Male.
International (Karachi- Pakistani).
Will be applying for financial aid.
Scholarly Stats:
SAT Score: 740 MA, 740 CR, 700 WR. [2180] [Single Sitting]
GPA: N/A.
SAT II: 800 (M-IIC), 770 (Chem).
Awards: Some, but no great amazing ones that’ll blow your mind out. I was a finalist for the Pakistani Olympiad team, but I didn’t make it. Other than that, most of my awards are regional or national ones. I WAS a brown belt in taekwondo, but had to end it due to health issues. I won a few tournaments but those were pretty much local spars.
Intended Major: Pre-Med or Particle Physics. (Yes, I know).
IGCSE (Equivalent to O-Level) Results: Chem, Phys, Maths, Bio, Business Studies, English Lang, English Lit and Art were all A’s. History was a C due to reasons. Overall, 9A’s and a C.
IB Year: I’m doing the IB Diploma Program even though it kills me every day:
Format: Class (Level) (Grade 11th Grade) (Grade Predicted).
Overall: Predicted Grade is 43/45 as my coordinator understands that I’ll probably be able to get the three EE and TOK points.
ECs:
Robotics Team Leader and Founder.
Media Club Leader and Founder.
Worked as the secretary for an extremely important politician, raising political awareness and education funding.
Freelance Graphic Artist (Spread by word of mouth, I’ve done a fair amount of work for events).
I.T Specialist (Was hired by a small company to write their security protocols).
Worked four years at an orphanage for extremely poor children. I was on fundraising for the past three years (campaigned for massive upgrades in their living conditions, managed to make them one of the only orphanages with beds and proper sanitary facilities) but this year they put me on finding missing children and coordinating with the police.
School newspaper founding member and News and Politics section editor.
Debate Team Founder and Co-Captain.
That’s about it. I understand that I’m not a hyper-competitive applicant, but some of my main questions were:
Will applying for aid hurt my chances?
Will my fairly nice IB grades and SAT II’s make up for my low SAT?
What colleges do you think I should apply to as safety schools?
I understand that it’s terribly late to ask all this, and that there are kids out there who’ve already sent in their apps, but do you guys think I have a chance?
*This still tickles my pickles. I got a 7 when I gave an exam for English Lit HL, but when I downgrade to SL (because apparently 5HL’s is not allowed), he gives me a 6 predicted for SL.
As an international student, they expect you to be full pay. This means that you will not be requesting any financial aid. You specified that you will be applying for financial aid, so that will definitely decrease your chances significantly at these top schools. https://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■/the-ivy-coach-blog/category/international-students/
Yeah, I know that a good number of American schools are need-aware for internationals. But, if I remember right, HYPM+Amherst are completely need-blind for internationals, right? Of course, whether I have a shot in hell in getting into one of those schools is a different matter.
What other colleges would you suggest, @lhd512 ? In particular, colleges where I have a fair shot at applying and getting a good financial aid package.
With scores in that range, i would recommend looking at schools where you can receive significant merit aid. You indicated that your major may be premed. If that is the case, then you should attend an affordable school for your undergraduate degree, and go to one of the schools you listed for graduate school.
Premed is my backup. I’m really into particle stuff, in particular, I love the ideas of quantum chemistry. So, I’d love to attend a school like MIT where science is really all the rage. Still, which schools would you suggest, also, what do you think about my chances for HYPM?
Your chances for these schools is practically nil. You have nothing particularly impressive going for you and I see no reason why you’d be chosen among the thousands of other candidates. You’re a decent candidate, but you’re aiming a bit too high in terms of the colleges you’re applying to. You could get a decent scholarship at Temple University or the University of Alabama, but you’d still have to pay about $13k per year. How much can you afford to pay? You could get into some great state schools.
Agree with poster above. You are a good student and have good ECs, you may just be setting the bar a bit too high. What sets you apart from the thousands of other applicants who will have better grades and SAT scores? You can still apply and there is a chance you get into one of the schools on your list but you really need some safety schools as a fallback.
You need to lower your expectation significantly! Your SAT, in particular, is not competitive for elite schools. I think you will have a hard time getting into any top 30/40 schools in US.
Huh, that hurt to hear but I suppose it’s what I needed. Alright, so, hypothetically, if I got my SAT up, do you guys think I could make a competitive applicant? Even without any mind blowing EC’s?
I don’t know why everyone seems to be in such a harsh mood today.
OP has a 2180 SAT, which is in range (albeit on the low end) for all these schools, a pair of good SAT II scores, and 40/42 in his IB subjects (both current and predicted).
These stats certainly put him in range, with some decent ECs to accompany them. Yes, no international aid applicant is going to have good odds, but I don’t see how his chances are practically nil.
As for top 30/40 schools, I don’t see why OP wouldn’t be competitive. At places like BU or NYU (non-Stern), an international with strong stats and 40 IB points (not including bonus points, which US colleges generally ignore) would be a very competitive applicant. Being an applicant from Pakistan and needing financial aid won’t help, but OP certainly has a chance.
Hypothetically, if I did not apply for financial aid, how much would my chances change? I had a person sponsoring me, but sadly, due to recent events, he was killed and his heirs haven’t been finalized yet. But, I could maybe find another sponsor.
An increase of a few percentage points in your chances isn’t worth more than $100,000 (or whatever you’d get from financial aid). US tuition is absurd, and you may be better off attending a uni with good financial aid (and later a “prestige” school as a graduate student) than spending a quarter of a million dollars on a big-name college. Very few employers care where you went as an undergraduate.
Still, overall, how much of a chance do you guys think I have for HYPM+Dart. In particular, I know that MIT (dream school) isn’t too fond of internationals without Olympiad stuff, but would you guys say that my chance is right around the admission rate, or lower?
Also, I know that most of the applicants are academically qualified and that at highly selective colleges, EC’s and essays are what cull from the pool of qualified students. Do you think I could avoid the “Non-Academically Qualified” purge?
Also, could you all please chance me for:
UChicago.
NYU (Stern).
Brown.
Columbia.
Northwestern (HPME Hopeful).
Boston University.
Rice.
On a scale of 1 to 10. With 1 being (X<1%) and 10 being (X>=75%).
Personally, I think that you’ve got a pretty solid chance at a lot of these schools because you’re an international student and you demonstrate really stellar English skills.
I think most of your responders seem to be in kind of a crappy mood, but you can’t put too much weight on their opinions anyway. From what I’ve seen, a lot of American schools really love having international students which will not necessarily make up for your SATs or your C, but might give you a little bit of grace.
I’m not super familiar with all of these schools, but I can say with almost absolute certainty that you’ll get into Boston University. In fact, that’s one of my safeties and I have less impressive credentials than you do.
UChicago: 7
NYU (Stern): 6.5
Brown: 4.5
Columbia: 4.5
Northwestern: 7
Boston University: 9, because there’s always the chance you won’t get in.
Rice: 7-8
This is primarily based on your SAT I and II scores, but I haven’t really factored in the IB Diploma because I haven’t heard enough about it to be sure. Regardless, I really think you’re a strong applicant for most of these schools, again because you have terrific English skills and have repeatedly challenged yourself academically. I’m going to restate what one of the other responders said about how expensive it’s going to be, because it’s not going to be cheap in the slightest, but you can hope for the best. I will recommend picking some safety schools, however, if BU isn’t one for you. There’s the outstanding chance that none of these will accept you, I just doubt that.
UChicago was actually one of the schools I was really hoping to get into. As you listed me a 7 seven for that particular college, do you think I’ll be able to canoodle some financial aid from them? At most, my parents can pay up to 14-18K a year, and even that’ll be murderous (our house is worth less than the 50K the Ivies demand). I have no problem working long night shifts once I get into a college, so, I could partially fund my education from there.
Also, do you think I should take the SAT again? The fee isn’t an issue because I have a waiver, but I also have my IB exams coming up. I’ll only be able to take it in December because I think the registration deadline for the November one has passed.
Nobody’s a 7 (if that’s 40-50% on your scale) for UChicago unless they’re a double URM with triple legacy and a medal from the International Physics Olympiad, related to the dean, or Malala Yousafzai. Chicago is on a par with mid-tier Ivies in terms of selectivity.
If you get in, they’ll meet your full need, but nobody giving a “normal” applicant (much less an international one) a 50% shot at Ivies or equivalents knows what he/she is talking about.
It’s also worth noting that my TOK (Philosophy) IB presentation earned full marks and is one of the few presentations the IB council sends out to new schools in order to show them what a TOK presentation is supposed to be like.
@NotVerySmart , when you say they’ll meet my full need, do you mean that if I get in and am unable to pay even a cent, they’ll be willing to foot the bill? Even if I am an international?
When schools meet full need, it means that they ask you to submit some forms and tax returns, declaring information like parental income and assets. The school then calculates what they think you can pay, and makes up the difference between that and full tuition. They call this meeting full demonstrated need. That may be less than you actually need - top colleges know there are thousands of students who would gladly pay full freight to attend their school, so they aren’t always as generous as you’d hope - but if you get in, and your family isn’t well off, you could get significant aid.
Most of these schools have Net Price Calculators, which you can use to estimate how much you’d be paying and how much financial aid you would get. I’d run the NPC for your list, and see what the results are like. This is usually a decent predictor of final aid packages.
As an international, applying for financial aid will hurt you at some schools (Chicago, for one, isn’t need-blind for international students). If you get in, they want you to attend, and will try to meet your need.