Chance a Chinese International Applicant Please (Updated Format, Will Chance Back)

Chance Me / Match Me!
41

<p>Wow looks like choosing schools is easy for you. Pick ones from page 1 of some rankings then done.</p>

<p>I think you have a chance. Academically, your stat looks like any Ivies deferred and accepted but according to “am i a hook?”, i think with a well-written essay of where you’re from, schools will pick you.</p>

<p>An applicant from my country whose residence history was somewhat like your got in Dartmouth since he knew how to put its importance to his life in his personal statement.</p>

<p>good luck</p>

42

<p>@ AcaEnthu</p>

<p>Lol at your first sentence :D</p>

<p>Yes, I do think that my essays are really my lifeline in the top schools since there are probably thousands of others with the same stats as me. </p>

<p>May I know your country of residence? Just curious,</p>

<p>Thanks again,</p>

<p>Piano.</p>

43

<p>In my chance me thread :-P</p>

44

<p>@chachacha</p>

<p>Thanks for your thoughtful input. I feel that my essays are what can, hopefully, make me stand out. I chose to write about my life in rural China and the death of my grandpa (cliche, I know, but since this was part of my experience in China and influenced me significantly, I decided to include it) and the challenges in my life. I by no means consider myself a magnificent write, but I put time and effort into these essays and felt that they were as “perfect” as they could be.</p>

<p>Oh, and, a lot of high-stats Asians play the piano…:frowning: (dang smart asians ruining my chances lol)</p>

45

<p>The fact that you are international will hurt you. People think it’s better if you aren’t from the US b/c it adds diversity, but in truth they accept very few and tons of qualified international students apply. Also, I applied to MIT EA and was rejected, and I had felt great about my essays and even better about my interview (I actually had managed to impress my interviewer somehow, but obviously that was not enough). I think you have just as good of a chance as any at MIT, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, but I’m afraid that doesn’t mean much. As far as your other schools, you have a very high chance at being accepted to at least four of those.</p>

<p>Feel free to chance me when you have a moment.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1056044-what-my-chances.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1056044-what-my-chances.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

46

<p>11 years taking piano lessons? I know how much piano lessons cost in China or in America. It’s not cheap. You lived in China for first 6 years, when you lived with your grandpa. You lived in America for at least 9 years (?). I don’t think you are 15 years old. So you may live in U.S. longer than that. I doubt your so called rural relatives in China contributed that much to your development. You may claim your cultural difference from that angel, I don’t buy it. However, I am not in Admission office. So my opinion does not really count. Your stat are good, same as others who apply to Ivy leagues.</p>

47

<p>^ I think you’re gonna get a ferious reply from pianodude xD</p>

48

<p>@goodbetterbest</p>

<p>I moved over to the U.S. right when I turned 6, and began taking piano lessons pretty much as soon as I started 2nd grade in America, so all my piano lessons were taken here in the U.S. </p>

<p>I’m almost 17, turning 17 in a couple months, so I’ve lived in the U.S. for over a decade. However, those 6 years of my upbringing by my grandparents in rural China still remain in my mind. I don’t mean to challenge you because you gave me a relatively negative chance, but rather because you challenged that the first six years of my life had little if any influence upon my future. </p>

<p>I’m not sure how you lived the first 6 years of your life, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t involve working the fields since you could walk, and watching your grandpa die to a curable disease when you’re 5. To be so young and to have experienced such hardships and challenges are, arguably, a significant influence upon someone. If you state that your childhood has no influence upon you…then I’m really not sure why people say that “during your early years, you’re most susceptible to outside influence and change.” Don’t believe me? Just Google “when are children most influenced?” or the like. </p>

<p>My grandpa was not simply a grandpa to me, he was like my father since he pretty much raised me and cared for me when my dad was busily pursuing his work and graduate degrees during those 5 years. When my grandpa passed away, it was like losing my father because he meant so much to me. If you will for a moment, imagine you’re 5 and you lose your dad, and then come back and tell me that that had no influence upon you, then I will gladly accept all of your above statements.</p>

<p>I agree that most of my development occurred in the U.S., but that crucial foundation for my life began and will always be influenced by my childhood in rural China. Those hardships and sufferings I experienced, along with the joys and friendships, has ultimately come to define my personality and has shaped me into who I am today. </p>

<p>Once again, I appreciate the time you spent in chancing me, but please do not come and challenge me on how six years of my life, in your eyes, meant absolutely nothing in my future growth and development. I promise you that had I grown up in the U.S. from day one, I would be a very very different person than I am today, for the events which I underwent and the experiences that I gained in rural China has influenced me in radical ways.</p>

<p>Sincerely,</p>

<p>Piano.</p>

49

<p>Bumpity bump bump</p>

50

<p>Bummmpp… :D</p>

51

<p>Excellent objective stats. ECs look good, too, though you could use a few more ECs in your intended major of biomedical engineering (e.g. doing research). Course load is solid, with a good number of AP courses. I can’t believe you’re applying to that many schools, but with your stats, it shouldn’t be a huge problem. You can never tell with top schools-it’s really a lottery system, but I would say that the Ivies are low reaches for you (as they are for everyone), while the other schools are mostly matches. Very impressive!</p>

<p>Please chance back a fellow Asian :smiley: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1056729-condensed-concise-profile-chance-me-please.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1056729-condensed-concise-profile-chance-me-please.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

52

<p>I understand the reasons for writing about your grandfather. Doubtless, your grandfather’s death has had a profound impact upon you as a person, and I’m sure you can write a really good essay about it. But I’m not sure that it’ll help that much, in the grand scheme of things. Remember, the fact that you’re Chinese, makes it a lot more difficult, considering the amount of competition you’re facing. So rather than trying to create sympathy or reveal yourself through this kind of situation, try a different approach. The essay about the life in the rural areas of China, will probably be more effective. </p>

<p>Your test scores and grades are good. But honestly, the competition’s insane this year. In my school, 40% of the students have a 2300 or above on their SAT, with straight As. And I doubt more than 1 or 2 will get into Harvard.</p>

<p>Think about it this way, admission officers are trying to recruit people who will be successful in the future. People who show traits and that reveal their potential. Such as creativity, or quirk, or idk. Show that the environment you grew up in, or your grandfather’s influence has altered the way you’d approach a typical problem, or the way you deal with it.</p>

<p>My two cents :)</p>

53

<p>And yeah. you’re applying to WAY too many schools. It’ll affect the way your supplementary essays come out, but oh well, it’s too late right now.</p>

54

<p>Excellent appliaction. However, the mere fact that you are ORM and international puts you at a disadvantage. Which simply means that you probably won’t get into all of them, but definently some. Good luck.</p>

<p>chance me: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1056376-chance-me-plz.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1056376-chance-me-plz.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

55

<p>The Chinese love Harvard. Try more for MIT or Johns Hopkins: not only are you more likely to be accepted, but they are much better for your intended major.</p>

56

<p>To OP, your stats are good, not exceptionally good. </p>

<p>you mentioned that your parents are both educated from Harvard, MIT kind schools in China. So your family is college educated. According to your moving around in U.S. and you are still international, I assume they are pursuing Master, PhD degree, then Post Doc. studies in academics. So your family is professional, middle class, as majority students here. You are not first generation college bound student. You do not have economic disadvantage.</p>

<p>Your whole schooling has been done in U.S., even though you are a foreigner. U.S. already provided you a free edcuation so far. For somebody in China now, if they want to get in good Junior High or High School, they have to pay tuitions about several thousand dollars a year. You do not have educational disadvantage either.</p>

<p>You were not born in rural China. Your parents decided to send you there to live with your grandfather at that time, instead of live with them. It was by their choice. Since your parents are college educated, they would have sent money to your grandpa to cover your living expense. Your experience living with your grandpa is unique. However, it is only the experience when you are a TODDLER.</p>

<p>Good thing you only mention that your distant relatives and cousins (I call them distant because now China only allow 1 child per family) are depending on your getting in Harvard. I am so glad you did not claim the whole China is depending on your getting into Harvard. IMHO, nobody is depending on your getting into Harvard, except maybe yourself and your parents.</p>

<p>You left China for 12 years. How much connection you have with your distant relatives in rural China? Do you write to them regularly? Did you visit them recently? When you went back, did you do something to help them? Harvard is looking for somebody with leadership potential, not just to correct some social injustice. In your case, I believe it is a stretch to claim there was any injustice happened to you.</p>

57

<p>hahah Pianodude is gonna have another ferious reply xD</p>

58

<p>Since your chinese, and apply as in international from china, i think they really look at character. Adcoms know that chinese people study alot, and usually academics is first priority… so i guess from the Chinese international pool, they’re looking for someone with character and a personality? They don’t want robots who will study all day, they want someone who will be able to contribute to the college. Marks will only get you so far, and just about everyone applying from china will have those top marks. It would be great to have international extra curricular etc. but there are about 40 places for Chinese internationals (looking at past stats), and they can’t all be international maths olympiad medallists. </p>

<p>and with your essays, i don’t think adcoms are going to pour over it, looking at minor details and whether they make sense etc. it doesn’t matter whether you were born in rural china or whatever, the fact that you had to work there etc. is enough. I know my dad at a young age was forced to go work in a farm with his brother, so i have an idea of the hardships that you faced. working in rural china is good for your essay… like it really enables you to express what type of person you are, and I think that’s what’s most important for an essay.</p>

59

<p>Thanks for all the advice and chances guys,</p>

<p>@goodbetterbest</p>

<p>I’ll reply after I finish the rest of my college supplements, don’t have time atm.</p>

<p>@epicgee</p>

<p>Thanks for your thorough feedback</p>

<p>@rest of people who I said would chance</p>

<p>I’ll get to it as soon as all these supplements are submitted</p>

<p>Added Information:</p>

<p>The Harvard Interview went incredibly well. Scheduled for 1 hour but we ended up talking for over 2 hours. The EC went into great great detail about her personal life at Harvard and was very enthusiastic about the overall conversation. She wanted to know the results of my college applications…so maybe that’s a sign of interest? She seemed to be very impressed by my piano and was very genuine throughout the whole interview. At the end…she kinda treated me like I was already admitted lol…saying “Oh yeah, don’t forget to visit this shop…and this one…my friends and I went there (personal story)…when you’re at Harvard”. Very very good interview in my opinion (we shook hands twice afterwards haha). Hopefully my personality will come through in her report.</p>

<p>Okay time to finish up my supplements, peace out dudes.</p>

60

<p>@goodbetterbest</p>

<p>I never stated I had some “injustice” done to me. I simply stated that I have been through challenges that most people normally won’t experience, and how those challenges have helped shaped me into who I am today.</p>

<p>Secondly, in no right are you to judge who and when has influenced me. By saying that my 6 years of life in China meant nothing is a direct insult to the upbringing of me by my relatives and the love that my grandpa had shown me, up until his deathbed. You still did not answer my question, “If your father died when you were 5, would you dare say that that had no influence upon you?” My grandpa was a father to me in the sense that he was responsible for raising me, and no, my parents were not rich at all. They grew up in the rural countryside as well, and they did not send money back, in contrary, my grandpa and my relatives sent money to them in order to support them. Trust me, my family was quite poor in China, only recently gotten better financially.</p>

<p>My parents’ stories are incredible, to come from a remote rural village in China, through academic achievements, get into the best colleges in the country, especially in China, where preference is given towards the rich and the powerful. They were the first ones to go to college.</p>

<p>Also, my parents did not just “send me to live” with my relatives. They had no choice. They had no time, let alone money, to raise me. It was not an act of unwanting, but love.</p>

<p>I call my relatives in China weekly and write postcards to them regularly, so, yes, they still have a strong presence in my life.</p>

<p>You don’t know about Chinese culture do you? My entire extended family is depending on me to get into a good school. For I am the oldest of my cousins, and the first to have the opportunity to attend a university in the U.S. If I don’t get in, I won’t just let myself down, but let them down as well. My cousins see me as an inspiration, and by getting in, I would serve as a role model for them. Not to mention that the one school my grandpa knew about in the U.S. was Harvard, and getting him will truly honor his memory. RIP Grandpa, love you always.</p>

<p>In conclusion, I do not “claim any injustices” have been committed towards me, rather challenging and unusual circumstances. How about you move over 10 times across 4 different states and 2 countries in 7 years and tell me that you are not in the slightest way affected somewhat academically and emotionally.</p>

<p>Sincerely,</p>

<p>Piano.</p>