<p>To everyone who says that SAT prep classes dont make a difference and that African immigrants/children of Africans SHOULD NOT be perceived as “URM’s”:</p>
<p>A friend of mine who is an upper-middle class black american took the SAT’s for the first time and got in the 1000’s (out of 1600) with no prep classes. She goes to a MUCH better high school than me but takes honors/regular-level classes. I go to a sub-par school w/ avrg SAT in the 800’s (the majority of the students are low-income black americans) but i take all AP/IB classes. By studying A LOT during the summer I was able to get a 1300 the first time I took it in Nov. According to my teachers, guidance counselors my score was “great” for whatever colleges I applied to, even ivies. but Collegeboard.com and CC said otherwise and I prepared from March to May for my 2nd retake. I couldnt afford a prep class, and the most I could spend w/ the money earned from a PT job was $40. I bought two books and along with some FREE online resources, used those as study materials for the SAT. Meanwhile, my friend was taking a $300+ prep course. Our scores came at the end of May:</p>
<p>Hers- 1270/1600
Mine- 1310/1600 </p>
<p>She also took the ACT and got a 23. Her parents (who both have college degrees) are forcing her, again, to take a prep class. My parents dont know anything about those standardized tests, and unlike many asian parents, have not had to deal w/ the pressure of national examinations. </p>
<p>We are applying to some of the same schools including UPenn, Duke, and Georgetown. Who should get the affirmative action , the low-income african immigrant with a high gpa/rank, lots of EC’s and awards but medicore test scores, or the higher-income black w/ a lower gpa who, yeah, might have faced the same isolation as the OP (she goes to a mostly white/asian school as well) but that doesnt bother her much b/c she DOES fit in from a socio-economic viewpoint. I dont fit in with the “average black student” at my school but i know africans-- and asians and whites— who DO. What separates my school from the more high-achieving schools in my county is mostly economical, cultural issues and THEN racial ones. For example, our school has an english as a second language program and we get LOTS of hispanics who barely comprehend english but have to take the same state tests as everyone else (according to No Child Left Behind) Add this problem to the other socioeconomic issues, unqualified teachers and faculty, etc and what do u get? A mess of a school where even the so-called “AP and IB” students (who are not wealthy as are a few asians in my class) score below average on standardized tests. And unlike my black friend I mentioned earlier, they CANT afford prep classes, tutors, qualified teachers, etc.
I am not saying that colleges should punish all minorities who are rich and go to private schools and/or are african in heritage. I do agree with whoever posted that article about africans in ivy league schools. I personally know several who fit that mold: parents are well-educated, children perform really well in mostly “white” schools and they end up going to H/Y/P/S/Duke. I wish there was a study on how many of those Africans/blacks at ivies are upper-middle class. I bet those numbers would be more shocking than the Africans vs. blacks in ivies story.</p>