Yes I do believe you should take the republican party off the application especially in this day and age and the fact that Harvard is very liberal. I think your application would go further if you were a member of BLM or a similar organization. I think your SAT 1 and 2 are fine and I would not retake them.
@collegedad13 I doubt that they would choose one applicant over another based on their political preference. It’s something they have worked immensely on and are incredibly passionate, why bother compromising their beliefs and accomplishments?
I would do it no matter where you apply. Keep it on, political advocacy is important. Who cares what some middle aged dad thinks? Colleges will be incredibly impressed no matter the party!
@collegedad13 I don’t feel comfortable joining a club or organization just for the sake of getting into college. I’m not going to conform my ideologies just to fit in. I’m black and Republican and proud of that.
No it won’t.
Yes, Harvard is liberal, as is Stanford, Chicaco, MIT, etc. However, republicans exist (even black republicans 
). Whether the OP will be comfortable in the environment is another question that only he can answer. Admissions is going to look for commitment, not what the commitment is.
Nor should you.
@Tobster18 yes and, that is why you should try and visit these universities, or at least do some serious research on them, they really are quite different.
I don’t know if anyone has said this, but some Ivy’s require all SAT AND ACT scores. I know for a fact that Stanford has this policy, so your 30 will hurt. You can get the score deleted and that will help. I recommend getting your SAT up a little bit
I honestly have nothing else to say except you better be the second black president graduating from an Ivy haha. I am also applying this year, not to Ivies but some pseudoivies like WashU or Northwester. Wish you the best of luck buddy.
@equinox19 Lol thanks. You too!
First of all, your extracurriculars are amazing! Your SAT and AP scores are a little low, but the rest of your profile is good. URM status will help you too.
Also, I definitely think you should highlight Teenage Republican’s Association. If it’s something you’re passionate about, then go for it! There’s bound to be a couple of conservatives at the schools you listed above anyway.
No, some Ivy’s do not. In fact none require all scores from both SAT and ACT. Although Cornell does require that if you send any score from both SAT and ACT that you must send them all, but you can just opt to send no ACT scores. Some like Yale, require all SAT scores or all ACT scores, but does not require both. As always, one should verify each prospective college’s testing policy.
Correct, and AFAIK, Georgetown is the only other top college that also has this requirement.
Sigh. No it won’t. Even if a college requires all scores, they will look at the best ones. Some students do better on one versus the other, and colleges know that. The admissions process is stressful enough without spreading erroneous information. Of course if you want to believe the fallacy, go right ahead.
Top universities are extremely competitive and you will definitely have lots of competitors.
Your scores are not impressive (sorry), and your almost perfect GPA is not in accordance with your AP test scores.
Being an AA will give an advantage, though.
My daughter is hispanic. top 5 in her class (her school does not rank, but the top students are announced at graduation), ACT 34, 4.96 GPA, 15 AP’s and post-AP’s, all with A’s and all 5’s on the tests, 5 Honor Societies, and impressive EC’s…and she was waitlisted in HPY (RD). It did not really matter, as she applied EA to her dream school (UChicago) and got in (also into Columbia, Cornell, UPenn, Vanderbilt and Duke) but just to give you an idea about how hard it is to get to those schools.
My advice is to retake the tests with the lowest scores, visit schools, and choose your "dream reach"and apply SCEA, and also find less competitive universities to apply RD.
Good luck!
Thanks for the advice everyone. My plan at this point it so apply to Harvard SCEA and then decide from there. I’ll go ahead and craft most of the essays for the other colleges but honestly if I get into Harvard SCEA then I’m probably going to be done with college apps. Thanks everyone! And I’ll keep yall posted on results.
I can’t speak about the other schools but what I’ve experienced at Harvard is that a unique perspective is what is valued. The common denominator it seems that many Harvard students share, is living out their unique perspective in a respectful manner. This intangible, respect for others, will need to resonate through your essays and recommendations.
Got into Harvard SCEA!!! #Harvard2022
Good Job!!! A girl from my school also got in! I guess you guys will be future classmates!
Good job…all of your hard work paid off…