<p>Hey, this is my first post! :) So, I would really like to attend one of the HYPS, which I know is a long shot for absolutely anyone who applies, but I am a URM, so I want to know if that might help.</p>
<p>I'm going to be a senior next year. As of now I have a 4.15 weighted GPA (my school doesn't offer many honors/AP classes but I have/am taking every one I can possibly take and have gotten all As and one B). I also have a 2340 on my SAT and a 730 on Math II + 710 on USH. </p>
<p>In terms of ECs, mine are pretty average and only schoolwide but I am president of two academic clubs (chapter founder of one), vice-president of an ethnic club, a member of my Class Board and NHS, and the captain of a sports team. I'll also possibly be an editor of my school's yearbook. I have 200+ volunteer hours for peer tutoring along with mentoring at a Robotics summer camp for two years. This summer I'll be doing an Internship.</p>
<p>I've also been commended for National Merit and National Achievement though Semi-Finalists haven't come out yet.</p>
<p>What are my chances? How much will my URM status help? Should I take SAT II Subject Tests again?</p>
<p>I’m also Top 9% of my class, but my school doesn’t do ranking or anything and my SAT breakdown is (CR: 800, M: 740, W: 800). And I’ve taken one AP Test (Psych) and got a 5. But yea my school doesn’t have many APs but at least I’m taking them all. :</p>
<p>I don’t know much about the admissions process because I’m also going to be a senior this year, but I do know that URMs with much lower GPAs/SAT scores have been accepted to Ivies. Your SAT score will definitely help in that department. That being said, in terms of your ECs, you’re right. They are standard (from my POV at least) but if you are passionate about one of those things (the sport or one of the clubs) then capitalize on it. But yeah, your SATs are definitely very high for your demographic.</p>
<p>Would you mind taking a look at my post as well? It’s the one titled “Not exactly a ‘Chance Me,’ but somewhat (Columbia University)”</p>
<p>good chances at schools, but they’re crapshots. if you don’t mind me asking, why are you applying to all 3? Have you looked to see which ones you like enough to apply to? I wouldn’t apply to all 3 just because they’re highly ranked. Chances are you won’t like all 3, most people don’t. I’d look and only apply to the ones you REALLY like</p>
<p>Your grades and test scores look great. Perhaps a little low on SAT IIs but other than that, pretty good. ECs are pretty standard for schools of that caliber but the founding and volunteering should help. I would try retaking subject tests in the fall. URM will definitely help, make sure your essays an recommendations are stellar. You definitely do have a good chance but there are so many other good applicants that you have to find a way to stand out, especially through your essays. Good luck!</p>
<p>I guess I should be more specific with my ECs.</p>
<p>Mock Trial (President, Defense Team Captain, Defense Attorney)
Our school’s team was only founded a few years ago and though I didn’t found this club I publicized it more and built our team up from a small, average team to a more competitive team that actually wins some awards. I was responsible for finding a new Teacher-Sponsor after our previous one got laid off and contacted new Attorney-Coaches for our teams. I’m really passionate about this because I want to go into Law so I’ll probably talk about this in my essays.</p>
<p>California Scholarship Federation (Chapter Founder, President)
Basically a statewide scholarship club but I founded the chapter at my school and it quickly gained 40+ new members. Right now we’re trying to establish the club, make it more active, and get involved in our school and community.</p>
<p>Black Student Alliance (Vice-President)
This year we made the club more active and academic-based instead of social-based. We invited Outreach groups and Scholarship committees to come out to speak to our members and got involved in various events such as the Black College Expo and various college tours to make our Black students more aware of opportunities to gain a higher education. Right now we are working on establishing a branch of the club that is aimed at mentoring peer students. I may talk about this in my essays too.</p>
<p>Varsity Soccer (Varsity all four years + Captain senior year)
Our team made it to the CIF Finals and were League Champions! </p>
<p>2013 Class Board
I served as Fundraising Commissioner and earned thousands of dollars for our class in one semester. I held a variety of fundraising events and had a lot of other leadership responsibilities as well.</p>
<p>I didn’t mention this but I’ve also been on my school’s Robotics team since sophomore year and we’ve won a variety of national and regional awards during that time.</p>
<p>My Internship is a paid for BP and I do a lot of graphic design work and participate in the company branch’s public speaking organization. I actually won an award against all of the participating employees which was pretty cool. :)</p>
<p>And I’m an ambassador for my school for this new educational program that we’re initiating. I speak on behalf of the students and am an integral part in gaining our school more funding for the program.</p>
<p>I hope this helps to make my chancing more accurate! Thank you!</p>
<p>I would take the SAT II’s again, but I don’t think your scores will hurt your application, they just won’t be too helpful. Your SAT score is great and should make you competitive at all of them! Your ECs are decent, but if you have one of them that you are passionate about then make sure to incorporate it into your essays. I would say that they are all LOW reaches, but that’s like it is for everyone. I think you’ll get into at least one of them though Good Luck!</p>
<p>The Black Student alliance thing will definitely help. Colleges want URMs to increase diversity in their culture, by embracing your race you will greatly increase your appeal. I would suggest writing an essay about it. As for your other stats, I would agree to increase your SAT IIs but also to take as many APs as possible next year. Even though your school only offers a few APs you have only taken one. Make sure these colleges know you are challenging yourself. I say you have a decent chance for HYP but I think Stanford would be a higher reach because of the lack of affirmative action meaning your URM status wouldn’t mean much. So basically:
Stanford: High Reach
Harvard/Princeton: Mid-Reach (just like everyone)
Yale: Reach (not as difficult as the others and I think they have less URM applicants than the others).</p>
<p>Judging by your GPA, I doubt it. A 4.15/4.5 isn’t that great, compared to the other applicants with good chances at HYPS. They are simply looking for the best of the best, and any applicant without a perfect or near-perfect GPA will not see likely chances for admission to top tier schools like these. Your extracurricular’s are decent but again, not excellent enough for the best schools. The only facets of your application strong enough for admission to HYPS is your SAT scores, your internship, and URM status. I’d say they’re all mid-high reaches. Do your best to get your GPA up to par during your senior year, and perhaps apply early action to Harvard, Yale, or Princeton if one of those schools is your first choice. Let it be said that if you were to get recruited for soccer, then your admission chances would be seismically improved. Also, keep in mind that you shouldn’t use URM to your advantage excessively; the morals behind affirmative action is clouded, to say the least. Good luck!</p>
<p>If it helps, regarding my GPA, my school requires that you take 2 of the APs senior year, the 3rd class is an AP Language class that you can only take senior year unless you’re a native speaker and the last one is mainly for seniors but I was one of the few juniors who actually took it. My GPA is as near-perfect as it possibly can be at my school since I took the most advanced classes that my school offers and got one B. Like if we ranked, I would be one or two.</p>
<p>Thanks for the chances you guys, it helps a lot! If anyone else would chance me, that would be great too!</p>
<p>really, i think the only thing holding you back are your sat ii scores right now!</p>
<p>as for ECs, i’d personally say they’re not holding you back, but they’re not helping you either so i guess that could be good or bad, depending on your expectations hahah</p>
<p>your URM status will definitely help, and overall, as long as you get those scores up, i think you’ll have a solid chance!</p>
<p>I think you have good grades and scores (minus maybe the SAT iis) however you’ll need much more developed EC’s to get to HYPS. Just curious, what URM are you?</p>
But thanks!</p>
so i guess that could be good or bad, depending on your expectations hahah</p>