Should a first generation Asian student apply with bad SAT scores?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>Should an Asian student, whose parents did not attend college, who comes from a poor rural area of the Northeast, bother applying to Harvard with these scores?
690 CR, 650 Math, 780 writing - 2120
or 30 ACT
22 Science, 34 reading, 34 writing, 28 math.</p>

<p>I guess what I mean is, if someone is first generation and comes from an under performing school, do these factors at all overcome these supposedly "bad" scores, considering that the rest of the application is pretty solid (but not necessarily amazing -- no hooks)?</p>

<p>Or is it simply a waste of time and money?</p>

2

<p>okay, first of all a 2100 is not a bad score, you guys seriously need some confindence in your selves....</p>

3

<p>^ I've always thought a 2100 is a pretty good score too! :-/ </p>

<p>But some of the CC members here seriously wear down on your confidence, you know?</p>

4

<p>for the OP - there is a tip for first gen college, in general. Harvard is also trying to be more diverse socio-economically.</p>

<p>But how that plays into what appears to be called ORM :) on this forum I don't know. It's worth a try, and if the app fee is an issue, I believe there are fee waivers available.</p>

5

<p>If you are low-income as well, you might try applying. I think you have a good shot.</p>

6

<p>it also depends on where you live.</p>

7

<p>Just wondering.. how would they know that you are from a low socioeconomic class, if the application is need blind?</p>

8

<p>Need blind means they don't consider whether you need financial aid when making admissions decisions. It doesn't mean they can't figure out some rough idea of your socio-economic status. Usually that comes from a combination of your zip code, what school you attended, whether you checked off the 'need financial aid' box, etc</p>

9

<p>Do either the SAT demographic survey or the PSAT demographic survey ask about family income? I thought they did, but now I'm not so sure. (The survey results wouldn't be distributed to colleges in an individually identifiable way, of course, but they would result in target mailing lists for college recruitment.)</p>

10

<p>Just go ahead and apply. You never know what's going to happen.</p>

11

<p>Apply..you have a good chance.</p>

12

<p>And yeah, 2120 is NOT a bad score. It's 97/98th percentile!</p>