Chance me for NYU, Purdue and UMich (All RA/RD)

<p>(this is a repost since I want more responses) </p>

<p>Hi all, I'm an International student from Hong Kong of Indian origin.</p>

<p>Colleges I want to apply to:
1. University of Michigan (cos #YOLO)
2. Purdue University
3. New York University
Note: I'm not submitting my SAT score to NYU but 3 HL subjects instead. </p>

<p>Rank: my school doesn't rank.</p>

<p>Intended Major: Computer Science/Computer Engineering</p>

<p>IB predicted score:
Math HL: 4
Physics HL: 5
Philosophy HL: 6</p>

<p>Film Studies SL: 6
Chinese B SL: 6
English A1 SL: 5</p>

<p>TOK: C
EE: C</p>

<p>Overall rigor of curriculum: very challenging. Took two of the hardest subjects (Math HL and Physics HL) plus the IBDP itself
Made a huge jump in from Junior to Senior year</p>

<p>Note: I worked my ass off but I could never reach anything above a 6. Teachers have recognised this and included it in their recommendation. I've had the worst 2 years of my life. The same applies with my SAT.</p>

<p>SAT: 1610(superscored)
SAT 2:
Math 2: 600
Physics: 540</p>

<p>Again, worked my ass off, took the SAT thrice, SAT 2 twice but it was too difficult to handle the course load.</p>

<p>Common app Essay: Amazing. Showed it to admissions counsellor and she was amazed. Very unique
UMichigan Essay: Amazing. Spent hours writing this.
Purdue Essay: Very strong. (but its quite short since word count was only 100 words)
NYU Essay: Amazing. Spent hours writing this.</p>

<p>Recs:
Physics teacher: Very Strong
Counsellor: Outstanding
Employer Rec: Outstanding</p>

<p>ECs(my strong part):
1. Head of WIS E-Community - I was in­volved in cre­at­ing a so­cial net­work­ing plat­form to pro­mote stu­dent voice in school. I also lead a group of 4 other web de­vel­op­ers
Grades: 11,12
Leadership Position</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Founder/Head Teacher of Club Coding Monkey - In this activity, I used my passion for web development to teach younger students how to program in web development languages.
Grades: 10,11,12
Leadership Position</p></li>
<li><p>Web Designer and Developer Intern(Summer internship) - In my internship, I was given the opportunity to develop a survey application for Guinness and Co.
Grades: 12
Leadership Position</p></li>
<li><p>Instructor/Venture Scout of 28th WIS Scout Group- In grade 11, I took on the role of an Instructor. My job was assisting the Scout leader organize activites for young elementary school scouts.
Grades: 9,10,11
Leadership Position</p></li>
<li><p>Student helper for Xtra time Club(Homework Club) - I helped tutor younger students in Math and other subjects
Grades: 11
Leadership Position</p></li>
<li><p>Diwali Ball Dancer(Culture celebration) - I created a dance with a group of 20 people to represent my culture
Grades: 12</p></li>
<li><p>Youth Leader at Year 8 camp - I took on the challenge of leading younger students in the Year 8 camp. Using my leadership skills, I have led my group to winning second place.
Grades: 11
Leadership Position</p></li>
<li><p>Model United Nations delegate/researcher - In this extra-curricular activity, I practiced my public-speaking through debates representing various countries.
Grades: 12</p></li>
<li><p>Member of Service Committee - I was in charge of communicating with other members to approve or disprove service activities that took place in school.
Grades: 11</p></li>
<li><p>Badminton team - I went to weekly badminton training sessions during the school year to improve my badminton skills
Grades: 11</p></li>
<li><p>WIS Civilization Magazine: I was in charge as a Director of Philosophy of my school's first Humanities magazine.
Grades: 11
Leadership Position</p></li>
<li><p>Scouts, Down Syndrome hike: As a Scout, we were to meet one of the scout groups who are suffering with down syndrome. We spent the day together hiking and socializing with them.
Grades: 11</p></li>
<li><p>Co-founder/crew member of WIS Shorts: I was in charge of creating episodes which represented school life.
Grades: 11
Leadership Position</p></li>
<li><p>Filming at Diwali Ball 2012: I volunteered as a crew member for filming Diwali Ball with other crew members
Grades: 11</p></li>
<li><p>Filming at WIS Gala Concert: I volunteered as a crew member for filming the WIS Gala Concert
Grades: 11</p></li>
<li><p>WIS School Fair, help with school fair stall: I volunteered to help at the school fair with setting up the official Scouts stall to raise money for our scout group. (half day event)
Grades: 11</p></li>
<li><p>Help with HK 100 checkpoint race, My Scout group got a chance to volunteer to help the racers at the HK 100 checkpoint race held every year. I was given the challenge to stay awake for 24 hours!(24 hour event)
Grades: 11</p></li>
<li><p>Kennedy School Scouts help - As a Secondary School Scout group, we got a chance to act as leaders to the Kennedy School scout group in a joint-Scout group event. We also helped the leaders in their Scout group. (one day event)
Grades: 11
Leadership Position</p></li>
<li><p>Year 11 Options Evening - I was a volunteer in the options evening to guide younger students to choose their study options in the IB.
Grades: 11</p></li>
<li><p>WIS School Fair, help with school fair stall: I volunteered to help at the school fair with setting up the official Scouts stall to raise money for our scout group.
Grades: 11</p></li>
</ol>

<p>In general:
Over 50 hours of volunteering
9 leadership positions held over Junior and Senior year.</p>

<p>Thanks!!</p>

<p>Although your extracurriculars show great dedication and passion, your SAT will definitely hold you back. If you want to apply to those schools, you’ll need a much higher SAT score, especially because you’re an international student (meaning that the admissions committees will know even less about your school’s grading system and will have to rely heavily on standarized testing. </p>

<p>I would recommend you find the average SAT scores for those schools and shoot for that at LEAST; a 1610 is far below average for those 3. Have you tried the ACT instead?</p>

<p>Hey thanks for the reply. I’ve realised my SAT scores aren’t that great. But as an international student, I’ve applied to other countries as well like Canada and the UK and received 6 offers from there. </p>

<p>Have any schools admitted any student from this score range before? UMich is my first choice and I really want to go there. If I don’t get in, then University of Toronto would be my first choice. </p>

<p>I actually think that they would probably know about the IB. Its quite well recognised around the world. Thats why I’m sending my IB score instead of my SAT to NYU </p>

<p>btw do you think I would be able to make it to the waitlist at least? </p>

<p>Your SAT scores are way too low for these schools. Don’t even expect a waitlist on them.</p>

<p>the average for Purdue is 1600-1800 though. </p>

<p>^ That is mid 50% not average. You are at the bottom of mid 50, i.e. at 25%. Remember you are an international student, not from Indiana. Also for Engineering, you need to be much better. Aim at at least 1800-2000 for Purdue.</p>