Chance me at T20 for 1510 SAT & Low-income

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Please chance me realistically so I can make a good college list! Thank you sm :)))
Don’t worry, I won’t get butthurt, so just be as direct as you can. Much appreciated!

Demographics: Chinese female, U.S. citizen, Low-income (EFC=0)

High School: Current senior, IB & AP International school in China, Not a top uni feeder

SAT: 1510 (single-sitting). 1530 (superscore)

GPA/Rank: Top 5% in grade

Regular Courses (9-10th): English Lang&Lit, Chinese Lit, Economics, World History, Geometry, Algebra II, Bio, Chem, Physics

IB Courses (11-12th) GPA Grades (41/45):

  • 6: English A Lit HL, Bio HL, Econ HL, History SL

  • 7: Chinese B HL, Math AA SL

IB Courses (11-12th) Predicted Grades (43/45):

  • 6: English A Lit HL, Bio HL

  • 7: Chinese B HL, Math AA SL, Econ HL, History SL,

Awards: High honor roll

Intended major: Political science & sociology

Recs: 9/10 counselor, 7/10 for the 2 subject teachers

ECs:

  • student body president in grades 8&12, (involved in student gov. since grade 6)

  • in model united nations (no outside involvement and hence no awards due to costs)

  • holidays working in camp as counselor, marketing, etc.

  • founder & president of a sports club for community service

  • blogger interviewing college students on college life

  • president-elect for a school media club. Turned it down due to costs

  • received research opportunities at Pioneer Academics (11th) & a summer program (10th). Turned both down due to no aid

Personal statement: 8/10 Low-income and domestic struggles that I overcame & how that shaped my desire to serve others by contributing to my community

Schools applying to:
National Unis: Brown, Rice, Northwestern, Cornell
Liberal Arts Colleges: Williams, Bowdoin, Pomona, Amherst, Swarthmore, Claremont McKenna, Middlebury

Open to Reverse Chance Me as well! Thanks in advance!! <3

2

Congratulations on your achievements.

Your stats are impressive, but all of the schools on your list should be considered reaches. Have you applied to any match schools? Do you have an affordable safety? The downside of living abroad is that you won’t have in-state tuition anywhere (assuming your parents live abroad as well).

Can your family contribute any money to your education? How will you pay for travel, incidentals, health insurance at a US based school, assuming you are accepted to a meets-full-need school?

Did you apply ED I or II, or EA to any schools?

3

I was accepted to a 100% need met school that gave me a financial aid package covering my tuition, room, and board. the school expects me to work over the summer and during the school year to pay for travel and other personal expenses. the same goes for most schools

4

Like the other commenter said, you need to add match and safety schools to your list. Also, be sure to explain in detail how many ECs were inaccessible to you because of money. Explain specifically for each club/program you got elected officer of/were accepted into. AOs can’t know what you don’t tell them.

5

You have good stats and good extracurriculars, but they’re not so great that you’re a shoe-in at any of these schools. Since most US colleges are not need-blind for foreign applicants, the fact that you need substantial financial aid further reduces your admissions chances. I would add a few match and safety schools to your list, and make sure that you can definitely afford at least one school you’re applying to. Good luck!

6

I think you can get into one of the liberal arts colleges. As to the National Universities, the chance is as other people said, these are all reach schools. I would add Boston College, NYU to the list.

7

You might benefit from further research.

Vassar may represent a stronger choice for sociology than nearly all the schools on your current list. Along similar lines, Pitzer might represent the strongest choice among the Claremonts for sociology, although financial aid could be a greater concern there.

To the extent that the study political science and government relies on the tools and insights of economics for part of its foundation, this analysis could be helpful in further refining your list with respect to study in these fields:

https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.uslacecon.html

8

Your 4 “national universities” are highly selective expensive privates that have a combined 800 freshmen spots for international students… So 400 for females. Even being a top candidate the chance of admission is unlikely… less than 5%.

Your 8 LACs aren’t really all that different chance wise from the first four. They each have about 50 spots in the freshmen class for internationals. 25 for females.

So the 12 colleges have a total 600 spots for international females. Looking at some stats roughly 40% go to Chinese students… so now you are down to 240 spots. Yield rate is probably around 30%… so ~750 total international Chinese female admission offers across all 12 colleges.

I haven’t even introduced your major into this… Brown has 60 majors… 100 int female spots… so 2 spots per major. You have better done something outstanding in your field to land one of those.

However, you can’t get in if you don’t apply. Someone has to get in after all.

Ignore me. I’m just some dude on the internet.

9

@Greymeer OP is a US citizen, as such is treated as a domestic applicant even though they attend an international HS.

1 Like
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Admittedly missed the “US citizen” part.

However, I’ve seen mixed information on how a US citizen living abroad is considered/treated. What I’ve normally seen is that their app is placed in the international pile. To be judged against other international apps. I don’t think this status is uniform across colleges.