Ignore that I'm African and chance me please

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Ok, my dream is to become a doctor and build a non-profit hospital in my home country of Nigeria. I was borne in Tennesse, but I did 10th grade entirely in Nigeria.

Ok, I recently came back from Nigeria, so my GPA fell a little (.15 or so) because of the transfer.

Please, disregard my ethnicity!!! (Am I a competitive applicant for Harvard, MIT, Johns Hopkins, or Yale)

GPA: 4.3265 (weighted) 3.7 (unweighted)
SAT/ACT: (1500/1600)(32/36) {first time on both} (I had a big charity event that prevented me from studying for the SAT and I had to work so only studied for 2 days for the ACT)

Extracurriculars:

  • Founded state-recognized non-profit called Professional Students
  • Started uniform fashion line & reinstituted bus program for low-income non-zoned members of NHS who needed rides home
  • Only African culture represented at school diversity fair
  • I took courses from Yale, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Michigan on Cancer through Coursera to help me volunteer at a non-profit clinic that I am heavily involved with (only volunteer)
  • Collected donations for National Health Week for non-profit clinic, got to meet with health representatives and engage in public speaking
  • Ran over 15 miles in an at-risk neighborhood advertising for charity mammograms with my honors certificate from Johns Hopkins; facilitated a wide community participation
  • Non-profit clinic mascot and Clerical Assistant
  • Coordinated health fairs at a community center with clinic during Hurricane Harvey (took pictures with mayor too
    -Represented a non-profit clinic at a board meeting with city officials. Organized donations from event and prioritized event over SAT. I was the only high school volunteer. Did speeches in English and Spanish for Event
  • Reached out for volunteers for Men’s Health event and advertised for it on channel 11 TV with the clinic
  • I tutor special needs kids on Sundays.
  • Helped plan and coordinate a church easter egg hunt

Distinctions/Awards:
-College Prep Scholar
-Ventures Scholar
-IB Ambassador
-Quest For Excellence New Americans Award

Dream to be Neurosurgeon. Plan to do Pre-med and double major in Biology and Neuroscience

2

Oh I forgot to mention, I’m also in NHS, was inducted into the International Association of Black Actuarians for free due to my perfect math SAT score, and I am participating in the MIT WISE program from September 17-19. (Weekend Immersion in Science and Engineering)

3

I was also nominated for a 5 million naira a year NNPC scholarship but I didnt want to go into petroleum engineering.

4

u definetly are competitive for all those schools (MIT, JHU, ivies, etc…)
U have good GPA, i would use SAT, and good EC’s
the only way to better ur chance at these schools is (since u cant change GPA) is try to have amazing essays (like start ealry and revise a lot and use pros to make it amazing) and if u can try to get an interview and pratice a lot for it.
You have good EC, more leadership can help too. for SAT if u have time tho, study as much as possible and try to get atleast 1550+ for best shot.

5

however, these schools are reaches for u as well as anyone due to sub 10 acceptance rates and the unpredictibailty of admission. So u never know…
however u are premed and u want to go med school
These schools are amazing and all, but they will be expensive unless u get lot of merit scholarships or FA/ which i am sure is possible. Going to a state school or any other cheap school will be helpful for less debt in the future. Whats ur state of residence?
Schools like MIT and JHU are already cuthroat and competitive and it will be crazy hard for premed.I know ur smart but less compettiotn is always to ur advantage as medical school is hard to get into. Harvard and Yale are also competitive and have some grade- inflation. Why do you want to go to these schools anyway? They don’t gaurantee med school acceptance.
If ur from Tenensee, you can go to a school like U Tennesee or Tennesee State where ur Instate and save money. U could also attend Alabama where u will near full tuition. And you can find a lot of similar schools to this where you can get a lot of merit aid and you can be in Honor College. Not just for financial reasons, at schools like this you will be at the top of ur class and have better chance to get higher GPA. U also need good MCA, EC’s and stuff too.
Anyways, don’t just go to these schools cuz they are Top 10’s. Find where u fit. Sometimes less competitve colleges are better especially for premed.

6

once again, u still have a great chance at ur listed schools but for anyone its a crapshoot

7

I wanted to go to Harvard, because that’s the only college that the elders in my village know about in the US. JHU because of the innovations in oncology that they have made such as the Two-hit hypothesis for genomic instability. i applied for multiple essentially full ride scholarships too. Thanks for your input. I didn’t think I was smart enough for those schools.

8

Ye u are smart enough.
And it doesn’t really matter if ur villagers know about the college. I mean if u do well in undergrad, u can go to any med school (all of them are good) and even Harvard if u try hard enough. So med school is more important than UG.
good luck

9

I agree with @SREE33. Although going to Harvard and Johns Hopkins is phenomenal, getting into a better medical school is much more important than going to one of the best schools for undergrad. Expand your list to schools with great programs in biology and chemistry. It might be worth your while to go to a “smaller” school (where you have a better chance of getting money) for undergrad and then look for schools like Harvard and JH for medical school.

10

Ok. That makes sense. Any recommendations?

11

well i guess any in state school is fine, or surrounding ones with good merit
LAC’s that are affordable are also good

12

Well I seem to have good chances at some major competitive scholarships so paying doesn’t seem so difficult to me. Thank you so much for your advice.

13

Asking to disregard your ethnicity is like asking Obama’s daughters to disregard their family connection. You’re a smart student, with good grades and scores. You are smart enough, then, to realize that any school with sub 10 acceptance rate is a crapshoot for anyone. But you are smart enough to understand that EVERYTHING in your application matters. We commonly tell caucasian and/or over-represented minorities that sometimes their ethnicity works against them.

You will end up in a great school, and it sounds like you will do great things afterward. A lot of kids change their paths along the way - which is fine, too - that’s part of growing up.

Best of luck.

14

@badguys am also Nigerian and I think you can make it, I want to go to tufts and I have a gpa of 4.0/4.0 and am an artist. I have not written SAT yet but in practice I score like 1450 on the collegeboard and I want to raise it to a 1500. Well Goodluck. Please if u can share with me some tips for the EBRW section, I get 780+ in the maths so am okay.JUST PLEASE EBRW tips

15

English isn’t my strength, but I’m proficient in Igbo and English. For the EBRW section, I recommend just redoing practice tests like clockwork in only that section. I’m ashamed of you as a Nigerian I expect 800. 3puppies, I hate when people tell me that just because I’m African any college will accept me. I’ve done more than any Asian I know of in my school but that doesn’t seem to count for anything.

16

I meant 800 on math

17

3puppies, when I came back to the US they refused my credits from Nigeria as my program was too “basic” as if they were sitting in the class with me. I went to a private school (ranked first in my state) that was actually founded by whites but you know how stereotypes go.

18

I am sorry you were treated unfairly with respect to your credits from Nigeria. I know nothing about the rigors of that particular program, but for sake of argument, and given your great scores, let’s say I agree with you. Did you appeal the decision, perhaps to the school board, or better yet, the state Board of Education? I am convinced most local TV stations or newspapers would LOVE to report about the hardworking, African American / immigrant kid who is treated differently because of racism.

While I didn’t mean to suggest you will automatically get accepted anywhere/everywhere ONLY because you are an under-represented minority, I can understand the frustration you must feel when you have worked hard and you don’t want to be evaluated JUST as a the color of your skin. In my volunteer work, I am working with a brilliant Hispanic young lady who excels in math - as a sophomore she got perfect PSAT scores. She volunteers with me and while I have told her she has a legit shot (not a guarantee) at a full ride to several great schools, she has expressed frustration in being seen primarily as a minority.

What I have told her, and I will tell you, is that your life’s experience is far too small to appreciate the magnitude of how these numbers work. This is not a case of anyone being “better” than anyone else (Asian or Caucasian or whatever), it is instead a situation where the schools want a diverse class, and they have the right to fill it however they like. The way the numbers work, until there are just as many qualified URMs as other students applying, if your grades and scores are at the very top, your chances are better than many of the other applicants who are “over-represented”. Like it or not, the schools use this information, ALONG WITH EVERYTHING ELSE in your application.

You have the excellent math skills to analyze the information published by the top schools. You understand it is a crapshoot for everyone. Because of your URM status, even if your chances are three times the average acceptance rate at a single-digit acceptance rate school (say 8%), it still means your chances are no better than 1 out of 4. You have lived in a small world where you have always been at the top of all students. So prepare to be humbled - you won’t get in everywhere you apply if you only search for prestige. But you will undoubtedly get into a great program which will be right for you.

Again, best of luck with your search.

19

Thanks so much for your insightful comment

20

You have tremendous leadership skills as well as the “vision” of a leader to picture the future you want to create. Here is what I am reading in your post:

Your Dream:
“become a doctor” and “build a non-profit hospital” (two very different things)

Your accomplishments so far:

  • Founded a non-profit
  • Started a uniform fashion line
  • Reinstituted a bus program
  • Volunteered at a non-profit clinic (apparently related to cancer)
  • Collected donations
  • Met with health representatives
  • Engaged in public speaking
  • Facilitated a wide community participation in a charity program
  • Coordinated health fairs
  • Represented a non-profit clinic at a meeting with city officials
  • Organized donations
  • Reached out for volunteers for health event
  • Advertised health event
  • Planned and coordinated church event

These are amazing achievements, and they are almost all related to the skills it would take to start and run a nonprofit hospital, rather than the skills it would take to be a doctor. I suggest that you focus on one of these goals, and that it be starting and running a hospital, i.e., becoming a hospital administrator.

A typical strong pre-med student would instead have a lot of SCIENCE activities and accomplishments rather than all these leadership achievements. My points is simply that maybe you should focus on pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees related to hospital administration instead of planning to become a neurosurgeon.

Neurosurgeons in training view a lot of mouse brains under a microscope and that sort of thing. Typical strong pre-med applicants have long lists of science achievements – scientific research, science and math competitions and lab experience. Your talents and achievements so far, while certainly medical related, are on the administrative side of things – planning, organizing, initiating, speaking, motivating, etc. These skills would serve you well in fulfilling your dream of starting a nonprofit hospital one day. It seems that you would be a perfect candidate for being a hospital administrator.

To learn more about educational programs on hospital administration at the undergraduate and graduate levels, you can see these links:

http://www.aupha.org/resourcecenter/auphaprogramdirectory

https://www.cahme.org/CAHME/Students/Search_for_an_Accredited_Program.aspx

I believe an undergraduate degree related to business or public health would be good preparation for a master’s degree in hospital administration if you don’t get an actual bachelor’s in hospital administration, but you would want to look at specific graduate degree programs and their admissions criteria to know for sure. This is something to think about – most pre-med students never even apply to medical school or become doctors, so if you change your mind about applying to med school later (or grades change your mind for you, as happens to so many students due to difficult grading in college science courses), then you could consider this option as a fall-back.