<p>South Carolina
African American
Top Public
School does not rank
Income $35,000- 40,000</p>
<p>GPA: ~3.88/4.4
ACT: 30
SAT: Will retake next month
SATII: Have not taken</p>
<p>EC's:
Knitting club, charter member/will be president (3-4)
Class president (2-4) VP freshman year
Cross country (1-4) captain (2-4)
Track (7-12) Captain (2-4)
2 Marathons, one as a frosh one as a junior
Several additional races, 5K's, 10K's, 20K's and a few half marathons
Volunteer service tutoring 2 hours a week, and running errands for a local arts center
Book Club (3-4)</p>
<p>Awards:
National History Day regional winner
Academic Letter
Four time Athletic letter
All region Track
College of Charleston Governor's Scholar 2007</p>
<p>And the objectional:
Essays: one about my mothers drug addiction, the other the standard "why ________" or something along those lines
Recomendations:
One from my Chemistry H/ AP bio teacher
the other from my Humanities H/ AP Lit teacher</p>
<p>Three day suspension in my junior year after pouring coffee on a peer, I explain my stress at the time because my father was returning to jail for not paying child support, I felt guilty, frustrated....can't change it now.</p>
<p>Bard
BU
Columbia
Cornell
Harvard
Middlebury
NYU
Stanford
U chicago
U Penn
University of Southern California
Vassar
Wesleyan
Yale</p>
<p>I think if your recs are really stellar and your counselor says what you did was out of character, you have a shot anywhere. Low income AA from south is a huge boost.</p>
<p>i think you have a really nice application package! good gpa, good ACT. do well on the SAT and you should get some nice results!</p>
<p>Bard- definitely in (trying to improve diversity)
BU- in
Columbia - reach
Cornell - slight reach
Harvard - reach
Middlebury - slight reach, but your background will definitely be helpful (they have lots of new england white prep schoolers who apply)
NYU- probably in
Stanford - reach
U chicago - dont know
U Penn - reach
University of Southern California
Vassar - probably a high match because they also love diversity
Wesleyan - slight reach
Yale- reach</p>
<p>good luck!
(i dont think the suspension will hurt you at all)</p>
<p>Well, Columbia's acceptance rates, total, were eight percent this year. For early decision, they were twenty-four percent. I'd say it gives a nice boost. </p>
<p>Good luck with Columbia. You can get in. All you have to do is write good essays and get good recommendations. Your stats are very good. We're in the same boat: I plan on apply to Dartmouth ED, although my situation is quite different than yours. [BTW, the thing with the suspension is that you might have to explain it to them why you got suspended and so on.]</p>
<p>I'd say for any of the Ivy's better scores are would be helpful, but don't freak if you can't improve them. I think a well-written essay about your family life would tip the scale.</p>
<p>I might take the ACT again, but I definitely skipped the SAT yesterday. haha. I decided my ACT score could be worked up instead.</p>
<p>Tux, good luck with Dartmouth! Applying to any Ivy is like voluntarily going before a firing squad. Not because of a crime, but for vendication, education, verification. And I wonder the worth of it all. </p>
<p>On my March SAT, I made a bubbling mistake on one of the critical reading sections, and it just started a chain reaction. Every single answer then was moved back one. So, I'm concentrating on the ACT; I'm doing pretty well on practice tests, since I'm getting 33-35. And I might take the SAT in October, but I wouldn't worry about not taking the SAT at all.</p>
<p>That really sucks about the bubbling mistake. Good luck on the ACT!<br>
I thought the yield was higher with URMs, or is that just at Harvard? There just arn't many high scoring URMs anyways. For the SATs it's only like 2,000 blacks a year who score over a 1200, which isn't even scratching the level of scores that the top schools want to see. I guess being black will help, but I hope I'm not just another "black case".</p>
<p>One last question! My mom went to community college, so she has a two year degree. Does that mean I'm a first generation college student or not?</p>
<p>Um...actually i dont know (i would think not.) As for the columbia issue, no. Numbers can be decieving, so try to analyze what the increased percentage means. You realize that those who want to apply to Columbia early obviously really want to go there. Plus, they have to be at least at some level a "better" applicant than those who apply regular decision. Therefore, things balance out, and your chances going early are just the same as regular (possibly even...less?).</p>