Chance me? Where should I be aiming? Coming from Engand

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi, I’m planning to apply to US unis for undergrad, but I’m really not sure what level my application is at
I’m an American citizen but have lived abroad my entire life (Scotland, Australia, England)
So I’m not too familiar with the application process over there and there isn’t anyone at my school who is either.

-I’m planning to apply for mathematics.
-I’m currently in England and taking A-levels (Maths, Further Maths and Art & Design) and I’m predicted A, A and A (in order)
-GCSEs : Physics-A,
Math-A
Further Math-A
Biology-A*
Chemistry-A*
Latin-A*
French-A
Religious Education-A
English lit-A
English lang-A
Art & Design-A
-SAT 1990 (I know this will bring me down - I’m planning to retake in November)
-SAT II Math level 1 - 780. Awaiting scores in Math level 2 and Physics.
-Essays have never been my strong point, but I’m working really hard on them.
-Top 10% of my grade

EC and other stuff:
-Academic Scholar
-I’m “Mathematics Captain” and “Art Captain” of my school, so I’m ranked first in those subjects. This also means I run a weekly art club for younger students and a help/tutoring session for math twice a week during lunch, as well as organising activities within those departments.
-I have had work experience at Foster + Partners architecture firm, where I helped work on the designs for the roof of a Comcast centre being built in Philly.
-I’ve completed an internship (fully paid) in the financial analyst division of a company called Pepper UK.
-I volunteer as a young leader at our local Brownies group every Friday (have been doing this for several years)
-I took part in Young Enterprise as Finance Director (student-run company). My team won an award for highest profit.

The unis I’ve looked at are: Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern, Villanova, NYU, UPenn, UMass Boston
Do you think these are appropriate for me?
Would you suggest others? (I’m looking to stay in either Philly, Boston or NY)

Since my SAT score isn’t great, I think I wouldn’t have great chances applying to somewhere like UPenn (ED)
I was wondering how much unis consider international qualifications? Would my A-levels/GCSEs be able to make up for my SAT or do I have little to no chance?

A lot of Unis in England don’t even let you passed screening if you don’t have certain grades, is it similar in America? I’m afraid my application may be denied as soon as they see the number on my SAT scores.

Sorry If you’re unfamiliar with British qualifications! If you could still give me a response based on the things you are familiar with that would be great.

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“A lot of Unis in England don’t even let you passed screening if you don’t have certain grades, is it similar in America? I’m afraid my application may be denied as soon as they see the number on my SAT scores.”

I’m also from UK aswell as the us and I can tell you that your predicted A level grades are pretty high and probably top 8% nationally. Most the universities your interested in seem very realistic with the exception of Upenn which would be a very high reach. In order to stand a good chance at Upenn apply early decision and get your sat score above a 2250-2280. In terms of all the other universities(Boston university, Boston college, Villanova, NYU, UMass) you have a good chance since the average sat score is around a 2050 for most of these universities, if you can get a 2100+ then you have a +50% chance of getting into all these universities.

Your extracurriculars are good but if I were you I would do more community service/volunteering since you could mention the hours and participate in the math challenge or Olympiads since any medal from bronze to gold in the first round is worth mentioning as it counts as a national award. Anyway, get a 2100 and you have a great chance of admission to most of the universities mentioned. hope this helps and good luck.

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@Ali1302 Thank you!

I am definitely going for ED if I go for UPenn. I know it’ll be near impossible to get in but I just loved the University so much. I think I could reach a 2100 if I worked at it but I don’t know about 2200+ … But eh, I don’t know if I could live with not applying to my dream school.

Then again, I know if I applied ED to another school I could better increase my chances there, but of course I would need to completely sacrifice my Penn chances because I’m certain I would have no chance at RD.

Do you think I still have a good chance for unis like BU and NYU without going ED?

Also, forgot to mention I took the Olympiad a few days ago. Still waiting for results.
I take the math challenge every year.

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@pennpl0x “Do you think I still have a good chance for unis like BU and NYU without going ED?”

Yes, this schools until recently were considered safety schools since their admit rate was +40%. I talked to the admission staff at boston university recently and they mentioned the average sat score for ED was 1800 since they are willing to accept students with lower scores that show commitment.

For Boston university the average sat is 2050 and recent admit rate at 32% but if you have 2100 sat score then I would definitely put your chances as high as 60%-70% on RD. In terms of NYU it’s the same story for ED they have an average 1900 sat score, regular it’s about 2060. Also NYU is test flexible which means you could only submit your A levels and get in but if you have a 2100+ sat score then I would put your chances as high as 60%-70%.

I would mention that both these universities aren’t the greatest universities in the states and I’ve heard that NYU has a very tough grading curve with students trying to confuse others to get a leg up in terms of gpa. If your spending over $60,000 in terms of cost and tuition you better pick the right university and it’s worth mentioning both universities don’t provide aid.

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@Ali1302 Oh, wow. I didn’t know they were considered safety schools at all (until recently)! Would you suggest I look at other unis that are somewhere between NYU/BU and UPenn? If so, would you recommend any specific ones?

That’s quite shocking to hear about NYU.

Sorry about all my questions! You’ve been so much help.

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@pennpl0x If you could push your sat score to a 2100+ then their are some great unis I could recommend you apply to.

Rice university, Notre dame university, Emory university, Lehigh university, Michigan university, Georgia tech(especially for engineering), University of Virginia, Tufts university. I would also recommend some top liberal arts colleges such as Williams college, Hamilton college, Wesleyan university, Grinnell college, Oberlin college,Haverford college and Bates college all excellent liberal arts colleges that are likely to land you the best grad schools(e.g Ivy) most are among the top 50 feeder schools to the top 15 elite medical, law and business graduate schools.

Most of these universities are targeted by top employers. Also some of these colleges may provide you with a decent amount of aid. Anyway, that’s my recommendation for you if you get a 2100+ sat score although I would say a 2150+ is best for most these schools and some are best for ED such as Emory and Williams that have a +40%admit rate ED.