<p>I did SCEA- I promise it’s nothing like ED. It’s not binding, so you don’t get the ‘edge’ that a lot of people apply for. It’s the same as RD except you get your decision early. It’s typically used to attract top athletes or students in specific fields, with a few exceptions.</p>
<p>I think you need to stop looking at the Ivies as a whole- find the schools you like, seriously. Right now, due to personal preferences, you couldn’t pay me to attend Penn/Harvard/Dartmouth because they aren’t good fits for me and I knew that when I was applying. The school I applied to SCEA could clearly see I was a good fit, I made it clear in my essays, and that is where I’m attending.
Focus on fit, cost, and culture and less on prestige. </p>
<p>OP, you are considered Caucasian. You aren’t a URM. If you were, you would have an amazing shot at these schools, but even without a hook, you are in okay shape. The GPA is gonna hurt you though. That the most important thing, even with an upward trend.</p>
<p>Right, first you have to figure out whether your dad’s family is from Portugal or Spain.</p>
<p>The US Census does not consider Portugese to be Hispanic, for their purposes- you can google. (You were told this in another thread.) And basically, the Dept of Ed and thus the Common App and college folks, for their purposes, don’t. </p>
<p>In fact, “Preliminary data from a survey being conducted online, by the Washington based Portuguese-American Leadership Council of the United States (PALCUS), has shown that Americans of Portuguese descent reject being classified as Hispanic.”</p>
<p>@AnnieBeats - I was actually mistaken. My family is from Spain. </p>
<p>Just saying, this is an unusual mistake: However, my father’s side, which I am extremely close with and lived with for years when I was little, are Portuguese. My father’s mother and father were both born in Portugal. Therefore, my dad then spoke Portuguese as a first language when he grew up in the U.S.</p>