Tufts vs. Georgetown...Do I even have a chance?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey guys! I’m a senior and I’ll be applying to a large variety of schools with strong IR/Poli Sci departments. Two of those schools include Georgetown SFS and Tufts, in respect to preference. I’m having trouble deciding between the two and in my mind, I keep questioning myself about whether or not I’ll even be accepted to them. Here are a few of my stats:</p>

<p>Personal
Sex: M
Ethnicity: African American
Income: 29k with 4 dependents (single parent)
1st generation</p>

<p>Academics
GPA: 4.0 UW
Rank: 2/337...my public school has well over 1700 students
SAT: 610 W, 570 CR, 580 M =/
ACT: 27 composite, 9 essay
SATIIs: 740 World History, 740 US, 710 Bio (I’m taking Spanish in November)
APs: 5 Bio, 4s on World, US and Enviro Sci (i indpendently studied enviro) and a 3 on AP Lang
Senior Courseload: All APs and one honors class. I plan on independently studying AP European History and Comparative Government.
My essays are very good and I have confidence in my recs</p>

<p>Awards
-Black Achievement Award for Outstanding Academic Accomplishments (2006-’09)
-Arista National Junior Honor Society (2007)
-Featured in Who’s Who Among American High School Students (2007)
-People to People Student Ambassador: Europe (2007)
-3rd Place in Oratorical Competition at 53rd Eastern regional Phi Delta Kappa Youth Conference (2007)
-The National Society of High School Scholars (2008)
-Honorable Mention in Oratory at NAACP of Rockland County’s ACT-SO Competition (2008)
-English Honor Society (2009)
-Science Honor Society (2009)
-National Honor Society (2009)
-AP Scholar with Distinction (2009)
-RIT Innovation and Creativity Scholarship Award (2009)
-Presidential Merit Scholarship Award from The King’s College of New York City (2009)
-Questbridge National College Prep Scholar (2009)
-Questbridge Individualized Counseling Award Finalist (2009)
-National Geographic Student Expeditions Scholarship Finalist: Tanzania (2009)
-Williams College’s Windows on Williams Scholarship Finalist (2009)
-Principal’s List for three consecutive years</p>

<p>Extracurricular and Leadership Positions
-Concert Band: Percussion (2001-Present)
-Freshman Class President (2006)
-Chartering member, Secretary, Vice-President, President of Epsilon Chi Fraternity, chapter of Phi Delta Kappa, Inc. (2006-Present)
-POW’R Success Team (2007)
-Arista National Junior Honor Society (2007-’08)
-Sophomore Class Secretary (2007-’08)
-NAACP Youth Chapter of Spring Valley (2008-Present)
-Student Advisory Council Secretary (2008-’09)
-State Pre-requisite Enrichment Program (S-PREP) of Columbia University (2008-’09)
-Model United Nations chartering member, Vice-President (2008-Present)
-Academic League (2009-Present)
-Cofounder, Vice-President of Paper Dreams Writing Club (2009-Present)
-Founder and President of Mentoring Under Student Trust (MUST) (2009-Present)
-President of Student Advisory Council</p>

<p>Work Experience and Community Service
-BRIDGES Academy Employee with Cornell University, Cooperative Extensions of Rockland County (September 2006-January 2007)
-Community Action Partnership of Rockland County
Head Youth Tutor (February 2007-Present)</p>

<p>-NGSE Tanzania: 32 hours of community service by installing a new water pipe in the village of Maji ’ya Chai (July 2009)
-NGSE Tanzania: 8 hours of community service by harvesting maize and distributing manure at a host family’s residence (July 2009)
-CAPROC: 60 hours of community service from managing Summer Reading Tutorials (Summers of 2007,2008. June and August 2009)</p>

<p>I know my standardized test scores are bad but I’m really trying. I can’t afford taking prep classes or anything of that sort, but everyday, I pick up my review books and study my brains out. I’ll be taking my SAT for the 3rd time in October and I’m retaking my ACT next week. I really hope that the admissions committees aren’t overly critical on my scores. Will being African American help my chances? I’m also applying to a few non-binding schools early via Questbridge (if I become a finalist). However, the schools’ admit rates are extremely small (stanford, yale & princeton...why not? you never know!). HELP ! If there are any other schools that you have in mind according to my stats, please don’t hesitate to share. Thanks!</p>

<p>By the way, the National Geographic Student Expeditions Scholarship was extremely competitive on an international level.</p>

2

<p>What was your junior course load? I think you surely have a fighting chance, you have great grades and ECs. You’ll have leeway on your test scores because of your race, but the ACT may treat you well, too. Anyway, don’t underestimate yourself, you’re certainly not screwed for either school. Good luck!</p>

3

<p>Thank you Danielle! That really helped a lot. My junior courseload consisted of two APs and one independent study, an advanced spanish course with Syracuse University and two honors courses. I also went to Columbia University every saturday to study physics.</p>

4

<p>With a rigorous course load for your school you have a chance. Chances would be much better with 600s in CR and math, but the 27 may be better, I’d don’t know the ACT conversion.</p>

5

<p>Okay, you’re going to get leeway on your SAT scores because you’re black, but not THAT much. You’re going to get 100-300 points leeway, which barely brings you into the middle ranges for those schools. Getting up your test scores needs to be your number one priority, since otherwise you’re a pretty good applicant.</p>

<p>However, you may get better financial aid from Tufts. Tufts guarantees to meet 100% of need with no loans, whereas Georgetown guarantees 100% of needs but offers (and may require) loans as part of the package. Since you may or may not be able to put forward the $2000 work study contribution and the $2000 “student contribution” from summer time earnings, remember that those numbers may turn out to be loans (I’m saying this because you and I are at a very similar financial level), too. So by means of guarantees, Tufts is going to give you a better FA package. Georgetown could, of course, come through and match or beat Tufts, but you won’t know until you apply.</p>

6

<p>Study for your upcoming SAT/ACT, do your best, apply, and hope for the best. You have a good shot now, a better one if your scores come up, but you certainly have a chance. Good luck!</p>

7

<p>Laundry list of EC, AP and SAT II looking good.</p>

<p>Try to raise SAT/ACT. Thats the only thing holding you back.</p>

8

<p>Tufts is not fully need blind so Georgetown may well be better for financial aid.</p>

9

<p>

The process was instituted at the tail end of the RD round and affected ~5% of the applicant pool. I would hesitate to pull an application simply because of that. After all, Brown became need-blind only recently, and WUStL still isn’t. Like Georgetown, Tufts meets the full need of all students it admits.</p>

<p>Tufts would be loan-free for the OP, since his family makes less than $40K per year. Last time I checked, Georgetown did not have such a policy.</p>