Please Chance a hopeful Terp!

<p>PA Resident
Race: Black
Gender: Male
First Generation student</p>

<p>GPA: 3.8 </p>

<p>SAT (Ugh): 1430/2400 or 920/1600</p>

<p>Class Rank: 180/325
Junior Year class rank: 143/321</p>

<p>HS Type: Well known and academically respected Catholic HS in the Philadelphia area</p>

<p>EC's
-Marching band
-Drumline
-Percussion ensemble
-Private drumming lessons
-Wells Fargo College Bound program
-Semi-Pro baseball
-National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine, Summer 2011</p>

<p>Honors/Awards:
-Student of the Month in Theology 2 times-Junior year
-Theology department award for being tied for highest Theology avg. in Class of 2013-Junior year
-First Honors (93 avg, No grade below 90)-3rd quarter of Junior Year
-Second Honors (88 avg, No grade below 85)-4th quarter of Junior Year
-Homecoming King-Senior Year (Also, I am my school's first black Homecoming King!)</p>

<p>I’m afraid your SAT scores and class rank put you at a major disadvantage, especially as an OOS student. Is your GPA of 3.8 weighted? What is your unweighted score? (I believe UMD will apply its own weighting, since high schools vary widely on how they do the weighting). I don’t know if your first-generation or URM status will help you at a public OOS school that is generally pretty numbers-driven. There’s no harm in applying and trying, but you should consider UMD a reach, I believe. Good luck to you!</p>

<p>@Astrophysicsmom Thanks for the response! I’ve been taking SAT prep courses, so hopefully in November I’ll be able to raise it significantly. Also, I’ve written two excellent essays, have four awesome recommendations (Including one where my biology teacher says I’m one of the best students that she’s ever taught), and I’m willing to interview if UMD does that. I’m really hoping that I can be a Terp next year!</p>