Chances for a black girl at HYPS, WashU

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi! Please be brutal in your evaluation of my chances. Currently, my top choice is Yale.</p>

<p>Stats:
GPA- 3.9 UW, 4.2 W (4.56 W for junior year)
SAT I- 2130 (score was w/o prep, will retake in october, expect 2250+)
SAT II- 760/710/700 (will take chem in november, expect 750+)
AP's- 5's on Calc BC, Calc AB subscore, US History, Statistics</p>

<p>EC's:
-cross country (multiple awards on state level): 9,10,11,12
-track and field (multiple awards on regional level): 9,10,11,12
-yearbook (YBI co-editor, 11; co-editor-in-chief,12): 9,10,11,12
-Rebuilding Together Peninsula, its kind of like habitat for humanity (high school advisory council, office intern, volunteer): 10,11, 12
-Lucile Packard Children's Hospital ( 2 internships: housing/care-a-van, pain management; maternity volunteer): 10,11,12
-ASB VP, Judicial Committee President: 12
-AMOR, Mexico house-building mission trip : 10, 11</p>

<p>Work Experience
-Lab Tech @ my school (private) : 10,11,12
-Lung cancer clinical research assistant to Stanford Professor: current
-Bookstore Employee: 10, 11</p>

<p>Awards (school does not give academic awards, no nhs)
- Nat'l merit semi-finalist
- Nat'l Achievement semi-finalist
- NIH grant ( research supplement for urm high school students)</p>

<p>Other info:
- 1st generation american (parents originally from africa)
- recruited runner at H,Y
- will have really good recs and essays</p>

<p>Thanks for your comments!</p>

2

<p>I think you have excellent chances. You're AP's are impressive as are your overall well roundness. Though your SAT's are low for HYPS, the fact that you're black should help immensely. Overall I think you have a great shot.</p>

3

<p>They will fight over you.</p>

4

<p>I think that you are better than average chances -- if you take the time to edit and reedit your essays so that they are individualized to the colleges and also are written in an interesting way -- and if you prepare for your interviews and have thoughtful questions and thoughtful answers, not just "yes" or "no" answers and questions that are answered on their web pages.</p>

<p>As a URM with stellar scores and good ECs, you are rare (though you'd be rarer if you were of African American, not immigrant African descent). However, I have seen URMs like you get rejected by the colleges that you mention when the students either apparently threw together their applicatons without much thought or waltzed into interviews as if they felt they were God's gift. Contrary to what some believe, interviews do count, and a student who makes a bad impression because of rudeness or indifference could be deep sixing their acceptance chances.</p>

<p>Questions about essays? There are some good books that give guidance. There's also a sticky with great advice that's at the top of one of CC's boards.</p>

5

<p>thanks for the replies! I know my SATs are on the low side of the 50% range for ivies now, but hopefully i will raise my SAT I to 2250+ in october and score 750+ on the chem sat2 in november. </p>

<p>Zagat: I hope so!</p>

<p>Northstarmom: I am already working on my essays and I am trying hard to make sure that I don't come off as pretentious. I know that as a URM, I have a better chance, but I only see it as a tip factor, so I am trying my best to make sure I am on the same academic level as most other applicants (GPA, research). Also, most people would describe me as very gregarious, so I'm not too worried about my interview.</p>

<p>Edit to original post:
- Track and XC co-captain/captain: 11, 12
- school does not rank, but probably #1 right now</p>

<p>Any other tips/ comments? Thanks!</p>

6

<p>I give you credit, few are able to play sports at that high of a level and still maintain good grades. You have a good shot.</p>

7

<p>bump.......</p>

8

<p>You will have your choice of school. Enjoy Yale.</p>

9

<p>What would her chances be if she wasn't black? I'm kinda tan now, would that increase my chances of getting into ivies too?</p>

10

<p>personally, i think i would still have a good chance if i wasn't black. I'm a recruited runner at some of the schools I've listed and I have a very strong GPA at a tough prep school that adcoms are familiar with. Believe me, I don't want to play the race card. I also know that being black isn't a guarantee for ivy admission. As I said above, that is why i have worked hard throughout high school and taken demanding classes so that I am on par with all ivy applicants academically</p>

11

<p>You would still have a good chance for HYPS if you weren't black? Your chances would be basically average or slightly higher... 10-15%... if you weren't black. I don't consider that a "good" chance IMO.</p>

12

<p>I think you have among the best of chances at all of those schools.</p>

13

<p>Honestly if you werent black and are a recruited runner with your stats you would be a shoo in anyway.</p>

14

<p>A "shoo in"? Give me a break...</p>

15

<p>Are you kidding????? A girl with a almost perfect GPA, an above 2100 GPA is getting rejected NOWHERE as a recruited athlete. That is just as strong, if not a much stronger, hook than URM. </p>

<p>In my brothers class that just graduated he had two athletes get into Yale with around 1300 SATs and far from the top of the class. I went to Dartmouth/ Columbia and I knew of athletes with scores in the 1200 range.</p>

16

<p>That doesn't make her a shoo-in. Being recruited helps, yeah, but she's by no means a shoo-in (either way -- being an URM or not). A lot of people with a better GPA and SAT and SAT II and really good ECs like her are rejected from HYPS.</p>

17

<p>You're in.</p>

18

<p>
[quote]
I'm kinda tan now, would that increase my chances of getting into ivies too?

[/quote]

Lol atomicfusion if that would do it I'd get into a tanning bed right now, skin cancer or not.</p>

19

<p>atomicfusion: I know that I am not a shoo-in and I never said that I was. I also not that ppl who have better stats than me have also been rejected from HYPS. But college acceptances are about more than stats. When there are so many academically talented people, you really have to make yourself standout with your ec's and especially essays. But the fact of the matter is, I am black, I am a recruited runner and I can't change that. But you may also have certain advantages that I don't have. The way I see it, there are alot more qualified people than there are spots at ivies so if you have any advantage, you should use it!</p>

20

<p>I agree that you should use it to your advantage. But being black is nothing that you've earned or achieved. Racism towards blacks doesn't really exist anymore in our society. It's ridiculous to give someone an advantage for the color of their skin (just as it was ridiculous for whites to have an advantage in the past). I understand giving people an advantage because they have overcome hardships, but it is illogical to say that all black people have hardships because of their race. There are many white people and asian people that have equal hardships as many black people. But back to the point, you are not a shoo-in if you are black or not. You are an above average applicant to HYPS, but in no means is HYPS a match. It's still a reach for anyone. I stand by saying being black your chances are around 30-40%, and if you were not black your chances would be 10-15%. WashU is a safety/match.</p>