Ivy Leagues/equivalent schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello everyone! This is my first post, and i was concerned about my potential chances of getting into the following schools when i apply in the fall. (i will post my stats below)
Harvard(EA), Duke, Brown, Yale, UPenn, Columbia, UChicago, USC, Stanford, UCLA, UT-Austin, UNC-Ch, Tufts.

my stats are as follows.
Race; Black, male
State; Washington
GPA; 3.71 UW, 4.1 W (IB Classes at my school, only 1 AP class) top 9%
Scores; Haven’t taking them yet but i should be able to obtain at least a 32 on the ACT since that’s been my primary focus
EC’s; Track, 3x national participant in the hardest events(steeplechase/800m), cross country, national qualifier, swimming(9th) Youth Leading Change, Key Club(VP), speech & debate (founder/president), MESA(Math, Engineering, Science, Achievement) Volunteered at nursing home enitre summer, current intern in the pharmacy at the hospital by my house, Youth&Law form volunteer, numerous race volunteers
Awards; Most inspirational, Elizabeth Wesley African american award winner 3x, MESA programming state competitor(4th place) MESA regional wood bridge building competition winner, Most improved athlete , 3x student of the month, top 20 in USA steeplechase , top 25 in USA 800m, 2x leadership lockin participant, plus many other awards that are too much to type, but leadership based
about me; i humbly believe my essay will be a winner, i will talk about how my passion for track helped shape my leadership skills, and success in the classroom, and track as well, and how i went from a 1.83 cumulative GPA in middle school, unlikely college attendee to a 3.71 cumulative in the most challenge classes i could manage.
Thank you! anything helps!

2

Your ECs and personal narrative are impressive, but it will be hard to guess your prospects without actual test scores. Do you anticipate being recruited for Track/XC anywhere? You might actually have better chances at the Ivies and Stanford than at the UCs and UT, because Texas and California ban considering race in admission to state universities, and out-of-state applicants cannot qualify for consideration under “local context.” It’s a completely different story if you qualify for an athletic scholarship. I imagine that Howard or UW can be safeties for you, barring a disastrous performance on SAT/ACT. If your test scores are disappointing, I strongly suggest Wesleyan or some other test-optional schools. Otherwise, I think you should aim high, as you are planning to, provided you have some solid safe and low-match schools on your list.

3

Are you being recruited for track? As that would be a significant and legitimate hook. While your scores are very decent, they are not in the appropriate range for at least,Yale, Columbia and Stanford–where they would be all a long reach. There are also a medium reach for Brown, Duke, UChicago and Penn. However, you are solid for the remaining schools.

4

@boolaHI‌ , not yet. State hasn’t came about yet, but that will only increase my chances of acceptance. What about harvard EA or UChicago Ea?? Thats my top choice school. So i just need to improve my potential ACT score? Shouldnt be too difficult with practice. I have the whole summer promoted towards my applications and ACT test prep. Maybe ill apply to princeton as well idk, cuz they are a sports oriented school ,or even cornell

5

My personal strategy (daughter is at Yale and I have friends who have previously coached at Ivy schools) is to indeed raise your scores, but to get in early contact with the relevant coaches in your sport. They can be a positive force in your application, and certainly make you stand-out from other applicants.

6

@boolaHI‌ Alright, should i contact them via email? And yes i believe as long as i get my test scores in that higher range i should get it

7

Yes, if you have both film and probably references directly from your own coaches, that would probably be the way to go: Thus, the following: statement of introduction, your interest in competing for the school, your current times and film, mention on where you are grade/score wise and references from your coaches. Usually all of the Ivy schools, have a link or contact information directly to each respective coach and sport.

8

If you can hit 34 ACT and be a viable recruit, I’d say you’ll get in. If you are top 25 in the nation in the 800m, that will go far for the Ivies. Be sure to study and take the SAT IIs (each school has different requirements for how many you need.)

Go to the athletic websites ( gocrimson.com for example) and fill out the online recruiting forms. You can contact the coach, s/he cannot contact you until after junior year is over (see NCAA recruiting guidelines.) Best of luck.

9

All those schools are low reaches for you. You’re the applicant i’m currently striving to be. Very impressive, good luck fam

10

Actually Harvard won the Ivy track and field championship in 2014, and Penn, has historically very strong teams–so I would certainly consider those two.

11

@pharaohrunner800,

The MESA bridge building competition is interesting and unusual…

Have you given any thought to what you would like to do for a career?

Have you thought about studying engineering?

It can be very interesting and lead to a lucrative career.

The problem is that even if you can get into a engineering program, it can be really hard to stay in (the average attrition rate is 40% and it’s even higher for underrepresented minorities).

Tufts is really into engineering/STEM education.

They are one of only a handful of schools that have a Phd program in STEM education. They are the only school to win multiple STEM presidential awards for mentoring and have one of only a handful of Computer Science professors who has won an international teaching award. They created the LEGO Mindstorms programming software that is used to teach elementary school kids robotics/programming. They recently developed a set of blocks and programming language that is being used to teach children in kindergarten to write programs.

By leveraging the latest engineering education research, the net attrition rate for Tufts Engineering is positive (i.e. more students transferred in than transferred out).

They have a special program to attract and retain underrepresented minorities into the field. If you have not had the benefit of taking AP calculus and AP Physics in high school, then they also offer a special “bridge” program, to prepare you for success.

http://engineering.tufts.edu/best/about/

Here is the staff:

http://engineering.tufts.edu/best/staff

If you are at all interested in exploring the field of engineering, you should call or email Darryl. Don’t be nervous, just be yourself - he is really nice. He is a great mentor and he can influence the admissions process. If he is impressed with you, your test scores will not matter as much, because the admissions process is holistic.

http://engineering.tufts.edu/chbe/people/williams/

In terrms of sports, studying engineering and playing D1 sports is really hard. Tufts is a strong D3 school. Studying engineering and playing D3 sports requires discipline, but it is possible.

There is the potential that you could be a star at the D3 level. The current D3 national champion in the 800M is at Tufts. This link provides his times at the nationals, so you can see what the level of competition is.

http://gotuftsjumbos.com/sports/mtrack/2014-15/releases/black_ustfccca_aoty

I suspect that the track coach (and potentially swim coach) would be very interested in you. No need for films. In those sports your times are what is important. You just fill out the following form. Don’t worry about filling in everything, you just want to get on the coach’s radar screen and get a dialog started as soon as possible.

http://ase.tufts.edu/athletics/recruiting.aspx

Good Luck, and feel free to ask more questions…

12

@mastadon thank you for your advice. I most definitely appreciate it, i havent forethought about pursuing an education in the engineering field. I am considering sports medicine, possibly majoring in kinetics or biochemistry because of my strong background in the sciences. And as of next year i will be in IB Calculus for math; I dont plan on doing much math besides the most minimum required for premed to fulfill graduation requirements.

13

@pharaohrunner800 Engineering does require quite a bit of math… .

With pre med, GPA is really important. It is harder to maintain a high GPA in engineering because it requires more courses and there tends to be less grade inflation. So, engineering can be a differentiator getting into med school, but it can also kill your chances if you don’t do well. Probably not a good idea.

The combination of Pre-med and D1 sports is also really tough - because of the importance of grades in getting into med school.-

The attrition rate out of pre med programs tends to be about 60% so you should have a back-up plan.