<p>Hi! Please chance me for the following as I try to narrow down my list. I'll chance back as soon as I can!</p>
<p>Colgate
Connecticut College
Cornell
Franklin & Marshall
Dartmouth
Grinnell
Lafayette
NYU (Including Shanghai & Abu Dhabi)
Reed
Trinity College
UChicago (Deferred)
Washginton & Lee
Yale
Amherst
Williams</p>
<p>International Student from a top Jesuit School
SAT I: 2180 (800 CR, 720 M, 660 W)
SAT II: 770 World History, 730 USH
GPA: 3.38
Rank: 8% (In a class of 591)
Acceptances so far: Fordham (Dean's Scholarship), Colby-Sawyer College</p>
<p>EC's:</p>
<p>VP and lecturer for our school's Japanese organization
Head of the graphic designs arm of our fair
Head Organizer an annual Japanese culture festival
Founder of an intramural football tournament
Founded a college admissions advice site and made free full-length practice tests for students</p>
<p>If you could recommend any other safeties too, it'd be great. :D</p>
<p>The GPAs over here don’t mean the same thing as they do in the United States. That 3.38 isn’t the same as the 3.38 in your average American High School.</p>
<p>Fordham is one school that is familiar with our grading system due to the number of applicants from our HS, and so they gave me their Dean’s Scholarship, normally reserved for the top 10% of applicants, despite the 3.38.</p>
<p>The average GPA at Fordham is around 3.7 so the top 10% would probably be (just throwing a wild number here) around 3.9 I guess.</p>
<p>@arrozconleche The GPA is still over 4, so I don’t think I can provide a legitimate “equivalent”. The difference is probably caused by how liberally teachers from different schools, countries or contexts give A’s or B+'s.</p>
<p>For safeties I’d say Tufts, Pepperdine any of the UC’s, Brandeis and U of Illinois-Urbana. It’s hard to say whether you’d get into the ones mentioned above, as I can’t contextualize the GPA. But, I’d say Yale is a high reach. Franklin and Marshall, Lafayette and Reed seem like low matches. Don’t know about the rest.</p>
<p>No problem. Thanks for replying to my thread. :)</p>
<p>I don’t know if you realize this but saying “your average American High School” is slightly demeaning towards students actually attending a public school and receiving a 3.38 GPA there. Regardless of your rigor, a 3.38 will not be impressive to schools who do not know of this rigor. My school operates in a similar format (no weighted GPAs and nasty rigor), and while it really affects your chances in getting into some colleges, it typically doesn’t matter once you reach Ivy quality. I have a 3.9ish and I will have to claw my way into an Ivy just like the rest of the country. Still, that being said, if you made Dean’s scholar at Fordham I’d say:</p>
<p>Colgate- Match
Connecticut College- Low Match
Cornell- Reach
Franklin & Marshall- Safety
Dartmouth- Far Reach (I have legitimate reasons for saying this)
Grinnell- Reach
Lafayette- Safety
NYU (Including Shanghai & Abu Dhabi)- Low Match
Reed- Match
Trinity College- Safety
UChicago (Deferred)- Reach
Washginton & Lee- High Match
Yale- Far Reach
Amherst- Reach
Williams- Reach</p>
<p>Take into account that you are an international student and that is going to be pretty tough for you.
Bad news: All the ivies are reaches (they are for everyone). Your SAT is a bit low for the ivies as well. However, this doesn’t mean you won’t get in. Despite your slightly low SAT (for the ivies), you are fit academically. However, the ivies really focus on your personality. If you can write stellar essays and get great, and very personal recommendations that really show who you are as a person, you will have a fighting chance.</p>
<p>Good news: I think pretty much all of the schools are at the very most matches. However, Amherst, Williams, and Washington and Lee are kind of high matches (almost crossing the bridge to low reach). The rest are either match or low match.</p>
<p>Gloogle- No, you’re totally fine! I, as a private school student, have accidentally stuck my foot in my mouth with unintentionally rude comments about academics many times! It’s no big deal whatsoever, it’s just good to watch your wording on certain things like that (I’ve only just accomplished this after many years of making my other school friends feel lesser, it’s not like either of us was doing it on purpose).</p>
<p>Ivies are tough for everyone. Just because somebody has a 4.0 and a 2300 doesn’t mean they’re destined for an Ivy automatically. Just keep your hopes up (Cornell only looks at the two score, too, so you’ll look terrific there!).</p>
<p>And PS- You’ll need to take another SAT II because two histories cannot go together. You need a different combination like a history and a math, a history and a foreign language, etc… If you haven’t already done this you can do it this January!</p>
<p>I would say Yale and Dartmouth are a no, sorry. Your academics aren’t strong enough. Try for more safeties. You’ll be grateful for them in the long run.</p>
<p>@arrozconleche Yes, I’ll definitely add to my safeties! </p>
<p>Basically I applied to Yale so that I could also apply at Yale-NUS in Singapore. I hear they’re really looking for students from around the Southeast Asia so I wanted to give it a shot.</p>
<p>Dartmouth, Amherst and Williams, well, they’re just Hail Mary’s, though I do feel inclined to drop Dartmouth from the list now. Thanks for the advice!</p>
<p>@arswan14 Just checked up with Cornell and the other schools, and they say that any combination of SAT II tests will be fine, though I think they won’t like the fact that they are two history tests. </p>
<p>To be fair I never did take a US History Class my whole life though so that test was a bit more of a struggle than it seemed.</p>
<p>Thanks btw! I was scared that I seriously offended you or something!</p>
<p>ECs look great and also your SATs are good enough for most universities. Here is what I think</p>
<p>Colgate- Match
Connecticut College- Low Match
Cornell- Reach
Franklin & Marshall- Safety
Dartmouth- Far Reach (I have legitimate reasons for saying this)
Grinnell- Reach
Lafayette- Safety
NYU (Including Shanghai & Abu Dhabi)- Low Match
Reed- Match
Trinity College- Safety
UChicago (Deferred)- Reach
Washginton & Lee- High Match
Yale- Far Reach
Amherst- Reach
Williams- Reach</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Your GPA is low on first sight. Make sure your secondary school report mentions the rigor of your school (check with your counselor)</p></li>
<li><p>Your ECs seem interesting, but not outstanding. This is however better than average.</p></li>
<li><p>SAT lower than average for Ivy League</p></li>
<li><p>Being deferred by UChicago probably means that you are either (i) not very fit with their school culture, or (ii) your essays are not that good.</p></li>
<li><p>Care to tell us your intended major? This have a huge impact on whether you can get in a school or not. For example, if you’re applying to Neuroscience at MIT, I will say “Super Reach” but if you’re applying to EECS, I will just say “Reach” (because EECS’s supply is higher than demand)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I suggest you to specify your ECs by giving them unique names or list unique activities. For example, instead of “Math Club”, list “Math Club/research into fractals” etc.</p>
<p>Contextualize yourself if you’re deferred. Try to show them something unique. Also submit mid-year grades. Do not spam them though. With a stroke of luck, you may get in because you have a unique EC/quality that they are seeking. You’re probably qualified right now but they have to wait until the RD pool to compare.</p>
<p>If you’re applying for Economics in UChicago, you’re bound to face a tough time…I’m sorry but I heard their economics is really competitive.</p>
<p>^ Just to clarify, all high school candidates apply to “the College”, not to a specific program or department. The expectation is that the typical student will change majors once or twice (or more) during the course of his/her ongoing education.</p>
<p>So, even if you were to declare yourself an econ major on your application, it really won’t affect how you are evaluated since there is no way to know if two years from now you may decide to major in physics or math. The common core at UChicago actually encourages people to consider a variety of majors they may not have looked at seriously before.</p>