are those schools too good for me?

<p>i'm a japanese female who moved to TN 4 years without knowing any english..literally.. i'm applying as an international (since i only have E-2 visa) but not applying for financial aid. i'm planning to major in either math or applied math. with my horrible verbal scores, i don't know what to do!! help me!!!</p>

<p>GPA: 3.80w(60/630 ish)
SAT1: M800, V520 (retaking!!!)
SAT2: Math1 800, math 2 800, Japanese 800, Bio(E) 660(ouch..), writing 530(retaking..probably end up with 600 ish), Chem(expecting 730 ish)
PSAT last year: M80 V40 W48
ACT: M36, S31, E28, R22 (retaking..but probably not gonna submit anyways b/c i do better on SAT's..or should I?)
TOEFL: 280/300
AP classes: Biology, Chemistry, Physics C, Statistics, Calculus BC, German.</p>

<p>EC's:
Mu Alpha Theta: state treasurer, historian, 1st in state convention for 2 years. 14th in national convention etc. tutoring.
Math Team: 1st in state for Pre-Cal last year. 1st in state for another state-wide convention. and several 1st place's in other regional conventions. AIME:5
Piano study: 14 years of lessons. always get into top 10 in the state but never be any better than that. have played 40 pieces as an accompanist for school choirs outside the class.
Voice study: 3 years of lessons. member of auditioned top choir in our school for 3 years. Treas/Sec for choral department in school. member of auditioned a capella jazz choir for 2 years.
Tri-M honors society: started the club. treasurer
Red Cross Volunteer: about 200 hours in past 2 years.
Versity Swim team: 9-10 grade, and then quit
and some other clubs like NHS, German Club, German Honors Society, Science Club, Key Club etc.</p>

<p>i'm thinking about:
Stanford
Cal tech
Cornell
UC's (which ones should i apply to?)
Rice
Northwestern
U of Michigan, Ann Arbor
GA tech</p>

<p>are they too high for me??</p>

<p>Ga tech, UC, U michigan, and possibly Rice and cornell should not be too hard for you. your toelf score is preeety good. Since you are applying international, you should have no problem with that score of yours.</p>

<p>I completly agree with ecner</p>

<p>for chances, this is what i think.</p>

<p>Stanford-no
Cal tech-no
Cornell- if ED, good shot
UC's (which ones should i apply to?)- medium chance at best ones (berkeley, ucla)
Rice-most likely not
Northwestern-probably not
U of Michigan, Ann Arbor-good shot
GA tech-probably in</p>

<p>thanks for the comments! yes i realize that stanford and caltech would be a really high reach for me.. do you think it would be waste of time and money for me to apply to those schools?? or should i still apply stanford and caltech?? and no i'm not doing any ED's. (+ it's too late now..lol)</p>

<p>eponine767:</p>

<p>UCs: UCB, UCLA, UCSD</p>

<p>hey, you never know. Apply where you want to go.</p>

<p>your english seems to be good.</p>

<p>thanks for the comments, again! SAT verbal absolutely kills me!! i got 430 in June, 520 October, and i'm retaking it in December and i'm hoping for 600....still preeeety low but i'm hoping to get out of 500's on both SAT verbal and SAT2 writing since it seems to me that 500's would hurt my record whole alot... anyway, i found out that my school doesn't rank anymore and only reports to the colleges that i'm within the top 20 % of the class!! i think it's a good news for me since i'm barely in the top 10% (as you can see)..isn't it??</p>

<p>While those colleges will understand your english is not quite up to par with an American student, you <em>will</em> be compared to other international students with verbal scores in the 600-700s along with math scores in the high 700s-800. That'll put you at a disadvantage for sure. I'd say GaTech is a good school for you (remember it's 75% guys...not sure if that's a good or bad thing for you). UMich is possible, but your grades, out-of-state status, and composite SAT might hurt you. I'd say UCLA and UCBerk are out of reach. hope this helps...</p>

<p>Have you looked at Harvey Mudd, Grinnell or Carleton? HM is actively looking for girls, and Grinnell takes a more holistic approach.</p>

<p>thanks for inputs!! anybody else!?</p>

<p>chances???????</p>

<p>IMHO, Stanford--and perhaps Caltech--are pretty high reaches. But, as an earlier poster reminded you...never know unless you try. Best of luck!</p>