I have a 3.93 GPA Weighted
I have a 1830 SAT
I am in the IB Program, Taken 6 APs
ECs:
-Enviornmental Club-4 years
-Amnesty international -2 years (treasurer) Invited to a human rights conference in New Mexico, but declined due to $ Issues
-IB Program (Vice President)
-ASB (Student Gov)- 2 Years
-Tutoring- 2 Years 150+ hours
-Track and field
-Work at family businesses for over 4 years during high school (Paid Work)
-Gone to Weekend Arabic/Islam School for 7+ years, 3 of which in highschool
-I travel to Palestine over the summers, change perspective (I dont know if thats even important)
-Going to Science fair
Personal Qualities
-Male
-Ethnicity/race: I am 100% Palestinian, but born in US (Is this considered a Minority for colleges, I’m a minority at my school for sure 1 out of 2500)
-I speak four languages (English, French, Arabic, Korean)
-Not financially secured/low income, from lower middle class
-Only person in entire family including cousins/uncles etc. to attend a four year
Awards?
-CSF
-Honor Role
-Idk
Hooks?
-First Generation College student
-First Generation American
-Californian (does this matter if im applying to the east coast?)
-Am i a minority? (Palestinian)
Anything else I forgot or should include? I’m planning on applying to a couple of reach/Ivies just cause(Princeton, UPenn, Stanford)
Suggestions?
Some other ones:
-Northwestern? Bowdoin? Amherst? Cornell?
I have no idea where i stand, suggestions are much appreciated
THANKS!
You have great ECs. Do you know your UW GPA? Also, in regards to you being a minority, what would you categorize yourself in the Common App website in the demographics section?
Palestinian would be Arab. Which is “white” according to the US Census definitions. Unfortunately not a minority from a college admissions standpoint.
First generation college student is a hook. First generation American is not (though it can be part of a nice story to tell in essays). Palestinian, as detailed above, is not. California applicant is an anti-hook; top schools are looking for geographic diversity, which favors applicants from Wyoming/Montana/Alaska (not much competition). With a population over 35 million, California means a lot of competition.
Hook-wise, you’re slightly ahead of the game - the positive of being a first gen student outweighs the negative of being a California applicant. Don’t expect any miracles, however - and that’s what you’d need at some schools on your list (Stanford, Princeton, UPenn), where even recruited athletes are liable to have similar or higher SAT scores.
With your connections to Palestine, and all that’s entailed over the past decade, you’ve got a great story to tell. It could certainly put some schools in reach that otherwise wouldn’t be. I think you need to look a little further, however, due to test scores far below the ranges of your current targets. Northwestern, Cornell, Bowdoin, and Amherst are all reaches, and every school you’ve named save Bowdoin and Amherst would be a reach or high reach for any applicant not related to the dean - even with near-perfect test scores and grades.
While I agree that your standardized test scores are not at the same level as all you other stats, you have some great offerings to colleges. Being Palestinian is not a technical minority but in this day and age a very interesting one I believe. You also speak four languages, also a big plus.
What are you looking for in a college - size, location both geographic (where in the country) and rural, urban, suburban. Greeks? Sports? Major? Minor? Extra curricular interests in college? You already said FA is very important. You should look into the Colleges That Change Lives list (eliminating heavy religious ones) and also the fairest.org website for schools that don’t care about SAT/ACT scores.
What do you want to study? Your biggest asset is your foreign language skills (Korean?!) I think being Palestine may be a plus, especially at LAC’s. If I were to pick a reach, I’d pick Middlebury. Lose the Ivies.
I second looking at Colleges That Change Lives and fairtest.org for school suggestions.
@NotVerySmart Bowdoin and Amherst have lower acceptance rates than Northwestern and Cornell.
@SlackerMomMD the OP’s test scores are well below the 25th percentile for Middlebury. I’m not saying he shouldn’t apply to Middlebury, but reach is an understatement.
Understood, @urbanslaughter . I just meant, if he were going to go for an unrealistic reach (because Amherst, Bowdoin, Penn, Cornell, etc were equally out of reach), Middlebury would be my choice. I truly feel the OP should recalibrate his list to the A-/B+/B student.
Applying to Princeton, UPenn and Stanford is like throwing money out the window. Don’t waste your time. Bowdoin, Amherst, Northwestern and Cornell are also unrealistic reaches. Look at some of the midwestern LACs and CA state schools. Among midwestern LACs, reasonable reach might be Macalester, Grinnell and Oberlin. Some matches would be Beloit, Lawrence, Hendrix, and St. Olafs. Check the Common Data Set for all of the schools to which you are applying (scroll down to section C) and compare your stats to those of admitted students.
I would focus on test optional schools. There’s a list somewhere, and there are some great schools on that list. I don’t think you have a shot at an ivy with your SAT score
I’m a senior, and to reply to your older comment im not sure what my unweighted Gpa is, especially with the new transcript coming in. Moreover, yes my parents own a small business, but with all respect, what does that have to do with college apps? Or does it factor in the financial aspect of college? Thank you!
Your biggest plus is your languages. While it is totally a reach as are most of your schools you might look at Georgetown. Which college at Cornell are you looking at? Arts & Sciences? ILR? SAT stats for ILR are lower and there can be an international bent to the program. Dickinson is definitely a good choice. Strong in languages and International Relations. You might also look at Gettysburgh.
Did you take any SAT 2s? Do you have any scores from IB or AP? If they are strong they can help counter your SAT score which is on the low side for schools you are looking at. Do you have a geographic preference? If $$$ is an issue you should apply to state schools. (Are you a CA resident?).
You do need a few safeties/matches. Would you consider a year at community college with a transfer? There’s lots about you that is unique & appealing - but the test scores (especially without solid APs, SAT2s, IB, etc.) will work against you at top schools. What was the M + CR reading breakdown?
First, make sure you have applied to the CA public universities that you are qualified for – I’m not familiar with the prerequisites and bands for the various schools, but you should have match and safeties and even reaches from among those schools first. Then, look at your private choices: schools where your international experience and world view would be valued include Grinnell in Iowa, Dickinson in PA, Macalester in MN (I’m guessing, I don’t have a lot of experience with Macalester specifically, though know Grinnell and Dickinson pretty well from many visits with two kids). Dickinson is test optional but does require test scores for the higher categories of merit aid, the SAT scores should be fine, there, for merit aid.
The reference to not having funds for trip, and having to work in family business, suggests that merit aid could be important. I understand that the Net Price Calculator is unpredictable when it comes to family businesses, so merit aid could be an important factor in making college affordable outside of the CA publics. The NESCAC schools (Bowdoin, Middlebury, Amherst etc) do not give merit aid, only financial aid, so those are not appropriate schools if merit aid is a priority because of the uncertainty of financial aid eligibility.
I applied to 4 Ucs alongside my privates (San diego, LA, Berkeley, and Santa Cruz). Unfortunately i had no idea that state school deadlines were early November as well, so i didn’t get around to those. I consider Santa Cruz to be a UC safety, and if all else fails theres a UC enrollment guarantee which states that “students who meet the system’s basic academic eligibility requirements but do not get into their preferred schools will have a place to go” which is UC Merced. On another note, i think that part of the reason why i shoot for such reach schools is because they offer fantastic aid, other than that i do not know how else to get aid packages. I do not have any family members or relatives that attended a 4 year university so trying to work my way through this process is pretty foreign to me. I appreciate all your input everyone.
Indicate you’d like to double major in Arabic or Middle Eastern Studies at ALL schools. At Northwestern, future Mena major who speaks Arabic and French and has been to Palestinian territories = major hook.
Same thing at Tufts and Middlebury.
Absolutely add Dickinson, Macalester, and St Olaf.
