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Ok I am an Immigrant from Ethipoia, came here about 5 years ago currently attend a small public school in washington DC.
GPA 3.6->3.8
SAT 1200
taking psych course in GW
National honor roll
work at a non-profit org
captain of chess team
captain of Soccer team
Attended many leader ship conferences
currently taking the only ap course that my school offers
I volunteer at soup kitchens
I worked at the Boys and Girls Club
Attended Phillips Academy Summer session (full scholarship)
rank 1st in my class

By MR. on Saturday, October 05, 2002 - 01:54 pm: Edit

sorry for the missed spellings!

-Taking the ACT and SAT II soon

By Marina (Marina) on Tuesday, October 08, 2002 - 12:17 am: Edit

Hi. I'm applying to Columbia and Penn too. I don't really know what I'm talking about any more than you do but I thought I'd respond. I think that because you are an Ethiopian immigrant you have a good chance with an SAT score of 1200 (that kicks most other people out). I would really consider trying to bring that up to a 1300 or trying to get a 30 or so on the ACTS. Your commitment to your community stands out. I think also they will see that you worked hard to take challanging classes even though your school didn't offer that many. Have you considered Georgetown or GW, they probably take a greater percentage of kids from the DC area. Also, I am from St. Louis and I absolutely love Washington University but I'm not sure I want to go there because it is about two blocks from my house. But it is a really good school that I completely reccommend. Also, I went to an Info session at Penn and they said the essay about Why Penn is really important and some people tend to blow it off. Penn has a special "multi cultural recruiter" who is coming to my school tomorrow, incidently, maybe you should try to talk to him. Also both of these schoools are big ED schools. I know Penn takes 50% of their class ED,I think you have like a 40% chance of getting in ED, which seems a little ridiculous to me but try it if it's your first choice.

By Cclions (Cclions) on Wednesday, October 09, 2002 - 02:10 pm: Edit

Colleges look for initiative. Your school not offering many AP courses is no excuse to not have the same course levels as other students around the country. Most community colleges will accept high school students proving you get a letter from your principal attesting the the fact that your high school has limited AP options and the few it offers you are taking. Not only will the community college allow you to take courses during high school but schools like Columbia and Penn might even allow you to transfer extra credits. The only catch is that you are limited to a certain amount of courses as a high school student in a jr college.
Another plus is that schools like Columbia and Penn will also see that you have college experience and that will put you ahead of students with more AP courses.

By Cclions (Cclions) on Wednesday, October 09, 2002 - 02:22 pm: Edit

Also, while your English is so/so, it's far from fantastic. I know that being in the US for five (5) years exempts you from taking TOEFL but I would suggest that you consider it. The TOEFL in conjunction with your SAT's justify your weakness in English. Your chances of getting into on of your choice schools will be greatly helped. The average SAT I score at Columbia is 1400. You are FAR below the average. Taking the TOEFL justifies your sub-standard SAT I score. Being black or hispanic also helps a great deal. Both blacks hispanics are under-represented at both Columbia and PENN and both schools are hoars for diversity. You likely will not be held to the same standard as other applicants because you belong to a low performing,under represented demographic. This will work to your advantage.

By Cclions (Cclions) on Wednesday, October 09, 2002 - 02:28 pm: Edit

The college essay is the most important part of the application. These schools want to know who you are. They love diversity. They, in a sense, have to choose between "batman & Spiderman" academically. The essay helps to make you sound like a real person, not some drone who takes tests. Schools want leaders not test takers.