Chance me for Ivies plz

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I've received my schooling entirely in the UK, however I've gotten US residency.</p>

<p>Male, 18-21yrs old, public school, White, Maths/Econ (generally)
UK doesn't do things like GPA's or class ranks.
We have a national standardized testing system (A-Levels/GCSE's).</p>

<p>I got in A-Levels:
A (highest) in Maths, Further Maths, General Studies, History, Russian
B in Physics
I got 9A*'s (highest) and 2A's in GCSEs</p>

<p>My SATS. (first time I did them btw)
CR = 720, WR = 660, M = 670 (tho I plan to retake in Jan)
Subjects are:
Math II = 790, World History = 800, US History = 660, French = 500 (ouch - not gonna send that off). Wish they had a Russian subject test I'd have aced that.</p>

<p>Extra-c
Chess (won several regional tournaments)
Piano at high standard
Played badminton and chess for school team
Community service, mentoring, blah blah blah I'm sure you're not interested but all the usual</p>

<p>I am applying to:
Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Chicago, UC Berkeley, Stanford, Columbia, Cornell</p>

<p>(Don't think me pretentious cuz I'm only applying to the top US unis. There's no point in applying to lower unis since I can go to one in the UK much more cheaply).</p>

<p>Thx in advance.</p>

2

<p>No chance.</p>

3

<p>You will need to bump up that math sat score if you are to stand a good chance.</p>

4

<p>Wow your SAT scores aren't good, although when you hear this you'll probably think that "how could so much weight be put upon one test". However, with Ivies everything has to "line" up correctly and althought your A level classes are good your SAT manifests somewhat of an incongruence. Also, considering that your British your international competition pool is even more competetive. So... you still have a chance but I think to stand a decent shot your SAT scores should be above 2250 in the aggregate (M+CR+W) and 1500 on (CR+M)</p>

5

<p>suggestion: look at the thread that shows acceptances to these schools. Some have many acceptances for 2000-2200 SAT and rejections for 2300-2400.
Think about it like this. If you have 2350 and you are applying to 7 amazing schools, they know that you can pick and choose. Some schools want to accept kids that are actually going to go there. So i totally disagree that it is all about the SAT. And as for the whole pic, the SAT is one piece and as long as it is not really low, i don't think all schools weigh it the same. take a less school like clemson or ga or vt, they may cause they get 20000 and lots are not the smartest kids. but the better schools can fill their school up with 2350s and that would be a bad mix.</p>

6

<p>um, not really.</p>

<p>the schools he mentioned don't play the admissions game the way Tuft's does.</p>

7

<p>Although your SAT I composite score of 1390/1600 is low for some of the Ivies, it is fine for Chicago, Stanford, Cornell, Penn (but not for Wharton), & Dartmouth. Much will depend on the rest of your application, especially essays and recommendations. A 1390/1600 will not preclude acceptance to any of the Ivies, but it will substantially lower your odds at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia and Brown, as well as at the Wharton School of Business at Penn; you need a compelling "hook". Does your reference to "public" school mean an English school requiring application and tuition payment, or are you using this reference as Americans use it? UC Berkeley, Cornell Univ. and Univ. of Chicago offer you the best chances for admission based on your posted profile, although you could be rejected by all. Although you may not wish to send all of your SAT II scores, they will be sent as the College Board sends results of all SAT I & II tests. Many schools only consider the top 3 SAT II scores. What do you plan to study? What is your opinion of St. Andrew's in Scotland? Univ. of Edinburgh? Fluency in Russian may help, especially if it applies to your intended area of study, such as International Relations or Int'l Business, etc. According to USNews, about 25% of the students accepted to Harvard, Yale and Princeton scored below 1400/1600 on the SAT I exam. Many of these are rumored to be recruited athletes, legacies, URMs and development students, but many probably have exceptional talent in other areas such as acting, art and music.</p>

8

<p>Thank you all for your input.</p>

<p>So basically, as I understand it:
1) Chicago, Berkeley and Cornell are a match-reach, and the others are a reach-high reach?
2) I should work my ass off to improve SAT1?</p>

<p>@schismmanifesto,
"Wow your SAT scores aren't good, although when you hear this you'll probably think that "how could so much weight be put upon one test". "</p>

<p>Yes, I need to raise them in Jan. Thing is I totally didn't revise for them first time round (well, how do you revise the writing, reading and basic maths?), plus I'm not a consistent person - I get too many obvious easy questions wrong. Guess I have to work on that.</p>

<p>@carnut,
"Think about it like this. If you have 2350 and you are applying to 7 amazing schools, they know that you can pick and choose."</p>

<p>Will the colleges I'm applying know that I'm applying to others?</p>

<p>@serf-,
"the schools he mentioned don't play the admissions game the way Tuft's does."</p>

<p>How do they play it?</p>

<p>@icy9ff8,
"Much will depend on the rest of your application, especially essays and recommendations. "</p>

<p>Recommendations are excellent, I like to think the essays are too.</p>

<p>"Does your reference to "public" school mean an English school requiring application and tuition payment, or are you using this reference as Americans use it?"</p>

<p>It is a public school in that you pay practically nothing for tuition, however it has rigorous entry requirements (exams) and the teaching is much better than average.</p>

<p>"What do you plan to study? "</p>

<p>I'm not sure, that's partly why I'm applying to American unis. Economics, maths, history, philosophy, politics, international relations? They're all quite interesting but I'm not 'obssessed' on anything.</p>

<p>"What is your opinion of St. Andrew's in Scotland? Univ. of Edinburgh? "</p>

<p>Not interested in St. Andrews, applying to Edinburgh as safety.</p>

9

<p>None of those schools are matches.</p>

10

<p>Well, I said match-reach. </p>

<p>Anyway would you be so kind to tell me why you think "No chance", BO5TON?</p>

11

<p>Because you've done nothing to set yourself apart from the general population that applies to Ivies? Plenty of Vals and Sals get rejected with better stats and ECs.</p>

12

<p>Are you a senior? If so, some of these colleges/ universities do not accept the January SAT test.</p>

13

<p>@Gaffe,
"Are you a senior? If so, some of these colleges/ universities do not accept the January SAT test."</p>

<p>Yeah, I'm aware of that. The more demanding schools out of those do, however (Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Columbia).</p>

<p>@BO5TON,
"Because you've done nothing to set yourself apart from the general population that applies to Ivies? Plenty of Vals and Sals get rejected with better stats and ECs."</p>

<p>What are Vals and Sals?</p>

<p>"No chance" implies zero percent chance, which I doubt is the case. As it stands, my SAT1 scores are about average for Chicago, Berkeley and Cornell, but in the 25th percentile for the others. (OK, the title wasn't that accurate, as Chicago, Berkeley and Stanford aren't Ivies). I don't need to get an offer from all of them, one will be sufficient. The GPA, (converted from A-Levels), will be close to maximum.</p>

<p>What EC's am I missing?</p>

14

<p>I think you might have a chance at Chicago, Cornell and Berkely and the fact that you're from the UK will help out a lot.</p>

<p>By the way, I completely agree with you in wishing they had a Russian SAT II. </p>

<p>Also, you said you weren't planning on sending in your French score, but the scores come in a package together, so the colleges will still see it.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

15

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<p>Huh? What do you mean 18-21??</p>

16

<p>"I think you might have a chance at Chicago, Cornell and Berkely and the fact that you're from the UK will help out a lot."</p>

<p>It wont help in the slightest.</p>

<p>stalker, Val and Sal is Valedictorian and Salutatorian--1st and 2nd in your class.</p>

17

<p>To top this thread (instead of starting a new one and clogging the board), there's a small update - my Jan SATS I test, which I redid. </p>

<p>Now it looks like this, with changes from Oct in brackets :</p>

<p>CR = 800 (+80), WR = 590 (-70), M = 790 (+120) = 2180 (from 2050, i.e. +130).</p>

<p>So I substantially improved in maths and CR, but unfortunately suffered a substantial dip in writing.</p>

<p>How will this change affect my chances?</p>

<p>Note: out of my unis, only Columbia, Harvard, Princeton and Yale accept the Jan SATS.</p>

18

<p>That change will significantly improve your chances. A 1590/1600 is a world away from a 1390/1600. Good job. </p>

<p>Admission into Columbia, Harvard, Princeton or Yale is still a stretch though.</p>

19

<p>maybe slight chance for cornell and berkeley</p>

20

<p>You don't get to pick and choose which SAT I/II's colleges see. They see all...that sounds kinda creepy lol.</p>