Chance Me (URM) - Back and hopefully better

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Is it okay if I make a new thread on this or do I need to just bump my old one???

SCHOOLS:
Reaches: Columbia, UChicago, Johns Hopkins, Barnard, Wellesley, Yale
Match: Tulane, William and Mary, Emory, Fordham
Safeties: Spellman, Howard, state school

ACT: 31, 32 superscored
PSAT: 1420
GPA: 4.03 W/ 3.7 UW
RACE: African-American
GENDER: Female
INCOME: Had an honest talk w/ parents. Needless to say, I def need scholarships. Fafsa EFC is 0 and I qualify for fee waivers. My zipcode is also low-income. Does this mean that colleges would read my app as low-income? My friend told me that being URM is only a hook if you’re URM + firstgen/low-income. Otherwise it counts for nothing. Is this true?

Extracirrculars:
Independent research at tulane lab
Founding Member/President of Society of Women Engineers Club
Outreach Captain of Robotics
Secretary of Peer Assistance Team
Regional Scholastic Award (gold and silver)
Published in School Magazine & Newspaper
Summer Research Intern (paid) at local medical center
Docent (paid) at local art museum
District Lit Rally Qualification
Regional poem contest honorable mention
100+ hours at hospital volunteering
AP Scholar with Distinction

Letters of rec: (is this too many?)
1 from school counselor (said she loves me and that she wrote me a really good essay)
1 from science teacher (?/10)
1 from english teacher (?/10)
1 from science teacher/mentor (worked w/ him for 3 years now, was definitely glowing (9/10))

AP:
5 - human geo
5 - apush
5 - european history
4 - environmental science
5 - english 3

Current classes:
AP bio, ap english 4, ap psych, calc Honors, independent research, ap gov

MAJOR: women’s studies. my counselor said that declaring myself as a women’s studies major would be the right thing to do. is it?? I just don’t think I’m a competitive STEM applicant

y’all i’m sorry for the questions. I tried googling them and I just got even more confused. my parents went to college 30+ years ago so they don’t really know, and no one in my family has ever applied to competitive colleges before so :confused:

2

You would be a competitive STEM applicant at your match schools. I would recommend applying for the major you want. For the reach schools, they will be difficult no matter what major you select, but not impossible.

3

For your reach schools I think you have a better shot at Barnard and Wellesley. The other three are really “reachy”

STEM majors are going to be a harder sell at your reach schools without calculus so I can see why your GC recommended women’s studies. However, if you really do want to do a STEM field, be sure to research what the procedure is to change your major for each school on your list. At some schools it’s very difficult to transfer into engineering.

4

She has calculus.

It’s the right thing to do of you are planning on majoring in women’s studies. If you’re writing down a major in the hopes of some edge, then no, it’s not the “right thing.”

Same answer as the last time you asked - $250K is not low-income.

5

How is her income $250K yet has a 0 EFC and qualifies for fee waivers @skieurope?

6

The OP has yet to explain the discrepancy.

7

Sorry, I missed that there was honors calc. I was looking at the AP list. I also don’t see either AP chem or AP Physics. Still think it’s going to be a hard sell for a STEM major without more rigor in those areas.

OP - if your family income is $250K and you are needing merit aid instead of need based, you need to relook at your list.