Chance a stressed out International junior for Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Penn Wharton, Col

Student Lounge International Students
1

International student- Junior

Major- Economics/ Political Science/ Government

GPA - 4.00 (Converted from IBDP -42/42)

Global Politics HL- 7

Eco HL- 7

Physics HL- 7

Spanish sl - 7

Math sl- 7

Literature SL- 7

SAT- 1520 (Math- 800 EBRW- 720) 3rd attempt

SAT 2- Math Level 2- 800 Physics - 800 World History 800

self study AP-

Comparitive Gov and Pol- 5

School doesn’t offer AP

ECs

Model UN- Multiple awards, chairperson x 3, wrote background guides

Debate- highest ranked speaker award at an International competition, school team, tons of exp

Director of Finance at MUN, Head of Finance at TEDxYouth conference

Founder of Astronomy group- (not school but city)- teach astronomical mapping and stargazing as well as go on expeditions bi-monthly

Started a petition writing campaign in school for persecutions across the world

Have a clotheline (fashion business), a unique service, with sponsors and investors

Organised (with my brother) the biggest E-sports competition in the city (maybe even country)

Quizzing- Quizmastered a few quizzes, qualified for a televised quiz show which takes only 30 out of 1800 teams

Interned at a local startup

Golf at National competitions (not national level :confused: )

Drafted school smartphone usage policy, and lead editor of a UN Global Goals textbook for kindergarten students (e-book)

TED liscensee as well for a TED event on Astronomy

Intern at city mayor’s office (maybe in the future)

Essays-

Common App essay- Haven’t started

I know I have very scattered ECs but I’ve just spent time discovering myself, and all of these ECs are something that I’m passionate about.

Would really appreciate any sort of criticism also

2

You certainly have a lot to offer. As far as “chances” it’s impossible to say. Those schools are difficult for everyone who is applying to them.

You should perhaps add some other schools to the list as “safeties”

3

Ummmm dude. Shoot. I would say you have a pretty amazing chance. Just go in with a good attitude.

4

yeah i will. thank you

5

thanks

6

If you are full pay, and don’t require any FA, an ED application to Columbia or Penn might help.

7

Reduce your stress - find some schools that aren’t “lottery” admissions and add them to your list. There are a ton of great schools in the US and you obviously have a lot on the ball - you don’t need to go to any one of those schools in order to be successful in life so why put all your eggs in those crazy baskets? Decide what your priorities are other than “name” and open your mind (and your application list) to other schools that meet those requirements. That way if you get into one or more of your lottery schools, great - if not, great too.

8

^ Yep.

So why are you aiming for the schools you are aiming for? What goals do you have?

Why are you stressed?

9

Average to below average chance of admission to all of your listed schools. You could be rejected by all.

Do you plan to continue debate ? Is English your native language ?

10

Congrats on your accomplishments. Understand though that competition for spots for international students at the schools you listed is even fiercer than for US students. Here is a helpful link that gives you data on where Harvard international students come from and how many from each country. http://www.hio.harvard.edu/statistics. If you are from the UK, there are 81 students attending Harvard college, or about 20/class. Assume an 80% yield (prob higher) means about 25 acceptances from the UK each year. If we look at India, there are 21 students, 5 per class, 6-7 acceptances each year.

You definitely would be in the “running” based on the info you provided, but make sure you have less reachy schools on your list.

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how can I improve my chances? Nah english isn’t my first language

12

yeah I’'ll be applying to 5 safety schools

13

The overall acceptance rates for these schools are less than 8%, Stanford less than 5%. And it’s radically lower than that for international students. So your chances are not good. They’re just not. And you know it.

Go ahead and apply. But apply also to much less selective schools. And know that if you need financial aid, you have no safeties.

14

You definitely have good chances for all these schools but keep in mind these are crapshoots for pretty much every student (unless you are an international math olympiad champion etc or you are the scion of a big-time business/political dynasty).

Applying ED to Penn or Columbia would definitely boost your chances but that might mean forgoing the chance of shooting your shot at HYPS, which a bargain many tippy top students aren’t willing to take.

Anyway for Penn you should look into the Huntsman Program, looks very much aligned with what you are interested in and it is a really unique program.

15

Thank you for the advice. I just checked out the Huntsman program and that’s exactly what I want.