Chance me? African American male. plus college advise

<p>I am a African American student. I 'm originally from Queens, Ny but i recently moved to this posh, rich school district in long island from my last lower preforming school in Queens . I only bring this up because I dont know if this can be a deciding factor in college admissions plus my school is rigorous and competitive . I'm kinda concerned with my college Admission chances and what colleges to go to. To start of I'm honestly undecided about what career I want to do with my life. I have a 91.6/3.5 overall unweighted average and 93/3.6 weighted average. My SAT's are crappy though. I received around a 1600 but I'm studying now to improve it and get at least a 1900. I haven't taken any SAT II's. I'm in the national honors society, I've taken mostly honors and regular classes throughout high school. I'm taking three AP's for senior year, which would be my first 3 AP's. I have been running track for cross country, winter, and spring for junior and now upcoming senior year. I volunteer a lot, which is a requirement for the national honors society. I played tennis during my freshman year. However, i dont think i have enough to get into a well creditable school. I know I'm doing better than many african american males my age but I feel that I cant get into schools like NYU or Binghamton. I would like to go to one of the top schools but i dont know if I'll meet the requirements for them. I frankly dont know what schools I should apply to since I'm undecided. Can you guys help me by giving me a list of schools on the east coast that I have a chance of getting into? I also heard that being a well educated black student can be a boost for admission processes because this girl in my school only took one AP throughout high school, mind you she still did excellent in her classes, and is now attending Columbia. So please tell me if I'm over reacting about this. Thank you</p>

<p>Yes being black DEFINITELY helps. For example: 50% of Asians get over a 600 on the math SAT, but only 5% of Blacks do. This means that most blacks aren’t really motivated to shoot for colleges like you, but this helps you because colleges want diversity, or else Harvard would be 90% Indian/Asian/White males. So being black will help. </p>

<p>No one can determine what schools you will be eligible if you haven’t scored on your SAT’s. Saying your goal is 1900 really doesn’t help, and unfortunately a 1900 really isn’t at par of what most people at NYU get. </p>

<p>You should really focus on your grades and standardized test scores, and once you are done with that, start looking into schools. </p>

<p>Here are the stats for some of the schools you mentioned:
[Binghamton</a> University Admissions Information - CollegeData College Profile](<a href=“http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=83]Binghamton”>http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=83)
[New</a> York University Admissions Information - CollegeData College Profile](<a href=“http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=436]New”>http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=436)
[Columbia</a> University Admissions Information - CollegeData College Profile](<a href=“http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=399]Columbia”>http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=399)</p>

<p>do you know anyways that can boost my SAT school much higher? Right now I’m taking Kaplan and I feel that its only helping a little. Plus I didn’t take any SAT II’S. Do you think I still have time to do that? or can these colleges accept me without them.</p>

<p>You might also want to look at schools that don’t require the SAT anymore.</p>

<p>There are some good ones out there.</p>

<p>As far as admissions chances, each school probably has a minority recruiter. They can tell you if you have a chance at that particular school</p>

<p>Rightly or wrongly, african americans are held to a lower standard.</p>

<p>So you need to know what standards they will hold you to, as opposed, to let’s say, an asian kid.</p>

<p>The people on this sight are very good at judging whether you can get into a particular school under traditional standards, but if they are not minorities, they may not know the answer for you.</p>

<p>You play a few sports – have you been approached by recruiters? That’s always a smart way to get into a good school.</p>

<p>I would suggest checking out SAT prep books from the library or buying them online and doing practice tests/drills every day outside of Kaplan. Carry around vocabulary cards and study when you can. The SAT is just “remembering” things – remembering words, remembering what certain things mean, remembering formulas, etc. The more you can learn, the more you’ll remember and the better you will do.</p>

<p>Do these drills timed, too, because a big part of the test is knowing how to complete it within the timed perimeters of the exam sections.</p>

<p>Is there a student you trust who did well on the SAT at your school? Ask him or her to tutor you once or twice a week. Maybe your HS counselor knows a student or teacher who can help out.</p>

<p>You have a pretty decent GPA, and if you earned an SAT score that matches it (a 1900-2000) you’ll be in good shape for some schools. You could even swing an 1800 with your URM status, but I think getting that 1900 would make things a lot easier for you!</p>