<p>I am an african american junior at a school full of hispanics, blacks, few asians, etc. I am #1 in my class w/ a 4.7 w and 3.8 uw</p>
<p>Would my race make me stand out among the many vals/sals who r competing for admissions?</p>
<p>I think so.</p>
<p>wow, if you have 2100+ SAT scores you're a shoe-in everywhere.</p>
<p>A hook is something like Olympic athlete or son/daughter of a President.</p>
<p>These are all samples of hooks at some schools: artistry, athletics, ethnic diversity, gender, international citizenship, legacy, music, etc. ...</p>
<p>International citizenship? Gender?</p>
<p>I don't know about Princeton, but lots of schools take a special look at international applicants. Kenyon, for one, favors males over females:</p>
<p>@ Narcissa:</p>
<p>2100 is an arbitrary cut-off, but I remember reading a statistic from a reliable source on this board that, in a given year, only 1600 black students score above a 1200 (CR+M).</p>
<p>--</p>
<p>And, as an African-American female and a good student, you stand an excellent chance of being admitted to any school of your choice. Hopefully, your scores are good enough to secure you a strong, competitive position.</p>
<p>I think your ethnicity would definitely be a hook considering the fact that you're top of your class, and your strong GPA. Provided you have strong SAT scores, and with good EC's I'd say you have a pretty strong chance at most universities, even the top ones :)</p>