Chinese studying A-level in Singapore but not one of the top schools
-SAT: 730+800 (essay 7/6/8)
-SAT2: M800, Chem 800, Bio 760
-TOEFL (my weakness)
T111(R29/L30/S23/W29)
-GPA: no GPA but the top 1%, 2 H3 (university courses), predicted grade is straight A
-EC:
dance performance and choreography for 10+ years;
science research in university and win 2 silvers in regional competition;
math olympiad but no major awards (AIME qualifier, school champion for Euclid contest);
overseas volunteer trip;
regular volunteer in library;
a leadership position in school;
-Recommendation letter:
I guess one from my science teacher should be at least 7/10, and the other one from my English teacher would be 10/10
-Essay:
My personal statement is about my experience of living in a multi-religion society. I’m still working on it.
-major:
biology+philosophy, minor in dance if possible
-Schools:
I’m considering EA UMich, ED1 uchicago, and probably ED2 a LAC(Swarthmore/MHC) if ED1 failed. My other top choices are Duke, Brown and Upenn.
May I ask what are my chances? Or could you please recommend some schools for me? Thank you in advance!
I really cant say much without your GPA. Your GPA is the most important. Assuming your GPA is high(like a 3.9), your chances are good and you should definitely apply. Although I can’t guarantee acceptance.
I reccommend you look in to USC and UC schools in California. USC is really good with international students and the UC schools are very high ranking schools that are not Ivy League. Ivy League schools are already difficult so having some UC as a back up would be good. The top ranking UC schools are almost at par with the Ivy leagues so I wouldn’t consider them as “bad schools” because they are extremely competitive(Some people get accepted in to Ivy schools yet, get rejected from UCLA).
I would also recommend that you apply to colleges that you will be guaranteed acceptance (maybe one or two Cal states or NYU) because even students who have the maximum possible grades and SAT scores have been rejected from all the Ivy leagues. University in America is very competitive today so I would prepare for the worst.
Thank you very much for the reply! My school (actually most schools in Singapore) does not have GPA system. My class ranking is top 5 among 600+ students, if that could give you a rough idea.
I will definitely apply for UCB and UCLA, but for USC I feel that the school culture doesn’t match me. I think a sort of “nerdy” school would be a better fit.
Thank you for the advice! I know US schools are super competitive, and my grades are descent but not perfect. No matter what the results are, I would happily accept them because I learned a lot, and grew a lot along the journey.
If you are looking for “nerdy” schools, Caltech, MIT, and Georgia Tech are a must. Although I wouldn’t worry too much about if a school is “nerdy” or not because the top ranking schools are full of nerdy people and these days nerdy is the new cool.
Right now, finding a job is really difficult. USC has amazing connects that help students get jobs after college so it maybe worth applying.
Also what major are you planning to pursue? Most of the Ivy leagues care about what your major is so it would be helpful to know.
As a full pay you will have a good chance at your top 3, you should get into a least one. If you need FA you will still have a good chance at UMich (since they won’t give you any FA anyway), but UChicago and Swarthmore will be a long shot.
MIT and Caltech are too high reach for me I guess, but I’m applying to Georgia Tech under EA.
I am planning to pursue a PhD, so the career guidance is not so important as compared to research opportunities to me. But I’ll definitely take your advice to look out for what kind of guidance the school provides to students.
I am planning to major in cellular and molecular biology, and if possible double major in philosophy.
Will you need financial aid? If so note that Duke is not need blind for internationals. Hence those internationals who get accepted are either cream of the crop, or who can pay their own way.
Have you considering giving Duke Kunshan a look? They are accepting their first incoming freshman class starting 2018.
So your predicted A-levels are A/A/A, with no A*s? What are the GSCEs? Top schools will no how to evaluate British tests, and will not try to convert them to GPA.
Hello, for the Singapore version of A-Level, A is the highest grade already. It’s a bit different from British A-level. My predicted grade is AAAA at H2 level.
Hi thank you for the advice.
I am not applying for aid for Duke (probably yes for LAC), hope that could not put me at disadvantage. Duke Kunshan is too new for me (I like schools that have rich history like Upenn and UChicago), so I’ll not consider Duke Kunshan.