ACT: 32 (36 English, 28 Math, 35 Reading, 28 Science, 10 Writing)
GPA: 4.0 UW
Class Rank: 2/230 (BUT I’m moving states for my senior year of high school so this will change*)
SAT IIs: I took World History and Literature but both scores were bad so I’m not submitting them (I was sick that day).
APs: School doesn’t offer but I self-studied Art History (5), Lang (5), and Euro (4)
Awards: NSLI-Y Finalist, QuestBridge College Prep Scholar, AP Scholar (I’m the only kid in my school to ever get this lol)
Extracurriculars: Team leader of a local youth grants organization, captain of the varsity Academic Team, principal-appointed position on a community board, Student Council executive, NHS, and some other little things.
Work Experience: Working 25-30 hours/week at a local pizza place to pay the bills. Shift supervisor.
Summer Activities: Summer school classes freshman year, Missouri Scholars Academy (a free program for top 0.5% of MO sophomores), and a NSLI-Y scholarship to study Mandarin in China for six weeks (free, ~16% acceptance rate).
Region: Midwest
Race/Ethnicity: Mixed (black and white)
Gender: Male
Income: Low, like $20K
Intended Major: Art History
Hooks: URM, low-income, pretty tough background
*I’m moving my senior year to a “better” high school with AP classes. It’s because of my family. I’m not sure how well this will translate into college admissions, but we’ll see.
Fly-ins: I got into Windows on Williams the other day but I’m in the process of applying to a few more fly-ins.
Schools I’m applying to:
Yale (SCEA)
Williams
Princeton
Brown
Pomona
Vassar
Oberlin
Maybe another top LAC, I’m still looking
University of Michigan
A safety that I have yet to choose
I would apply to some schools a little down from those. It is impressive what you did from your school and the URM low income will help a lot. However, you just don’t have the preparation, scores, etc. from that school, so it is hard to tell what competitive schools will do.
@sattut do you think they’ll hold my high school against me? It’s definitely not the best school (underperforming, majority low-income and URM) but I think that they would understand.
No, your high school wont be held against you. You’ll be evaluated against the opportunities available to you. That said, your list if reach heavy. I would add more match and safeties.
This is somewhat unrelated but PLEASE consider majoring in something that has great job prospects. You need to help your family break the cycle of poverty.
Of course, your income bracket is definitely going to help. However, it might still be tough, considering the preparation that you have. Definitely make sure to play your circumstances to your advantage and good luck. The Ivies are a reach for everyone.
You are a competitive applicant. Your stats and ECs are pretty good. Your URM hook will help. Write amazing essays and you could get accepted to any of these schools
They are not going to hold the school against you, but it is going to be harder for you to put up the test scores and so on as someone from a really good school. So I would look at some schools a little lower down as reaches and matches or whatever.
@brightslacker I appreciate your concern about my future financial status, but my family is fine. I’m simply pursuing a subject I love. I can go to law school after undergrad if it’s that bad.
With your URM status and the fact that you have wonderful ECS on top of working 25-30 hours a week, I honestly think you are a match for any school. Your ACT is the only thing limiting you, but with your other struggles, it is obvious to admissions officers you don’t have access to elite tutoring or anything that others on CC have. As long as your essay is coherent, you could go anywhere. I would just make sure to pick a safety because you never know!
I am not so optimistic. They take a lot of middle class blacks as URMs. It is understandable OP is not showing SAT IIs, but the academic level of a top student from a school like that is not that high. OP may get into a top school, but I wouldn’t be certain about Ivies and such. I would apply to several matches and safes.
Are you participating in Questbridge? It seems like you would be an ideal candidate for this. I noted on their website that the deadline for the National College Match program is September 27th. Some of your schools participate, including Yale. Here’s the list: https://www.questbridge.org/college-partners
To be honest, I don’t know much about the program but based on what you’ve posted you would be a candidate. You say you are a Finalist for Questbridge College Prep Scholar. Does that mean you are in?
Note that last year Yale offered admission to 52 students through Questbridge.
@sattut I’ll follow your advice by applying to more matches and safeties. But you really seem to be caught up on my high school. I believe that my test scores, while not perfect, show that I am CAPABLE of doing the coursework at a top university. At a certain point, isn’t that all that matters?
@4Gulls I am a QuestBridge College Prep Scholar, which is QuestBridge’s preliminary program for high school juniors. I do intend on applying for the QuestBridge National College Match later this year. I live in Missouri, but I will be moving to Michigan. Thanks for the advice, and I will definitely be applying to safeties!