<p>Myself: My "story's" main focuses
- African American Male
- Immigrant Parents (Father went to college, mother did not)
- Muslim
- Have been working for my father's business since I was a child
- Had to leave my mother and move in with my father because of alcoholism
- Went through depression most of high school</p>
<p>Grades & Scores:
- 3.4 UW - top 17% from a class of 530 - All most rigorous classes
- All 3's on my AP's
- 27 ACT w 10 in writing
- 640 SAT BIO</p>
<p>EC:
- President of student council
- Founder of chess club
- President Academic Team
- VP FBLA
- I have started 2 community events
- Tennis 4 years and provide free tennis lessons to the underprivileged
- State Director for NSHSS
- NHS, BETA, KEY, MSA, NEHS
Summer:
- Studied social justice in Australia off of a scholarship
- Traveled to India to study medicine
Recs:
- (Most likely) Principal
- Counselor - Very Strong
- Chemistry - Strong
- Math - Moderate
- Do coaches matter?
Awards:
- Diligence in Mathematics
- 4th Place in state for FBLA medicine
- 5th place for researched persuasive writing in state for HOSA
- 5th place in region for FBLA public speaking
- Most hours on court for tennis</p>
<p>Art Supplement:
- Documentary on the impact illegal parents have on students' development.</p>
<p>I can't think of anything else, which means it probably isn't that important lol</p>
<p>Your test scores are very low for Pomona. The 25% mark is 31 (so only 25% of applicants have a score under 31). You do get a boost from being a URM, but I would assume Pomona is a high reach for you. There isn’t much at this point you can do to improve your application unless you plan to take one more shot at the ACT. I would not mention your depression issues in your application, either.</p>
<p>What other schools do you have on your list? Also, if your parents are separated or divorced, schools like Pomona do want to see the finances of both parents (and any stepparents) when awarding financial aid. So you need to be careful about the net price calculator results, they may not be accurate for you.</p>
<p>Oh also, I visited the campus, did an interview, and will send cookies (as a joke because on their FAQ page they ask for cookies). Not sure if this will help or not. I’m trying as many ways as possible to become a familiar name with admissions if that helps, because it is a high reach as you said. </p>
<p>Your URM and Muslim religion are advantages for you and your life story could be a hook told properly. Agree that you don’t want to mention your depression. Pomona will want to see what in your profile can compensate for relatively low GPA and scores – on two levels. 1) What shows them you can do the rigorous work? And 2) what else are you going to bring to the community if you’re not the strongest scholar on campus. Think about shaping your application with that in mind. I see leadership in your profile, and some evidence of academic strength – Pres of Student Council and Academic Bowl, the usual academic societies – all very good. If your art supplement is really strong that will help tremendously. If your essays and letters of recommendation are strong this will also help your case. Not every student is the top of the statistic pile so your job is to show what other strengths you bring and how you will enrich the campus. Good luck!</p>
<p>Couple of things, request an interview, they are not always offered but if you are in CA, do it, even if you are OOS request one where you live. 2nd your SAT Subject tests, you need 2 and both should be well into the 700’s, the above comments withstanding</p>
<p>It’s going to be really tough, to be honest. Be sure you realize that this is a reach school for your profile. If you are a California resident, and I assume you are with UCLA on the list, I would definitely add UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Davis as “target” schools. If not a CA resident, you will have to pay out of state tuition at UCLA, and if you need financial aid, there will not be any.</p>
<p>Well, I applied to Pomona College ED 1. My essays are strong and gripping, so my AP Lit teach told me. I did not do the Art’s Supplement because the admissions team told me that if I do not intend on majoring in that particular field (i.e. video production), then it is better left out. Also, I had no good ideas for one of the optional essay, so I left it blank. Now that I regret it, I called admissions, and they said I can email it to them and they can include it into my application. Fingers crossed, Good Luck to everyone who applied! I appreciate your help, guys!</p>
<p>Lowest stat that I know of was a 29 ACT but the student was ethnically VERY diverse (asian, white, latino, and native american), and had a 3.9 UW GPA. Good luck! You still have a chance :)</p>
<p>I don’t understand the arts supplement advice. What admissions “team” is that? Can’t be Pomona. My D submitted a supplement which definitely helped because the school was short of that particular type of instrumentalist, but she definitely isn’t majoring in music. I don’t think there is a music major.</p>