Chance me for Harvard & other schools? (Native American applicant)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>I am interested in applying this spring for admission as junior this fall 2015. I am currently a sophomore attending a state school. I'm also interested in applying to: Dartmouth, Yale, Columbia, Brown, Georgetown, Stanford. </p>

<p>Hook (?): I'm a queer female Native American. I speak French and am currently taking German. </p>

<p>Current GPA: 3.8. I'm currently taking upper-division courses (400-level and up)</p>

<p>Major: Computer Science and Political Science. If I were to transfer, I would most likely major only in Poli Sci or Policy (with a lot of English courses...I love the humanities)</p>

<p>High School GPA: 3.6</p>

<p>SAT I: Math 710 Reading 800 Writing 770</p>

<p>SAT Subject: Literature 800 French 770 U.S. History 800</p>

<p>Internship
Freshman:
*Interned at my local public radio station all year-long. I LOVE public radio journalism and eventually will end up in it.
Sophomore:
* Mayor's Office in policy development
* I will be interning for the British Parliament this spring. </p>

<p>ECs
Sophomore:
*Reporter/ online content manage at my local public radio station. After doing a liberal amount of volunteer work and interning for them, they offered me a position this past summer. I developed an app for the station and renovated their website.
*I've done a lot of freelance reporting for my city's major newspaper/competing public radio station
*University representative for a bimonthly literary journal. I organize events and salons to encourage critical engagement on our campus and communities.
*Finance chair for my Inter-Tribal Student Association. I planned a budget last year, and I follow up with the organization to keep our costs within our budget after receiving a generous sum of funds.
*Office volunteer for our LGBT Resource center. I facilitate their social and discussions every Friday.</p>

<p>Freshman:
*I served on my school's social justice board. I worked with a lot of student organizations and issues that affected them.
*Student reporter. There were only two other news reporters, so I covered a lot of topics and events which opened a conversation for both sides of the aisle.
*Communications chair for my school's Inter-Tribal Student Association. I forwarded our budget/concerns to our student government.</p>

<p>High School:
*President of Red Cross Club. I received a grant on educating youth about food insecurity affecting urban areas.
*President of GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance)
*Editor-in-Chief of the school's student newspaper. I worked a lot on the newspaper throughout high school.
*Over 100+ hours of volunteer work at elementary schools, residence homes, assisting refugee families, Red Cross, etc.</p>

<p>Awards/Publications/Research:
*Presented a paper at a gender & sexuality conference in a different state at their flagship school
*Selected as first choice at a film festival in New York for a film I directed on exploring intersectionality for LGBT Native Americans
*Published in my school's political science journal
*I'm currently conducting research with a media professor on native advertising and digital news site finding a sustainable revenue stream</p>

<p>I would love feedback, and whether or not it would be worth the time to apply this spring. Thank you!</p>

2

<p>I think that you would rock wherever you go! Good luck </p>

3

<p>@gutepouranything‌ - I think it’s difficult to chance transfer students to these top schools - they accept so few students as transfers that not much is know about the decision process - suffice to say that odds are much less than they would be for a freshman applicant. I suspect that being a top student and being an interesting person are mandatory. It seems you might qualify on both counts - as you don’t have a 4.0, the rigor of your coursework may come into play - hopefully you will get As in all classes this semester, including your upper-division classes. Your URM status can’t hurt either - Native Americans tend to be one of the most underrepresented groups at most schools.</p>

<p>I would definitely not want to discourage you from applying as a transfer to these schools - it appears you would be an excellent candidate and have a realistic change at being accepted to at least one of them.</p>

4

<p>Thank you for your helpful insight! </p>

5

<p>IIRC, Dartmouth has a special place in its heart for Native Americans. Here’s a link: <a href=“Powwow | Native American Program”>Powwow | Native American Program; Like BldrDad said, you have a great record and will bring an interesting background, but it’s tough to transfer to any of the schools you mentioned. Perhaps Dartmouth is your best shot. Good luck.</p>

6

<p>I am not an expert on transfer admissions but I do have a word of advice. You should have something to say about your academic reasons for transferring, where is the fit, what resources do they have that you will take advantage of and need to fulfill your goals?</p>