Chance An African-American Male?

Student Lounge African-American Students
1

<p>Schools:
Duke (ED)
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Columbia
Cornell
Johns Hopkins
Cal-Berkeley
Stanford
Chicago
Washington at St.Louis</p>

<p>General Information:</p>

<p>Year: Senior this Fall.
Age entering college: 17
Ethnicity: African-Canadian (Born in Nigeria, West Africa)
Location: Canada (I go to the top public school in Western Canada)
Class Rank: School doesn't rank, I would probably gaurantee top 10%
SAT: Not taken yet (When answering, assume a 2250+ score, I never score lower on practice tests. Will be taking it in October)
SAT II: Math II and Chemistry (Will be taking these in November on the same day, expect a 750+ based on practice)
Family Income: $150000-$200000 (Not something we talk about lol)</p>

<p>Grades</p>

<ul>
<li>Freshman Year Grades: N/A, these are not put on transcripts where I live (Alberta) because high school starts in grade 10.</li>
<li>Sophomore Year: Essentially straight As, marks ranged from high to mid 90s.</li>
<li>Junior Year: First semester I basically had straight As, with one 89% (we do percentage GPAs here) and one 87%. Second semester I fell off a bit, with all my grades in the high 80s; which is why I'm making this thread haha. </li>
<li>Senior Year: Unknown so far, I'm going to work WAY harder than I did in the second half of my junior year and shoot for straight As.
-Cumulative GPA: 3.6/3.7 UW (I THINK), over 4.0 W. 91/100 so 91%</li>
</ul>

<p>Honor Level Courses: I'm in the IB Certificate program because I had a teacher in grade 9 for Humanities who decided not to give me a recommendation for Social or English IB despite having high 90s in both her classes. The IB Classes I do take are:</p>

<p>IB French A (IB 10, 20, 30)
Pre-IB Science (Pre-IB 10)
IB Biology SL (No HL offered) (IB 20, 30)
IB Physics SL (No HL Offered) (IB 20, 30)
IB Math SL (Couldn't fit HL into my schedule because I'm taking all 3 sciences) (IB 20, 30, 31)
IB Chemistry HL (IB 20, 25, 35, 30)</p>

<p>I only started taking IB exams this May so I don't know any of my scores out of 7 yet, I felt good when writing them though so I expect to do well.</p>

<p>Extra-Curriculars</p>

<ul>
<li>Club Basketball for about 5 years (Equivalent of AAU in the USA)</li>
<li>Varsity Football (Sophomore and Junior years, will likely play as a Senior)
Community Basketball (9 years)</li>
<li>Royal Canadian Air Cadets (3 years, Corporal Rank, 3 successfully co-piloted flights, leadership)</li>
<li>Patti Falconer Acting/Modelling Agency (Received many scholarships to acting schools outside Alberta, that I was unable to attend because we won't move. I also received an offer of a lead role in Like Mike 2 the movie; but was unable to participate because my parent's were not around for me to go to Vancouver for the casting. I was 12 or 13 iirc.)</li>
<li>Debate Club, never won anything significant </li>
</ul>

<p>Awards:</p>

<ul>
<li>Honor Society (All of High School)</li>
<li>Alexander Rutherford Scholarship (National Scholarship for Academic Acheivement, received for all of high school)</li>
<li>Northern Basketball Camp All-Star x3</li>
</ul>

<p>Work/Volunteer Experience:</p>

<ul>
<li>Refereed basketball for 2 years. Paid about $13 per game.</li>
<li>Calgary Women's Show: Packing gift bags for thousands of attendees</li>
<li>Helped paint a bridge and do a garage sale for a Women's Shelter in Okotoks</li>
<li>Vacation Bible School Crew Leader at Church for 2 years</li>
<li>Volunteering every Sunday at church for 6 years as a youth leader, teaching younger kids</li>
<li>Tech Management Leader at Church</li>
<li>Miscellaneous other things that I could bring up if I had my resume handy haha.</li>
</ul>

<p>The last thing I want to say is that I'm well respected around the school by teachers, and I'm a good writer so the essay and teacher recommendations shouldn't be a problem. </p>

<p>In regards to the essay, I'm still debating between writing about how travel (I've lived in Scotland, Norway, USA, Canada, Nigeria) has affected my output on life, and writing something race-related. Input on that would be appreciated.</p>

<hr>

<p>Also I will be applying for pre-med if that is relevant at all.</p>

2

<p>What is your immigration status? Are you a US citizen or citizen of another country. I think that might make a difference as admission for international students is much more difficult and not all US schools offer financial aid to internationals. In addition, some that do are not need blind to internationals. Are your parents willing and able to pay full tuition and fees for you? (approx 50,000+ at the schools you are looking at)</p>

3

<p>I’m a Canadian citizen, and I think my parents could actually pay tuition. </p>

<p>That’s not what I’m worried about right now. I’m focussed on getting IN, then I can worry about money afterwards.</p>

<p>I just want to know my chances. Do you think I’ll get into 1 of these schools? IF so, which ones?</p>

4

<p>I don’t chance people. However, I will tell you that all of the schools on your list are reaches for EVERYONE, even a student with perfect SAT’s, grades, EC’s etc. Some of the schools have acceptance rates in the 7% range. You may not be eligible for financial aid at any of these schools, so although you say you aren’t worried about money, you need to know for sure what your parents can pay. </p>

<p>Neither I nor anyone else knows if you will get into any of these schools. Given the difficulty of admissions, especially for internationals, you may not get into any. That doesn’t mean you’re not qualified. No one on CC would recommend this list to any student. It is too top heavy and has only reaches. See the thread about “No acceptances, one kid’s story a year later.” THe poster’s name was Andi. You need some matches, safeties, and some schools in Canada.You also need actual SAT scores and not projected ones to have a better idea of where you should be applying.</p>

5

<p>I was only asking for chances on US schools. I also have a Canadian list that will be my fall-back.</p>

<p>I’m not crazy enough to only apply to schools with <20% acceptance rates lol.</p>

<p>Canadian Schools:
McGill
Toronto
Alberta
Queens
British Columbia</p>

6

<p>No one can give you accurate chances. Just make sure you’re happy with your Canadian list. You need EXTREMELY high SAT scores and lots of cash if you plan on making those US schools happen.
It’s funny that you title this African-American when you’re really African-Canadian lol
Best of luck!</p>