Not Asian at all! Hopefully not?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi, I'm a CA junior attending a very crappy high school. It's so crappy that the API index is lower than 5, that's how bad it is.
Nevertheless, I have strived for the best in high school and now I'm asking for your help to chance me. Any input would be much appreciated.</p>

<p>STATS
Junior
Asian (Mixed - Viet, Chinese, Singaporean, Korean)
GPA: 3.97 UW/4.61 W
Schedule:
AP Bio Sophomore year (only AP given for sophomores)
AP Chem/AP US History (only 2 AP's given for juniors)
Taken the most rigorous courseload offered at school.
Senior Courseload:
AP STATS
AP CAL BC
AP PHYSICS B
AP ENGLISH LANG.
AP SPANISH LANG.
AP GOVERNMENT
AP ECONOMICS</p>

<p>AP Test Bio: 3
AP Chem - predicting 4,5
AP US History - for sure 5
AP World History - 5 (self-studied)</p>

<p>Now on to SATs scores, I'm a bit low
SAT: 600 CR, 620 M, 640 W 11 Essay
I know, I know, I'm horrible on the SAT's =[
okay..</p>

<p>now to Extracurriculars. I hope I stand out as not being asian.
NHS (9,10, 11) - member
CSF (9,10,11) - member
Founder/President of Model United Nations (10, 11) - raised over $5,000.
Link Crew Leader - (10, 11)
City's Committee (10, 11) - Helps make decisions for youth of the city
Senator's Campaign Intern: 150+ hours, lots of precinct walking
Play in an OC Chinese Ballars League (10, 11) - Point Guard
^ I do not play sports in school, it's very frustrating when everyone wants to hog the ball and no teamwork is involved
Title of Mr. Friendly (10, 11) - go around, promote friendships (haha)
Volunteering at Library - tutors innercity youth (9, 10, 11) - 500+ hours
Boys and Girls Club Mentor - (11)
Attended Leadership Conference at UC Regents (10)
Attended Asian Leadership Conference in Sactown (11)
Will Start Mock Trial/Speech Club next year (I love communications)</p>

<p>IMPORTANT EC TO ME
Member of HS Academic Decathlon Team (11) School won 1st Place in County, went to State for first time in school's history and was top 20 at state.
Not sure if I want to pursue this next year, it took away my passion of dancing.</p>

<p>MOST IMPORTANTLY
Founder/Leader of Musik Breakdancing Crew (9, 10, 11)
^ I am heavily involved in this. We do shows at local festivals and celebrations. </p>

<p>AND... SOMETHING WITH A HOOK?
I was elected Mayor of my city for one day.
So I acted as the mayor for a day, and was televised on tv and all that good stuff.
^ Will use this for essay</p>

<p>Work Experience:
Macys' Sales Associate (9,10)
Work 15+ hours at Abercrombie: Sales Associate (11)
Girlfriend? (She's a full time job)</p>

<p>AND.... MY SUMMER IS PACKED WITH...?
BOYS STATE CA
UC COSMOS Program
UCLA Summer Law Institute</p>

<p>Essays: I consider myself a strong writer. Will write a good essay. </p>

<p>Major: Political Science
Minor: East Asian Studies (I'm so white-washed I want to learn more about my various backgrounds)</p>

<p>Family Income: Below 10,000
So I need some blind-based schools since I am hella poor.</p>

<p>COLLEGES (Reaches/Matches/Safetys)? Is this accurate?
Harvard
Yale
Columbia
Boston University
NYU
Northeastern University
Miami University</p>

<p>So does anyone also know any schools that offer great financial aid? I need a full ride seriously.</p>

<p>I'm not sure what else to include, but this is what I can think of as of now. Thanks for any assistance, and feel free to suggest any schools you might</p>

2

<p>oh forgot to say.
Ranking is: 3/587 kids</p>

3

<p>
[quote]

now to Extracurriculars. I hope I stand out as not being asian.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You been smoking too much opium?
Sorry, those EC's are as asian as you can get...</p>

4

<p>Harvard: high reach
Yale: high reach
Columbia: reach
BU: match
NYU: match
Northeastern U: I don't know
Miami U: Never heard of it, I'm assuming safety..?</p>

5

<p>No chance at the first three. You need to up your scores BIG TIME. ORM with weak scores = tough time.</p>

6

<p>hmm thanks. well i'll take the sats again this october, and im predicting around 2000 if that helps.</p>

7

<p>thanks for your input!.
quick bump.</p>

8

<p>oh for my ethnicity
well i am mixed
so would it be more beneficial
if i put "singaporean or viet" to not be classifed as Overrepresented minority?</p>

9

<p>lol. yeah, having a girlfriend IS a fulltime job... at least that's what i try to tell my boyfriends</p>

<p>anyway, what's your big deal about not wanting to seem asian? im definitely the most whitewashed person i know but some things... you just can't avoid...</p>

10

<p>a) 2000 is not enough. From what I've heard, try for 700+ on each section.
b) Singaporean/Viet = South/East Asian = ORM.</p>

<p>Then again, I'm a junior too. I am not all-knowing, mind you.</p>

11

<p>lol. yeah, having a girlfriend IS a fulltime job... at least that's what i try to tell my boyfriends</p>

<p>anyway, what's your big deal about not wanting to seem asian? im definitely the most whitewashed person i know but some things... you just can't avoid...</p>

<p>To Miss Barbara:
haha yeah. it is a fulltime job.
i feel like i work overtime most of the days as well
hahaha
anyways. i don't want to seem asian because i've just been raised in a very white-washed manner.
so it's hard for me to accept my culture.</p>

12

<p>2000 will NOT cut it. Even if you upped your scores, I still think you're too plain of a candidate for HYC anyhow.</p>

13

<p>2000 will NOT cut it. Even if you upped your scores, I still think you're too plain of a candidate for HYC anyhow.
^ So assuming i get 2200+ SAT's
what do you mean by too plain of a candidate?
Am I supposed to go build a house in some third world country or win first place at some international spelling bee contest to be qualified for HYC?</p>

14

<p>burn...</p>

<p>apply anyway. you never know. get your scores up and make those essays sing.</p>

15

<p>i guess im going to apply ED.
but thanks for the input.
guess i really gotta go hit the books on those sats</p>

16

<p>do barrons to overprepare. you'll want to kill yourself until the day of the test, but it'll be worth it.</p>

17

<p>
[quote]
Am I supposed to go build a house in some third world country or win first place at some international spelling bee contest to be qualified for HYC?

[/quote]

Now that you mention it, my brother who attends one of the aformentioned schools did help build homes over the summer in a third world country.</p>

18

<p>You look like a promising applicant whose accomplishments don't sound contrived.</p>

<p>The mayor-for-a-day thing sounds really interesting. So is your membership to the city committee. Here's what I recommend:</p>

<p>Emphasize the fact that you're low-income, but write about it from a position of strength. The top schools (Harvard in particular, maybe Yale?) are hard-pressed for admissible low-income students. They've launched massive financial incentives to draw in such students. In this NY Times article, Princeton, Stanford, Williams, and Amherst are noted:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/27/education/27grad.html?_r=1&oref=slogin%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/27/education/27grad.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I say add some of those schools on your list if you find them to be good fits.</p>

<p>Also add schools where fewer Asian students that are good fits for you. Some possibilities include Dartmouth, Middlebury, LACs in the northeast (Bowdoin, Williams?). </p>

<p>Boost your SAT score to 2100+ and preferably to 2200+. I think it would be worth it for you to do some major test prep.</p>

<p>Get to know your counselor and 2 teachers really well, if you haven't already. Strengthen already established connections. Teacher recs can make a significant difference, so choose teachers who will have interesting anecdotes and who are fond of you.</p>

<p>If you do these things, I think you will have a competitive chance.</p>

19

<p>To Tisthetruth:</p>

<p>Well, when I first entered high school, I wasn't one of those people who wanted to like plan things out and do this and do that. It just happens.
So starting a breakdancing crew, being on a city committee, and all that other stuff just came to me.
and so i did it.
yeah, well the mayor for a day thing gave me a lot of power. hahaha
i actually learned real politics. and that my mayor doesn't like bush very much. hahahha</p>

<p>As for being low income, my dad's been unemployed around 5 years now, and my mom works at a nail salon. So I had to get a job to help support my family; pay the bills here and there, and pay for my car, and everything else.
How would i write about my low-income status from a position of strength?
I was a finalist for Questbridge if that matters.</p>

<p>The only reason why I'm shooting for the ivy is because my counselor said they have some type of program where if your income is less than 45,000 then you'll get a full ride.</p>

<p>To be frank, I personally do not care the institution in which I receive my diploma. I just happened to want a full ride because I cannot afford college otherwise.</p>

<p>In the summertime, I am going to work my butt off to raise it to AT MOST 2100.
i think a 400 points increase is "plausible" for myself. </p>

<p>My counselor loves me. She knows who I am and everything.
And for my two teachers, my English teacher/AP US History teacher knows my background because they're the coaches for the academic decathlon/ speech and interview.</p>

<p>Thank you so much for your tips.
I will take it to heart.</p>

20

<p>I dont think you're necessarily into BU with that. If you raised your SATs another 100 points, you probably would. Key thing is showing interest in the school.</p>