Chance me on T20's

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Demographics
Asian, OOS, Private School, Middle-income family

Intended major to study at college: Envrionmental sciences

Stats
SAT: 1480
iB Diploma predicted score: 41-42/45
AP Human Geography 5
AP Environmental Science 5

Awards:
Academic Colours and Honours for all five years of high school.
French Prize
Geography Prize

Leadership position at high school: Peer support leader

EC’s:
Research with Geography professor at university (2 research assignments/papers)
National representative for the International Geography Olympiad (IMO) held in Hong Kong this year
Worked with Geography teacher to set up a Scholarship geography workshop for students wishing to take the annual Geography Scholarship exam in my country.
Captain of Varsity Squash and second tennis team at school
ESOL, Mathex (math competition held in my country) and S2S (student to student) mentor at high school.
Co-founder of two businesses (one is an amazon affiliates website and another is a service/package for post natal packages for new mums)- Over 10,000 website views and hundreds of sales combined.
Team leader of a group of 10-12 for a sporting organisation volunteering at national sports events.

Jobs:
Holiday programme tennis coach
Food and Beverage steward at a stadium

Rec Letters (not decided yet):
iB Geography teacher
English teacher from a couple of years back
Team leader for the geography olympiad.

Please chance me on T20’s, I know Ivy Leagues and T10’s have such low admissions rates that its impossible to predict accurately but just some other T20’s (eg. Michigan, Georgiatech, Northwestern, Berkley, UCLA, etc.) will be good.

Thanks and have a good day!

2

I think your SAT score might be a weak point, but wow–those extracurriculars are impressive. Admission to top schools is basically a lottery, but I think you might have a good chance.

3

Not great for top 20s unless athletic recruit or national recognition on those ECs. Doesn’t mean you should not try, but make sure you have some schools that suit you that are highly likely to accept you as well as the lottery ticket ones. Talk to your GC about the % of kids with your courses, grades and scores and where they tend to get into school and not. Private schools tend to track these things.

4

Also are you in-state or OOS for those public schools? Domestic or international student? Berkeley, UCLA, and Michigan are risky propositions.

Ageee that the 1480, while it is an excellent SAT score, will be low for Top-20 schools, especially since you’re in one of the worst demographics for elite admissions (Asian).

5

@RapidLUx “for students wishing to take the annual Geography Scholarship exam in my country.” Is your country the United States? If not, take everything the above posters said about the difficulty of admissions with your stats and demographics and double or triple it.

6

Another factor will be affordability. You didn’t specify whether financial/merit aid is required. If you are OOS/international, those public schools are going to be expensive and their mandate is to take in-state students first.

7

Edit: I am from New Zealand so am international

8

OP, can you afford those schools without merit/financial aid? Run an NPC.

If you’re not full pay, then it will be tough to gain admissions to T20 schools unless there is some hook you have.

9

@Hamurtle hey, thanks for the info. Just wondering if I am able to full pay, do my chances stay relatively the same as the admissions rate posted by the colleges?

10

Full pay may help but that SAT should be higher, although if that International Geography Olympiad results in a medal, that would be helpful as Asians who do those types of Olympiads are rare.

11

FAQ: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1525399-if-you-are-asking-for-your-chances-to-ivies-and-other-top-schools.html

12

Hey well done in IGO! You are the first person on this website I’ve met who also does geography competitions. We have the United States Geography Olympiad which leads to IGO, as well as the International Geography Bee. Unfortunately, my parents no longer let me do these competitions because they believe it’s a waste of time. I had the highest qualifying score for the USGO nationals last year, but I didn’t attend nationals because of the National Geographic Bee. Do you think that doing USGO/IGO/IGB has a big impact in applying for college?

13

The SAT score may hurt your odds a little (despite being comparatively high to most) but as others have said, T20s end up sometimes resembling a lottery of sorts because there are so many qualified people that apply. That being said, your ECs are quite impressive and could just as easily give you an edge. Best of luck!

14

@squ1rrel Hey, congrats on your achievements, regarding whether the IMO helps with my application, I’m sure it does but to what degree does it give me an edge I’m not so sure.

15

Unless you intend to confine your college search to a particular category of school, you’ve really inquired about top-50 U.S. colleges:

https://amp.businessinsider.com/the-610-smartest-colleges-in-america-2015-9

If you might be interested in an environmental studies major supplemented by math and science courses, then I’d recommend you consider colleges with particularly notable programs in ES.

16

Oof. Asian, oos, private school, and middle class? If you’re a guy, you’re definitely not getting in. If you’re a girl, maybe you have a chance.

17

Admissions are unpredictable so apply and try your luck. I wouldn’t recommend an Asian to waste time on HYPSM. Not even UC schools. Try southern schools like Duke, Rice, Vanderbilt. If you can ED and not apply for financial aid then odds may improve. Don’t overthink major, most undergrads change their minds.

18

There are very few school need blind and meet need for international students. You need money, it’s a problem. It will likely affect your acceptances.