I am hoping to get some feedback. This is my first post on CC as we are gearing up for the last year of high school. How much does being an URM really help? Would you be able to provide some feedback based on my daughters stats? She is currently a junior.
GPA:4.5 weighted/ 3.98 unweighted
Hispanic
Sports: 4 years. OMG soccer, 2 years (counting the coming year) of varsity soccer
Other stuff: freshman class president, junior class president, senior class president, national honors society, physics club, girls state nominee, rotary student of the Month, does amazing art and placed 3rd in a juried art competition with adults at the age of 14. Has an art supplement and blog showcasing her work
ACT: 29 (first try without studying…taking again in June. She thinks she can get a 31)
AP scores: Chem (3 taken as a Sophmore) world history (4 taken as a Sophmore), AP calculus (4), AP Physics (3), APUSH (4) AP Bio (4). Will be taking These classes as a senior: AP Econ, AP English lit, comparative politics, AP government, AP Anatomy
Class Rank: 4/350
Hooks: URM, interesting story to tell (she is adopted in an open adoption), art supplement to show creative side (in progress)
She has also done charity work on her own including raising funds to bring 150 pounds of nutritional supplies to Hondurus and painting a mural in town to bring awareness to the aids epidemic, although she doesn’t really plan on bringing it up since there isn’t a good way to bring light to it without it sounding self-serving and/or inappropriate.
Does she have a chance?
The other schools she is considering are
Scripps, Oxy, CMC, UCLA, Cal-Poly, Pomona, Pitzer
Unfortunately Stanford is extremely diverse. Perhaps one of the most diverse schools in the country, so being hispanic is not overly helpful. URM status works well when you apply to schools that are not diverse and are looking to become more diverse. So taking a very qualified URM applicant is appealing to them because it fulfills a quota for them and you’re a great student. Its a win/win for them.
For Stanford that’s not the case because they just get too many qualified applicants from all races, colors and creeds.
Getting into Stanford is a long shot for every single extremely qualified candidate.
Good Luck!
BTW her GPA is great but she will definitely need to bring the ACT up to a 33 at a minimum, preferable a 34. She also needs to not worry so much about sounding self serving. Instead think of a way to highlight all of her accomplishments. They are important. Don’t ever leave anything out!
Oh one more thing. To understand what Stanford applicants look like that have been accepted/ rejected/ and waitlisted read thru the “2015 Results Thread”. That should be very helpful in demonstrating the kinds of students Stanford looks for.
Keep in mind that this school is the “MOST” selective school in the country for the last three years. Its now slightly easier to get into Harvard then Stanford. So your D is going up against the toughest competition in the country.
Your daughter sounds like she is a hard worker, talented and involved in her school and community. Being Hispanic, is not a magic bullet even though it is a significant hook. With Stanford, there are no guarantees, but if she gets her ACT score up and keeps up her grades, why not apply? Also, why not include the mural as a community project that highlights her artistic talent for the benefit of others? I strongly believe this is something that should be included in her application.
You just never know how admissions will pan out.
Did her adoptive parents go to college?
What is the family income level?
Has her status as a URM disadvantaged her in any way?
They don’t consider the education of her birthparents since she is adopted but yes, her birthparents both finished college with B.A.'s I have a B.A. and my husband has his AA. The income level of our family is $125k plus. As far as how it’s disadvantaged her…to be honest the only thing I can think of is she has experienced racism when she’s played soccer since her team is all hispanic (like her) and oftentimes plays teams that are not diverse and made nasty racist remarks about having to play a bunch of Mexicans. I would not say she is culturally hispanic other than being raised in a town where there are many hispanics
Thanks for that. I will encourage her to somehow share it or at least share her website and detail that information about her mural project is located there.
At Stanford competition between Hispanics is probably higher than elsewhere due to it’s location. Everybody is different my as a URM with a 35 ACT and within the top ten percent of my class I was waitlisted and didn’t get it. My GPA had some flaws though. But it helps less and less these days.
She doesn’t sound disadvantaged in any way. Maybe I’m missing something. Why would a college preferentially admit her when there are so many other students that have not only attained something despite their circumstances but can bring some sense of the underprivileged minority experience to school as well?
URM admissions are now not just looking for the underprivileged point of view. The sense of a privileged minority experience is valuable too - and less common.
Okay, FYI on my youngest URM kid
Son: Hispanic= Mexican-American bilingual kid,
NM Corporate “winner”, 2370 SAT
4-yr Athlete, Eagle Scout, clubs, activities, job, etc.
10 AP classes, 9/10 with 5’s.
Stanford Legacy,
Waitlisted at Stanford. I hope that helps. URM is a non-issue in California.
Consistent with what aunt bea said, in California the M part of URM doesn’t really apply for Hispanics in the population as a whole (over 50% of public school K-12 students). I realize the numbers aren’t as high for the US overall though or among Stanford students.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sd/cb/ceffingertipfacts.asp
It sounds like URM for Hispanic means much more in places where the admission for Hispanics has been extremely off kilter to the population (Midwest and East Coast). You are right, the West Coast is very Hispanic so I can see that URM isn’t, by itself, a hook. Oh well. Depending on how well she does on the ACT and SAT in June it may or may not be a realistic option (or at least as realistic as it is to anyone who might be qualified…which isn’t saying much)