I am a high school senior interested in Brown, Amherst, Columbia, Dartmouth, Georgetown, and Barnard
Stats:
School: Public. Ranked in the top 100 schools in the US.
Race: Native American (belong to actual tribe) and Hispanic
Family status: Not the first, my dad went to college too but other than that no one did
My dad’s also a veteran (of the gulf war) and both of my Grandfathers are as well
GPA: 3.4 unweighted, 4.something weighted. I only took AP and Honors
Classes senior year: Art, AP Psychology, H Stats, AP Environmental Science, AP English
*was going to take AP Stats and AP Music theory too but currently have a concussion
AP scores: Euro- 5, US History- 5
ACT Scores: Composite 33, Science 36, Reading 36, English 30, Math 29 (Only took once)
Also a very accomplished upright bassist with 4 state festival awards and State Festival first chair 2013.
After school activities: Orchestra (section leader), Chamber Orchestra (section leader), Jazz Band (VP), Jazz Combo (president), Theater (Head of costumes), Marching Band (Section Leader), Pep band, Girl Scouts (troop leader)
-overall I put about 20+ hours into Music a week
Goals: Go to college, get poli sci degree, do Jazz music professionally for a few years, go to Law school and then work for Native Tribes
Was accepted into College Horizons but did not go because of a Concussion
Concussion sob story: An 80lb mirror was pushed on top of me and left me with a concussion since May and also back and neck injuries that have made playing the bass a challenge
I live in an only white town and honestly, my guidance counselors have no idea what my acceptance chances are. My town is like crazy competitive and everyone has like 4.0 unweighted GPA’s but I’m A) the only Native American, B) have better scores than most people and C) Am a serious musician who practices like 3 hours a day
Also to add: I have very strong cultural ties to my tribe and it’s not just a way to get into college. I’m the only one (including my brother and father) who didn’t grow up on the reservation and the rest of our family is very typically American Indian (job insecurity, addiction, the forced boarding schools). Most of my family (aka everyone but me and my brother) lives on the Rez and no one has gone to college (that I know of)
My dad had my brother at 17 and entered the military at that age to pay child support. After my dad got back from the war, he got his degree and wanted to move his family out east because he found moving up in the business world was very difficult because of his race. (EX. a company in CA wouldn’t hire him as a secretary but 3 months later he got hired in PA as a highly paid consultant). I grew up with an idyllic childhood thanks to my Father’s hard work. My dad grew up well beneath the poverty line and all I want is to do him proud.
I’m writing my essay about what my culture means to me, as a Native with a strong culture but growing up in a white world.