<p>Hello, thanks for reading this! I am currently a high school sophomore and I am willing to cut my arm off to go to a great college. My hopes are Stanford, Yale, Cornell, Brown, USC, and Amherst through Questbridge, and if I can I will apply EA to Harvard. I am extremely low income with a single mother, and I have a very inspirational story.</p>
<p>Current Stats:</p>
<p>4.8 weighted GPA
4.0 unweighted
I am taking 4 APs this year, wasn't allowed APs freshman year (only Honors).</p>
<p>1/800 (large public school)</p>
<p>30 ACT (recently took it to get a feel for standardized testing, but I consistently got 34s on practice tests?!?)</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
Business owner- buy and sell rare books for profit
President National Humanities Association
Officer School Artist Association
Dedicated painter
Intern over summer at prestigious local library
Intern currently at Museum dedicated to a famous scholar
Volunteer teaching literature classes at local community center</p>
<p>I am going to :
Take college courses in literature and history
hopefully attend a summer abroad program studying history
build up my resume and complete more internships</p>
<p>Thank you for your thoughts; don't worry, your negativity will never affect me !! :)</p>
<p>I am a white female by the way, and my family makes less than 30,000 a year. </p>
<p>That said, you are doing great so far. Be sure to study for your PSAT next year and keep your grades as high as they are. Your ACT score should improve in a year as well, and some prep using prep books will help. </p>
<p>Questbridge is a great opportunity. Also at the time you apply, consider some of the other colleges that meet full need as well as some merit scholarships. The best thing you can do right now is keep up the good work you are doing. </p>
<p>Your extracurriculars are fairly focused to the arts and humanities. That alone can help you, as it instantly separates you from huge crowd of STEM people. As you walk through the next two years, ask what things make you an interesting person (in your own mind as well as to others) and keep doing stuff that reflects that.</p>
<p>For example, your business sounds very interesting. Humanists have been trying to push the idea lately that the humanities really do lead to careers – and here you are proving it. It might make an interesting essay topic.</p>
<p>When thinking about which applicants to recommend to an admission committee, no Ivy League admissions officer ever thought to herself, “Oh yeah, the class president.” But one might think to herself, “Oh yeah! That rare book kid!”</p>
<p>Partly it’s about “packaging” yourself when you write out your application. (I think a lot of seniors forget that, or package themselves using all the standard tropes.) But it’s also about really being the person that you’re selling.</p>
<p>Apply through Questbridge when the time comes as you said. I’m not even sure you need a “unique story” (which apparently you did not share with us).</p>
<p>But remember, if you buy and sell books for profit, ALL your profit will go to paying for college unless you still are in the very low range of family income. Are you doing it to the point of filing taxes? Is your business incorporated?</p>
<p>To me, it sounds like you are 15 years old and started buying and selling on eBay. If so, is that the same thing as starting a business? If not, great, make sure everything is documented (and your addition to the family income is not too much).</p>
<p>(And no offense, but what is the National Humanities Association? How many members does it have?)</p>
<p>(And also - don’t cut off your arm. I have a friend who lost her arm in a car crash when she was nine. You sound like you are doing everything you are supposed to do, and if one school on that list rejects you, especially if you apply through Questbridge, I would be shocked, IF you keep up your GPA, yet even if you only improve a little on the ACT)</p>
<p>As others have noted, it’s early to have much idea of your chances anywhere, but you are clearly on a good path and doing a few things with obvious passion.</p>
<p>Given your rare book business and your complementary interests in art and history, you may want to consider a long-term path that leads you toward a graduate degree in book conservation and/or art conservation. </p>
<p>Of course, interests can change over time and you may go in an entirely different direction, but you have such a unique complement of interests that suits you well to a field very few people pursue. </p>
<p>Whether you remain in the sales end of the business or pivot into restoration and conservation, knowing the skills of conservation (and the attendant knowledge of art history necessary to do it well) would be invaluable to your business. </p>
<p>Don’t cut your arm off to go to a great college. Thats the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard. That’s not worth it.
Stop it with these obsessions of Ivyies. You don’t need to attend those colleges to be perfect in life. But if you want to get into one, keep on trying very hard</p>
<p>@rhandco " the arm thing is just an expression! I only meant that my education is extremely important to me. Anyways, I have a book shop within an untaxed mall, it’s a little bit complicated, but my mother contributes little to the yearly income. Perhaps, do you know if all admissions officers have access to my financial aid profile? If they did, I could explain better in my essay on my business. Thanks! :)</p>
<p>@WasatchWriter Thanks for the tips, have you been through the process already? You seem to have some wisdom, that’s all. ( and I can’t see your posts on my phone .)</p>
<p>By the way, the National Humanities Association is basically the National English Honors society, most of our members focus on fundraising for field trips. As president, I conduct all the fundraisers and I’m in charge of all the other members.</p>
<p>You mean you are president at your own school only, correct? You need to make that clear.</p>
<p>If there is any confusion about how much you make buying and selling rare books, I would expect that you would list it under “Employment” and note your annual revenue.</p>
<p>If a school is need-blind, I do not think they would look at FA information at all. If you are going to list something as an activity or similar, you should give enough info to explain it: “Buying and selling rare books online: 200 hours per year, $2,000 per year net profit” or similar.</p>
<p>Maybe you can ask on CC elsewhere about how to list your own business. The trick is, the more money you made/make, the better businessperson you look. But then, the more money you make, the less FA you will qualify for (again, unless total family income is still very low).</p>
@mamaedefamilia@MYOS1634 I’m only ending my junior year, but I’m a Questbridge College Prep Scholar and I raised my ACT from a 30 to a 35, so things are working out the way I wanted them to.
fairagoura, this is a great thread. Please keep us posted! Congrats on College Prep. Are you attending one of the conferences? If so it will be a great place for you to learn about how to tailor your college search to your own interests and situation. Best of luck!
