ECs:
1 - 11 years of swimming. 2 golden medals of state level competitions, 1 silver medal of state level competition, 3 bronze medals of state level competitions and 1 bronze medal from a huge regional competition that sponsored by correios ( it would be a Brazilian FedEx ) and made by CBDA ( Brazilian confederation of aquatic sports )
2 - 5 years of soccer, 2 golden medals from state level competitions and 1 silver medal from state level competition
3 - Kumon trophy of Portuguese
4 - 2 silver medals and 2 bronze medals of Kumon Portuguese.
5 - Sebrae entrepreneur project ( I basically had to sell a product that I created. I had a profit of 200$~250$ )
6 - Labx leadership program by Fundação Estudar ( I built a belt with sensors for blind people, and used my grandfather as guinea pig LOL )
7 - Laboratorio leadership program ( Some friends and I decided to implement a project from Europe in our city. It basically exchanges recyclable material for points that you can use to buy bus’ tickets. It is still in process tough; we’re talking with the governor of our city, and we intend to implement it first in a small company and see how the employers react to the idea)
8 - Introduction to computer science certificate ( easycomp )
9 - I was a volunteer for 4 years in a project made by correios ( Brazilian FedEx ). Poor kids would send their letter to us and we would go around the city trying to get the desired toys of the letter and then give it to them in the Christmas night.
10 - Exchange program to Canada ( 1 month ). There I got an advanced English certificate. ( I don’t know if is worth mention this)
11 - English certificate from Yazige, a Brazilian school of English. ( I don’t know if is worth mention this either LOL )
Extras:
1 - I was the “valedictorian” ( we don’t really have this in Brazil, but I was selected by the class to speak how was the class’ experience in High School and praise the professors )
2 - I live in an isolated state of Brazil that has never sent a student to Harvard or top-notch university.
Now here comes the real problem…
My SAT subject tests scores are terrible… 650 math 2 and 680 physics. I did not have any real prep for this; I had no books or tutors for the subjects, so I studied for it reviewing the content of what the test tests…
Should I send this Subjects scores? I really don’t know what to do. Retake it is not an option because my city does not offer the SAT. To take it the first time I had to travel to the other side of the country, and this is not an option now.
Absolutely zero chance.
If you had a 2400 and a perfect GPA, your chances as an international applicant would be at most 10%. You are light-years away from there. You need to be looking at a totally different class of school.
@Jivious your odds are highly stacked against you. Your sat won’t work in your favor, because brazil has a fierce competitive pool. But, if you have a very good story to tell, you could get in…
@soze perfect Brazilian gpa is impossible, an 8 is considered top of the class in 90% of the schools. Harvard is need-blind for international students, so the fact that I am an international student might not affect so much… might. I don’t think that I am so far as “light- years” the only problem is my SAT II, my SAT is around the 25th percentile. The problem was my time to prep. I had no books for thr SAT II and only a PR book for the SAT, and my time to prep was minimum, just 4 months to prep for the SAT and SAT II.
@bkmaester I don’t think there is a quota for international students lol, and I know some of students that are also applying to Harvard, their SAT is inderior to mine, the only real problem is the subjects.
@sternbusinees could you say the name of these schools ? I’m aiming for Harvard because of its 100 need based aid. My family can only pay 15% of the total cost of an university
It looks like you could have a good story to tell. If it is truly amazing, then you can get into Harvard. But it has to be TRULY AMAZING.
Your SAT score is very subpar for Harvard. Your GPA is less than ideal. Search for other schools with good financial aid and apply to those–definitely do not count on getting accepted to Harvard.
@theofrelord I agree with the SAT being lower than the average, but the GPA for a Brazilian student is actually fine, I have not seen a Brazilian student with a GPA higher than 85/100. I have a good story, but I do not know if it is truly amazing. Anyway, I’m probably going to apply, if the worst comes I’ll try again next year with a better Subject score.
“definitely do not count on getting accepted to Harvard.” there is someone out there that can be sure of getting into Harvard? LOL xD
Other than Harvard? If your looking for top schools just check out the rankings on USNWR. I think with a unique story like yours you could get into a top school. Also, if you are an URM (not sure if you are) but that will help you significantly.
Being need-blind for international students and having admissions for domestic and international applicants being of equal difficulty are two different things.
No, it’s not your only problem. A 2150 SAT is quite on the low-end for Harvard admits. Keep in mind they routinely reject students with 2400’s.
I did some quick googling. There are currently twenty undergraduates at Harvard from Brazil. That’s five enrolled per-year. Assuming Harvard’s normal yield that would make about six or seven applicants from Brazil admitted per year from the entire country. Let’s round that way up to ten.
Are you one of the ten best students in all of Brazil?
Would you look at that, I found a BR. Man, there aren’t too many of us on here, but we do look out for each other, so send me a PM, I’ll give you some suggestions for some nice universities that you could consider. I’ve been known as the consultor de universidades americanas amongst my friends in SP. Boa sorte @Jivious , and remember, US isn’t only Harvard hahaha
By the way guys, he’s right about the whole GPA thing. It’s virtually impossible to leave high school in Brazil with a perfect “4.0” GPA. Unless you “clean some hands”, which isn’t too uncommon there, you’ll need to ace every single assignment, test, quiz, homework, in 12 subjects(that you DONT get to choose, like in the US), for three years straight. Fun times.
@bkmaester@soze My SAT is indeed in the low-end, the 25th percentile is 2120 last time I saw, but what I meant by saying that the subjects are my only problem is the fact that they are WAY lower than the low-end. I even said that my SAT score is lower than the Harvard’s average on my fourth post.
No, don’t send the subject scores if they are not at least a 700-720, it would reduce your chances of admission. Harvard has an 8%-14% admit rate for students with 2200-2400 sat scores so if your placing all your hopes on Harvard you would most likely end up disappointed.
However, they do admit individuals with your sat score and gpa plus your sport medals are definitely notable so you could possibly apply as a recruited athlete I guess? You could possibly get admitted to Harvard but have you considered applying to other schools? It is not a smart strategy to put all your hopes on one super selective ivy.
@Ali1302 I’m not only applying to Harvard lol. I just used Harvard as an example in this topic. If I’m not wrong ivy leagues do not recruit athletes… or they do ?
@jivious sorry for the discouragement, i think you have a shot as much as the next person here, as long as you have a good story…
Anyways regarding the SAT subject tests, you might as well just take them in January, if you don’t have anything to do You can easily increase your score in few weeks.
I would recommend:
MATH 2: barron’s math, it will over prep you…
Physics: Princeton
Also do the practice tests from the college board book.
I studied the books for less than 2 weeks, and got a perfect score on each.
Since harvard considers the highest scores, you could just send them your january scores…
@bkmaester Don’t worry, everyone is overly stressed because the deadlines are approaching.
I can’t retake the subjects in January, my city does not have a test center. To take the SAT I had to travel to the other side of the country, and now this is impossible because the expenses are way too high - hotel, food, SAT fee, transport -. My scores in the subjects are this bad because ( I think ) I had no books to study for them. I’m the only and the first applicant of my state, actually it was a miracle that I found a library with some books of the SAT reasoning test.
Too bad that I decided to apply for the U.S universities in the middle of 2015. Wish I had more time :-S