<p>I just want to know...how much does URM status help? I am hoping that some African Americans at some of the Ivies could tell me what their GPA and scores and the like were. Also, does anyone have theories (or actually know) how this mysterious college decision thing works? For example, on your transcript, do they look at individual years or overall?</p>
<p>thanks to all who answer (if anyone does)</p>
<p>URM status helps, but there’s no arbitrary range or anything like that. You need to be a good, wholesome candidate regardless of whether you are URM or not. If you need that reassurance, and I perfectly understand that you might, Google and take a look at the CollegeBoard’s national percentiles for African Americans and maybe that will give you an idea of what is considered an ample score or not. That being said, if you have a 2050, and all of your scores are above the 95th percentile, that does not guarantee admission into an Ivy or Ivy-equivalent school. Again, you need to be a wholesome candidate.</p>
<p>College decisions are a mystery, but they tend to work exactly how colleges say they work. They look for:
** Rigor of academic record: you need to be taking the top classes in your intended field/excelling in particular areas of interest; for example, if you know that you are an excellent Math student and future engineer, you probably should be pulling your best grades possible in those areas – it’s not to say that you shouldn’t be doing well in History, but they are going to judge a B in history much more receptively if you are a student geared towards Math/Engineering in the future. Just an example. This is where they look at your transcript and make said judgments. They want to see the classes that you took, more so than the grades.</p>
<p>** Essays: These are extremely important as they define you. Talk about your passions and your interests - the things that are most important to you and what drives you. Be unique if you are a unique person. Be funny if you are a funny person. And so on. But only be yourself</p>
<p>** Extracurriculars: Obvious; you don’t need to be Captain of every single team and sport at school to get into college. But you need to be dedicated to a few activities and show your mastery in them. Hype up the things you are dedicated to you and be able to explain how meaningful they are to you, why you’re passionate about them.</p>
<p>** Statistics: SAT scores and GPA are pretty subjective numbers overall, I personally think, and the admissions committees seem to agree. This is why there are no arbitrary ranges that determine admission and moreover, they are merely numbers. The students who apply and have realistic chances at top schools most likely are in the top percentiles already, and nobody is going to make an admissions decision based on someone getting 100 points higher on their SAT. Your statistics need to be good, but you don’t need to freak out if you’re seeing “Accepted: 2200” on a board and your score is a 2000. Work your hardest, your best is all that counts here. Period.</p>
<p>^Totally agree with this. My sister applied to the Ivies (as in EVERY SINGLE school in the Ivy League) and got into all of them. Needless to say, she was shocked, but looking back I think her app would have gotten her in at most, if not all of those schools regardless of her race. Being an AA female in science-related fields just solidified her spot even more.</p>
<p>^ Whoa! Your sister needs to tutor me!! lol. I know a site thats called ***** that can help you out. They have a lot of Admission officers and people who are from Ivys to help you out. I asked them questions and its really helpful=)</p>
<p>But don’t concentrate on being Black(or Latino,Asian, or any other race)…to help you out. You need to work on your profile. Thats not always good to depend on that…because you never know what they are thinking…=)</p>
<p>I would love to know a few of your sisters stats. I am also an African American Female interested in engineering.</p>
<p>It does seem that it is really about committing to education, progress and being the best one can be. If one can live with oneself with few educational/extracurricular/service regrets, then nothing else should truly matter.</p>
<p>Mysterious College decision thing.</p>
<p>^ More likely than not, no one on CC is a college admissions officer or of any authority to really explain exactly how admissions officers make their decisions. We just know, in general, what colleges are looking for in their potential freshman classes, and we can really only gauge what qualities competitive applicants need to have, theoretically. Carman788 explained this pretty well.</p>
<p>However, you mainly asked this question for advice in how to approach your high school career, I’m assuming. You can read through CC’s many result threads and helpful advice posts to figure out what colleges want out of you. But my best advice to you (though like everyone else on here, I am no authority on the subject) is to be TRUE to yourself. Do the best that you can possibly do in all of your classes and take the time and effort to study hard for all your standardized tests. But join clubs that actually matter to you and only participate in activities that you find a passion for being involved in. You’ll be devoted, have fun, and gain those coveted leadership positions and valuable experience that colleges like to see when making their decisions. </p>
<p>If you stay true to yourself, some colleges will accept you and some may not. But, ultimately, you’ll be proud of what you accomplished and find that the college you do end up going to will probably be the perfect fit. That’s another great perk of the whole mysterious college decisions thing. ;)</p>
<p>i had the same question too. [The</a> State of Black Student First-Year Enrollments at the Nation’s Highest-Ranked Colleges and Universities](<a href=“http://www.jbhe.com/features/57_freshmen.html]The”>The State of Black Student First-Year Enrollments at the Nation’s Highest-Ranked Colleges and Universities) i found that link, im not sure how accountable it is, but it might help with speculation</p>