<p>I know that they give you a little leeway, but just how much? I'm a first gen, low income URM (black). I got very little academic advice growing up, and I stupidly didn't realize that "hey, I don't want to live like this forever, but if I don't get my act together I will" quick enough. I didn't even know that extracurriculars were important to have. The max GPA I can get (if I take summer courses) is around 3.8, because I took HS courses in middle school that now keep me from getting a 3.95+ GPA. My stats will be good by most schools standards by the time I apply, but they'll be below average for top schools (except for my SAT score). Not terrible, but below average for sure.</p>
<p>To give you a better idea of the schools I'll be looking at, I'm going to major in computer science, so the schools I'll be most interested in are top computer science schools.</p>
<p>P.S.
I know that being black and poor doesn't guarantee me acceptance, and that there are a lot of other factors. I just want to know how much they could help if my stats are below average, but not terrible.</p>