Chance an international for Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, LSE, Dartmouth

[castadiva]

<p>THIS IS VERY LONG:]</p>

<p>I wish I was all around spectacular:[ But I’m not. Also this is a tad bit long, please bear with me:]
-Asian Female. I wish my ancestors slept around more so I could’ve gotten some exoticism…..
Educated in China, California and Canada. I am a Canadian Citizen.
-High School: large and uncompetitive public school, I don’t know if my school ranks. About 300 graduates this year.
I got some letter last year saying I got some money for being in the top 30 percent. That’s the only percentile they’ve ever used.
I don’t think my school weighs GPA.
-GPA: 3.75 :[ I know it is low, however on the 100 scale that they use I am getting a 91
My school also has this odd way of calculating GPA: sometimes they use all grades, sometimes only academic. If it is only academic then I’ll have over 3.9.
-SAT: Retaking in Dec.. 2200+, I have one Subject exam right now Chinese: 750 [I KNOW YOU ARE LAUGHING. I am actually illiterate in Mandarin so I’m amazed I got a 750:]]
US History/Molecular Biology/Literature in January
-APs: I haven’t taken any tests yet. Psychology, Statistics, English Language, Environmental Science, Art History.</p>

<p>Course Load:</p>

<p>My high school started in grade 8</p>

<p>Grade 8:
Career Planning [***]: B
French: A
Home Economics: A
Humanities: B
Mathematics: A
Intermediate Band: A
P.E.: C+
Technology Education: A
Science A</p>

<p>Grade 9:
Career Planning: A
English: A
French: A
Mathematics: A
Intermediate Band: A
P.E.: B
Science 10 Honors: A
Social Studies: A
Spanish: A</p>

<p>Grade 10:</p>

<p>TV Production: A
English Honors: A
French Honors: A
Math: A
Senior Jazz Band: B
Senior Concert Band: B
Physics Honors: C [AHHHHHHHHHHHHH]
Social Studies Honors: A
P.E. 10: A
Planning/Career Prep: A</p>

<p>Grade 11:</p>

<p>AP Psychology: B
Criminology: A
Leadership: A
Peer Tutoring: A
TV Production: A
Law: A
Spanish: A
Ceramics: A
English: A
French: A
Math: A
Social Studies: A
Biology 11: A</p>

<p>Grade 12:</p>

<p>AP Statistics:
AP English Language: 100 percent right now.
AP Environmental Science:
AP Art History:
Social Justice: 100 percent right now.
English 12: A
Math 12:
Marketing 12:
Comparative Civilizations: A
Economics:
Animation:
Mandarin: A
Peer Tutoring: A</p>

<p>Didn’t do too well this term:[ I’ll update this part asap when I get my grades.
University Courses:
-Harvard University: Psychopathology
-UCLA: Linguistics
-Oxford: English Poetry</p>

<p>I am certified a gifted student in the state of California. Passed the GATE exam in grade 4.</p>

<p>Awards:
-Top Spanish Award [grade level]: Grade 9
-Top Multilingual Award [grade level]: Grade 9
-4th place Nationally in more than 14000 contestants for the Begbie Canadian History Exam: Grade 11</p>

<p>Extracurricular:
-Tutor 9/11/12: I’ve tutored Spanish 11, French 9, Criminology 12, Social Studies 8, and other social studies courses. Also in ESL Club where I tutor ESL kids in English
-Model United Nations 11/12: I have [re]started the club in school. Head delegate.
-Debate Club 12: in conjunction with MUN
-Mentoring 11/12: I have my own class on Wednesday mornings to teach incoming freshmen study and behavioral skills
-Library Club 12: I write book reviews and work with special promotions
-AP Psychology Club 11/12: Review of the course and a place to just chat and learn from psychological material</p>

<p>Outside of activities/VOLUNTEERING:
-I go to DRAMA school:]
-I’ve worked for 2 UN Designated special consultative status agencies: Lawyer’s Rights Watch Canada as a legal researcher/case writer and the Martin Luther King Jr. Foundation for Cameroon as a fundraising/sponsorship specialist. LRWC is very important to me, I wrote an essay on how I would make death lists for them. My work for LRWC is also published by the United Nations
-ArtStarts, gallery for children and young people as a gallery greeter/artist volunteer
-Secretariat of a local Model United Nations
-nearly 90 hours of volunteering for summer camps for the Department of Physics and Astronomy [my position was a volunteer group leader]and the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering [my position was a Junior Instructor] at the University of British Columbia
-Scouts Canada
-GYLC:]
-A local elementary school. I work with some lower income children with homework and study skills for 1 school year.
-Piano for 11 years, flute for 6.5 years, soprano saxophone, expert at singing musicals in the shower
-Beginner fencer and tennis player
-Volleyball team in grade 8
-Dance whenever I hear Michael Jackson. I once danced from my spot in line to the customs official in the airport:]</p>

<p>Family:
-nearly 200,000 Canadian dollar income
-I am checking off the “will not need financial aid” box even though my parents will be quite unhappy when they find out
-Dad was a researcher in the mid-90s for Harvard University’s Center for European Studies
-Mom was a researcher in the mid-90s for University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering
-Great great grandfather was a lieutenant general of the Chinese Imperial Navy who was one of the first Asian/Foreigners to be educated at Yale University
-Cousin went to Cornell for graduate school
-Uncle works for Columbia University Medical School as a radiologist, alumni at Ohio State</p>

<p>Intended Major:
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. Though when parents find out, they’ll have heart attacks and refuse to pay for my tuition. Other majors include Political Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology, Linguistics.</p>

<p>Minor in Neurobiology. I am crazy for the social sciences but I have to admit, neurobiology fascinates me greatly. Other minors include art history, a language, or some other branch of philosophy.</p>

<p>But all in all this is just so I can get to Law School and focus on international law or intellectual property law. Haven’t decided yet.</p>

<p>Worries:
My SAT, Grades, GPA…..I know they are not spectacular. I do a lot of outside work so hopefully that can also be an outlet to show that I am a worthy person. I will do my bets with my SATs with a projected score of over 2200 definitely, my grades I can’t change p.e. especially. I do have a chance to re-do physics online in a short amount of time. Should I for Physics 11? Or should I just do Physics 12 and do an amazing job? I know some schools are like *** to repeated courses but all I want to express is my understanding of what went wrong and my dedication to make it right, regardless of the amount of times I take it. I also know my courses aren’t “rigorous”. I did not take full advantage of the AP courses at school due to scheduling conflicts, though I made up for it. I take a lot of courses during the year and maintain nice [lol] grades, not to mention the 3 uni courses right now are killing me. My outside courses should be considered in too right? And that will be more rigorous?</p>

<p>Recommendations: My Criminology teacher will write me an excellent one, still need to find another teacher. I took many other subjects online to get more individual attention. If an online teacher sends it…..will that look bad? I can get a Chinese teacher to write one [Boston U Alumni], though it will probably be just above average looking, plus Chinese course teacher writing for a chinese kid…..PLUS my counselor, due to the many times I’ve bothered her and astonished her with my course after course outside of school, won’t do anything out of the ordinary for me.</p>

<p>-I’m asian, Chinese, to my knowledge 5th generation to be receiving an college education, I do a lot of generic things [that I love]. Can't believe this is my disadvantage.</p>

<p>So you are probably wondering, why I’m wasting your time if I only have good but not excellent grades, good but not spectacular ECs…..</p>

<p>THIS IS WHY I HOPE I STAND OUT:
-For the past years of high school I started my own NGO, I have done so yet it is still local. It is an initiative to promote [for now] mandatory education for all children around the world. I am a strong believer that we might never be able to solve economic poverty however I believe firmly that we can solve intellectual poverty. Hope to expand this when I get to university.</p>

<p>-I have started websites to enrich other kids in their studies. These sites have full course material on Psychology, French Grammar, Spanish Grammar, Law, etc. Also on material that I am not that great in such as Math and Physics. This gave me a thorough review of academic material that I am shaky on as well as giving others a support to learn.</p>

<p>-I speak over 15 languages. In order of acquisition: Mandarin, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Ancient Greek, Basque, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Luxembourgish, Icelandic [some Faroese and Danish as well], Yoruba, Croatian, and Quechua. I can also speak these fairly: Dutch, Serbian, Hausa, and Estonian. Languages are just easy for me, I find them extremely important to mankind, and knowing these languages have broadened my thinking A LOT. Most of these languages are self taught, so it took a lot of years and commitment. Though it’d be nice to chat with a person who can speak Hausa sometime:]</p>

<p>-Essays: I have never lived in one place for more than 5 years so I have many experiences. I am also quite eclectic and translate my thoughts well in essays.</p>

<p>Think that’s enough?</p>

<p>My Schools:
University of British Columbia
University of Toronto
McGill
York University
London School of Economics [specifically the Anthropology + Law program]
Stanford University [DREAM SCHOOL:]]
UC Berkeley
UCLA
University of Southern California
Santa Clara University
Carnegie Mellon
New York University
Columbia University
Cornell University
Dartmouth
Harvard University
Boston University
Wellesley
Tufts </p>

<p>Haha my counselor is going to hate me when she sees the size list.</p>

<p>So thanks for reading all the way down here:] Please tell me what I can improve on since I still have time. Any feedback/advice is highly appreciated! Also, I’m not one of those kids who apply just because they get a letter or just because they think it’s fun or whatever. I truly love all of the schools on the list and have researched for a long time. However, if there are any UNIS you think I’d like, please let me know! And…..can someone please specify what Reach, high/low match means? LOL, I’m still a bit confused. And which should I consider to be my safety schools?</p>

<p>THANKS A LOT FOR YOUR TIME, gimme a link if you would like to be chanced back!
&
GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF YOU:]</p>

[Sci-Fry]

<p>Hey hey, I’m an international as well. Stanford is my dream school as well (I think it’s everyone’s dream school :P). Like you, I’m also applying to the UK (Oxford, Imperial, Bristol), but I’m in Italy.</p>

<p>Btw, you say that you love your ECs, but feel they’re generic. If you have a passion for something, then it’s not generic - you can make it your own. Just my two cents ;)</p>

<p>If you can bag a 2200+ and some 750ish scores on the SAT subject tests then I’d say your chances are decent. Capitalize on the multilingual thing! That’s freaking amazing. Here’s my list (of US schools, since the other ones have very different criteria for entry) assuming 2200+:</p>

<p>Stanford University [DREAM SCHOOL:]]: High reach (it’s a reach for everyone, regardless)
UC Berkeley: Reach (international students have it hard)
UCLA: Low reach
University of Southern California: High match? Not entirely sure
Santa Clara University: Match
Carnegie Mellon: Low reach/high match
New York University: High match
Columbia University: Reach
Cornell University: Reach
Dartmouth: Reach
Harvard University: High reach
Boston University: High match
Wellesley: Low reach
Tufts: Low reach or perhaps high match, not sure</p>

<p>It might be a bit harsh, but it’s better than being overconfident.
Good luck!!!</p>

<p>EDIT: If you’ve got time <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/820449-i-like-do-cha-cha-like-sissy-girl-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/820449-i-like-do-cha-cha-like-sissy-girl-will-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[castadiva]

<p>HELLO.
Haha, thanks so much for your time. It’s not harsh, it’s what I’m thinking too, and thanks for the honesty. Yes, it is better than being overconfident.</p>

<p>Sorry…sidenote here…are you in italy as an international or are you italian? lol, I LOVE ITALIANS. they are soo… nice looking. plus i’m a diehard fan of your soccer team even though they can’t seem to beat anybody these days…</p>

<p>ANYWAYS. what does reach/math, high/low mach mean again? ARGH. all these terms.</p>

<p>THANKS A LOT SCI-FRY:]</p>

[Sci-Fry]

<p>Haha nope I’m Indian (Asian) but I’ve lived in Italy for 15 years and was also born here! Woo FORZA ITALIA, finally someone who appreciates our football :)</p>

<p>Here’s the scale of difficulty:</p>

<p>High reach (basically all top 10 schools are reaches for everyone)
Reach
Low reach
High match
Match
Low Match</p>

<p>Or at least that’s the way I interpret it… Of you’re reaches you could hopefully make it into a couple of them. International applications are really hard to predict (e.g. MIT has an international acceptance rate of 3.8% :o)</p>

[castadiva]

<p>Ah, it feels like I have just as many disadvantages as advantages when it comes to applying as an international.</p>

<p>THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE INFO, it has cleared up a lot of my questions lol.
and yes, I love Italy, I love their football team, and I love their people.
but they dont’ win anymore:[</p>

<p>+
BUMPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP</p>

[fledgling]

<p>Hi fellow polyglot! I have to admit, that thing about languages literally shocked me when I finally got around to reading about it. How fluent are you in each language? I have a passion for languages too (I know 4 and am quickly picking up a fifth) - but I’ve pursued each of them in-depth, such that I can read lengthy novels and give coherent oral presentations in the first 4 languages (English, Chinese, French, Spanish). If you’re fluent in all fifteen, then… ben, je suis sans parole! </p>

<p>In any case, enough with my rambling - let’s get on to the actual chancing. Your legacy status actually won’t help too much - you mention that several of your relatives have worked at various Ivies, but the only way this would actually be of any use would be if they OBTAINED DEGREES from those Ivies. Also, I’d highly suggest you to check if your school ranks, and if it does, what your exact rank is - this will play a very important role in the admissions process. If it is what you say you think it is - top 30% at a noncompetitive high school - then I’m afraid it won’t cut it for the Ivies, nor for selective schools such as UCLA. Nearly all their student bodies are filled with people who are ranked in at least the top 10% of their graduating class.</p>

<p>Another note - your resume of extracurriculars seems to be extremely scattered, and aside from the language thing I couldn’t quite pinpoint where your extracurricular interests were. I picked up Art somewhere, and Drama somewhere else, and MUN elsewhere, but to be perfectly honest, you haven’t really done much with any of these. Applicants to the Ivy Leagues often have multiple awards/large-scale recognition in their activities, so it will be quite tough for you. </p>

<p>Also, a 2200+ SAT score is definitely solid, but it would be a lot better if you had the actual number so there wouldn’t be too much of a hypothetical factor in this. </p>

<p>Nice meeting you, and I hope I helped somewhat!</p>

[castadiva]

<p>Hi fledgling</p>

<p>thanks for your post. i’m not going to lie, when I got to like the 8th language or so…I was, for a while, ALWAYS lost in translation. but then it evens out and then you realize that you can block some languages together, etc etc. yeah, I’m fluent. though only one I can’t read lengthy novels in is Mandarin:[ </p>

<p>some questions:
I’ll go see if my school ranks, but when the admissions people are deciding, are they going to compare me a lot with other kids from my school who are applying? </p>

<p>is there anything i can/should do for the next month to be a bit more spectacular?</p>

<p>Are my grades disadvantages too?</p>

<p>:[ I feel like an epic fail right now.</p>

<p>Anyways, thanks a lot though haha, really put my life in a realistic perspective.</p>

[MorganSimone]

<p>The ivies are reaches but your stats are A-mazing! Make sure you knock 'em dead with the essays and I think you are all set! The majority of the schools and the ivies I believe you will be getting acceptances from. Btw, thanks for chancing me :-).</p>

[fledgling]

<p>^ Aw, don’t feel bad. If your claim about languages is correct, though, you’ll still end up being really successful, even if you don’t get into a top 20 school. In fact, the fact that your brain works that way with languages is almost superhuman! You might want to consider taking SAT II subject tests or AP tests in languages offered by the College Board (such as French, Spanish, and Italian) and score 5’s on them to prove that you’re really fluent, because it’s always good to have solid evidence for your claims. </p>

<p>What I’m most curious about, however, is the fact that you used your superior language learning abilities to learn languages that are less well known… normally people would opt to learn more popular (or more commonly used) ones, such as Arabic, Russian, German, or Japanese. How did you go about doing that? I would imagine that getting language learning resources for each of those would be pretty difficult… </p>

<p>In any case, good luck with your college applications! Again, make sure you ask your guidance counselor for more details about your class rank, and your SAT score will also be very important. I think you could write a great essay about your gift for languages - that will certainly be very unique.</p>

[castadiva]

<p>Hey fledgling…actually every language i’ve learned has a sort of story behind it and yes, most people do learn the popular ones, I have to, it’s just i guess due to people I know and places I’ve lived. the latin family group sort of just all came together, once I learned french, spanish followed, then italian and so on. and there is a gigantic croatian community where i live. and did I project on basque people when I was younger, I was so fascinated I decided to pick it up and if I ever go into linguistics, I’d definitely focus on African languages. had a professor once who was a quechua zealot and she inspired me to learn some indigenous american languages. I could go on and on, but i just feel like I have some obligation to learn the smaller and lesser known languages because every person counts. some of the smaller languages have an overwhelming amount of culture and history behind it and to see them not being used as often as say, arabic and german, is quite sad. eventual loss of a language is basically the loss of a people. anyways, i just used books and books and books, and my family is filled with polyglots and diplomats so that helped. That’s why I’m not so ecstatic about hausa anymore, can’t find too much resources…</p>

<p>yeah i’ll definitely be taking those ap exams in those foreign languages…better decision than taking one in say, computer science? haha.</p>

<p>again, thanks so much for the advice, really helped a lot!</p>

[fledgling]

<p>^ You’re welcome! And if you put just as much passion into your college essays as you just did in that previous post (lol), I wouldn’t worry about them at all. </p>

<p>Also - I just realized that most of the classes you didn’t get A’s in were non academic, which actually might work out to be strongly in your favor as many schools, even the top ones, don’t put much weight on grades from those classes. The only thing that might hold you back here is course rigor, but if your AP’s are the only AP’s that your school offers, then that would be a completely different story. Another thing - a 3.75 UW should, at many schools, get you into at least the top 20% of your class, particularly if your high school’s “noncompetitive”. You might actually be pleasantly surprised. :)</p>

<p>EDIT: One more thing. The Ivies and a few other top schools require 2 or more SAT II subject tests (Harvard and Princeton require 3), and from the looks of your original post you’re already a senior, yet you only have one. I’m afraid that the January test date will be too late for you - I’ve read numerous times that any standardized test taken after the December administration won’t make it into your application file on time. Unless you decided to keep your already existing 2200+ SAT score (which is already quite solid, as I said previously) and take your subject tests instead on Saturday…</p>

[castadiva]

<p>HEY.
Thank you so much! I think this process is making me bipolar!
And yeah, I’m pretty sure my school doesn’t weigh. asked some friends who have seen their counselor already and they said that the counselor’s didn’t weigh…so…
I’m taking some APs online and I’ve taken uni courses, would that help the rigor?</p>

<p>and my SATs
SIGH, I took reasoning again last week. I read that Jan would still be fine for some uni sites, just they’d prefer it before the end of the year.</p>

<p>AH. THANKS:] +BUMMMMMMMP</p>

[castadiva]

<p>EDIT///
I got A’s for all subjects for grade 12 first term, except mid-B’s for AP Stats and Marketing.
:[</p>

<p>But I did find out that I’m in the top 5% at school, great teacher and counselor reccs though what they wrote is sort of generic, and they “recommend me” enthusiastically.</p>

<p>Does it help???</p>

[Rumjhum]

<p>HOLY COW! 15 languages!
that is very impressive!
i think you def have a strong chance at all your schools, even super competetive schools such as Stanford because your ECs stand out (:
Although a major factor in your case will me whether youre applying for aid?
good luck!
I wanna hear where you got in! (:</p>

<p>oh and chance me back, Im international too!</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/838981-chances-brown-duke-uchicago-northwestern-international-tufts.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/838981-chances-brown-duke-uchicago-northwestern-international-tufts.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[castadiva]

<p>THANK YOU SO MUCH RUMJHUM!
Financial aid is sort of a problem…I doubt my parents’ income [160,000 USD] will get any consideration. But somehow, there is no way we get in that much money. If we did, I wouldn’t need to worry. Perhaps it’s the income tax + overseas houses they just love to buy?</p>

<p>I know they say financial doesn’t hurt, but then again, considering my application does have many weaknesses, I don’t want money to be another one.</p>

<p>Thanks a lot again!</p>

<p>BUMPPPPPPPPPPPPPP</p>

[Rumjhum]

<p>Unfortunately, if you are international, most unis are NOT need blind, so you are often at a disadvantage if you say you are applying for financial aid ):</p>

<p>PS. I still cannot get over the fact that you know 15 languages!
Im in awe (:
I wanna learn lots of languages in college, as of now, I only know 4
which I thought was impressive UNTIL I MET YOU HAHA (:</p>

[kfong03]

<p>I think your scores are quite solid already but then again there’s no harm in trying for a better score. Also, make sure you get a great 2nd reference and ace your app essays. If I were you I wouldn’t have too much to worry about</p>

<p>Chance me back plz <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/839129-chances-please-d.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/839129-chances-please-d.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[castadiva]

<p>@rum: yeah, that’s what I thought. I probably won’t qualify for it anyways. AH!
I want to learn lots of languages in college too! LOL.
4 is impressive, since most people can barely grapple two these days.</p>

<p>@kfong: thanks for the encouragements!</p>

<p>THANKS A LOT GUYS!</p>