<p>Hey everybody, this is my first post on CC.</p>
<p>Okay so just a preface I'm really scared about college... I have tried doing research online but there seems to be so much misinformation.. Neither of my parents went to college so they have no clue what "good" schools are for me.. So I just applied to a bunch of schools (applied to 17, but 14 were fee-waived through some College Board program). Does anyone know where I stand? I applied all across the board (Harvard, Princeton, Columbia... Duke, Georgetown, Swarthmore... Whittier and UC schools)</p>
<p>-- Sat 2120 (670R, 730M, 720W)
-- GPA: 3.6 UW, 4.2W (Top 10% class of 495, I know my gpa is my horrible weak spot...)
-- ECs consist of a lot of volunteering (except piano, 11 years classical). I have 2000+ hours of volunteer work, and my 'notable' EC would maybe be the feral cat program I started that rescues/fixes ~1000 cats a year now (I wrote my essay about this)</p>
<p>--Notes: So my main problem is pressure... Everyone at my schools says I will only get into college because I'm Mexican (U.S Dual citizen, born in Mexico) but then everyone says I won't get into a good school because of my GPA and "no ECs can ever make up for that." I wrote my essay about my cat program, but then everyone tells me that was a mistake and they say I should have written it about my heart & lung surgery or my dad's alcoholism destroying our family and finances. But I didn't want to write it about that, I wanted to write it about my cats. Was that a stupid mistake? I don't know, I'm just scared about this whole process... </p>
<p>Any advice is helpful and appreciated!!!</p>
<p>Anyone? I’m really worried right now…</p>
<p>I wouldn’t listen to the criticism because you obviously accomplished a lot in your high school career. Your gpa is a little low but you have decent SAT scores and it seems that you are very passionate about your ECs. As for your essay, you wrote about what was important to you and that’s what admission officers like to se e rather than some sob story. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thank you Bulldog. Is my GPA some sort of “auto deny” thing? My parents dream is for me to go to Harvard because of the financial aid, and we really need that. Do I have a shot, or is my app just a joke at a school like that?</p>
<p>Can anyone chance me for Harvard, Duke, Georgetown, Notre Dame, and Tufts?</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but those are all reaches. It’s true that no EC’s can make up for that, espeically since being Hispanic isn’t as much of a hook as say, native American. I really hope you applied to other schools.</p>
<p>Okay I guess. My brother got into Dartmouth with a 1900 but he had a 4.4 GPA. I’ll see what happens :p</p>
<p>All highly selective schools are reaches. If I were you, I would get off of CC and just wait for the applications return. Otherwise you are going to stress out. Having people chance you is not important if you have already sent the admissions, so just be patient. You did the best that you could do with the GPA, scores, and EC that you had so I would just hope for the best, because for everyone, selective schools are reaches.</p>
<p>Harvard and the other ivies listed are a reach for everyone.<br>
Just because you are Hispanic doesn’t mean you’re automatically in as a URM. We were told that it is not that much of a “hook”.
My son’s stats are extremely good (2370 SAT, Eagle Scout, etc.) but we recognize that the HYPS are a reach. He’ll be happy to get in to a state school, so do what AZ recommends ^^^^ and wait patiently.</p>
<p>Wait do you mean like other factors of being “hispanic” that qualify you as URM or something? I’m confused…</p>
<p>I think she means that being Hispanic doesn’t get you into these schools automatically. It helps, but it isn’t a auto qualification, unlike being a Native American.</p>
<p>Being Hispanic is a significant hook, and I think you have a competitive chance at these schools, although there is room for improvement. You said that your brother got into Dartmouth with a 1900, but Dartmouth and Brown have historically had lower SAT averages.</p>
<p>Duke you have a great shot at! They reallly look for the “movers and the shakers” type of people and you seem like thatwith your cat program. I dont know much about the other schools so I cant help you with that. Good Luck!</p>
<p>Alright thanks! Yeah at this point there is not much I can do… Idk if it will help at all but I ended this first semester senior year with a 4.5 GPA which is the best semester I’ve ever had, but I don’t know how that will impact my overall GPA… it would probably barely move it ._.</p>