Chance Me for Brown, Columbia, Cornell, and some others!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi, so I’m applying RD to Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Northeastern, Binghamton, Stony Brook, Boston University, and New York University, among some others. Here’s some info about me:
Female from NY
Hispanic, Mexican
GPA: 101 Weighted and 96 Unweighted (principal’s list)
APs: Language and Comp., US History, Psychology, Biology, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Calc AB, and Literature and Comp. All others honors/college level classes.
1410 SAT and 31 ACT (yikes)

Extra Curriculars
National Honor Society
Math, Spanish, and English Honor Societies
Executive Member of 2 important organizations in my school dealing with admissions and class retreats

Vice Chair of Equity Team (it’s paired with NYU through my school and we work to fight racism in the community)
Tutoring 2 years
Volunteer at YMCA for 3 years
Member of school’s leadership team

Essay and letters of rec are solid.
Looking into either Biochem or Neuroscience.

I don’t know if these are hooks, but my dad was a Pakistani immigrant who passed away two years ago, and my mom lost her job soon after so… low income. I’m also a first generation college student. My mom (Mexican immigrant) opened a small business, so I worked part-time there and part time at a pizzeria over the summer. I now work 15 hours a week at a retailer.
So basically I’m really nervous about Brown because it’s my dream school and I just need an honest opinion from someone other than my mom who just validates me. Thanks.

2

Being first generation is a good hook. Your ACT/SAT are really nice scores though a bit on the low end for top schoolss like Brown, Columbia, NYU and Cornell. You have a list of very nice schools but all of these would be reaches I think. Except SB and Bing where you would be on target. But those aren’t exactly ‘safe’ either.

3

thank you for your input! I appreciate it

4

First gen and URM are real good hooks, submit your 1410 and you’ll be in real good shape for the top 3 schools on your list - Brown, Columbia, Cornell. It’s tough to chance on those schools but working part time to support the family are things adcoms love. Write well about that and your family situation so you can present yourself well. For Brown you have to show you can thrive in their open curriculum.

You should get in to the other schools on the list. Good luck!

5

As a female URM in STEM, I can say with confidence that you’ll get into at least one of those 3 ivies if your essays are even relatively decent.

6

thank you everyone your input means a lot!