<p>**2300+ SAT, 750+ on SAT subject exams</p>
<p>99.5+ ATAR, no GPA or class rank available (but this ATAR = top 0.5% in state)</p>
<p>Superb teacher and counselor recommendations</p>
<p>Some Bs and Cs (in geography and sport, both of which I am no longer doing) in report with a legitimate reason for them (financial difficulty, family death)</p>
<p>Very strong leaving exam taken in year 10, which is standardised </p>
<p>Amazing essays and short answers**</p>
<p>ECs:
**
School newspaper that was nearly dying that I 'revived', and managed to quadruple participation rates (editor in chief)</p>
<p>School band for two years (flutist and pianist)</p>
<p>Volunteering at a church for mentally disabled people (was a buddy to two guys)</p>
<p>World Vision & Sponsoring Club at school, where we try to raise money to sponsor children from third world countries (senior member)</p>
<p>School outreach/community service club that raises money, awareness etc for cancer council, visiting nursing homes, sending money overseas to third world countries etc (senior member) </p>
<p>*NGO-registered charity that is focusing on building a school in a third world country by getting donations, fundraising and enticing sponsors (co-founder and co-president) </p>
<p>*Self-published author</p>
<p>Summer research at a university in my future major in college*I'll also be applying to Harvard, Princeton, MIT, Dartmouth and Yale, since they're all need blind even to internation students, but Yale is my dream school and I'll be crushed if I'm just not good enough for it. :/ </p>
<p>If I can't make it to Yale, do I have a shot at any of the other schools on that list? I'm really fond of Dartmouth and Cornell as well...</p>
<p>--</p>
<p>Details copy+pasted from another thread. Please do read if you can; it explains our school system.</p>
<p>I'm the only person in my school who is applying for Ivy league schools, so I don't have anyone to compare against; and everyone who is on CC seems to be so amazingly qualified at pretty much everything. I feel totally lacking and inadequate in comparison to those varsity sporty guys, international science olympiad champions and presidents of ten different clubs or something. I'm just...ordinary, you know? :/</p>
<p>My grades aren't great either. Although we don't have GPAs or class ranks in Australia (and so I won't be submitting them) we ARE required to provide a complete secondary school report... and I'm terrified that this will bring me down enormously. </p>
<p>Year 9: 5 As, 4 Bs (science, geography, sports, commerce) and 6As, 3Bs in final report (history, geography, sport)</p>
<p>Year 10: 6As, 2Cs (sport, geography) and 6A, B (geography) and C (sports)</p>
<p>Year 11: 5As, 2Bs (English Extension, Maths Extension) and 6As, B (history)</p>
<p>I haven't gotten my year 12 report yet, but I know that they'll be straight As this time (both midyear and final) - but I'm wondering whether my Bs and Cs have ruined my chances at Yale completely. </p>
<p>I do have a legitimate justification for my poor grades. My father was diagnosed with terminal cancer at the start of year 9; I spent the entirety of year 9 and 10 spending time with him and helping out in the house (my mother was his caretaker, and they both stopped working, so we were tight on money) After he passed away in the middle of year 10, our financial security plummeted, as my mother went back to school to provide a better life for us and thus had no income. I started working part time to lessen the burden on her. </p>
<p>Another worry is the fact that I don't have any remarkable awards that are worthy of mention, apart from an academic award in history and maths a couple of years ago, and a school-issued Gold Award that can be obtained by being an active participant in every facet of school life.</p>
<p>In Sydney, we do a standardised test called School Certificate at the end of year 10 which is state-wide and tests students on materials from the past two years. I did well in it, with scores of: English (97), maths (96), computing skills (99), history (97), science (94) and geography (90). As an international student, I'm required to submit this result...this is one of the few good things about my academic record. :/</p>
<p>The final university entrance exam is sat after year 12, and is once again, state-wide. The final score we receive is called an ATAR, and has a maximum possible mark of 99.95. The catch about an ATAR, though, is that it's a RANK against the state, not your real grade. It increases in increments of 0.05, which represents 50 people. This means that 50 people who receive 99.95, the maximum ATAR, are literally the fifty strongest students in the state. My school, which is one of the hardest schools in state, always produce at least two kids who get 99.95. </p>
<p>I'm expecting an ATAR of anywhere between 99.1 to 99.85 which is basically being in the top <1% of Sydney. Were I to remain in Australia, this ATAR would be enough to get me into virtually any undergraduate courses, including law and medicine, at any university, especially since we don't look at high school GRADES here when being considered for university admissions. I know that a girl a couple of years ago who got 99.95 got into Harvard...but I'm afraid that Yale will place greater importance on high school grades and disregard my ATAR, or hold it in equal regards. </p>
<p>My year 12 report will also have my individual ranks in each subject, which is NOT looking good for me. I know that I'll get an A, but my rank itself won't be that great. In my defence, I go to one of the hardest, most academically rigorous high schools in the state, if not the country (my high school is in the top 5 schools in Sydney) where around a third of the kids get into undergraduate medicine, law, etc...but even then, I'm scared that my ATAR won't play big enough a factor for Yale, because of my past grades and ranks within the school.</p>
<p>I'm almost certain that both teacher recommendations will be splendid, however. I'm planning to ask my English and physics teacher, as English is my best subject, and my
physics teacher sees me as very enthusiastic and diligent. The counselor recommendation will also be pretty strong. </p>
<p>The essays will probably be the best parts of my application. My other English teacher has commented that I write at a grad school level and has said that I (and my writing) "have brilliance," and writing is certainly the strongest talent that I have. (although that doesn't seem very evident when rereading this extremely long post...)</p>
But then again, it’s almost unrealistic that I’ll have a real shot at Yale anyway in the first place, and Cornell would be absolutely amazing… </p>