Chance me for IVY.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi. I applied to Brown, Cornell, and Dartmouth.

SAT I (breakdown): 640R, 690M (1330 total)
ACT (breakdown): did not take
SAT II: 690 in Biology M
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.71
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 2/472
AP (place score in parenthesis): Bio (4) Stats (4) Pysch (4) U.S. History (4) English Comp. (3)

Senior Year Course Load: AP world history, Medical interventions (Honors, PLTW), AP Calculus AB, Spanish 3, AP physics, AP English literature

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
YWCA Women in Leadership Award (State)
Best Bill in Youth in Government (state)
State recognition for tennis record Junior year

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Tennis team (Captain)
Interact Club (Vice president and Secretary)
Youth & Government (Committee Chairperson & Party Leader)
Debate Team
Math Honor Society (tutor in algebra and geometry)
I created an informational program about diabetes that was held at my local library

Job/Work Experience: Dunkin Donuts for 6 months

Volunteer/Community service:
I’m an IRS-certified tax preparer and help low-income families in my community file their taxes
120 hrs at a homeless food center
100 hrs at my library
50 hrs at my mosque to teach kids Arabic

Intended Major: Public/Global Health

Ethnicity: African (Egyptian)
Tip factors: URM, first gen. , I come from a poor/bad city and very bad school, my city is all mostly minorities (whites/Asians are the minority)

Essays (rating 1-10, details): My main essay is a solid 9. Personal, about my Egyptian identity and how my life is like as an Egyptian
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): They are all pretty good. My peer recc. to Cornell and Dartmouth is unique

2

Your SAT scores are low for the Ivy League and equivalent schools. Your GPA is great for most schools, but only okay for Ivy League level schools. Being URM will help you quite a bit. Being second in your high school will also help you quite a bit. Doing very well in a less than ideal situation is a very good sign.

I think that you have a chance, but all are reaches. You certainly need to focus on other good universities that you can afford.

The fact that you have done very well at a bad school makes me think that you will do well wherever you end up. Be aware that from an academic standpoint you are very likely to end up somewhere which is more difficult than your high school was. You need to arrive determined to stay ahead in all of your classes at all times. You are likely to be better off if you seek out help quickly if there is anything that you find difficult when you get to university.

3

Thanks, I agree with what you said. But what percentage chance would you say?

4

Your obvious strength is your outstanding class rank. Followed by first generation college student and URM status.

Very solid ECs & good work experience as a tax preparer.

Are you a resident of New York applying to one of Cornell’s state funded schools ?

Cannot assess your chances because these schools are extremely competitive. Unknown as to the impact of your low SAT score.

If it were my decision, I would admit you because of your diverse & well rounded background. I hope that you are admitted to all three schools, but you should prepare for three rejections by adding several match & safety schools.

What is your state of residence ? No need to publicly disclose. Only important in order to encourage you to apply to your state flagship or, if in New York state, your favorite SUNY colleges.

5

Thanks for your comment

6

So you are an international student (Egyptian) living in the US, correct?

Your test scores, although very good in general, are very low for the three ivy schools you listed. It will help your chances, since you seem good enough in tennis, if a college coach got interested in recruiting you for the team. There are folks on here who can tell you if there’s a way to make that happen.

Do you have match and likely schools you can afford and would be happy to attend?

Also, this probably should have been posted on the “Chances Board”.

7

I live in the USA. Im not international. And yes i have likely schools

8

One more thing. Egyptian falls under Arab and Arabs are not considered URM for the most part.

9

I don’t know what the admissions officers would consider me. Maybe I’m URM maybe I’m not. But can you chance me?

10

All the schools are going to be reaches, even for students with perfect GPA/test scores.

Hers’s a link to the various categories of URM and how they are defined;

https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/not-od-15-089.html

11

You’re not.

The odds of acceptance to an Ivy League school with stats below the 25th percentile without a major hook are slim, but there are plenty of great colleges that would be options for you. Good luck.

12

I posted this elsewhere for another post that was similar - I think your chances for Dartmouth and Brown are going to be tough - perhaps Cornell will be better just because they have a bigger freshman class - I just think the scores are on the lower side which is not in your favor. The problem is the RD round is more competitive because a lot of the IVY’s fill a big portion of the their class in the ED round. while some schools may not view Egyptian as URM they may like the fact that you bring a certain diversity that they are seeking.

Below are Dartmouth’s numbers - Brown is probably very similar:

Last year RD pool:19,559
Last year acceptance ED+RD:1,925
This year ED acceptance:574
This year RD acceptance (assumed):1,351
RD Legacy (approx.):138 13%
RD First Generation (approx.):170 13%
RD Foreign Citizens (approx.):130 10%
RD Native Americans (approx.):49 4%
RD URM (approx.):114 10%

Remaining pool (male+female):750 4%

At the end of the day the very selective colleges are looking for a match based on their pool for that particular year and there are so many factors that are not in your hands. I wish you the best of luck and hopefully the application outcome will be what you hope it will be.

13

Unless your race is Black, an Egyptian would not be a URM. First generation means neither of your parents went to college, whether in the US or any country. Both of these statuses are important because they are strong hooks. Is your family low income (not that you are from a low income school), that will help some. Even assuming these hooks are in place for you, the SAT scores are problematical, the 25th to 75th percentiles for these schools based on their latest Common Data Set profiles are:

Brown: 705(R); 700(M) https://www.brown.edu/about/administration/institutional-research/sites/brown.edu.about.administration.institutional-research/files/uploads/CDS_2017-2018.pdf

Cornell: 690(R); 700(M) http://irptesting2.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/CDS_2017-2018-v5.pdf

Dart: 710(R); 720(M) https://www.dartmouth.edu/~oir/pdfs/cds_2017-2018.pdf

This puts you below the 25th percentile for both sections, substantially so for reading. Also remember that there will be many matriculates who might be at or below the 25th percentile for 1 section but well above it for another.

If you are not a URM or first gen as defined above, your chances are “lotto” chances and will require the AO to believe in you at a very personal level based on a combination of your LoR’s, essays and EC’s. Even if both hooks are in place, I think the chances are still low because there will be many students with similar hooks who have better objective academic stat’s.

Best of luck.

14

No one can give you a percentage chance. They are all holistic admissions. Internal institutional factors unknown to any of us come into play. Even with stats better that yours, the odds are extremely long. There are simply too many solid applicants for far too few slots. Yet, some, maybe with stats even lower than yours, get admitted. No one can say why other than the institution saw something in them they liked. Suffice it to say, you should live the next few months as though you will be rejected from all of them, but be pleasantly surprised if you get in. Good luck!

15

Congratulations on your achievements, certainly very impressive. I know you are looking for a probability of addmission but I don’t think anyone outside of the various colleges AO’s can accurately provide that. I can however provide some perspective.

These stats are for Brown class of 2018 (the last year this granularity was offered). Since then admissions have gotten even more selective with RD acceptance rate this year likely to be at or bellow 5%.

Valedictorian applicants 1,818 of which 328 accepted for a 18% acceptance rate
Salutatorian applicants 808 of which 112 accepted for a 13.9% acceptance rate
(I was told they had north of 2,500 valedictorians apply last year by a Brown employee but would not suggest it as fact given the off hand nature in which it was made).

These numbers don’t account for ED acceptances so the percentages are likely significantly lower in RD round. Given all things considered your chances are daunting just as they are for every highly qualified candidate. I believe this applies to all three of the schools you mention (although Cornell does have more seats to fill across various schools).

Good luck and don’t let your landing spot define you. Your ECs are amazing. My rationale side is detailed above, my gut sense tells me your application will resonate with someone at the Ivies. Fingers crossed and pulling for you.

16

Thank you for the information and support