<p>I am a month into my senior year of high school, and I am entering the college applications stage. I am wondering about what my chances are for several universities that I am hoping to apply to. My list includes:</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins University (ED)
UPenn
Cornell University
Emory University
Georgetown University
NYU
University of Rochester
UC: San Diego
Brandeis University
University of Miami
Boston University
University of Washington</p>
<p>My credentials are:
- I was born and raised in London, England, but my father is an american citizen, and so am I. I am an american citizen of Turkish/Kurdish Iraqi decent, and I currently live in Dubai, UAE.
- I go to a private school, with only 140 people in my grade. It's a very selective school, and it is the second best school in the country (according to several polls and reviews).
- I am in the top 5% of my class, but my school is not sending any official ratings.
- My SAT Score is a 1980, with a 650 writing, 610 CR, and 720 math (I Know its a little weak)
- I have an accumulative GPA from freshman to junior year of 3.85 (It would be 3.9-4.0 but I did poorly in my second semester of freshman year due to family issues such as my parent's divorce)
- My GPA has improved from a 3.6 in freshman year, to a 4.0 in junior year.
- Im planning to get a major in Biology. Im hoping for a dual major in biology and psychology
- I have taken three subject tests:</p>
<p>SAT Biology M (680)
SAT Math II (730)
SAT Chemistry (600... epic fail indeed)</p>
<ul>
<li>I have 2 letters of recommendation from my biology and psychology teachers (which is great because those are my majors)</li>
<li>I have a strong letter that focuses on my past experiences visiting my home country of Iraq (something I am hoping is very unique)</li>
<li>I am currently a 2 year IB Diploma Student, which is an extremely rigorous system, and my classes include: </li>
</ul>
<p>HL Chem - 7
HL Bio - 7
HL English - 6
SL Math - 7
SL French - 6
SL Psychology - 6
My total predicted, with 2 bonus points from TOK and a Chemistry EE, is 41</p>
<ul>
<li>Currently i have As in all my classes, and in my entire high school education, ive never gotten less than a B average for any class and usually i have one or no Bs in a semester.</li>
<li>I speak English, Arabic, and French fluently, and i am learning a very rare language called Kurdish (spoken really only in turkey and north iraq)</li>
<li>I dont require any financial aid.. im paying for the full tuition (which i heard helps-ish)</li>
</ul>
<p>My Extra Curricular's Include:
- MUN for 3 years (I have participated as a delegate at the Dublin (SAIMUN) and Beijing (BEIMUN) international conferences, and I am participating in the Paris (PAMUN) conference this December, where I am representing France.
- I have written and still write articles for "The Pawprint", my school newspaper.
- I am one of the heads of the Conservation Club in my school, a charity for animals, and i ran for VP of it this year.
- I am in Habitat for Humanity, and I have fundraised a lot to help several poor regions. I plan on traveling with the group some time in February of 2012, but I doubt that will happen because of money issues.
- I have just completed a 2 week challenge in Tanzania with a group known as World Challenge, in which I spend around 4 days doing intense trekking, and another 5 days doing humanitarian work in a local village, where we helped out mainly at a center that assists a large number of disabled people. We have raised over $1000 which all went to the centre, and a local school.
- I do backstage and set up for several school plays and dances.
- My friend and I have recently started a charity in our school known as the Livestrong charity, and our goal is to raise $2,500 to support cancer research.
- I am a large supporter of other charities such as MSF and UNICEF in our school, and I participate in breast cancer walkathons whenever I can since my family is made up of several cancer survivors, including my mother.
- I am a bus monitor on my school bus.
- I have passed the B1 level of the DELF french examination, a worldwide accepted test created by the french government that proves I am a legal french speaker.
- Also, because im iraqi, ive visited Iraq, and there i have done a lot of volunteer work in the north, and I plan to do a lot more this summer.
- I also tutor several students in my school, and am part of this tutoring center known as "The Academic Center".
- I helped establish a new club in our school called "Your Voice", which is very similar to a debate club.
- I have consistently achieved high honors and high honors with distinction in my school based on my GPA.
- I have an advanced PADI scuba diving license</p>
<p>I have also visited and have had tours of Johns Hopkins, NYU, UPenn and Georgetown, which I hope helps make those applications stronger.
I have had an interview with a dean of admissions from the University of Rochester.</p>
<p>I planned on getting a job or an internship, but that is almost impossible living in Dubai, since 99.9% of the jobs there are given to university students and adults.
Regarding some lower scores, my parent's divorce may have also affected me from doing so many other things.</p>
<p>If anyone can be honest about my chances for the universities above I would really appreciate it, thanks!</p>
