Background: Asian
Country: Japan
School type: Japanese IB school
IB predicted grades
English B HL- 6
Japanese A HL- 6
Economics HL- 7
Math SL- 7
Biology SL- 6
Theater SL - 7
TOK/EE - 3
Total: 42/45
SAT I: Math 750 Reading/writing 650 Total: 1400
SAT II: Math Level 2 760 Biology E 660 (Waiting for another score; hoping for 750)
TOEFL: 106
Extracurriculars
Started economics club at school (Also posting videos on YouTube) (grade 11~12)
Tutoring (grade 11~12)
Working as an assistant at my father's real estate business (grade 9~12)
Brown pre-college program
Swimming for 13 years (10th place in Japan)
Volunteer work in Fiji
Student government in grade 10(vice president)
Rock Band (grade 9~11) : Play drum, guitar, bass, and sing
President of the homepage committee (Grade 11~12)
Drawing as a hobby grade 9~12 (My drawing was used for Brown University's pre-college program brochure; Also my drawing on Starbucks cups were displayed at local Starbucks)
Awards
Winner of the government scholarship program (10/1750 applicants)
Selected as one of the best 20teams out of 650 teams at National business competition
Won 10th place in 100m backstroke for All Japan national ranking (age bracket of 13~14 years old)
Major: Economics
Choices
Ivy league
Stanford
NYU
All UC schools
University of Michigan
University of Virginia
Northwestern University
Boston University
University of Washington
Purdue University
Northwestern University
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
USC
Ohio State University
University of Minnesota at Twin Cities
Unievrsity of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
University of Wisconsin at Madison
Why did you take English B? Is English A not offered at your school?
Your overall IB grade is good but English B doesn’t look very nice… especially if you are predicted 6 for it; I don’t think top universities would have good impression about the IB English B even though its HL… cuz it doesn’t entail much ‘studying’ the literature, but rather focuses on ‘learning’ the language. it would be better to increase your SAT score to at least 1500 to look better with a good reading/writing score (e.g. around 750) (this is only in terms of statistics).
Also, how has the history been like at your school for admissions to top universities? E.g. Do you know # of admitted students to Ivies each year?
Thanks for the comment! My school doesn’t offer English B for non-native speaker… I guess I got 7 for the actual score but my teacher didn’t give me 7 for the predicted grade.
My school is very new and we only had 2 years of graduates so far. My class is very small(only 9students) and one student from 2 years ago is attending Cornell right now.
Hmm I see, thats unfortunate… yet an history of Cornell means that you could aim for that school as well, if not higher. However, statistics wise, if you are aiming for ivies and top schools such as northwestern, and stanford, you would need to work on your SAT I as well as SAT iis, especially the biology; I would recommend taking maths again as well as it is not something really hard to get 800 relatice to IB maths.
At this point, realistically speaking, I cant see you getting into Ivies with your current transcript; your ECs arent that special and your grades are average for IB applicants (but you have much lower SATs) Im not trying to deter you or anything, but I believe ambition needs to be backed up by some more evidence on your transcript. I go to international sckl in HK and I do IB as well, and I am perfectly aware of the IB dip program and your situation. So, if you have time, spend it the best way you know how, do some more research on the stats of ppl that go to ivies, and ace that SAT if you are planning to take it again.
Sorry If I was too rude in terms of how I addressed my opinions and good luck
ivies are always so competitive but honestly the rest you have a great shot! i live in virginia and i know you match the profile of most of the students that go to uva in regards to stats so you have a great shot there!!
I’m in grade 12 so I don’t have time to retake SATs! Because my parents don’t speak English at all and I have spent my whole life in Japan, English has been my struggle for the whole time. I took SAT three times and I improved from 1160 to 1400 so I’m kind of satisfied now. Maybe Ivies are too difficult for me! I’ll try my best but thank you for the great advice!