Chance for Brown, Georgetown, Cornell, UPenn, Tufts?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I’m also applying to many other schools that are safer, but want to know what you think about my chances for these schools

Major: International Relations

GPA: 3.6 [uw] 4.15 [w]
SAT: 1500
ACT: 35
SAT Subject: Lit [660] Math2 [740] US History [730]
AP Tests: Gov [5] Lang [5]
Top 20%

ECs:

  • Drum Major for Marching Band
  • Band Section Leader
  • Band Officer
  • All State Oboist
  • Theatre Society
  • Lots of community service, ranging from food pantry to band camp to teaching English as a second language
  • Student Government (2 years)
  • Chinese National Honor Society President (2 years)
  • Model UN (helped start)
  • Badminton Club (founder)
  • 4 years of High School tennis
  • Global Citizenship Project: independent research comparing governments around the world, logged a certain amount of miles in international travel, also a language fluency component
  • Work for a non profit but its nothing big like I didn’t start it or anything I just work here
  • National Honor Society

Other:

  • Speaks Mandarin and Swedish (fluently)
  • Multiracial Male (Chinese + Swedish)
  • Won some school awards for music and language
  • Teacher Recs from teachers I’ve worked with in my EC’s and in class so they know me well and I did well in their classes
  • Guidance Counselor rec is definitely going to be positive I have volunteered for all of her programs, went on a school trip to China with her, we know each other very well
  • I felt pressured into only taking the highest level courses and that threw off my GPA but it might also help in applying?
  • I only have two AP classes since my school only lets juniors and seniors take it and most AP’s do not count as core classes. Most kids who get into Ivy’s at my school take a total of 4-7 in their whole high school career. I will graduate with 5 AP classes (Gov, Lang, Stat, Lit, Econ).
  • Overall just super passionate about the world and love learning languages. I am ethnically half Chinese but DID NOT grow up speaking it I learned Mandarin through school (7 years).

Thanks!

2

Truthfully, your GPA is very low for these schools (and not being in the top 10% will hurt too; 90%+ of the students at these schools were in the top 10% in high school). Test scores look solid for the most part. Your best options for a major in IR are Tufts and Georgetown as they arguably have the best IR programs in the country. I advise that you apply early to one of these schools to increase your chances. Do you have a favorite? Good luck!

3

Georgetown EA is actually tougher than RD (EA was 12% with RD 15%) so if Tufts provides an advantage ED, consider that seriously. Your SAT subjects are little low as well for these schools, esp the Lit. The rest of your app is solid, and your not an ORM (thank your Swedish parent) but because you’re applying to the toughest part of Gtown, and a popular major at Tufts as tufts2021 mentions, all these are probably super reaches. Brown, Cornell, and Penn will give an advantage on ED. Good luck!

4

Your GPA will not help your application. Apply ED to a relatively easier school to get into such as Tufts or Cornell and write some amazing essays. Do you go to a competitive private school?

5

@stressedmhs
Brown- Reach
Georgetown (SFS)- Reach
Cornell- Low Reach
UPenn- Reach
Tufts- Low Reach
You should look into Emory, very similar to Brown and UPenn.

6

It’s going to be hard to swing any of these schools with a 3.6, unless you’re sporting a significant upward trend. As in, sub-3.0 freshman year and have been KILLING IT ever since. They’re all reaches. You sound like an awesome individual but your app reads kind of generic. So it’s going to be a lottery, if you keep your GPA up, I’d say you’re qualified for any of them, but nothing really stands out, so you’ll have to rely on luck. You’re best shot is ED at Tufts. Gtown is high reach just because IR there is legendary. Penn, brown, and probably Cornell are reaches, and Tufts is low reach and if you apply ED maybe high match. Penn does have a Huntsman program which from what I understand combines business aspect of Wharton with IR, and it’s uber hard to get into- accepts like 50 kids a year- and would be a high reach along with Georgetown if you applied.
Agree with vandemory, look into Emory, great school and similar to Brown and Penn.

7

Academically speaking, your standardised testing scores (specially ACT) in the 75th percentile for most schools, which is strong. In terms of SAT II , two of them are strong, but I suggest not submitting the literature one since its not in the same scoring range and may pull you down. However, your GPA is a little low for the Ivy league range. Although, your extracurriculars are exceptionally strong, very unique, and seem to represent what you would bring to a college (especially for passion for languages). Schools like Brown look specifically for self-driven, motivated, unique students. Your extracurriculars reflect that, and it would be great if you can bring out the same passions in your personal essay as well.

Georgetown (SFS): Reach
Brown: Reach, but I think you have a good chance if you play to your passions and portray yourself well. Maybe consider an early decision at one of the places, it will really increase chances!
uPenn: Reach
Tufts: Low reach
Cornell: Low reach

Although, don’t let reach bring you down. Most people apply to a few reaches and a few safeties, doesn’t mean you don’t have a good chance!

You should also look into highly ranked liberal arts colleges, since they appreciate extracurricular efforts a little more and many overlook GPA to an extent. Best of Luck!

Could someone chance me for Brown Early, Claremont McKenna college, and Tufts as well? I will chance each person back, if you’d like.

I will most likely apply as a International Relations/Classics Major, perhaps including economics

For some background, I studied under the GCSE (UK) curriculum, and am currently a senior doing the IB Diploma program, so my grading system may b a little different, and my ECs since we don’t have as my clubs in school or varsity sports etc.

GPA : 3.99 (UW/4.0)
Class Rank : School doesn’t give them
Predicted IB diploma grade: 42-43/45 overall
ACT: 34 composite, 11/12 writing
SAT II : Maths 2 - 780, English Lit- 750

For IB diploma students, courses being rigorous is not a worry since we take 3 Higher Level IB subjects as compulsory, and the course is known to be rigorous, so this is not a worry. We are not encouraged to do APs so thats not relevant.

Subject choice: English Language and Literature HL, World History HL, Economics HL, Biology SL, Math SL, French B SL

Extracurriculars:

  • Leadership Initiative at a local Museum: Pioneered an educational workshop based upon a museum exhibit regarding cultural tolerance and awareness targeting underprivileged children in the area at the workshop, repeated several times and attended by local NGOs and low income schools
  • Volunteer work at Museum: Volunteered for an extended period of time, aided with design and execution of several workshops for underprivileged children and adults, and served as a docent for public and group specific tours such as school tours
  • Other community service:
  • Core team leadership role: Village redevelopment project (Volunteer 3 years, core team leader 1 year). This involved planning and strategising the infrastructural and educational redevelopment of a nearby village, wherein I led volunteer groups, laid objectives for visit, and aided with construction and designing of a new curriculum for the upcoming school building in the village.
  • Core team Member: English Teaching initiative in school community. I lead a Student led initiative to teach english to school housekeeping staff, and transport conductors, to widen their scope of interaction and networking in the 21st century world.
  • Silver International Award for Young People -Gender Diversity Initiative: Dont want to get into detail for privacy reasons, but conducted a profiling initiative of high profile women in corporate roles in my southeast asian country of origin and america, in order to comment on the situation regarding diversity in professional environments for women. This has been published into a book.
  • Interned for 2 months at a leading corporate law firm: Youngest intern, conducted extensive research, and am attaching a supplementary booklet detailing my work there with comments from the managing partner of the firm
  • Research at the nation's government mandated facility to increase foreign investment: Shadowed leadership team including managing director, and put together a research report detailing the agency's model, impact and hurdles they have faced.
  • Columbia University Constitutional Law course: Received an excellent recommendation from my professor
  • Model UN: Attended approximately 6 conferences, and have 3-4 best delegate awards. This includes a cultural exchange where I represented my school at a conference in Rome, and was listed there by a student. Also a member of the MUN club in my school
  • Theatre Involvement: Member of school theatre club, Starred in leading roles in an annual theatre production for 4 years in a row, contributed to direction efforts in the last year as well. Represented my school in an International Schools Theatre Association workshop in Munich, and created a capstone play on ww1.
  • Editor of the school magazine

Recommendations:

Teacher one: 10/10
Teacher 2: 8/10
Teacher 3: 8/10

Counsellor rec:9/10

Additional recs-
Someone who helped me publish and research my gender diversity work: Very close to her, accurate reflection of my personality 11/10

Additional information: Don’t need Financial Aid

Essay: Haven’t done it yet

8

@stressedmhs if one of Penn, Brown, Cornell or Tufts is your first choice, I would seriously consider applying ED. They give a considerable bump to ED students.

9

Thanks so much for the input! I know my GPA is low but my school is the top public school in Massachusetts and they don’t just hand grades out like candy. My GPA would be equivalent to a 5.0 GPA in some lesser schools because their classes are easier. How do I know this? I came from one of those schools and had a 5.0! Will colleges know my school is hard and not look so hard on my GPA? or is it still just really low? Thanks again!

10

Thanks so much for the input! I know my GPA is low but my school is the top public school in Massachusetts and they don’t just hand grades out like candy. My GPA would be equivalent to a 5.0 GPA in some lesser schools because their classes are easier. How do I know this? I came from one of those schools and had a 5.0! Will colleges know my school is hard and not look so hard on my GPA? or is it still just really low? Thanks again!