Chance a Guy from Borneo (international)? :)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Test Scores:
SAT 1
1460 (CR+M) 2070 (Total) 690-770-610 (CR/M/W)
SAT 2
Maths 2- 780 Physics- 780 Chinese- 800</p>

<p>Academics:
Predicted final year grade: General Paper (English) A Maths A Physics A Geography A Economics B (No GPA or school rank)
10th Grade GPA 3.57 out of 4.00 (distracted by year-round business research projects)
9th Grade GPA 3.78 out of 4.00</p>

<p>Archery (11th-12th Grade) School Captain
-Represented school in various National level competitions
-Best: 1st Position in Team Standard Recurve for National Inter-school Championship
Judo (8th-10th Grade)
-Represented school at Inter-school competition
-Bronze for individual event at inter-school competition
Badminton (till 9th Grade)
- Second place for Men's Under 14 doubles in State competition
- Borneo Badminton Cup (top 8 Men's Under 14 Doubles)</p>

<p>Social Service:
- Student volunteer for the disabled archers during training on-and-off for approximately a year.
- had weekly visitations to the nursing home for old folks.
- approx 240 hours of community involvement hours
(i know that the hours shouldn't be the main purpose for the social service, just wanted to show the extent of commitment)</p>

<p>Leadership Involvement:
- School Orientation Group Leader
- Peer support leader</p>

<p>Awards:
- Entered the Finals as a top 6 adult team for a national business competition by a university with teams from India, LA, Singapore. (2007)
- Boston Consultant Group Entrepreneurship Competition, a national level business competition which covered a period of one year. (2007)
- Geography Weather Studies Research Competition, semi-finalist, national competition.</p>

<p>Work Internship:
- Service Auditor at a Consulting Firm for a period of 10weeks. </p>

<p>Recs and Essays:
Pretty good i hope. And my counc is pretty experienced and well know among the deans for some colleges. :)</p>

<p>Hooks:
Im not sure if this will be a hook, but im from an indigenous tribe in Borneo, and a minority group in Malaysia. Didn't grow up in a city, and had a different growing up experience from some of you guys here. i received a government scholarship to study abroad in a foreign country four years ago, and fortunately was exposed to the idea of US education. :)</p>

<p>Weakness:
- probably my SAT1. my reading and writing are terrible. takin again in december, but i have some doubts on improving my scores.
- dont really have much awards in the academic field, like the many science olympiad winners i've seen on CC. </p>

<p>Schools im lookin at:
my current choices are </p>

<p>princeton yale (dream)
duke
vanderbilt
lehigh
tufts
middlebury vassar hamilton franklin & marshall (lacs)</p>

<p>not really sure where i stand. so hoping to get some opinions and suggestions from you all. open to both liberal art colleges and national universities. and if you have suggestions on how i can improve my application, do let me know too! </p>

<p>thanks! :)</p>

2

<p>I don’t know how accurate my chanciing will be, but let’s give it a try :)</p>

<p>Overall, things look good. I’d like to divide your stats into impressive/not impressive.</p>

<p>Not Impressive:

  • Your GPA isn’t bad, yet it wont impress the admissions. I don’t think it’ll drag you down much at all, yet, as said, it won’t be advantageous.
  • your ECs aren’t that impressive. what they usually look for, what I’ve heard, is passion when it comes to ECs - depth in something. Your ECs don’t seem to match each other, there’s not much that’s in the same “category”. Also, some of them are quite ordinary.</p>

<p>Impressive

  • HOWEVER, your awards look very good. It would be nice to know how many competed in these as well.
  • SAT II look very good, think these’ll impress. However, is chinese your mother tongue? If so, it will not impress.</p>

<p>“In the middle”

  • your SAT scores are totally fine according to me. it’s maybe a bit below average of the ivies, but not something that makes it impossible to get accepted. Definately not.</p>

<p>So… your chances:
Princeton + Yale - Dream but almost “semi-reach” if you get it :stuck_out_tongue: essays and recs are very important aswell, and you do actually have some quite impressive stats.
Middlesbury - Reach/“semi-dream”
Haven’t heard of the other schools so can’t say.</p>

<p>What you could improve:

  • get som more depth into your ECs, try to find your “nisch”, get some ECs that together prove a passion that you have.
  • keep doing the SAT I, and try to have a positive mindset. You shouldn’t doubt yourself, my friend improved by 300 pt from the first to the second time she took it. It pays to think big :slight_smile:
  • Improve GPA, if still possible.</p>

<p>Hope this helps you :)</p>

<p>btw. Please chance me back :smiley: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/810900-chance-help-swede.html#post1063522971[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/810900-chance-help-swede.html#post1063522971&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>hey SwedetoUs,</p>

<p>thanks a lot for the suggestions. :slight_smile: i do agree with u that my stats are pretty ordinary. and also that there’s a lack of depth in my ECs. i’ll probably have to do much better for my essays and recs. </p>

<p>anyway, BUMPZ!</p>

4

<p>That’s one heck of a hook, if you use it well. </p>

<p>Make your essay a bit autobiographical, or at least show who YOU are. They don’t want to see “How I Spent My Summer Vacation.” Submit a good essay for Middlebury’s graded essay and make sure your teacher gives it detailed, strong, positive marks.</p>

<p>A private Kaplan tutor for the SAT really helped me get my math score up. They focus with you on your trouble spots and help you identify them and fix them. It’s expensive, but totally worth it (my math went up 80 points, cr went up 60, and writing went up 20). </p>

<p>Chance me back (mine’s called Crossing My Fingers). Thanks, and good luck.</p>

<p>Peace.</p>

5

<p>hey thanks a lot infos33k3r.</p>

<p>im not really sure how to present myself, coz i wasn’t sure if my background is considered as a hook (im thinkin that there are a lot of people with indigenous backgrounds applyin all over the world, so doesnt make my background a hook i guess). </p>

<p>i agree with wad u suggest for my essay. i ll work on that! thanks!</p>

<p>will chance u back.</p>

6

<p>bump! thannkss!</p>

7

<p>Your background isn’t really a ‘hook’, because that term is usually restricted to under-represented minorities (e.g. hispanics/latinos, Native Americans, blacks) who are US permanent residents or US citizens and thus qualify for affirmative action. However, you can use your background to an advantage if you can show Yale/Princeton, etc. that you would enrich their campus with the diversity and unique experiences that only you can bring. There are international minorities applying to Yale and Princeton, and yet there are even more plain, normal city-bred kids doing the same. Don’t worry about other applicants; you only have control over your application, right? Pour your heart into the essays and show your passions and commitments. What makes you an amazing individual with a the potential to do amazing things? </p>

<p>I’m sorry for not chancing you, but I don’t really know if I’d do an accurate job. Your SAT I score is a bit low, so you could try bringing that up, but standardized tests aren’t everything. Students with lower and higher scores have gotten both accepted and rejected. Everyone has a chance! I wish you the very best of luck with your application! :)</p>

8

<p>hi slakedlime, thank you very much for your comment. its really very motivating. i was still doubtful about myself trying for my dream schools before this, but i guess i probably will just give it a shot and do my best. </p>

<p>thanks a lot! i ll try to represent myself as a unique applicant the best i can. :slight_smile: and certainly work hard for my SAT soon, though im still in the midst of my Alevel exams.</p>

9

<p>bump for chances in these schools please! :)</p>

<p>duke
vanderbilt
lehigh
tufts
middlebury vassar hamilton franklin & marshall (lacs)</p>

<p>and open to suggestions too.</p>