate on deciding where you would definitely RATHER go. A&M? Really? I don't think so, not for your interests. Or Wake. Or, probably, UCSD, and maybe not even Carolina.</p>

<p>How important will merit aid be to you? The schools at the top of your list don't give merit aid, but they can be great if your family doesn't earn much money. </p>

<p>I think you are going to be a strong candidate everywhere you apply, even without better math SATs (but definitely with them). That's why Harvard is calling you. And you're smart: Yale IS better. Not a shoe-in -- no one is at some of those schools -- but there's nowhere you should be embarassed to apply. Your ECs are fine -- the church work certainly counts.</p>

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<p>For your intended majors and interests, you should definitely consider Brown!</p>

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<p>Ill need financial aid...for sure.
My dad was unemployed my first 2 1/2 years of high school and his new job last year probably brought in about...50 or 60k? I'm not sure. But that's part of the reason so many Ivies are on the list--if they decide they want me hopefully they'll be able to help me pay.</p>

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<p>j07:</p>

<p>UCB/UCLA: Match (out of state)
UCSD: Safe Match (out of state)</p>