Chance me please!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Boston College
1

I am an out of state student (Maryland) and I am a minority that goes to a major minority high school, that has a reputation for being known as the worst school in our county when it comes to grades, graduation rates, drop out rates, association with gangs (MS13,Bloods.) I am not a U.S. citizen now but I will be when I eventually apply (I am from Ethiopia.) My Dad was a doctor before he came to America, where he couldn’t practice as a doctor anymore because his liscence wasn’t accepted globally, so what shall I put under parents educational status, same thing with my mom. She had an associates degree but when she came here, they revoked it. Two of my sisters go to UMD so I can’t apply as a first generation student and it’s most likely hard for me to get in an out of state school. My Stats are as following (This is basically from Freshman year to Sophomore year because they haven’t put in the Junior grades in so far, I got a 4.0 my first quarter of Junior year) :

3.67 Unweighted GPA

4.25 Weighted GPA

1110 Highest SAT Score

3 sports teams Over the course of 3 years, all JV except for one (JV Basketball, JV lacrosse, Varsity Golf)

Clubs, Youth Up Health, ( Advocates for healthier food in schools, Answer sometimes strays from that topic and just fight for civil rights, helped pass a vending machine bill here in Montgomery County Maryland that makes sure that there is a balance between healthy snacks Answer sugary snacks.)
,
Minority Scholars Program,( Helps people express their feelings about certain issues, usually have town halls and organize task forces.),

National Honours society, ( International organization.)

I will have 200+ student service learning hours by the end of this year and I’ll most likely stay on top of my grades and SAT/ACT score, which I plan on taking over and over again until I do well. ( I am actually taking the ACT this February)

I took very rigorous courses in high school from freshman year to sophomore year, ( AP GOV, AP USH, Pre IB (Honors) ALGEBRA 2, Pre IB (Honors Chemistry), Pre IB (Honors English), Pre IB (Honors Geometry) , Honors Health… Basically everything was Honors except for 1 semester of my art credit, my technology credit and my P.E. Credit.

I’m taking very rigorous courses now, ( IB English HL, IB Chem SL, IB Math SL, AP World History, Medical Science ( Basically a SNA) )

I plan to take more rigorous courses in my senior year as well, ( IB English, IB Math SL, Pre IB physics, AP Psych, Internship)

I also plan to play tons of sports my Senior year, cross country and soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter and lacrosse in the spring.

So my question is, what are my chances of getting into Boston college given all this data?

2

Unfortunately the SAT score is so below the range at BC you may have trouble with acceptance.

3

@GavinThatCool3
No one can tell you if you’ll be accepted or not. Just look at the “decision threads” for the past several years and you’ll see applicants with strong profiles who did not get accepted, as well as applicants with much weaker profiles who did.

As noted, the SAT score isn’t strong, and it does fall deep in the 25th percentile of accepted students. BC will evaluate if you can handle the work, so trying to pull that 1110 up can only help you.

Since you’re a junior, can you make the time to take SAT prep classes? Those classes do often provide a bump. A number you’ll often hear is 100 points. I’ve even seen more.

All the best.

4

@GavinThatCool3 You CAN apply as a first generation student. It just considers your parents education status. So even if your siblings attend college, so long as your parents did not attend college you are able to apply as first generation. I am also an Ethiopian immigrant and had to clarify this point with my counselors.

The other point I had to clarify was my parents education status. This is not as clearly defined but multiple responses I received were that if your parents received a degree in their home country but are not able to work in their degree field in this country then put their education as high school level. My father had an associate’s degree but now works as a taxicab driver since his degree is not accepted here.

As others have said, try and get the standardized scores at least within the 50-75th percentile. I understand how expensive the process of improving your score is so I would recommend taking both tests first and see which one you do better on and then focusing on that test. I just took as many practice tests as I could and they really helped. For the ACT, the main issue is timing so adhere to time constraints when practicing. There is a science section on the ACT that doesn’t really focus on your understanding of science, just your graph reading abilities so don’t get tripped up.

Also, you’re a Junior so don’t settle on Boston College. Search for things that matter to you and find a school that matches those. Classroom/school size, location, academic rigor, job/grad school preparation, environment, and cost should just be some of the factors that you should consider. Another user pointed out how there truly isn’t a set guide to getting into schools. We aren’t on the admission board and that is something to consider. These are just helpful tips that are widely believed will boost your application.

Good Luck.

5

I don’t think you can claim to be a first generation student, so forget about that.

Whether you are in-state or out-of-state is only an issue with public colleges. With private colleges being from Maryland won’t have an impact.

Try to get your test scores up a bit, but you have an interesting background, both in your home country & here, so even if your SAT is below a college’s average, you have a chance. There are lots of colleges in this country that would love to have you. Keep looking. Check out Providence College, Fairfield University, Universitiy of Scranton, and St. Joseph’s Universitiy in Philadelphia.

6

I would add La Salle University in Philadelphia to the above list. Known to be very generous with scholarship rewards.