Chances?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): November: 2180 (660 CR, 800 M, 720 W)
December: 2260 (710 CR, 780 M, 770 W)
Super Score : 2280 (710 CR, 800 M, 770 W)

ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: World History (790) Math 2 (800) Physics (740)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): Not reported
Weighted GPA: 103 (out of 100 point scale)
Rank: 1 out of ~110 people
AP : World History (5) US History (5) Euro (5) Calc AB (5) English Lang (5) Physics 1 (4) Bio (5)

Senior Year Course Load: AP Chem, AP Environmental, AP Psychology, AP Calc BC (Online Community College Course), a couple SUPA classes

Subjective:

Math Achievements:
-Math Club (Captain) (9th-current grade)
-Moody’s Mega Math Challenge
-Math Honor Society (Event Coordinator)
-Bronze Award for Top 30 % in County Competition
-All Star Math Team member
-Participated in NYSML (regional math competition)
-Qualify for ARML (national math competition held in June but I can’t make it due to SAT IIs)

Robotics:
-Senior Mechanic of Robotics (9th - current grade)
-Participated in FRC 9th 10th and 11th grades

Debate Team:
-Head Prosecutor (10th grade ; canceled due to lack of funding)

Music:
-Choir Ensemble (10th grade) nothing major

Volunteer:
-SPARC community service [Soup kitchen] [Habitats for Humanity] Helping poor
-Environmental Action Club volunteer (Treasurer) [10th grade - current]
-Tutored students in Physics, Chemistry, and math during after school extra help (9th-current)

Awards:

  • The Rensselear Medal Award (Scholarship)
  • A Honor Roll
  • Plaques in Chemistry, Physics, Calculus
  • AP Scholar with Distinction

Job Experience
-Paid Summer job cleaning school desks, furniture, and equipment at school

Intended Major: Medical Science
State (if domestic applicant): NY
School Type: Public suburban
Ethnicity: African
Gender: M
Income Bracket: 60-80k
Hooks: URM, first generation college student, poor economic conditions, English second language, immigrant, family issues.

Looking to apply to top schools: Harvard EA, Yale, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Uchicago, and a few safeties. What are my chances with this profile? My ECs seem weak to me.

2

Being African (presumably black) will help. ECs are trite and dull. You’ll be fine, but for HYPSM, it’s always a crapshoot

3

@DedicatedParent4 My skin isn’t black so I don’t think I can call myself that? I’m from Morocco so not sure how to identify myself on apps.

4

@DedicatedParent4 Could I list myself as “Black or African American”? Technically speaking, I’m not black but I am African and I am American so logically I’m African American. But then again, I feel like theyd expect a black person walking into interviews if I list that.

5

@krauser126 Don’t list yourself as “Black or African American”. The moment they see you they’ll not only be expecting a black person, but they’ll know you tried to cheat the system, which won’t play out well. Also, being Moroccan means Middle-Eastern, not African. And for colleges Middle Eastern = White. (By the way, I’m also Moroccan, and faced the same conundrum.) Hope this helps.

6

@Top10Squad Okay thanks. Can’t I list myself as “Other” and explain my heritage that way? I’d rather not just label myself as “White” because Im more than that.

7

@krauser126 Well, on the common app, you can’t really list yourself as “Other”. However when you select “White”, it gives you three options to specify, one of them being “Middle Eastern”, which is what you should put.

8

@Top10Squad But my great grand parents were sub-Saharan Berbers so doesn’t that make me part “African American” by their definition: Someone having ancestral heritage from sub-Saharan Africa.

9

@krauser126 You cannot say you are African American if your skin is not black. Period. At least you shouldn’t. Really the choice is up to you, but if they expect a black person and see you walk into an interview, they might think you tried to cheat the system, and that won’t play out well, I guarantee it. I guess you could talk about heritage in your essays, but it would be risky nonetheless. However, that’s just my two cents. Good luck.

10

If your parents were both African-African, one a doctor and the other an attorney, you’d still be an URM. But being North African, though poor, you don’t get that hook. Not fair, I know, sorry.

But your SATs, GPA, APs, course rigor are stellar. Someone said your ECs are trite. Don’t worry about that. Colleges will understand your family did not have the means to pay for travel lacrosse and such. ‘Job cleaning school desks, furniture, and equipment at school’ will be impressive.

Having said that, admission to the Top 20 or so universities is indeed a crap shoot. Consider schools just below these, at least for matches and safeties. You are headed for a great school! No problem in not getting into Stanford or Yale.

11

@Top10Squad “African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans or Afro-Americans[3]) are an ethnic group of Americans (citizens or residents of the United States) with total or partial ancestry from any of the black racial groups of Africa.[4][5] The term may also be used to include only those individuals who are descended from enslaved Africans.”

Wikipedia definition. Doesn’t say anything about having black skin…and if that’s really the case then Stephen Curry isn’t African-American.

12

@krauser126 Ok, look man, you can just do what you want, I’m not going to be the one to stop you. I’m just saying how lit looks like to me. And if that’s how it looks to me, then there is a chance that an Admissions Officer or interviewer might see it the same way. You can Google African-American. Not a single person has white skin. Good luck!

BTW, here’s a Wikipedia definition:

"The 2000 U.S. census states that racial categories "generally reflect a social definition of race recognized in this country. They do not conform to any biological, anthropological or genetic criteria."It defines “white people” as “people having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.”
^^
Morocco is in North Africa. Cheers!

13

Wouldn’t it be simpler if race and ethnicity were not considered on college applications? So applicants wouldn’t feel they need to look in the mirror and ask, what exactly am I? OP lists first generation college student and poor economic conditions as possible hooks. Those considerations make perfect sense to me. Given the hooks I have no problem with OP for using URM status. Regarding OP, he never even asked about ethnicity, just stated it. He will get into a great college based on his achievements.

14

@top100Squad is technically correct. Those having ancestry out of Northern Africa and the Middle East are considered “White” by the US government for all intensive purposes. Although I personally find this stupid because I am sure most people would not think you white so your pretty much in a lose-lose. But it could make for an interesting essay on race. You could always put “mixed race” too.

15

@dnstudent26 I’m just going to put “White” and “African American”. There’s no reason to cut myself loose on the opportunity for URM when I clearly have heritage from black groups in Africa as well as Middle Eastern ties. And as for @Top10Squad I Googled “African American” and on the first page of pictures is this:
https://www.google.com/search?q=African-American&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjpktvZ-enOAhXJ0RQKHYlwC78Q_AUICSgC&biw=1920&bih=979#imgrc=Vy4TOpjRaKG1ZM%3A
Cheers.

16

@Top10Squad I got accepted to Harvard. Cheers.