Could you look at my stats and ECs and chance me for any top schools?
Competitive private high school in MD
international but I’ve been in the states for more than 5 years(which qualifies me as US applicant for some schools)
Asian male(I know…)
Stats-
1530 SAT, planning on taking again to get 1550+
4.1 wgpa, my school has a- which brought down my gpa by about .3
would be ~4.4 under UC system
5 on AP Calc BC, 4 on AP Euro from sophomore year (school doesn’t APs for freshmen)
APUSH and AP Lit for this May
Senior year courses- AP psychology, AP stats, AP Spanish, AP Econ, AP Gov/AP physics(haven’t decided)
top 10% of my class
ECs
Class representative for 2 years(likely 3)
3 year member of the school locally famous Jazz Band
2 year member of the musical
4 years of Varsity XC
Own band performing for charity outside of school
Currently conducting an independent research regarding an US-passed legislation on African economic development, has interviews of ambassadors, first hand collected data, and recognition from famous people in Africa. Hoping to start my own NGO which focuses on the role of women in African families during the current economic revival. Possible collabs with a professor at University of DC. I am hoping that this could be a big part of the application.
Rec letters
I haven’t asked for them yet but I will get one from my history teacher who helped me with the research
and probably the head of my school as well.
The ambassador of Ghana to the US whom I interviewed said he would write me one too.
My intended major is Political Economics, which I think goes along with my project
and I am hoping to apply to Columbia ED.
If you’re attending a competitive private HS in MD, your high school guidance counselors will be the best source of specific feedback for you. They not only know you (or of you), they know how students from your HS typically fare. Ask them and listen to what they say; good chance this will be much more accurate than the advice of random strangers.
This stranger would mention, though, that unless the “ambassador of Ghana” knows you personally and has worked with you to a greater extent than you interviewing him, this would be poor choice for recommendation.
Thank you for your response!
I am still working with this ambassador as he is helping me with my research and teaches me many valuable lessons. He knows me personally pretty well and we’ve known each other for quite a while now.
Secondly, weighted GPA is calculated very differently in different high schools. As such we really can’t compare your 4.1 with someone else’s 4.1. What is your unweighted GPA? Do you know what your rank is in your high school?
Also, you need to put significant effort into thinking about safeties and match schools. Your stats make it reasonable for you to apply to Columbia. However, you should look at it as a reach. Reaches are relatively easy for academically very strong students such as yourself: Just apply to famous schools that have a good program in your major. Matches and safeties are important to think about.
Finally: What is your budget?
I agree that your high school guidance counselor should have a good sense regarding what schools you should be looking at.
@DadTwoGirls
Thank you for your response!
My UW gpa is somewhere around a 3.9
I’ve gotten one B so far(Ap lit) and a C in photography freshmen year I was absent for too many days due to family issues
Budget wise, scholarships would be nice but my parents are willing to pay for the elite schools.
At the risk of saying the obvious: It sounds to me that you are doing well. I have heard very good things about UMD, and the very few graduates from there that I have worked with have been very good. I think that you have a shot at top schools, but they are a reach. It is probably much better to get a C in a non-academic course freshman year than in almost any other course.
You may be confusing residency for tuition purposes with being considered a US applicant. You normally have to be a citizen or green card holder to be considered a domestic applicant; some colleges include undocumented/DACA in this. What is your visa status?
First of all, I’d recommend that you broaden your view outward from just the elite/Ivy League schools. You have great creds, but you should realize (and your parents as well) that it’s not worth sacrificing your health and your life to be admitted to a specific school. There are so many amazing schools that are not Ivy League, but are excellent, prestigious schools. Where I live, we have student jumping in front of trains when they don’t get into the school of their or possibly their parents’ choice. Try to breathe, and remember that where you go to school does not determine how your life goes. Only you determine how you want your life to go.
The distinction between schools that will evaluate you as a domestic applicant and those that will consider you international will be very important to your process of identifying good safeties, matches, and reaches.
It is very fortunate that you have financial resources. It’s the high-financial-need international students that are in the toughest bind; they’re basically stuck aiming for super-reaches in order to get the needed aid. I’m not sure whether your choice of Columbia as an ED school is because it’s truly your favorite, or if it’s strategic… but applying ED there as a potential full-pay international student probably isn’t a bad pragmatic choice. Columbia devotes a larger percentage of its class to internationals than most elite schools, and they are need-blind for domestic applicants but not for international… so their awareness that you’ll pay full-freight if admitted may even be a “hook” of sorts. Note this Q&A from their FAQ’s:
Q: Are international students allowed to apply Early Decision?
A: Yes. However, even very competitive foreign candidates who are applying for financial aid and fall out of the “need-blind” category may be deferred to Regular Decision so the Admissions Committee can review the entire global applicant pool.
See what they did there? They’re implicitly pointing out that international students who do not need need-based aid are most welcome to apply ED.
Of course, that doesn’t make it a slam-dunk, but it does make it a good pragmatic choice.
In terms of choosing match and reach schools, you need to assess how your personal price-point varies with the attributes of the school. If you would pay in-state rates at UMD (are you considered a resident for tuition purposes?), then that sets a bar to rule other schools in or out depending on whether they’re worth more to you than UMD at the price you would pay.
You mention UC’s, and the UC method of computing stats seems to work to your advantage; are there schools in the UC system that you’d be comfortable paying $65K/year for? If so, not a bad option.
You have a lot of great strengths, and it’s great that you’re thinking through your situation early, as it’s more complicated than for a domestic applicant. You should be in very good shape as long as you apply wisely.