<p>Being Native isn’t going to GET ME INTO SCHOOLS. I’m aware of that. I’ve always been aware of that. Yes, schools look for ethnic diversity, but they also look for other positive attributes. Test scores aren’t everything; however, it does depend on the admissions committee and what they are searching for that particular year. I worked hard on my essays and had my brother and his girlfriend (who are both Stanford graduates and very talented writers) edit them for me.
Laeven, you told me I had no hook besides the fact that I am Native. I am also a Coca-Cola Scholarship semi-finalist. There were 84,000 applicants this year and they selected 2,200 to be semi-finalists. I had a 2.6% chance of being selected. The Coca-Cola Scholarship focuses a lot on volunteer work, so evidently I had some volunteer experience that stood out to them. Why can’t I have volunteer experience that stands out to colleges as well?
To supplement the Native-ness or whatever it is, I attend a BIA and tribally run boarding school. That means my school is for only for Native students. There are maybe five or six schools in the whole United States like the one I attend. It’s not some prep-school that my parents have to pay extensive amounts of money for me to attend. In fact, they pay no money at all.</p>
<p>Not every college is looking for perfect scoring, cookie-cutter students. They’re looking for interesting and diverse students. I’m aware that my score might be “sub-par” but I am also aware that where I am and what I do has intrigued the college reps/alumni with whom I have interviewed thus far.</p>