Low Income Minority

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello, this is my first post on this website. I’m of a low income household and my single parent mother only speaks spanish, and I’m going to be a senior this fall. Growing up in a family where little to no help was offered when it came to academics, I always fell shorter to other students when it came to test scores and grades. When I started high school, I did not care at all about my grades and the reason I had chosen to go to the high school I currently go to is because of my friends. Bad idea, I know but at the time, I didn’t know any better because again, no one really knew anything about the importance of an education in my family so they couldn’t help me. So my GPA by the end of my 9th grade year was so low, I was at the bottom of my class. Come 10th grade, people began to receive invitations to NHS and I began to get jelly. There was this Rice Essay Contest which I submitted an essay for and I didn’t even get an honorable mention despite putting all possible effort into it; I was fed up and extremely upset. My childhood friend who was at the top of our class would often ridicule me and say I’d never make it to the top along with other family members. I had been doubted all my life. So after many failures and neglecting the future, I had decided to put my foot down and make it my primary goal to make it to the top of our class. By the end of my sophomore year, I had increased my GPA by half a point bringing me closer to the top 10%. Junior year, I signed up for every AP Class offered and I got an A semester average for every class both semesters and although we haven’t received our AP Scores back, I’m confident enough that I think I got a 4 in each one. I joined clubs that I found interesting and I found my passion, debate. As a novice, I had progressed extremely fast. I had managed to beat varsity memebers who had been debating for 3 years+ in my second tournament. I felt great, and I love the club so much. Junior year had been the most productive year of my life, ever, and by the of it, I had 3.93/5 GPA that I know isn’t great but is definitely better than the 2.56 GPA I had in the end of 9th grade. As for my SAT score, it’s extremely low according to the standards of some of the schools I want to attend but, I’m studying right now over the summer and I’m hoping to get at least a 2000. With enough studying and consistency in my motivation, I can achieve this in October. I’m also taking the US History Subject Test in September that I’ll know I do good in. In the second semester of my junior year I had finally been invited to NHS, but I had to fill out some mini essays and one was regarding the community service I had done in the past. Instead of detailing this, I wrote a rant about how if I were to tell you the service I’ve done, then it’d just make it seem as if I had done it just for the sake of an application instead of doing it to actually help people. I had also made it to the interview part of getting into the EMERGE program sponsored by HISD until they asked me the very same question. Nonetheless, I didn’t get into either NHS or EMERGE. I’m hoping to use everything I just mentioned in the college application essay since it shows progression in a student who started from the bottom and realized the importance of an education. I’ll also mention how I was unable to afford any tutors so the scores I made were purely me, without help, and I think they value more than a person who paid for help or were just naturally smart enough to get a high enough score. So now that I’ve got that covered, here’s some stuff that’ll basically sum up everything I just told you:

GPA
2.56—3.15—3.93
It will more than likely be above a 4.1 by the end of the first semester of senior year since I’m taking all AP classes. This will place me at the top 8% of our class and let use all Texas Public Schools as a back up school since I get automatic acceptance into them. (UT Austin being one of em’.)

SAT
1350—1510
I’m studying my ass of right now and I’m doing pretty good on the practices so I might have a shot to get above a 2000

Extra Curricular
The Woods Project, German Club (I’ve been having a foreign language class for 3 years going on 4), Debate, CIS

Work Experience
I’m trying to get an internship at a law firm this summer so if I get that, I’m sure it’ll look good on a resume.

Teacher Recomendations
I’ve got two teachers who appreciate my work ethic and story. When it comes down to them writting up a recommendation for me, I’m sure they’ll pull a killer one.

Athletics
I used to be part of the Houston Chess Academy but since then stop attending tournaments due not having a ride.

AP Classes (Junior Year)
US History, English Lang, Physics

AP Classes (next year)
Macro-Econ, Environmental Science, US Govt, German, English Lit, Statistics, European History

I’m not exactly sure what I want to pursue or what college I want to go to, but I do know I want it to be a good one and I’m not sure why. Rice, Hopkins, Tufts?

2

My God, this is a reeeeeaaaaalllllllyyyy long post.

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Also another question: What’s an EC?

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Also the school I go to is not that great.

5

Hey,

I get you. Don’t lose hope. I’m not an immigrant, but an international low income. I had to use this old ACT book to self study for the ACT and as well as SAT IIs. My school isnt that great either, less than 5 APs offered every year, some even in the same period. There are no honors.
I also have a GPA of 3.94 UW. My ACT is 30.

Overall, you still have a chance. Make sure to address your hardships under “special circumstances” essay or tell your counseller to do it.

Good luck! :slight_smile:

6

EC=Extracurricular

What is your unweighted GPA?that’s what colleges really look at.
You migh want to try and take an at-home ACT practice test, and see how you do on that. It’ll be good to have a back up plan if you decide the SAT won’t work.

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Currently a 3.1 but if I pull my cards right next year in the first semester, I can get a 3.28 which still isn’t great but progression is look for.

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Pls, what are my chances.

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tip for next post

a) keep brief and to the point

b) put some spaces between paragraphs, no one can, or rwants to,real the wall of text

No one knows any chances better than you can figure yourself. Compare your SAT to the target schools accepted student SATs. Since freshman year counts less, average your 10th and 11th grade scores to compare to accepted student gpa. Get realistic about a schools list and have you safeties figured out first.

10

I was a former low income Mexican-American student many moons ago. I got into all of my schools but chose to go local since I needed to help out at home. My scores were higher than yours because I had a lot of teachers willing to tutor me and I also did sports.

The difference between my drive and yours is that my essays focused on remaining hopeful and positive despite my lack of resources. The colleges don’t want pity parties. They want to hear what you will do to generate a good sense of community. My advice would be to focus on how you will contribute to your university. Get some safeties in there. There are lots of URM’s with worse finances but better grades and scores, so you have to compete with them.

PS. Chess is not an athletic sport.

11

Let’s clarify a few things first. One, we cannot really assess your application/stats fully without more info, such as your test scores. Keep on studying and working on that internship this summer. 2000+ will show that you have academic potential, which is already clear with your upward trend. Two, which schools are you thinking about? We cannot accurately assess what chances you have unless you tell us the school. For Harvard, it is quite the reach, as it is for most everyone. Three, your essays and recommendations need to be in the mix as well; they give an idea of what kind of student you are (sometimes they do not) and the essay is a moment for you to tell your story in an eloquent way. Your story is interesting and it’s clear that you are about your education. You seemed to have made the most, and you seem to have taken initiative. Keep up the good work and maybe apply ED or RD. Just remain focused. I can’t really chance you not knowing where you’re trying to go.

EDIT: OOOPS. Just read that you’re looking at Rice and Tufts. For Tufts and Rice, I would say that they are reaches. They are reaches for most people. For Tufts, I think that your essays could make it or break it for you. You can’t hold anything back with them. They want you to prove that you are a thinker. So don’t hold back. Follow your instinct when you’re writing those essays and remember that you are smart and cool and awesome; just don’t be too arrogant.

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Thanks guys for the advice! :)>-