I’m specifically talking about selective liberal arts schools with holistic admissions, like: Barnard, Wesleyan, Vassar. It’s a known fact that standardized test scores are highly correlated with income. Do schools consider this, and to what extent?
I’m mostly asking for my situation. I come from a poor family, 5 people and my income is less than 20,000. My mom didn’t graduate from high school; my dad did, didn’t go to college. I’m first gen. I’m not making excuses but everyone in my school has been able to afford private tutoring for ACT’s and I can’t. Everything else about my application is good: grades, extracurriculars, essays, recommendations. However, I got a 28 on my ACT; superscored, I have a 29. Is this going to seriously hold me back? Especially when these schools have a middle 50% range of 31-33. Please be honest. I dont want to chase after schools I probably wont get into. Thank you!
Schools do look at it. But they will be interested in your first gen status and low SES. And there are great test optional schools like Bates that would probably really want a student like you. Tell us what grades you have, and what courses you have taken. APs and IB courses will help. The thing about these very selective colleges is that they want to know you can do the work. Good grades in tough classes show them that you can handle it, and they are well aware that money can help students get better test scores.
Thanks so much for your help! The thing is, I really want to stay close to home, and Im not sure my parents would be ok with me leaving the North East area (Im from NYC). I have a 93 average unweighted (my school uses a 100 scale and we don’t rank). All my APs taken and this year include: AP Language, AP Literature, AP Environmental Science, AP U.S History, AP Spanish. Got a 4 on AP Lang and AP U.S.
I’m a part of 3 clubs at school. Outside of school, have had a babysitting job from September 2015 all year and it’s ongoing. It’s like 5 hours a week. Have a tutoring job starting September 2016, like 2 hours a week. Had an NYU internship last year. Currently involved in a youth politics program with my Borough president. Did a debate/feminist training program over the Summer, studied Arabic over the Summer.
One of recs is really amazing; another is good.
Writing is my strong suit and Im not done, but essays and supplements are looking good.
So you are a senior? 5 APs is a good number, but how many does your school offer? If you school offers 20, and you did 5, that probably won’t be really rigorous. In yiur case, I think good AP test sores will help you. Are you also a minority? You seem like a strong student, but please include some safety and match schools. The three schools you mention above are very competitive and very selective. IOW, hard for anyone to get into. Where else are you applying?
I am a senior, yes. There are 8 AP classes offered, I go to a small school. I’ve never considered myself white, but I don’t think I qualify as a URM. I’m Moroccan. In the Common App, I checked off white and specifically wrote Middle Eastern and indigenous North African. Yes! I live in NY, my backups are mostly the SUNYs and CUNYs. I can’t relly afford to go to schools that are more “matches” for me- like Bard, or Clark for example.
Okay, you have done your homework, and 5 APs is good for the context of your school. No, you don’t qualify as a URM, but I think colleges will be interested in you.
Have you looked at Bates? Bates is pretty good with FA and is test optional. They love first gen kids. They are big on promoting diversity of all kinds. My D attends Bates and this year’s admiited class included nearly ten percent first gen.bone of her new friends is Morocccan. You can easily find a list of test-optional schools. Your stats are good for Bates, and a bunch of other test optional schools. Some that are less selective than Bates are Brandeis, Earlham, and Lewis and Clark. There’s a list called top 15 test optional colleges. With, I assume, three kids in your family and such a low income, I am guessing you would get a lot of FA. Privates might be more affordable than SUNY and CUNY. Of course, I am not sure. I really think you could have some more options. Call the FA offices at some other schools, talk to them and explain. You might find that they will be encouraging.
To go back to your original question, in your situation it’s worth a shot to apply to the three schools you mentioned, but you will probably be low in their middle-50 percent range. You should consider them reaches. Go on their websites, compare your stats to the middle fifty percent listed in their Common Data Set. Just google it. You might have a chance, but I am pretty confident that you have a better shot at Bates and Brandeis. What about Skidmore, Dickinson, Muhlenberg, Union, Siena, and lots more. Look at the test optional list I mentioned, and maybe start a post in the FA a forum to ask whihc colleges are generous with financial aid. I am not the good in that department. I am going to send you a pm.
I wouid also suggest you interview. The college will arrange for an alum to interview you in your area. You would not have to go to Maine for that.
My son graduated in 2015. He is our only child and with an income in the mid-$120k at that time, Bates gave him $40k/yr in grant with no loans (but the opportunity to take a student loan if we needed it.) He was not eligible for work study because our income was much too high, but I’m sure work study would be in any package you received - which wouid help with your expenses during the school year.
With so many students from your area at Bates it wouidn’t be difficult for you to get rides up to school and home on breaks.
I live in NY, my backups are mostly the SUNYs and CUNYs. I can’t relly afford to go to schools that are more “matches” for me- like Bard, or Clark for example.