Aspiring to be a future international student (And yes, I will apply for colleges in my country also)
My favourite schools to apply to are Princeton and Harvard, but I will apply to all 8 and also Stanford. I strive for the best.
Grades
GCSEs - 5 As 2 As 1 B 1 C (I wanted to do more GCSEs but I didn’t go to the best quality school, I got homeschooled a few times for personal reasons)
A-levels 3 As with one AS that’s a B
Although most people finish A-levels by the time they’re 18, I did an intensive course so I finished them by the age of 16 so I can have time to accomplish other things before starting Uni by age 18/19
SAT 2200 (I don’t know whether I want to bother retaking it because of the redesign the test will be all foreign to me)
6 SAT Subject Tests, 4 of them range from 700-800, the other two are between 650-700
May seem that it was frivolous to get more than 3 Subject tests but because I am an international and it is competitive for us, I thought it would be better
Accomplishments:
I speak 6 languages fluently, learning another two
I can play the piano, flute and the guitar
Founded my own Feminist Book Club, the Introverted Intuitive (INF+) Club, A society for the Multilingual/polyglots and another society that focuses on improving the mental health of our community, together we start charities, have our own online magazine and we’ve had two successful events so far (I don’t want to give too much details because it got a little bit of media attention)
Had two articles published on two major magazines
I’ve been the lead character for two Theatre productions in our biggest local theatre
I do martial arts and tennis every week
I volunteer as an emotional support mentor
Essay:
I want to write about my perseverance, adversity and struggle and how I was a late bloomer and overcoming social anxiety and I have three teachers who know me very well and I know they’d write amazing recommendations
I’m only asking because I know that it is even more competitive with internationals but I normally do not find any of their background stories of the already international students admitted and I always imagined they must be so much more accomplished to have gotten in
I think he is looking at your stats and low acceptance rate of Ivy schools. These stats aren’t very competitive to be honest. However, they do some holistic magic to maintain an interesting student body so you never know for sure.
^ I agree with @sgopal2 that you sound like you have some “interesting tidbits”, but they need to be organized much more coherently into a “good story”. What is important to you? What choices have you made? Many of your activities fall into the “laundry list” category without a clear understanding of your accomplishment and how they fit into your overall narrative.
I am also usually skeptical when an applicant says something like “My favourite schools to apply to are Princeton and Harvard, but I will apply to all 8 and also Stanford. I strive for the best.” These are very different schools, and throwing darts indiscriminately is seldom a good strategy. What are you looking for in a school, and why these in particular, other than prestige? What do you want to study? What kind of environment are you looking for?
Thanks for the response @renaissancedad I pm’d you. I hope it doesn’t sound silly to ask but how did you edit your post? I don’t seem to have that option. Is it because you are a Senior Member?
Your stats aren’t extremely competitive and I would say to also look at other universities. If you could organize everything into a stellar essay, you may probably have a slim chance. Again, when it comes to Ivy Leagues, their selections are quite random. Even some of the world’s brightest and most accomplished students get denied.
Their selections are not random, but it helps to try to learn what each looks for, what they say. Otherwise, you’re applying blind. The wisdom is that kids who do this legwork identify which schools best match.
@hunihuni, anyone can edit their post within 15 minutes. After that, it’s fixed. There’s an icon in the upper right hand corner of your post to edit, just below the post number.
First the numbers. There are 15,000 students admitted to the Ivy League colleges each year. International students make up between 10 and 15 percent of this or 1,500 to 2,000. International athletes and international legacy might represent 500 out of the 1,500 to 2,000, so there are between 1,000 and 1,500 spots actually available to you. Because the Ivy League schools are very generous with financial aid for international students and because they are all world renowned, the smartest and most accomplished students in the world apply. There are something like 70 million students globally each year graduating high school across the globe. only a fraction of them actually apply to Ivy League schools, but that fraction is rather accomplished. Which country you are from also plays a role. China and India together represent almost 3/4 of international students. Applying to all 8 Ivy League colleges does not increase your odds. It is not carpet bombing. Each of these colleges is very different with different institutional needs and completing a compelling application involves far more than completing a supplemental essay and hitting the send button. I don’t fully understand GSCEs so I can’t comment on course rigor. 2200 is a very good SAT score. 700 to 800 is in extremely wide range on subject test scores. For some subjects 700 is a good enough score, for others like Math 2 it really isn’t. If financial aid is important to you consider also Wesleyan, Skidmore, Bates, and Trinity they are all great colleges who offer significant financial aid to international students. I don’t mean to be discouraging - it is a common misperception that applying to Ivy League schools is a “crap shoot” or like playing the lottery. Good luck!
