<p>I know it won't guarantee admission to colleges, but how much of an impact does it have on selective colleges such as any of the Ivies and other top ranked schools? Im a rising junior and have not taken my sats yet but plan on studying immensely this summer. Is the sat benchmark a little lower for certain minorities, do they also take into consideration my familie's(mother) yearly income which is under 30000 and the fact that there are 4 people living in a household?</p>
<p>It has a huge impact. Basically, you are compared to the rest of your race instead of the other applicants.</p>
<p>wow really? competition only exists with other hispanics?</p>
<p>Yes. Because colleges are looking to diversify their student body they will need a certain amount of Latinos to attend. They will thus pick into their pool of latinos for the best ones out of the group. The reason this does not apply for whites and asians is because they are majorities in colleges most of the time, so there is no need to harvest a certain amount.</p>
<p>This is the affirmative action dilemma you will find all around these forums.</p>
<p>thanks, ill look into those as well, one last question though would colleges also take into consideration my financial and socioeconomic situation despite some being “need-blind”</p>
<p>Generally I think you are at a disadvantage if your income is low, no matter what amazing programs a college might have. It all comes down to how much money they can make in the long run. A lot of people beg to differ with me.</p>
<p>I agree aryus, I think the so called advantages given to poor students in admissions are overstated, to say the least. But, to answer your question, being a minority will help you in admissions at top universities.</p>
<p>I have moved this to the Hispanic Students subforum where there are many more experienced members. Please take a look at the sticky threads for lots of information about college admissions, scholarships, fly-in opportunities, etc.</p>
<p>thanks, i dont mind them being somewhat overstated, but it would definitely be a drawback if it comes as a disadvantage towards my application.</p>
<p>Financial need cuts two ways. If you are applying as an URM it will help in the admissions process that you overcame financial disadvantages and attained certain GPA/scores/ECs. On the other hand, some private schools do try to admit a certain number of people who do not need financial aid. Some have gone public about this (e.g. Reed).</p>
<p>In terms of being compared to other Hispanics/Latinos, I believe that depends on the admissions office. In California, it’s illegal to do that, and thus some UCs do a holistic reading of apps and/or give points for “hardship.”</p>
<p>How sought after is an Hispanic Female in the math and sciences?</p>
<p>Hispanics (as well as other URMs) interested in math/sci/engineering are definitely sought after. How much will likely depend on how much a student has shown an interest and aptitude in these fields (eg. coursework taken, grades, competitions, summer activities, clubs, etc.). Just putting down an intended major will likely not go very far since many students change majors and there is usually no commitment (engineering is an exception) beyond checking a box.</p>
<p>Has your D become a Ventures Scholar? It is relatively easy to join and there are no scholarships involved, but it does get the student on the radar of participating schools. See the link on the Resources sticky thread.</p>
<p>Does being Hispanic give you a similar boost in transfer admissions?</p>
<p>Good question, I for one am not sure. I’d guess that it depends on the school, both how much they are concerned with recruiting Hispanics and how many transfer spots they have. For instance a ly school like Stanford that takes very few transfers may not be concerned with picking up Hispanic transfers since they get most of their URMs in fr admissions. But a rural LAC that has a difficult time getting Hispanic students might more interested.</p>
<p>That’s just a guess, the number of transfers is relatively small and the amount of data available is much less than for fr admissions, so it makes understanding how colleges make transfer decisions very difficult.</p>