Official Class of 2019 African American Results Thread

Student Lounge African-American Students
1

Just keepin’ the tradition alive and giving hope to all future Black kids who must deal with grueling process of college admissions. Good luck everyone!
Copy and paste this and fill in as necessary

[noparse]Choose One:
Decision: Accepted
Decision: Deferred
Decision: Rejected

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown):
SAT Subject Tests (place score in parentheses):
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parentheses):
IB (place score in parentheses):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community Service:
Summer Activities:
Essays:
Teacher Recommendations:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
Where else you are applying or have already applied:
Any Scholarships or Honors programs?

General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:[/noparse]

2

Accepted: Hampton University, Howard University, FAMU, Saint Joseph’s University, Temple, University of Miami, Fordham
Waiting on Regular Decision Schools (Penn, Columbia, Stanfird but I will update later)
Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 720 CR, 590 M, 680 W) 1990 Composite
ACT (breakdown): 31 R, 34 E, 25 S, 25 M = 29 Composite
SAT Subject Tests (place score in parentheses): none taken
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.88 now (3.83 when application sent in)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): NA
AP (place score in parentheses): Not sent in
IB (place score in parentheses):NA
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):scholastic writing poetry awards’ national Latin awards, national Spanish exam awards

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Multicultural club, biotechnology club, Latin club, national honor society
Job/Work Experience: worked since eighth grade answering telephones
Volunteer/Community Service: helping kids with disabilities learn to ride bikes
Summer Activities: college credit courses in law and business during sophomore and junior year
Essays: Common app essay really good (didn’t submit essay to Hampton becayse I got standard of excellence application)
Teacher Recommendations: both probably good
Counselor Rec: really good
Additional Rec:
Interview:

Other

State (if domestic applicant): PA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: black
Gender: F
Income Bracket:upper middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): obviously URM

Honors programs to Saint Joseph and Temple
Scholarships: almost full to Howard (everything except meal plan) 8 k per year plus four thousand dollar educational stipend at Temple, 80, 000 at St. Joseph, full tuition and fees at FAMU, 14,000 a year at Fordham, waiting back for everyone else

3

Decision: Accepted - Oberlin College (EDII)
Decision: Accepted - Marquette University
Decision: Deferred - University of Michigan
Decision: Rejected - University of Pennsylvania (ED)
I also applied to Amherst College, and started an application to Xavier University.

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 29 Composite (34 English, 26 Math, 31 Reading, 26 Science)
SAT II:N/A
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):3.49 (GPA was around 3.43 when applying to colleges)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A (School does not rank)
AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A
IB (place score in parenthesis):N/A
Senior Year Course Load: English IV, Pre-Calc, 21st Century Media and Communications, Band, Catholic Social Teaching, Latin IV, Seminar in Contemporary Politics, Wealth and Poverty Since The Industrial Revolution)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):N/A

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): BASE member (Black Awareness Society for Education) [similar to a BSU], Student Senate/Government elected Sergeant-at-Arms, Debate Team (Co-Founder/Captain), Mock Trial (started after submitting college apps), Jazz Band, Pit Orchestra, Student Admissions Team member, JustPeace member.
Job/Work Experience: Worked is my school’s alumni outreach drive (Paid).
Volunteer/Community service: Generation of Promise: Student leadership development program focusing on resources, leadership, and critical issues that influence quality of life in the metro area. (200+ Hours) I also started a music/instrumental learning program for a local and underfunded elementary school.
Summer Activities: LEAD SBI (@ Penn) , LEAD Global (@ University of Cape Town), and LEAD CSI (@ Stanford). Also spent a summer abroad performing with the Blue Lake International Program.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8-10 I think my Common App essay was fantastic, and other people have told me the same. I used the “describe a place where you’re perfectly content” prompt and wrote about waking up early for Jazz Band juxtaposed that with how it has helped me grow into a leader. I also wrote in the additional comments section explaining the sharp contrast between my freshman year grades and the rest of high school.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 10. My Latin teacher whom I’m very fond of and is also fond of me wrote this one.
Teacher Rec #2: 7 or 8. This one came from my junior year math teacher, and math was really not my thing…
Counselor Rec: 10. My college counselor knew me pretty well, and always talked about how seriously she took ED letters. We had a great relationship so I’m sure it was fantastic.
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Penn interview went well (at least I thought).

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Politics and/or Pre-Law and/or L&S
State (if domestic applicant): Michigan
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Catholic (Jesuit)
Ethnicity: African-American/Black
Gender:M
Income Bracket: $80,000-$100,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, seasoned musician (I sent in clips), single parent home (?)
Reflection

Strengths: My essays and club/activities. I was a very involved student, and I think my overall application very much reflected that.
Weaknesses: Definitely grades and test scores. I did very poorly my freshman year due to some things at home that were pretty much out of my control. Fortunately, my grades made a DRASTIC leap the next year and continued to stay high throughout the rest of high school. The jump was from a 2.5 to a 3.88. I think another weakness was that I never took any AP courses. This was due to the fact that I was so scarred from my poor grades freshman year I was scared of seeing that repeated through AP courses.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I think I was accepted to Marquette because I was well in range of their median applicant as well as the fact that I was coming from a Jesuit high school. I believe I was accepted to Oberlin because I really fit into the general student person there. It’s a very liberal, free, open-minded, and enthusiastic environment that I believe I will fit really well into.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: I’ll never if I got into Amherst or Michigan (deferred from U of M). Penn was my long shot / reach and I think I was denied because I was well under the usual GPA and my test scores wasn’t the stellar Ivy League average.

Reflection: Wow - it’s been quite the ride. The college process has been real to say the least. I was very discouraged after my first two responses (in the span of week) were a rejection and a deferral. I will admit I was a little lost after being denied ED. I had really had my heart set on Penn. Luckily, Oberlin found me. I started to look much more seriously into a school I had thought just a bit about, but had put on the back burner behind Penn. I truly feel like I’m going to the college that is the best fit for me, and that I am best fit for. I guess the moral of the story is that even if you don’t get into “Prestigious U,” you can still find a place that is truly for you. Looking back, I was blinded by the glory of the Ivy League. Oberlin almost replicates my personality in college form. Just about everything about Oberlin screams “me.” Ultimately I was able to find and attend my “dream school,” I just had to realize what the real dream was.

4

bump… you guys should help out AA 2016 haha

5

Bump…I agree with @princetonboii

6

** Accepted: MIT (EA), Caltech (EA), Harvard (RD), Princeton (RD), UT Austin, Texas A&M **
** Waitlisted: Columbia (RD), Yale(RD) **
** Rejected: None **

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): Not Sent
ACT (breakdown): 33 composite, 34 English, 35 Math, 32 Reading, 29 Science, 8 Writing
SAT Subject Tests (place score in parentheses): Math II (800), Physics (710)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.96
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1 out of 605
AP (place score in parentheses): Calc BC (5). Comp Sci (4), Physics C Mechanics (4), Lang & Comp (3), WHAP (3)
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Bio AP, Chem AP, Macroeconomics AP, US Government AP, English Lit AP, Advanced Computer Programming, Spanish III Pre-AP, Electronic Multi-Media II
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): 8th Animatronics TSA Nationals, 9th Computer Numerical Control (CNC) TSA Nationals, President’s Volunteer Service Award 2012 & 2013 (Gold Level)
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): AP Scholar with Distinction, National Achievement Finalist, National Hispanic Scholar, National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honor Society)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): I participated in all clubs all 4 years except NHS (11-12 grade). Robotics club (President), Technology Student Association (Parliamentarian), Mu Alpha Theta (Treasurer), NHS (Technical Director), Texas UIL (Academic Competitions)
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community Service: >600 hours (mostly with special needs community)
Summer Activities: MIT Online Science, Technology, and Engineering Community (MOSTEC)
Essays: I didn’t spend more than a day on any of them except for the main common app essay which I spent like a week on. I didn’t get more than one or two people to read them in order to keep them 100% my essays. I think they all came out great. 7-9/10 on all of them.
Teacher Recommendations: AP Physics teacher (11th grade) wrote one (10/10) and AP Lang & Comp teacher (11th grade) wrote the other (8/10). They were both good, because the teachers really like me.
Counselor Rec: Amazing. I’m probably one of her favorite students. I talk to her often. (10/10)
Additional Rec: MOSTEC robotics instructor and MOSTEC science writing instructor. Robotics instructor loved me (10/10). Writing didn’t really know me (6/10).
Interviews: All of them were about 30 minutes long.
MIT: It was my first interview and his first, so it didn’t go too well. We were both pretty awkward (5/10)
Harvard: My last interview. The guy loved me. We bonded over our passion for puzzles. (10/10)
Princeton: Pretty good. Standard interview I guess (8/10)
Yale: It was good, except I blanked when he asked "what do you do outside of school. haha :stuck_out_tongue: (7/10)

Other

State (if domestic applicant): TX
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public (not a great school & not a terrible school)
Ethnicity: Hispanic & African American
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: >100k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM & MOSTEC

Reflection

Strengths: My essays and additional information were great.
Weaknesses: I had a relatively low physics subject test. I had a somewhat too STEM focused application for the ivy league schools.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I showed a great passion for STEM and puzzles outside of school.
What would you have done differently?: I would have tried to be more relaxed during my interview.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: ^^ Already listed at the top ^^.
Any Scholarships or Honors programs? Texas A&M engineering honors & university honors.

General Comments/Advice/Hindsight:
Find what you are passionate about. It can be inside or outside of school, and make it bleed through your application. Light up about it during your interview so that the schools know you are a real human not just a robot designed to get A’s in school. Don’t write your essays about what you think they want to hear. I almost wrote an essay about playing the saxophone (which I rarely do) in order to seem more well rounded; instead, I wrote it about puzzles. That essay was for princeton which I was accepted to. Write the truth! Good luck future generations!

7

Accepted: Rider University (EA, November), Stetson University (Rolling, November), Quinnipiac University (RD, December), University of North Carolina Wilmington (EA, January), Hofstra University (RD after deferral, February), University of Pittsburgh - Johnstown campus (Rolling, February)

Rejected: Clark University (EA, December), Fordham University (EA, December), Northeastern University (EA, December), University of Massachusetts Amherst (EA, January), University of Pittsburgh (Rolling, February), Bentley University (RD after deferral, March), Syracuse University (RD, April), Binghamton University (RD after deferral, April)

Attending: UNC Wilmington

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2000 (660 CR, 550 M, 790 W)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT Subject Tests (place score in parentheses): N/A
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 2.71
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School does not rank, but I apparently will finish in the bottom 40% GPA-wise…
AP (place score in parentheses): N/A
IB (place score in parentheses): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Euro, Environmental Science, Business Principles + Management (2nd semester), English IV, Prob and Stat (1st semester), Discrete Math (2nd semester)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): N/A

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Memorial candlelight vigil/Facebook page in honor of late schoolmate (organizer/administrator), Young Democrats Club, Gifts of Gold Club, Helping Hands Club, Smiles for Seniors Club
Job/Work Experience: None
Volunteer/Community Service: None
Summer Activities: None
Essays: 8.5/10. My essay was about problems at home during sophomore year that no one could have had the foresight to comprehend: eviction. I started in July and had to revise multiple times before applying to schools in August. Teachers in my school who reviewed it said it was good.
Teacher Recommendations: PreCalc teacher wrote one, English III teacher wrote another. I did not have them read to me, therefore could not comment.
Counselor Rec: This one I had read to me. She detailed how it took me two full years of high school to really mature, and that my grades took a hit due to my family losing their home. She also stated how I was ready for the collegiate level. Overall, 9.5/10
Additional Rec:
Interview: I had two. The first one was with my Stetson recruiter over the phone. It was basically me just asking him questions about the school. :stuck_out_tongue:
The second one was with my Hofstra regional officer, which was pleasant.

Other

State (if domestic applicant): New Jersey
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public (one of the top schools in the nation)
Ethnicity: African-American
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 40,000-59,999
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, experienced severe turbulence during high school years

Reflection

Strengths: My SAT score was my biggest strength on paper, and I definitely would not have gotten into UNCW if it wasn’t as high. However, I feel that my essay was just as important, as I detailed the struggles of homeless life.
Weaknesses: Definitely my GPA, as well as the fact that I hadn’t taken any AP classes before senior year.
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I was accepted to where I was because I was adjudged to be a good fit for those schools. The converse happened for the schools that rejected me.
Where else you are applying or have already applied: every school is already listed
Any Scholarships or Honors programs? I got scholarships at every school besides where I will be attending and Pitt-Johnstown. No honors programs, however.

General Comments/Advice/Hindsight: I was enamored with the idea of going to school in the state of Massachusetts, yet was rejected from every school I applied to in that state. Particularly, I loved UMass Amherst for its nationally-ranked business school, college town atmosphere, and well-praised campus food. However, after applying on August 1st, they took until LATE January to reply with a denial which I was prepared for. But before that, I got into UNCW, which was a school I had always been interested in, but had put on the back burner behind the likes of UMass, Northeastern, Syracuse etc. I’ll always remember jumping out of bed that day when I was sick from school, fist pumping, and yelling “EFF YES!!!” when I got the text from my dad. I then had to claw, fight, and scrap to prove go my parents that I was ready to go nine hours away. In the end, I’m going to the school that’s the best possible fit for me, and a school that also sees my potential as a student AND a human being. It also doesn’t hurt that UNCW is near the beach and has a great business school :slight_smile: my advice to the HS Class of 2016 and beyond is to NEVER get super hung up on one school, and to ALWAYS believe in yourself. :slight_smile: