Chance a German Asian for Stanford,UCB,Caltech,Upenn and Chicago,will chance back! :>

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi all, you may wonder what a German Asian is :>, I was born in China, and moved
to Germany when I was nine. I went to a US High School in Michigan for the junior year and will graduate 2012.</p>

<p>The purpose is to decide whether I should go American for college or rather German, because in Germany there are great colleges such as Munich, Heidelberg or Aachen, those are on the same level as ranked ~#20 US colleges and they don't require tuition, in addition to that I have good chances to get in them. </p>

<p>Target:
Reach: HYPSM and Caltech
Low-reach: Upenn, Chicago and Duke
Safe: U of M</p>

<p>Objective:</p>

<p>*** I speak German, English and Chinese fluently(all three are on the same level, all "first language") I have an A2 degree in French(equivalent for SAT II with listening) I have studied 2 years of Latin and 2 years of Ancient Greek**</p>

<ul>
<li><p>ACT: 29(I took it 3 months after I arrived in US, language barrier etc.)
Will take one/two times more, looking forward to get at least a 32</p></li>
<li><p>SAT I: Will take in Oct</p></li>
<li><p>SAT II: Will take in German, Chinese, Math, Physics and Chem</p></li>
<li><p>Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.0 in 1st semester, 3.7 in second (I was straight A in Germany)</p></li>
<li><p>Rank: School neither ranks nor release val GPA</p></li>
<li><p>AP: Will take in Chem, Physics and German</p></li>
<li><p>Senior Year Course Load: AP Chemistry, AP Calculus, AP Literature</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Individual Awards- (weakness on my application): Non(there are no such awards in Europe)</p>

<p>Team Awards- :(all in Germany/Europe)
* Basketball:two-times U16-Division II Champions
U16-European Championship Ro32
* Tabletennis: ITTF junior-world-championship Ro16</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Extracurriculars: Basketball(SG/PG, teamcaptain), Lego NXT robotics/programming team(Teamcaptain), choir(3 years), Chem Lab</p></li>
<li><p>Summer Activities:
-Volunteered in a orphanage(200 hours) and church basketball league(50 hours)
-travelling: I visited about 30 countries on 3 continents, visited all EU countires plus UK, Swiss and Norway</p></li>
<li><p>Work: *FIBA licensed basketball-referee for Division IV, about 15 games experience *</p></li>
<li><p>Essays: Working</p></li>
<li><p>Teacher Recommendations: N/A</p></li>
<li><p>Counselor Rec: N/A</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Other</p>

<ul>
<li>Apply for Financial Aid?: No</li>
<li>Intended Major: Math or Physics</li>
<li>State: MI</li>
<li>Country: US(my high school)/Germany(permanent residency)</li>
<li>School Type: Privat</li>
<li>Ethnicity: Asian</li>
<li>Gender: Male</li>
</ul>

<p>I recognize there are certain glaring weaknesses in my application, also do I realize that I lack awards. The fact that I'm Asian (east Indian) may hurt me; however, my stay in Germany, US and my language skills should make it up. I just hope all of the above factors and whatever weaknesses you may see will add up to multiple rejections from all of these top schools. </p>

<p>Best Regards and Good Luck to everybody else applying!</p>

2

<p>You could become a competitive applicant if you got a 2300 on SAT and 750+ on all your sat 2s</p>

<p>however now I see all those schools as high reaches, UofM may be a high match, duke may be a medium reach. </p>

<p>Unfortunately I don’t see anything outstanding in your application. No doubt your volunteer hours are good. Indeed, you have some leadership positions as well. However, You would be on the lower end of the applicant pool with your current stats. </p>

<p>Also, I don’t think language helps as much as you thinks it does. While indeed colleges will consider your past, there are applicants that come from similar backgrounds and actually annihilate the american education system’s standards lol. In their case, their background only ornaments their achievements. </p>

<p>also the first German university that pops up on the world rankings is actually #51 not 20</p>

3

<p>^
thx for replying :slight_smile:
I understand that my stats are really not great for the schools I am aiming, but I literally slept through the first semester :(, I hope I will do better on the tests… And about languages yeah since I want to study Math/Physics its prolly really not that helpful…</p>

<p>About German colleges: They are often very very specialized in majors :> that’s why they usually don’t pop up high on rankings and plus, 50k$ in a year is a lot hehe, I don’t think I would want to pay 200k$(4 years) for a “slightly” better undergraduate degree…</p>

4

<p>Don’t bother applying. The best chance you have is U of Mich which you would be a low-medium reach in. Everything else would be beyond highest reach.</p>

5

<p>^
Thank you! Indeed based on 3.7 GPA and a 29 in ACT my chances are miserable :<
However I do think I should be able to do a lot better on the tests after my stay in US.</p>

<p>What SAT II tests should I take in addition?</p>

6

<p>SAT II’s aren’t that important. A lot of CCers think they are which is why they are misinformed. Focus on your SAT I’s and master your academics.</p>

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<p>I don’t really have anything to say in relation to your “chances,” but I suggest that you not take the Chinese and German SAT IIs. Colleges don’t like it when native speakers do that - it would be pointless. :)</p>

8

<p>Thx guys, so about SAT I only have one shot which really sux(Oct-1)… Is the one on
Nov 9th early nuff for colleges with deadlines on Janurary 1st?</p>

9

<p>Trilinguality is very interesting, especially in the combination of that three. But the most important task for you right now is to get recruited for one of the two sports that you play. As a basketball player myself, I can assure you that there’re at least some DIII colleges (which includes Amherst, Williams, UChicago etc) willing to take you over some 2300-SAT cookie-cutter applicant. As for table tennis, I’m not exactly sure how good you are (ITTF rating would be nice =) ), but there’re some good schools out there (Princeton, JHU) that actively seek out world-class table tennis players. Try to get into contact with the coaches and see what they can do for you. If any one of the two sports you play is taken care of, the relative weakness in your GPA and SAT will go completely unnoticed.</p>

10

<p>^
sounds like a plan :slight_smile:
thank you!</p>

11

<p>PS: How about Carnegie Mellon? I forgot to add it to my list.</p>

12

<p>What the heck do you even want to major in?</p>

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<p>Intended Major: Math/Physics
but i wonder whether I can pick a unpopular major to get in a college :></p>

14

<p>^I cant even lie. That thought has ran through my mind before.</p>

15

<p>^
so did you end up doing it?</p>

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<p>Depends on what school you apply to. Most likely, an unpopular major would be one you would regret trying to use in order to get into a good school. If you can’t dance, don’t dance.</p>

17

<p>^
Thx, that was just a thought anyway :slight_smile:
Looks like I will have to kick my own ass to prepare for SAT(and I will!)</p>

18

<p>Indeed. Keep in mind that there are definitely other schools available to you, which are probably just as great in terms of academics, and some may even offer more connections for your future career! These would include state schools & other public institutions.</p>

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<p>It’s really unusual (and cool!) that you’ve studied Ancient Greek. Almost nobody does that in the U.S. I think the University of Chicago would find you an interesting applicant. But you’re right to consider the financial question of whether it makes sense to pay for an expensive education in the U.S. when you could get one nearly as good in Germany for much less.</p>

20

<p>@RevSam
Any suggestions what schools I might want to look at? </p>

<p>@Greenblue
Thank you! :></p>