This is my first thread so I’m going to do my best!
I learned English my freshman year of HS… I’m a Syrian Refugee!
Public School
Top 10%
ACT:25
GPA: 3.45 UW
All honors and AP classes since my freshman year
Senior Course load ( SO far straight As but a B+ in chem)
AP chem
AP Stats
AP physics C
AP English
Honors Anatomy
Honors French
Only took one exam 4 on Calc AB ( couldn’t afford other exams)
Speaks 3 languages
Tons of extra curricular activities… Did a lot of Public Speaking… Human rights/ Interfaith activist
Tons of Community service awards
College Esaay: 10/10
Teacher Recs: 10/10
Counselor Recs: 10/10
Major: Linguists/ neuroscience
I have my saftey schools but still wanted to give it a shot… any Advice or insights?
A 3.45 UW and 25 ACT would probably place you at the bottom 0.1% of students admitted to an Ivy - I really don’t think you have a chance at any of them even if you’re a Syrian refugee. I would start looking at schools more in your range, or expanding your list of safeties.
It’s not that these schools wouldn’t be sympathetic to your plight as a refugee, it’s that there would be genuine concern about your ability to handle the academic rigors of their school given your gpa and ACT score. You are far better off attending a school that matches your level of academic preparation and where you can thrive instead of constantly fighting just to keep your head above water.
I would doubt there’s more than a dozen students among those 8 schools that have GPA and ACT combination if any at all. You understand that these are among the MOST selective schools in the USA, right?
Please focus on a more realistic set of “reach” colleges, if you must apply to some – none in the top 50.
I know other immigrants/refugees who have applied to these such schools and your story & academics do not make you viable.
Syrian refugees finding opportunity in exile is a top theme of international news right now, and will be very much in the minds of Ivy adcoms. They’re likely to pay close attention to any applications they get. Each Ivy will probably admit at least one person like you this year, if not more. Make sure your essay tells a compelling story, and you have a strong chance of admission, despite relatively weak grades and SAT/ACT. You should apply to all the Ivies, if only because they have the best financial aid.
@Morningsider If an intriguing international student, with obvious potential applies to a school like H or Y, in extreme cases they would try to enroll them in a year of PG at one of the private nearby prep schools (Deerfield, Hotchkiss, etc). This student’s achievements while certainly laudable, do not resemble those extraordinary cases IMHO.
“I have my saftey schools but still wanted to give it a shot.”
Go for it, but pick one you research, to understand your fit and what they like to see.
OP has done this in 3 years. We don’t know why the gpa, maybe it’s freshman year or some particular area of academics she struggled with (or even a couple of electives,) as one new to both English and the school system. She’s taking four rigorous AP and they’re A’s with one B+. We don’t know enough of the rest of her details, but she’s got her safeties lined up. This is one of the Why Nots, imo.
@T26E4 I think it is important to remember that the ivies do not consist of just HYP. Probably OP would have gotten/did get a rejection from these places, but not all ivies are as difficult to get in.
Personally, I am not one bit surprised that Cornell accepted OP, given her background.
@girlsuperfive Congrats on your acceptance! best of luck at Cornell!!!