<p>I am a Junior.
I have just under a 94 unweighted gpa (96 weighted) in a competetive, upper-middle class, suburban public highschool in New York.
My father was born in Argentina and moved to the United States as a teenager, which means that I am hispanic.
I took the SATs for the first time recently and got 2250: 710 Critical Reading, 790 Math, 750 Writing (essay score of 8). I think it is reasonable to believe I could improve my essay score and my critical reading for a superscore of +2300.
When I graduate from highschool I will have taken AP: Chemistry, US history, Physchology, BC Calculus, Spanish, and English.
I am the President of my class and have been since sophomore year.
I have also played varsity lacrosse since sophomore year. I also tutor a learning and socially disabled classmate in geometry once a week. He had a 70 in geometry for the second quarter when I was asked to help him. He now has an 87, and is hoping for a 90+ for the fourth quarter.
My other extracurriculars include: Soccer and Basketball (I've played a sport every season each year of high school). Math, Science, and Foreign Language Honors Societies, National Honors society.
During the summers I work as a custodian for 40 hours a week in my towns school system. It is a full time job for the entire summer.</p>
<p>In short, and I think it sounds better like this, I am a hispanic class president and three sport varsity athlete with around 2300 SAT scores. I only say it like that because thats what I hope schools will see. However....</p>
<p>My concerns are that my GPA is too low (I got a 90 freshman year, 95 sophomore, around 94 Junior). I am reasonably sure that my highschool grades will be at the lower end for Ivy League applicants. I am also afraid that other students applying to these schools will have far better resumes in terms of extracurriculars and community service. Although it cannot hurt, it would not surprise me if being hispanic does not really help me.
I don't really think Harvard, Yale, or Princeton are particularly realistic, but do I have a shot at any other top ranked schools?</p>
<p>I am certainly not an expert, but if you are asking if you will get a big bump from being hispanic, my answer would be probably not.</p>
<p>I think the “bump” goes to more disadvantaged hispanic youths. Ones from inner cities with more socioeconomic disadvantages. Since you are from an upper middle class background, this seems not to be the case with you. Are your parents college educated? Are you white? These factors will probably be looked at as well.</p>
<p>Now there is the chance that some colleges will want full pay kids who still allow them to show diversity…so it is a hard call to make.</p>
<p>Maybe I missed something, but I think based on your description you would be welcomed and strongly considered by the top schools- so if you want to include the Ivies, Stanford, JHU, the public Ivies on your list along with schools mentioned and others you have an interest in, you should.</p>
<p>I seriously do not believe you HAVE to come from an inner city. From the experience with my own children, I know that is true.</p>
<p>Follow your interests, keep up your grades, you are trending positively, correct? You have much to offer, show them who YOU are, not who you think they want to see.</p>
<p>It’s difficult to guess what adcom committees will see, and the process can be somewhat unpredictable if you need merit and FA. You have some outstanding qualities and will be competitive for many places, but the best way to approach this is to come up with a range of schools where you will be happy. If you include some reaches, some matches, and some safeties and choose schools where you think you will be happy, then you should have some decent possibilities. Yes, go for the top, but try to find a range of options. There are a lot of great universities.</p>
<p>Ditto. If you take a look at this year’s results you will see that it is extremely difficult to predict decisions for the highly selective schools, Hispanic or not. Applying to some top schools is fine, but have a realistic list that includes solid academic and financial matches and safeties.</p>
<p>Academically, your HS GS should be able to help you, particularly if your school uses Naviance. Financially, it depends on if you require merit or need based FA to attend college, if you have need, how much, etc.</p>
<p>Do consider the financial situation (per entomom) and then you should think about how far you are willing to go and whether you want an urban, surburban, rural campus or whether you are open to all of those? Do you want to consider some liberal arts colleges? What is your intended major? You should then try one of the college search functions. College Board has one and I believe cc does also. There are about 2000 four-year colleges. At least 200 of those are outstanding and can provide a great education. Have you visited some colleges? If not, try to go to some near where you live and that will start giving you a sense of the type of campus you might like.</p>
<p>I have been told that “having a unique story” to tell in your essays, perhaps even as it relates to being Hispanic or your unique situation, will help. I think your stats are very strong and I would encourage you to apply where you want!</p>