URM status

<p>I'm an African American female and I am applying to colleges this fall. I am still not at ease because I don't know what schools I can get into. I was wondering if my URM status, and everything else, would help me get into Columbia ED.</p>

<p>SAT: 2030- 690CR, 690M, 650W
Sat II: Math 2, English (have not completed yet)
AP: (Only available senior yr) US Government and Politics, English, Calculus (have not taken yet)</p>

<p>GPA:4.0
Rank: 8 of 148</p>

<p>ECs:
National Honors Society- 11, 12
Jam Sessions- (music club-im a music production major in high school)-10, 12
Academic Challenge Team- 10, 11, 12
Drama Club- 9, 10, 11, 12
R.E.B.E.L.- county representative- 10, 11, 12
community college courses- sociology= A, microeconomic=s A, macroeconomics (havent finished yet), newswriting (haven't taken yet)</p>

<p>Awards:
Cape Assist Award- Anti-Drinking Public Service Announcement
School Counts
First and Second Honor Roll
Congressional Student Leadership Conference- acceptance, didn't attend because of fee</p>

<p>Other:
American Red Cross- volunteer
currently work 35 hr/wk</p>

<p>Senior Year Schedule:
Entertainment Production 3
AP English
Physical Education
AP US Government and Politics
Spanish 4
AP Calculus
Drama</p>

<p>I think your chances are average - I got into Columbia with the same SAT score and about the same rank (7th in class). God Luck.</p>

<p>Your chances would be slightly better if you apply to Engineering.</p>

<p>im planning on majoring in a social science though. either economics, international relations, journalism (not a social science) or something.</p>

<p>^^ Epam, you don’t apply to seas because it gives you strategic advantage. You might gain a tiny amount applying to seas as a URM female, but you’ll ■■■ yourself over 10x, if you are not confident on engin or app sci. </p>

<p>Apply to college ED with that profile, I agree with LW, you have a pretty average chance, they’ll probably take 1/3 or 1/4 kids like you, this is including your URM advantage.</p>

<p>sry, this is a bump</p>

<p>This may be harsh…but I hope you dont get in because you wouldnt if you were white or asian.</p>

<p>Not true at all.</p>

<p>@ Rtgrove123

Judging by your past posts, you’re clearly inexperienced and don’t know what you are talking about. I, for one, applied with nearly the same profile and was accepted without indicating my race… ass…</p>

<p>How am I “clearly inexperienced.” The majority of my previous posts have all been regarding chances of admittance into various schools or questions about programs at various ivies. None of that would indicate “inexperience”…only a desire to get other individuals feedback on my app.</p>

<p>Look, here is how I view the resume…I am sure you with your superior academic acumen should be able to correct me.</p>

<p>GPA and Rank- Well, cant comment on GPA bc I am assuming that is his weighted GPA bc 7 kids outrank him. However, we will just call it average for Columbia.</p>

<p>Test Scores- Subpar…no gettin around it</p>

<p>ECs-Well, he only has one leadership position so again they arent ivy caliber</p>

<p>Awards- Nothing of any real importance</p>

<p>Possible Bonus on app- His work experience is a nice boost to his app. However, it is not enough to pull him out of the hole that others parts of the app have landed him into.</p>

<p>–Look, what made me slightly angry with this thread was that it was posted asking if her race would make her qualified for Columbia. No one should try to use race as a get-out-of-jail free card. She should be working on her app rather than trying ask if race is enough to get into an ivy.</p>

<p>

</p>

<ol>
<li><p>You are in high school asking other’s for your chances. If you don’t know your own, how can you possibly assess another person’s?</p></li>
<li><p>You are not an adcon.</p></li>
<li><p>Clearly immature by your rude comment to the OP.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Ok GA2012MOM, Ill respond to each of your points below:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Ok, ALOT of people post chance threads on this site and go on to chance others. Additionally, when I post my chance threads, I have an opinion on my app. However, I want to hear others opinions as well. It is a somewhat communal process. To say someone is inexperienced because they ask for others thoughts on their college app is a hasty action.</p></li>
<li><p>Ya, I will assume no one else who has posted on this forum is an adcom. So, are they all inexperienced as well?</p></li>
<li><p>I stand firmly behind my statement. Unless the OP utilizes her essays in a completely OUTSTANDING way that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Columbia is for her, she would have no chance if she was white or asian. The academic bar is lowered for URMs and Legacies and a score below 2100 for an unhooked applicant is waay too low. If there was a redeeming aspect to the app then fine they may still have a shot. However, I dont see that glimmering high point. Thus, her race might hand her acceptance…it wouldnt if she was white.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>^not only are you a high schooler telling her about her chances, you are telling her how much a certain factor helps. You are in no position to be an authority on this, and from your subsequent posts it is clear that your perspective is incorrect.</p>

<p>I am at Columbia and know many unhooked kids who got into Columbia and other Ivies with sub 2000 scores. I’m talking only about white and asian kids, who specified their race, they had no legacy, no athlete nor crazy math competition status. They just had top grades in high school (which the OP does) and they had good ECs, showing that they were both passionate and well rounded. You, like, most Asian high schoolers and their parents, fall into the trap of thinking that what is quantifiable is more important. This is not the case and time and time again you see 2300s getting turned down. and you see 1900s getting in. It’s because admissions officers and interviewers see much much more than a college confidential resume. Thus you are both inexperienced but regardless in no position to say that she’ll be rejected if she checked asian in the race box. </p>

<p>Being in college, I can tell you that the correlation between even college gpa and intelligence or future success is weak. Some of the smartest people I know have low gpas at columbia because they choose to devote time to other things, some of the stupidest people I know at columbia, have very high gpas. I cannot make definitive statements about their future success or an application success based on a scant set of details.</p>

<p>Just an aside… the adcom would most certainly know if the applicant was indeed an Asian based on the applicant’s last name (Chen, Wang, etc., it’s fairly obvious). No need to check “Asian/Pacific Islander” in the race box here.</p>

<p>Ok, confidentialcoll you make some legit points. However, I will try to respond to them.</p>

<ol>
<li>I do not really try to assess each component of the college apps importance to colleges. That varies from college to college and cannot be reviewed by anyone short of an admissions officer at the given college. My point was that she, while a good student, has no standout component to her app. Everything that I can see from what she posted was either below average or average for any top 20 school.</li>
</ol>

<p>“They just had top grades in high school (which the OP does) and they had good ECs, showing that they were both passionate and well rounded.”</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Again, based soley on what the OP posted, I really dont see any passion or well roundedness. She didnt put the hours spent in her clubs, so I reviewed both her awards and leadership positions. Both of those things are almost nonexistant on her app. I said previously that people can have low SAT scores and some other standout quality and can get accepted to a good school.</p></li>
<li><p>Look, I love the SAT and think it is a great test. However, I agree is not a deciding factor in ivy admisison. It is something though…and it is weighted as very important at most top 20 schools. Her scores are subpar for almost everyone of those colleges (though bc she is black she may be cut some slack). Thus, she needs to standout elsewhere and I simply dont see any standout factor.</p></li>
<li><p>Ok, you guys all thing she stands a good chance. Why? I really dont see anything amazing about her app…however I have been wrong before and will undoubtly be wrong in the future.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Rtgrove123: Another bitter Asian? (But I gotta say, the system does seem to breed this sort of behavior.) Affirmative action is an unchangeable fact of university admissions. The part that you “hope” OP does not get in is simply bitterness. You’ll get over it eventually.</p>

<p>Incidentally, I still don’t think OP’s chances are that great. ECs are a bit bland. honors society? “academic challenge team”? these sound like generic ECs that require very little dedication (but correct me if I am wrong). Plus I wouldn’t even mention honor roll as an award.</p>

<p>Zephyravatar- lol no a bitter white…and that doesnt detract from my assessment that the OP’s app will not get her into many ivies.</p>

<p>I said she has a decent chance, because her URM status gives her a significant advantage, the opposite, that without it she wouldn’t get in, is not possible to say in this case. My assessment is that Columbia takes 1/3-1/4 people like her, which means that I think she’ll still likely be rejected, but compared to the average ED chance, hers is comparable or slightly better. Based on these stats, she would be one of the worse profiles on paper if she were accepted. remember that admissions statistics describe the average accepted score not the average applicant score.</p>

<p>Confidentialcoll-</p>

<p>Firstly, the reason I think that if she was white/asian should would be immediately be rejected is because the fact that she is a URM is the only real thing going for her on her app. Additionally, yes, these schools look at the applicant not the person, but her ECs and honors and the like dont help her in anyway from my humble perspective.</p>

<p>There are many deserving URMs who have lower test scores than average, who given their circumstances (single parent HH, low income, low-performing school, etc.) should be given a boost in their applications. We also know that admissions committees give nearly the same boost to URMs who grow up in advantageous situations (for example, Colin Powell’s grandkids and soon Barack Obama’s kids), who really don’t deserve it. And that is the crux of the pain felt by both Asian and white applicants who aren’t privileged, yet are lumped in together in the admissions pool with their more affluent peers.</p>

<p>I see this in Northern California quite a bit, where Asian students in crappy public schools (100% minority) are bypassed by their black and Hispanic peers in the college admissions game despite outperforming them academically and extracurricularly by wide margins. Their non-English-speaking parents, who typically work in restaurants or low-paying service jobs like convenience stores, are understandably bitter about the situation.</p>