Should I even bother with HYPS?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Can I realistically make it at the top schools? I might apply through Questbridge next year.
It's long but please help me out! I would be amazingly grateful! :)</p>

<p>Family + Background
-Caucasian male junior. some Corsican + Persian background
-None of my parents finished college.
-Single mom makes about $10,000/year.
-Mom was abandoned by rich dad, she was from France and barely spoke English. Raised me on her own.
-My Father committed suicide before he knew my mom was pregnant with me.
-He took his life after being rejected from Columbia law. He never finished at Stanford.
-most of my life we lived in my grandma's house. 10th grade things became unstable and we moved from friend's house to friend's house. sometime we just slept in our car.</p>

<p>Academic
-GPA: 3.6 unweighted. 4.0 weighted
(but WAIT! Sophomore year I had bad grades because I had no stable place to live and it was hard to study. Now as a junior, I have only straight A's)
-SAT 2100 easily expected. will take in June
-SAT II's in French, US, Math II (will take in May)
-9 AP's (Euro, US, French Lang, English Lit, Psych, Govt., Physics, Calc AB, Art)</p>

<p>EC's
-Cross Country (3 years) ("MVP", "Most Improved", varsity)
-Track (4 years) (1600m, 800m, long jump, varsity)
-French club (2 years) (president, treasurer)
-FBLA club (2 years) (went to state)
-Debate team (1 year)
-Service Club (1 year) (raised awareness for drunk driving, funds for leukemia, raffles, assemblies, invited guest speakers. acted as the "Respect Campaign Organizer")
-Jr. Scholar's Academy (3 months) (was selected among 50 students in the district for a course on the founding fathers)</p>

<p>Work
-Educated an autistic child. (1 year) (Taught him basic skills and eye contact, wrote a speech debating the potential of therapy.)
-Constructed and still maintain an e-commerce website for a small business. (earthcrossroads.com)
-Graphic design / vectors for a small real-estate company's website. (2 months)
-Interned at Zion's Bank. shadowed one of the big dogs. (1 month)</p>

<p>Misc
So I educated a 9 year old autistic child, Spencer during all of 10th grade on my own time twice a week. I taught him how to speak correctly, write, think and express himself. Over the year, his family saw improvement, and I am very proud of this. In my essay I want to compare his obsessions with an elaborate train-set he built, to my obsessions of constantly thinking of how I could better teach him during my daily life, and help him "build" himself, and then connect this to my new-found desire to possibly major in cognitive science.</p>

<p>also, my father cared for an autistic black kid, Archie, at his high school. he would bring him home and clothe him / feed him for years. surprisingly enough, he later apparently showed up to my parent's wedding, finding his way on a bicycle.
I didn't know about all this until after 10th grade.</p>

<p>There are many similarities with what my Dad did at my age. He ran the 800 meters in track, and so do I, (though he broke records). He cared for an autistic child, and so do I. He was valectorian, and so would I have been if it wasn't for a bad sophomore year haha (we were pretty much homeless; otherwise I have straight A's).
Again, I didnt know about his track success, or his helping an autistic person until recently.</p>

<p>So...
Please be realistic and honest, will these schools even give a kid like me the time of day?</p>

<p>Stanford (do i count as a legacy?)
Yale
Columbia
Brown
Georgetown
Berkeley
+many safeties</p>

2

<p>"SAT 2100 easily expected. will take in June"</p>

<p>Why do you say that? PSAT's? I think a lot may ride on this. given what your saying about your grades. Any AP scores? Also, with all due respect, you might want to be a little humble about your progress with the autistic child. It's pretty impressive, but folks who work with autistic kids might be a little skeptical about what can be acomplished in a year.</p>

<p>Great job!</p>

3

<p>thanks for the advice
I'm expecting 2100 mostly because of Blue Book practice tests, and with studying I think I can bring it past 2100. I got a 2000 on the PSAT so it's not too out of reach.</p>

4

<p>You should definitely try for it if you make those scores and even if you don't. I've gotten likelies with slightly lesser scores(though an URM with a much less interesting life story/volunteering). Try to mold your experiences into a good essay that doesn't make you seem entitled and that don't make it seem like you think your destiny is at those schools. I'd be interested in reading what sort of essay you could come up with. I'd say if you want to apply it never hurts as it is a crapshoot at the schools you posted.</p>

5

<p>I think with your parental story and the financial situation, you have a very good chance. If you can reach about 2200 on the SAT's then it looks very favorable. Applying to Columbia, might be risky to the adcoms since your father took his life because of that, but I would still go for it. You've definitely come a long way with what you have and I'd encourage you to apply for them.</p>

6

<p>As sad as many of the stories on this board are, adcom see lots and lots of stories. In the end it's about having the stats.</p>

7

<p>Is this real?</p>

8

<p>Oh yes, it's been posted dozens of times with different twists.</p>

9

<p>I'm confused. You said your dad committed suicide before you were born but then later you said your dad cared for an autistic child. Assuming your dad didn't rise from the dead, does this mean you have a step-dad? If so, then his income/influence will count and it's maybe not the same as if you had NO dad at all. But what do I know? Nothing. </p>

<p>I'd say if you can score high, write unique and interesting essays, and get super recs, you have a good chance. I don't think you'll qualify as a minority. My dad is an immigrant from Switzerland and I doubt that colleges consider me special, even though my family is totally bi-cultural....language, food, habits, and my dad's mentality is so Swiss, and all my paternal relatives live in Switzerland. I've been insulted over there because I'm half American, and sometimes people here bash the Swiss to my face too. It's not racism, but it still hurts. </p>

<p>Work hard and best of luck next year!!!!!</p>

10

<p>fiona_: yes im not making this up</p>

<p>hmom5: i agree completely; in the end it's all about the stats. But shouldn't it be considered that i have shown the potential to have a 4.0? all of my grades are straight A's, except for my sophomore year when i had no place to live. wouldn't that matter somewhat? also, so what if i have posted this before, even more than once? i'm just really worried and i found your cynicism a little insulting. :(</p>

<p>swissmiss3: my actual dad cared for an autistic kid when he was a teen himself. i have no step-dad. and i won't try to qualify as a minority since i'm not haha</p>

<p>thanks everyone else for the input.</p>

<p>does anybody know if i count as a legacy towards stanford?</p>

11

<p>dude. you're an anecdote. anecdotes are good. very good. </p>

<p>if (unfortunately, these schools are so competitive that this is an 'if') you get accepted to and attend one of those institutions, you will become an anecdote of admissions officers. They will remember you.</p>

12

<p>Top colleges that take 11% or fewer of their applicants are not looking for potential. 70% of their applicants have fully manifested potential and they can only accept a fraction of them.</p>

<p>You have posted this again and again and gotten the same answers. Why do you keep looking for someone to tell you what you want to hear?</p>

<p>I didn't mean to be insulting. I've sat in the adcom chair and read many stories. I'm trying to help you understand that as cold as it might sound, adcom do not accept kids because they feel sorry for them. Your accomplishments will be judged in context but the stats need to be there.</p>

13

<p>Wow... what a killer essay you could write. Hope you get in to your top choice with those credentials.</p>

14

<p>does anyone know if i would be considered a Stanford "legacy" even though my father died before graduating?</p>

15

<p>not everything is all about stats. people need to know about this and i believe its one of the biggest reasons why people with high stats get rejected at top schools while those with relatively lower stats get in. people will just assume that just because u have the highest gpa and sat score that ull get in. to wrap this up, u should go for those schools. u have what it takes to get to the top. dont let people tell u cant go anywhere just because of stats. ull never know! just make sure to write some killer essays cuz i know ur past and present will help u!</p>

16

<p>You have hooks, but IDK if they will carry you all the way through. I would say go ahead and go for it!</p>