Chances for a "so-so" low-income URM

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi there,</p>

<p>I've never really been as adept at the whole "chance" concept as many people on here since I'm not too researched into many of these places. And I've been curious for some time to see how I might fare in the college acceptance process. </p>

<p>Colleges:</p>

<ul>
<li>University of Chicago</li>
<li>Stanford </li>
<li>Yale </li>
<li>Columbia</li>
<li>University of Pennsylvania </li>
<li>Brown </li>
<li>Dartmouth</li>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>University of Illinois at UC</li>
<li>Northwestern </li>
</ul>

<p>(I'm only applying to so many of these top universities thanks to being a QuestBridge finalist and having the application fee waived.)</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>ACT: 31 Composite (33E, 30M, 32R, 29S) with 10 Writing
SAT Subject Tests: MathII 650, BioM 660
AP: Biology 5, English Lang&Comp 3
Class Rank: 5/160
GPA: 3.83 UW, 4.38 W</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Soccer for senior year only, varsity level.
Scholastic Bowl for all four years.
Math Team for the last 2 years.</p>

<p>Awards:</p>

<p>First place sectional win in WYSE (Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering) Challenge for Computer Science, state qualifier but nothing more.</p>

<p>Other:</p>

<p>School: Smallish school (600) in a somewhat small city (5k), meaning the classes offered are sub-par compared to what most CCers have taken. Still, I have taken the most rigorous courses available. </p>

<p>Family
-Income: < $40k
-Father & Mother: Immigrants with barely any grade school education, thus having jobs in the field of unskilled labor.</p>

<p>Myself
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Hispanic (born in Mexico)
Field: Computer Science
- Second person in family to go to college, sister in a community college.</p>

2

<p>Also, in regards to MIT and Dartmouth (but I guess others as well), I’m wondering if I should retake the MathII and BioM subject tests in January. </p>

<p>I went into these tests somewhat blind, using only the practice tests that were available on CollegeBoard’s website. </p>

<p>I’d expect to get around a 740-780 in both with a lot of studying now that I know what to expect.</p>

<p>But I don’t know if even with these scores I’d still stand a chance at making it to those two schools, and I don’t want to waste money on hopeless bets. </p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

3

<p>The bad news is: other than UIUC, all other schools are reaches. The good news is, being a QB finalist makes all of these schools reachable.</p>

<p>U Chicago: Write stellar essays and maybe it will become a high match</p>

<p>UIUC: Safety</p>

4

<p>I was thinking the same thing. </p>

<p>I’m hoping the essays I write are spectacular… </p>

<p>Any input on the matter of retaking the Subject Tests for Dartmouth and MIT?</p>

5

<p>Yes, retake the subject tests. Alternatively, retake the Math II, and take a second science, rather than retaking Bio, since you’ve already got a 5 on the Bio AP.</p>

<p>It looks like MIT will take January ACT scores - I’d consider retaking that one, too, if you felt inadequately prepared for the original sitting. Your English ACT score is within the 25-75 range, but the Math is 4 points lower than 25th percentile.</p>

6

<p>Caltria is right. Also, there are different levels of URM and the Hispanic URM advantage is not as significant as the Black or NHPI advantage.</p>

7

<p>Bump for MIT and Dartmouth, disregarding Subject scores. </p>

<p>(sorry if bumping is rude, I’m not really sure what the rules on bumping are.)</p>

8

<p>Bumping again.</p>