Chance an International Student :)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi I'm a male international student and I just graduated high school. In my country all males must complete 24 months of military service, but since my dad passed away I only need to do 14 months, therefore I will be applying for the fall semester of 2014. (will this military service count against me?) </p>

<p>Academics:
•GPA:
9th grade: 3.875 (uw)
10th grade: 3.98 (uw)
11th grade: 4.0 uw/ 4.06 w
12th grade: 4.0 uw/ 4.04 w
Cumulative GPA: 3.96uw/ 3.99 w
(GPA explanation: I take full IB and my school gives a grade of 7 a GPA of 4.25, 6 a GPA of 4, 5 GPA of 3,75 and etc. The max possible cumulative GPA with weight would only be 4.115)
UC GPA: 5.59 (I may have done this wrong…)
•Class rank: salutatorian
•School type: private
•Curriculum rigor: Very High (IB)
•SAT: 1860 (CR-600, M-630, W-660) (can super score it to 1880, but it’s not much of a difference. Also I know these are low, but since English is not my first language will they be more lenient?)
•Predicted IB score: 38-42 points (will find out in 10 days :P) </p>

<p>ECs:</p>

<p>•President of Student council in 12th grade, class rep in 9,10,11
•President of school’s National Honor Society chapter
•Member of Model United Nations and participated in 3 models
•Center back of school soccer team (grades 9,10,11,12)
•Member of school tennis team (also been playing out of school since 5th grade)
•First trumpet of the school’s orchestra since 8th grade and also an annual music festival made up of all the private schools of my city
•Piano- grade 10-12, passed ABRSM grade 3
•Trumpet- grade 7-12, passed ABRSM grade 4
•Music Theory- passed ABRSM grade 5
•Volunteering at local dog shelter- grades 10-12
•Tutoring middle school students- grades 11-12
•Volunteering at local UNICEF- grades 10-11</p>

<p>Internship:</p>

<p>This summer I have been an intern at the biggest English speaking newspaper of my country. (The internship was 1 month long and was cut short because of the army). I have written over 10 articles which were published in the paper, as well as managed the paper’s facebook page, send out the daily newsletter and also add stories to the website. They told me that if I want I can keep a weekly technology column (as technology was what I wrote for the most part). I can also get a letter of recommendation from the general manager of the paper (the company also distributes the largest greek-speaking paper of the country)</p>

<p>Languages Spoken:
Greek (fluent)
English (almost fluent)
German (studying for 5 years, I've also taken 5 intensive GOETHE summer-courses)
French (Got an A* in GCSEs)</p>

<p>Colleges:
UCLA (dream school)
UC Berkley
UC Irvine
UC Davis
UC Santa Barbara
University of Southern California (Annenberg school of Journalism and communication, where in the supplement essay I will speak specifically about my internship)
Stanford
Perperdine
UC Boulder
University of Florida</p>

<p>Can pay for colleges in full</p>

<p>Conclusion: My SAT scores are not the best but I think everything else is strong enough to give me a chance as long as they don’t throw my application out the moment the see the SATs :P
I am in the middle 50% of all the UCs (University</a> of California SAT Scores - A Comparison of SAT Scores for the University of California)</p>

2

<ol>
<li><p>Salutatorian out of how many? I’m a salutatorian as well, but since my class size is just 50ish it’s actually not that impressive (though it’s already very good)</p></li>
<li><p>What’s your specific subject predicted grades (or predicted grade range) and your subject combos?
A Math+Physics+Chem HL can mean a lot of difference from a Math Studies+Business+Psychology combo. (The latter is demanding, the former is most demanding)</p></li>
<li><p>Nice GPA</p></li>
<li><p>As to your question…No. It won’t be lenient just because it’s not your first language. Moreover, since it’s not your first language, you’re required to take the TOEFL exam.</p></li>
<li><p>SATs could see improvement. Spend some time reading English magazines! (not the gossip stuff, but TIME, scientific, current events etc.)</p></li>
<li><p>For your predicted grade, is it out of 45 or 42?
If it’s out of 45 → A 40~41 is a good score
If it’s out of 42 → A 39 is a good score</p></li>
<li><p>Try aiming for at least 766 for your HL subjects. Ask your counselor whether you have met them.</p></li>
<li><p>Different schools recognize military service differently. It is probably best to defer by using your actual IB scores.</p></li>
<li><p>Your ECs are generic, but all right. Newspaper internship is fantastic. However, remember that it is not whether your ECs are impressive that matter but your attitude.</p></li>
<li><p>Internship is fantastic.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Other comments:

  1. If you did not take English A SL or above, you MUST take TOEFL. It’s not that hard, but it saves you from the event that you get rejected just because you did not meet the English requirement.
  2. What majors are you thinking of? Make sure your subject combos are right. I’m assuming you’re doing a pure IB course?</p>
3

<p>Thank you very much for your response skyrior

  1. class of around 50 as well
  2. predictions as requested
    Math HL- 5/6
    Biology HL-6/7
    History HL-7 (i’m pretty sure bout this one)
    English A1 SL-7 (i’m pretty sure bout this one)
    Modern Greek A1 SL- 6/7
    Chemistry Sl- 5/6
    Bonus points: 2/3
    Oh i also get a bilingual diploma </p>

<p>other comments:

  1. i will be taking the TOEFL or IELTS soon
  2. I’m applying as undecided for all colleges except USC where I will apply for Journalism and hoping that the internship will help me as i can dedicate an entire essay on it in the supplement</p>

<p>I also forgot to add some school and other awards I received:
•High school math department award (grade 9)
•High school social studies department award (grade 9)
•High school greek department award (grade 12)
•“Nike award” for “uncommon personal motivation towards overall school life”
•Duke of Edinburgh bronze + silver </p>

<p>Thank you :)</p>

4

<p>Journalism? I would say then that you have a very strong chance boost now due to your EC.</p>

<p>Bilingual diploma is useless for a lot of majors (like engineering) but hugely helpful to a lot of other majors (like languages).</p>

<p>Math HL predicted is not very good, try to boost it before sending your application.</p>

<p>I’m not sure about undecided, because at many universities you have to choose a school during application. That means you need to choose a “course-range” before getting in. Thus, even if you list your preference as undecided, you may very well face a penalty if your academics, interests, ECs and chosen school doesn’t match very well</p>

<p>Try to get a sure 7 for greek.</p>

<p>Good job for History HL…that’s really impressive! especially with the time limits on the test and whatsnot…</p>

<p>I wouldn’t be too worried about your chem sl or math hl; assuming you’re not doing anything things very closely related to engineering, a 6 would be sufficient. Your predicted score is very nice, though it could be improved.</p>

<p>Assuming you maintain your current score / get 2100+</p>

<p>UCLA (dream school) - low reach/low reach~high match
UC Berkley - reach/low reach
UC Irvine - high match/match
UC Davis - high match/match
UC Santa Barbara - high match/match
University of Southern California - low reach/low reach~high match
Stanford - reach/reach</p>

<p>not sure about the others, they should probably be safety~match assuming your SAT is raised to 2000+</p>

<p>hmmm…but I have confidence in your essay now that you talked a bit about your interest in journalism. You should come across as rather unique now that you mentioned your interest in journalism. Best of luck!</p>

5

<p>thank you skyrior
I already took my IB exams so there’s nothing I can do anymore but hope for the best :stuck_out_tongue: results will come out on July 6th, I will message you and tell you what my final result was!</p>

6

<p>Oh you finished already? Good luck to you! well, that means you only need to worry about the SATs now :)</p>

7

<p>haha yeah thanks!</p>

8

<p>anyone else?</p>

9

<p>bumpp bump</p>