<p>Hi guys!</p>
<p>This is my first post, so I'll try to be concise.
So, i was wondering, just like the title asks, am i headed in the right direction?
Im in year 11, or grade 10/12 in the american system, and to put it bluntly, I want to go to an ivy league. </p>
<p>To be short here is my plan:
1. Ace the SAT 1, I did my PSAT and i got a 170 (1700 in SAT terms)
2. Ace the SAT II's (Physics, chemistry and Math 1)
3. Take Calculus AB and Physics B AP tests (self-study)
4. Do some serious amount of EC's (volunteering in a special needs school)
5. Im already the president of the schools astronomy club, and i intend to start a programming club next year as well, as a leadership position, I'm going to the local toastmasters that is in my area (Its an organization aimed at improving people's public speaking and leadership)
I have over 150 hours of Community and service under my belt. </p>
<p>As an IBDP student, i am going to take
1. Chemistry SL
2. Physics SL
3. Math HL
4. Computer science HL
5. Business HL
6. Spanish HL</p>
<p>Im not a legacy, and I am not sure whether or not I am a URM (Middle eastern/north african) and I am not living in the US.
Do you guys think I stand a chance? Is there something I should do that I am not doing? vice versa?
I appreciate every single one of your help. Truly. </p>
<p>Thanks in advance :-D
NeverWalkBack</p>
<p>@NeverWalkBack</p>
<p>1) Yep, aim for 2200+ if your an International student
2) Do maths level 2 instead of 1 as it’s preferred by universities if you intend on majoring in engineering/business etc. Aim to get 700+ on each.
3) Completely unnecessary as your already be doing the IB diploma! I’m guessing you go to a British school? I also go to one and trust me no american universities expects students from the British system to do self study AP’s!
4) Yes, but don’t do a laundry list of EC’s, commit to a few and show deep involvement in them.</p>
<p>Your not a URM - African Americans/Blacks, Native American and Hispanics are considered as URM. You are on the right track but we can’t tell you whether or not you’ll get in as Ivy Leagues as they’re a reach for everyone and keep in mind many qualified students get rejected each year. Your chances aren’t very great mainly due to the fact that your an International student, international students have a very low chance of acceptance unfortunately, </p>
<p>Good Luck! </p>
<p>Thanks for all your help!!
Not too fussed about the URM thing, but I thought colleges wanted to ‘diversify’ their students?
Odd, in any case, I will continue to do my best!
I hope the same to you 
</p>
<p>@NeverWalkBack I guess but i’m sure there are quite a bit of Arabs at American colleges! I just realised something about your diploma courses - you’ve taken 3 sciences and no A1 language? How is that so? You need to take your native language A1 and you also need to drop one of computer science/physics/chemistry. </p>
<p>You mean like English? I just realized that myself. I think I just made a mistake writing those down… </p>
<p>In any case, I’ll recheck with the school, they have all the records. Thanks for pointing it out!</p>
<p>Why are you taking 4 HLs? Do you actually enjoy any of those classes? And yeah, you need a class of your native language. You should replace either Chemistry/Physics/Computer Science with your native language. And you are going to take TOK, right!? That class is another requirement for the diploma, which is part of the hexagon thingy. </p>
<p>And if you’re planning on self-studying Calc AB and Physics B (which is actually changing to Physics 1 & 2 next year). I hope you’re planning on using your knowledge from your IB classes and will jonly have to actually self-study a little bit for the AP test that your IB classes didn’t touch or skim through and just focus on learning the AP format and stuff.</p>
<p>@Animefan1998 Yeah, i’ve spoken to my school counselor, and she said the same thing!
There was a mistake in the application process, and I had to change it, Now, instead of my doing chemistry SL, i’m going to do an AP and SAT subject test about it. Thanks for all the help!</p>
<p>If you want ivy league, focus all your efforts on getting a 2300. Everything else will have marginal effects. </p>
<p>@Johnny H Even the EC’s?</p>
<p>SAT is much more important than ECs for International students for Ivy League</p>
<p>@KnightOne I disagree with your comment. Majority of international students that apply to top/mid tier universities already have high SAT scores. But all of them don’t get accepted (duh). What differentiates the ones that got accepted from those that go rejected? They’re ECs/Essays!! Don’t neglect doing ECs because they’ll help you stand out from the rest of the students as most of them will be just as bright as you if not more. </p>
<p>Ok i don’t mean ivy league but good colleges such as UC’s etc. But i maintain that SAT is very important for international students. I am an international student and SAT’s are really different from our national curriculum so we international students have to put extra effort to score higher in the SATs and colleges recognize that.</p>
<p>@KnightOne I didn’t mean to say that they aren’t of crucial importance what I mean’t was that other factors are just as important! I live abroad as well (but I’m an American citizen) and get what you mean about having to put in extra effort to score highly on the SAT’s as the exam format/material is drastically different to that of what i’ve been to taught in the British curriculum. </p>
<p>I’m not sure if you mentioned them, but being a lurker here, I think I’ve read that other factors that might apply are:
-First generation
-English as Second Language (pretty helpful)
-Depending on how long it’s been since you’ve immigrated. </p>
<p>Practice the SAT, as everyone’s said. I’m guessing vocab will be your hard section, but it might not be too hard to learn if you dedicate time reading as much as possible and doing flashcards/programs with it.</p>
<p>The tier of the SAT/ACT score matters way more than any other factor in this situation, hands down. </p>
<p>Yes, ECs can matter, but not much - unless you are doing something spectacular (unlikely), it won’t carry you through the door. No one cares how many HLs you take and if you chose a couple classes over others. Adcoms don’t have that kind of time to analyze your transcript and guess your decision-making. </p>
<p>If we’re talking about top 10-15 type schools, the order importance is probably:
- SAT/ACT - not the exact score, but the tier of the score. A 2250+ keeps you eligible for the top schools. Meanwhile, a 1700 basically closes the door on them.
[Large gap]
- GPA
- Impressive achievements (sports state/nat’l champ, math/science Olympiad) - this can compensate a lot for #1 and #2 if it is truly exceptional. Usually #2 is afterthought b/c a lot of people have high grades.</p>