My dad thinks I'll get in HYP & Duke

<p>Female African American
GPA: 3.8 UW, 4.1 W
Will graduate with 6 APS and 4 honors
All 4s on AP exams
Take an extra course after school
SAT: 1960 (720 W, 700 M, 540 R); my deafness is the reason why my verbal is so low
SAT II: Math IIC-750, Biology-590, US History-610 (4 on AP exam)
3rd decile- I transferred from bad public school w/ no honors classes to a VERY competitive rural school; I was top 10 in my old school, but now I am top 30; my GC will explain this as well</p>

<p>WORK EXPERIENCE
Student volunteer at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (9,10)
Lab research at University of Pennsylvania this summer</p>

<p>ACTIVITIES
National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine (11)
National Karate (9-10)
Health Science Academy (10-11)
National Honor Society (11)
Leadership Club (10-11)</p>

<p>VOLUNTEER
Community Outreach Program (9,10)
Tutoring (9,10)
Feeding homeless (9,10)</p>

<p>HONORS AND AWARDS
Academic Honor Roll (9-11)
National Karate Summer Program Award (10)
President's Student Service Gold Award (volunteering 100+ hours) (10)
A Venture Scholar (10-11)
Award for Outstanding Achievement in Leadership (11)
President’s Education Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence (11)</p>

<p>My dad thinks I will get in Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and Duke. Your opinions? Please be brutally honest. I honestly don't see how I would get in.</p>

<p>No guarantees on Harvard for anyone, doesn't make sense to count on it. No harm in applying, though. Just about the same for Duke--though perhaps somewhat more likely. You should aim high but also be realistic.</p>

<p>Definitely line up some "safety" and "match" schools. Get advice on these from CC. I guess you're a rising senior now? You can re-take SATs and improve your CR score by reading a lot this summer and looking up words you don't know--start with the NY Times every day. An increase (even a small one) in CR will look better on your records. Also try to get one more SAT II in the 700s.</p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

<p>i'll say no....</p>

<p>The key to a strong cr score is reading. Even if the schools are sympathetic about your disability, a 540 tells them you might have a hard time making it through so I think getting in will be tough.</p>

<p>donno if you are a special case since you have a difficulty on listening</p>

<p>You can probably get into Princeton. They have a policy that automatically accepts any qualified URM and from what I see you look pretty qualified; however, I'm not sure what their definition of qualified is. Anyhow, good luck!</p>

<p>"[Princeton has] a policy that automatically accepts any qualified URM ..."</p>

<p>Really, now?
Could I get a link to the article?</p>

<p>A good essay on how you stuggle because your a deaf URM would help a lot.</p>

<p>
[quote]
You can probably get into Princeton. They have a policy that automatically accepts any qualified URM and from what I see you look pretty qualified; however, I'm not sure what their definition of qualified is. Anyhow, good luck!

[/quote]
</p>

<p>.........lol I'm sure they do</p>

<p>If you could get your CR up to a 600 you would have a much better shot. If you could get it up to a 700 you might be in at all of them.</p>

<p>OP, I second the summer reading suggestion. My D read Newsweek in addition to the newspaper. That and really use Ten Reals to prepare for that CR section. Use as many real collegeboard practice questions as you can . Search for the Xiggi method on the SAT forum and use his techniques , also consider the ACT. It is possible your CR is an aberration as your writing score suggests that as a possibilty. Good luck and be sure to report back your results.</p>

<p>youre an african american female who is fairly intelligent and involved. the sky is the limit; boost your SAT by 100 pts and you can go anywhere.</p>

<p>Sorry, my previous post is wrong. I thought I had read it in the Barron's Guide to the Most Competitive Colleges, but when I went back to get a quote, I could not find it. Looking at my post, it does sound ridiculous. Again, sorry for the confusion.</p>