<p>I have a few questions regarding my current situation. I'm currently a high school junior and I started working full time 7 days a week this year because my mother was laid off at work. I have been working since freshmen year in order to save money for college and to help my family with paying the bills. I only worked part time the first two years of high school since my mom was also working part time and I was able to maintain straight A's in the Pre-IB program during those two years. I also scored a decent 780 and 750 in my Spanish and U.S History subject tests respectively and a 5 on my AP U.S. History exam during my first two years of high school. I volunteered and have continued to volunteer by teaching guitar and English as a second language in my house. I am also the one in charge of taking care of my grandparents (although I do receive help) who live with us since they can no longer live by themselves which is why I do my volunteering at home. Finally, I live around 1.5 hours from school. I was able to deal with all of this when I was working part time but now that I'm working full time and in the IB program my grades have dropped to A's and B's. I have reduced the hours I volunteer but I feel like I can't stop volunteering completely because both of the classes I teach have become too important in my Hispanic community. I know the A's and B's are not the end of the world but I just want to know if admission officers would put the drop in my grades in context with my situation. Also, is working full time looked down upon by admission officers? Thank you and sorry for the questions but I'm new to the college admission process since I'm the first person in my family that is going to attend college.</p>
<p>I’m no admissions officer, but from what I’ve gathered, holding down a steady job–nevermind a full-time job–is extremely impressive. On top of your academics and community involvement, you’re also committed to a job. Having a real job (and not a plush “internship” that Mommy found for you by pulling some strings) shows dedication, maturity, and responsibility. </p>
<p>A Columbia representative who visited my school told us that holding down a regular job is considered a strong testament to an applicant’s character–it shows willingness to venture outside of the school environment, maturity to make such a commitment, and responsibility to contribute to the family income. The rep mentioned a couple other reasons why a real job is a positive attribute to any applicant, but you get the idea. </p>
<p>The rep also said that all applicants’ achievements are considered in context. This means that adcoms will understand if you don’t have the credentials of a suburban kid with rich parents who can shuttle him to SAT prep classes, tutoring, etc. Of course, if you’re starting to receive less-than-stellar academic markings, don’t make it a habit.</p>
<p>Hope that helps! I am in a similar situation, so I can relate to your concerns. Fortunately, I’ve had the opportunity to ask adcoms these very questions, so now you know as well.</p>
<p>Working full time is nowhere near a detriment to your application. Having family responsibilities of this magnitude–and continuing to volunteer despite a difficult home life–will absolutely be taken into consideration by admissions officers. They can’t excuse truly mediocre grades, but a few B’s will make sense in light of your situation and are unlikely to hurt you, especially combined with stellar SATs/SAT IIs. </p>
<p>This situation and your extradinary reaction to it will make for a fantastic application. Top schools will be happy to have you if you keep up the good work. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Thank you CoffeeEnthusiast and glassesarechic for all of the information. I also want to ask if being Hispanic helps because I have not been able to come upon a definite answer. Thank you.</p>
<p>I hate to do this but…bump</p>
<p>Yes, as a Hispanic you are an under represented minority (URM) which will certainly help you when applying to college. You sound like an extremely motivated individual, and I’m sure most colleges will be eager to have you.</p>
<p>What you’re doing is admirable. Who will take care of the family when you go to college or will you just apply locally?</p>
<p>What is your job? Take a look at how your income impacts EFC. I’m afraid you may have to do an aid appeal because so much of a student’s income will be expected towards tuition.</p>
<p>You can get into pretty much ANY college you want. Ivy’s included. You have pretty much every hook possible</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes, it does, though the Hispanic URM boost is substantially less than that conferred to African Americans and Native Americans.</p>
<p>If my family’s situation does not improve by the beginning of my senior year then I will most likely take a gap year in order to continue helping my family. If my family’s financial situation does not improve after the gap year then I will apply locally. I currently work as a translator and assistant for a company’s representative here in the United States. How can I find out how my income affects my EFC? Thank you for all of the help.</p>
<p>asereph are you being sarcastic? haha</p>
<p>Very impressive… no one should have to go through all that. I might direct you to questbridge.org if you’re interested. You fit their target perfectly. </p>
<p>Here’s an EFC Calculator:
[EFC</a> Calculator: How Much Money for College Will You Be Expected to Contribute?](<a href=“http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/efc_welcome.jsp]EFC”>http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/efc_welcome.jsp)</p>
<p>Though I would guess that your EFC would be pretty low, if not 0, if you need to work full-time to support your family.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I don’t think s/he is… with the info you’ve given us, and if you do reasonably well on the SAT, you have a definite shot anywhere IMO</p>
<p>Thank you physicsnut1. I have been considering applying through questbridge after looking through this website because the financial aid would be of great help. If I apply through questbridge and do not get matched, can I take a gap year and still use the questbridge application because I have read that some schools accept the questbridge application for regular decision. I actually don’t make a big deal out of my situation which is why none of my friends from school or teachers know about it. I just look at it as another obstacle in life since many people have to deal with worse situations but all of this positive feedback helps since I at least know that my hard work might pay off.</p>
<p>physicsnut1, what is a reasonable SAT score for top schools?</p>
<p>wow thats an inspiring story…you should DEFINITELY apply to questbridge end of junior year…as for your SAT you can get as low as 1900 and still have a shot at ivies but judging by your SAT 2 scores u can get 2100+…definitely include all the socioeconomic hardships you have dealt with in every essay you write!!
good luck</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Everyone thinks something different. Some on CC will claim that you need a 2250+ for top schools, but I think that so long as you are within the 25-75 score range (For Harvard, for example, that is roughly 2070 - 2350) your scores are good. It’s all about the story (and yours’ is great, obviously) that accompanies those scores. </p>
<p>That’s pretty cool that you can work full-time and not make a deal out of it 
Not to mention some of the others things you do! Best of luck with everything!</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for all of the help. I will continue to do what I have been doing for the past two years and hopefully I will be admitted to one of the top schools in the country. Best of luck to all of you with the college admissions process.</p>
<p>Quick Update:</p>
<p>I was able to bring up my grades and ended up with all A’s at the end of last semester. I’m currently ranked 9th out of around 500-550 (I do not remember the exact number of how many students attend my school). My unweighted GPA is 4.0 while my weighted GPA is around 4.9. I just wanted to say thank you once again for all of the support and help. Even though I do not post often on these boards, I have gained a great amount of knowledge from just lurking around CC and reading all of your other posts. Good luck to all of you once again.</p>
<p>That’s really fantastic. Best of luck.</p>