Hispanic Harvard Chances?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>I want to apply to Harvard Early Action program. During my junior year, I switched from my regular high school, a real bad D low-income mostly Spanish speaking school known for sending at least 1 student to Harvard a year, to the dual enrollment program, School for Advanced Studies, at Miami Dade College. This program allows a student to take three high school courses during the morning instructed by high school teachers, on the college campus, and finish their +3 plus college classes of their choice in the afternoon. At the end of their senior year, the student should have enough credits to graduate with an Associates in Arts degree that is transferable to any university in Florida, allowing them to enter with Junior college status at any state university. </p>

<p>HISPANIC
Cuban - American from low income family (miami)</p>

<p>SAT: 2100 (V:700, M:680, CW: 720)
SAT II: Spanish: 790, Bio M: 740, Bio E: 730, US History: 700, LIT: 710
GPA: 3.56 U 4.53 W (upward trend during junior year) (only As & Bs)
COLLEGE GPA: 4.0 U 5.0 W (5.0 HIGHEST)
TOP 5% (very small school)
HISPANIC SCHOLAR W/ DISTINCTION
(FEW CREDITS AWAY FROM A.A DEGREE)
GRADUATING W/ HONORS FROM COLLEGE</p>

<p>AP:
(sophomore) BIO: 4
(junior) AP LIT: 4 HISTORY: 5
(SCHOOL ONLY OFFERS 3 AP'S A YR)<br>
PYSCHOLOGY: 5, SPANISH: 5 (test taken w/o AP class)</p>

<p>CURRENTLY TAKING: AP CALCULUS, AP LANGUAGE, AP GOV'T,
(college)
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY + LAB, MICROBIOLOGY+LAB, and PRINCIPLES OF BIOLOGY II + Lab</p>

<p>IN COLLEGE: (ALL HONORS CLASSES)
- TOOK 2 SEMESTER SEQUENCE OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY + LABORATORY CLASSES (4 CLASS TOTAL)
- TOOK ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY I and II + LABS (and high school anatomy) (5 CLASSES)
- TOOK PSYCHOLOGY, HUMAN GROWTH, MUSIC THEORY, SPEECH, LITERATURE, TRIGONOMETRY, ETC.
- GERMAN I and II</p>

<p>CLUBS
- PRES. German Club
- VICE Pres. German Club
- Honor Society
- College Honor Society
- FEA
- PRES. Hispanic Leaders of Tommorow
- MODEL UN
- STUDENT GOV'T
- PRES. SCIENCE CLUB
- JUNIOR ACADEMY OF SCIENCE
- CUBAN-AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR YOUNG STUDENTS</p>

<p>E.C's</p>

<p>+210 hours tutoring high school students in Science</p>

<p>+150 hours English Initiative Program for hispanic/low-income students who can not read (teaching English to non-English speakers)</p>

<ul>
<li>20 hours German Expansion program at former high school </li>
</ul>

<p>+110 hours tutoring low-income minority children for FCAT (Standarized test in Florida that many children fail)</p>

<p>+50 hrs Created STD awareness program </p>

<p>+20 hours Anatomy+Chemistry tutoring for college students</p>

<p>AWARDS:
1st place - German Poetry Competition
2nd place - German Poetry Competition
4th place - German Grammar Competition
2nd place - German Art Competition
2nd place - Model UN </p>

<ul>
<li>I want to go Pre-Med </li>
</ul>

<p>FISHING FOR:
YALE, HARVARD, STANFORD, COLUMBIA, DARTMOUTH, BROWN</p>

<p>SAFETY:
UF, FSU, UM, FIU</p>

<p>It seems so competitive to get admission into these schools. Does anyone have any suggestions on what my chances might be, please?</p>

<p>Good recommendations from College Professors and Doctor</p>

2

<p>You've got an excellent at all of those schools. I'd say you're bound to get into at least one of them.</p>

3

<p>you gpa is really low though.</p>

<p>even kinda low for uf...</p>

<p>i would apply and see what happens, personally.</p>

<p>don't listen to some prick like me.</p>

4

<p>You are in for your safety schools! Its UF and they dont require THAT much I hope. HYS are reasonable but I hope your application is interesting!</p>

5

<p>What could I have done to increase my chances?
What would you have changed?</p>

<hr>

<p>How many Hispanics actually have high SAT scores? Would it be better if I were to increase my SAT Math score up to a 700? My Gifted English teacher used to tell us that we were competing against a very small pool of students. Of course, small represents a few thousand or hundred Hispanics. </p>

<hr>

<p>I thought that the college program I did would be benefit me because it showed that I was able to handle AP classes, judging by my scores, and that I wanted to excel from my regular high school and pursue hands-on experience with the laboratory classes at the college since each lab is an entire semester and 4 hours long a week, basically leaving me out of school at 9pm at night. </p>

<p>Many of my friends, Hispanics as well, have been accepted to these colleges with similar criteria. Shouldn't taking Organic Chemistry at a college, while AP Chemistry ends with Inorganic Chemistry, be a bump upward? </p>

<p>I understand my GPA is kind of low but my school is very difficult. However, it only offers 3 AP classes per year and that is what I am bound to since the college classes only count as honor classes. </p>

<p>The Tutoring E.Cs were done because I'm very good at explaining information to others. I thought it would look good because, since I come from a really low-income D school, it would be as if I helped those that were at the bottom try and excel to become something greater. I really don't care what they think about it because it was a really great experience to help others. </p>

<p>Thanks for everything, you guys. Everything you tell me helps me improve myself and my application as a whole. </p>

<p>Tell me what you think.</p>

6

<p>What you have going for you is your grades and test scores. For a Hispanic thats very impressive. However your ECs and community service arent that great. And SAS is a relatively simple school because it is based off a community college. I go to DASH. And I can honestly say its more difficult than HArvard (I know because I studied there this summer). FYI I am also a very low income latino. Where is your passion yo your community? Where is your dedication to help improve its members? All I see is random community service. However, you are a good applicant nonetheless. I miss my Unweighted and SAT scores were as high as yours, but its also the rest of the stuff that counts.</p>

7

<p>Im sorry for my grammar; quick spelling and "miss" is "wish"</p>

8

<p>dha, if you're so low income, how do you have a computer and internet to be surfing the web like this?...i simply dont understand how "poor" kids claim to be almost impoverished but still have the luxury of either a personal or a family computer...</p>

<p>p.s. yes being poor is an edge, but if colleges care more about whether you're of color than of your socioeconomic background, they want latinos and blacks whom they can record on their end-of-the-year stats and who wont upset their sat range as well...they dont want all the "sob stories"</p>

9

<p>We don't have the luxury to hire SAT tutors and our parents really do not care about where we get our education, just that we get one. You have to put yourself into our context. In our cities, about 50% of students only speak Spanish and most of them are immigrants whom have arrived recently. It's a totally different atmosphere and trying to get an education is difficult because no one believes in your ability or talent. Also, we do not live the stone age ... just about everyone has a computer in thier home, sir. Does it necessarily mean that we were able to indulge ourselves with the Gforce4 video card and a $2,000 flat panel computer? Of course not, they are hand-me downs. We wish to be able to afford those things and that is why we strive to get to these places. Our competition is based more on just the academic thrill of it; in our perspective, staying in these cities will eventually ruin us in the long run. However, once college is over is a different story. </p>

<p>Now, if you could afford those things, I'm very happy for you. We are just simply trying to enter the same rat race that you all have been in for many years. However, if we were to have the same opportunity and socioeconomic backgrounds, I would silence myself and give you all the right. Unfortunately, I can not and that is something I hope you come to experience once in your life in order to understand how America truly is constructed and functions. Remember, we are not all middle-class.</p>

10

<p>nsx, you dont have to be from the inner city to make a cultural contribution as a hispanic...in fact, there could be hispanics from the midwest who bring their own experiences...you dont have to be poor to overcome adversity...a hispanic in my school is applying to yale, and my school is full of hicks and rednecks (from nebraska)...they make jokes like, "she wants to go to a good college to mow their lawns", and even the teachers are insensitive, so dont give me this bs about how you have to be poor to overcome odds</p>

<p>p.s. ur parents have to have some kind of means to afford a computer...there families much poorer than yours and MANY who do not have computers much less access to the internet, so you're not that special</p>

11

<p>you want to talk to me about waking up?...</p>

<p>"Also, we do not live the stone age ... just about everyone has a computer in thier home, sir."</p>

<p>this statement is entirely untrue, there are kids at my school who and im sure across the country who are limited to the computer resources their school and public libraries provide for them</p>

12

<p>I never said you had to be from an "inner city" in order to overcome odds. One does not have to be a minority to overcome odds in any way but it is a persistant problem we are faced with. Yes, I'm aware a lot of people do not have computers in their homes. Of course, I know quite a few. However, that's why I said 'just about' if you read it correctly. </p>

<p>Minorities, no matter from what city they are from and as long as they are not financially stable, have a greater disadvantage in the educational system, especially if they live in poor neighborhoods. I mean, that's all that I'm saying. Doesn't everyone agree with me on that, at least?</p>

<p>And no, you do not have to be a minority from an inner city to contribute to the diversity of a school. Anyone can shine wherever they are placed and as along as they are motivated. </p>

<p>All I was saying, which you guys decided to quickly rail at, is that minorities from low SES are highly disadvantaged, academically, in this country. Is the intellectual level between the minorities applying and the non-minorities applying a difference? Of course not.</p>

13

<p>I hope we are able to drop this issue because I'm afraid it might escalate into an exchange of racial slurs. I've seen that a lot in this website and I hope we can prevent that. This is a website about academic issues and people commenting on their opinions of others chances at the colleges of their choice. I hope we can leave it at that, please.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone.</p>

14

<p>how this could ever escalate to us exchanging racial slurs is beyond me...because everyone involved in this discussion is smarter and more sensitive than that....</p>

<p>anyway, as i've said over and over again, we are discussing two types of diversities: ethnic and ses...minorities are just proportionally lower in the ses area, so many have both types of diversity to contribute, that is to say, one unique facet is compounded by another...ALL minorities, whether rich or poor, who have experienced different cultures as a result from being raised in such a family and dealing with everything that comes with being hispanic or black, can contribute to the ethnic diversity, and colleges are very much interested in people who have this as a facet of their background...do we agree now?....all im saying is that poor minorities have a compounded edge...like yourself...minorities who can afford their own education, lilke my friend, still have their cultural background to contribute...colleges need blacks and hispanics, rich or poor, to reflect the demographic composition of the populace in general....some people dont get that</p>

15

<p>Have you ever heard of public libraries Sandman? you know, they are these things were people go (maybe you've never stepped in one?) and use things called "computers" that have "internet-acess." If you are rich/middle class (same to me) and a minority you deserve NO EXTRA CONSIDERATION. All the resources have been alloted to you, and if u didnt score as high as the next asian or your grades/ecs ect. arent up to par then you dont deserve to go to Harvard or any school similar to. The simple truth is that you dont know what it is to be poor. To always question the price and consider what your buying everytime you want to purchase something. I disagree on the contention that it is based on past wrongs. That is just stupid. I see no discrimination and that would be a stupid reason to admit someone. If you are poor (whether white, black, hispanic) you should have more of a consideration. Race is arbitrary. However, socio-economic opportunities are not. Have you ever had to work a 25-hour job a week, maintain good grades, take care of your sick mother/grandmother all the while trying to maintain good grades in one of the toughest schools in the country? No. And I bet you wouldnt be able to handle it. Individuals should be judged in the context of their achievements within their means. I dont believe in affirmative action. It is wrong to accept someone based on race, but what about presented opportunity? The most wealthy in indivials in this country were self-made from nothing. In order to be a true leader with a strong work ethic and morals you need to know how to value. And who better than kids who have had to depend on this instinct to survive? You know, I take it all back. I shouldnt get an advantage ove you. I have had a loving mother that spent all the time in the world with me teaching me the values of society. I have acquired character and personality through literal sweat-bearing work, and out of necessity have learned various languages. So what are you? Some average white over-achiever who can barely speak 2 at the most (of course not fluent in the second) and just has good test scores and highly inflated grades? I have grown more as individual in the situation I am in, and thank God for it, than if I would have been just another suburban, middle-class white kid. If I had to choose to go through all I've been through again, I'd gladly accept it.</p>

16

<p>Well, the average score in my region is near 1040 for Hispanic, with some schools at the 1100+ mark (not as in Ivy apps, but for all Hispanic students).</p>

17

<p>Whoo nelly. Quite a post there.</p>

<p>I can only say that much of what DHA has said is likely true - poverty deprives potentially wonderful students of an opportunity to flourish. It is as I have said elsewhere: it's one thing to be able to go home at 3 or 4 (or 5 if you have some club meeting), do your homework, and go hang out with your friends. But, if you're working 2 part-time jobs, worried about your grades, and can't afford tutors, or special programs (summer programs for example), there's no way that people can expect for you to be able to show the level of academic development (and even extra-curricular involvement) that a kid from an upper-middle class family. And this, is for any 'race', even white people can be poor. It just so happens that there is a larger percentage of certain races below the poverty line, which is why they are under-represented.</p>

<p>However at the same time, that probably isn't the only reason why there is sort of AA for URMs. It also has to do with the whole idea of reputation, and standings. Colleges obviously look better if they say 'we're accepting plenty of URMs, because we're all for equal opportunity'. However in the end, it's really the rich URMs that are the sweetest deal, because this game is all about squeezing all the money you can out of your students, and having the secondary benefit of boosting your reputation as an institution of equal opportunity.</p>

<p>This is wrong, but it's probably the way it will stay.</p>

18

<p>momomo, you're absolutely right...</p>

<p>dha, you have made so many assumptions about my life that i started to cry, what the hell makes you think you're so god damn special?</p>

<p>you know i dont even know who my real parents are?...i lived in an english orphanage until i was 9 when i was adopted by a wealthy english couple, and the transition was horrible, until i was 13 when we moved back to the states, i was never given the time of day and my teachers wanted me to fail in the prep school i was enrolled in because i was seen as "poorly bred"...have you ever been an accessory to a child labor suit?...as a seven-year-old, i was EVIDENCE!!!, and it hasnt been until i was adopted that i was fortunate enough to be adopted by loving parents...</p>

19

<p>p.s. im glad we've arrived at the same conclusion, and i dont feel one ounce of pity for someone like dha, simply because they ***** and moan about others' parents having means...i got lucky when i was nine! you didnt! DEAL WITH IT!!!</p>

20

<p>-wealthy english couple-</p>

<p>Key word buddy. And dont whine, teachers in my school (#34th in the nation, best in Florida) are also out to get me for the same reason. Oh come now, youve never been in court? Aw, you know, its this place where they decide disputes. Couldnt handle the pressure could ya?</p>