Chances at Columbia (ED); NYU Stern, Cornell, UChicago Berkeley, UCLA

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Canadian international student
Will be applying economics/finance

Demographics
–South Asian female, somewhere between middle/upper-middle class, public school

Academics
–44 predicted in IB (7 - HL Math/Econ/History, SL EngLit; high 6 in SL Bio)
–According to my counsellor, a 4.00GPA but idk if that’s weighted/unweighted.
–Class rank not given, probably in the top 5 out of 130
–ACT: 34 (gonna retake and aim for 35)
–SAT II Literature : 790 Math II: 800

School Extra-curriculars
–President of school Model UN Team
–Founder/President of school Debate Team
–Won several regional MUN conferences
–Executive of a social justice club
–Regular speaker at social justice forums/events
–Member of Track, Crosscountry teams in grade 9,10

Extra-curriculars
–Editor and writer at a local youth economics magazine
–Director of Marketing and writer at another youth politics magazine
–Secretary-General and Chair of two mid-size (~80-100 delegates) MUN conferences
–Chair and Academic Director at another large MUN conference (~150 delegates)
–High school intern at Munk School of Global Affairs, UofT
–Research assistant with an economics professor from a top university in Canada (this was the product of emailing 60+ professors and meeting a ton of them… I’m hella proud lol, this is really uncommon in Canada)

Other cool stuff
–Regularly run fundraising races (5/8/10k)
–Working on programming an app with a friend
–Tutor local kids in math and sciences weekly
–Volunteer locally at various events (around 5-10 hours monthly)

I’m worried that I may be overestimating my own chances. Am I aiming too high? I understand that Columbia is going to be one hell of a reach - but the others? Do I have a legitimate chance (at Columbia too)? And are there any other universities I should consider?

2

No responses :’( y’all making me saaaaad

3

Being an International student, you are into a pool of students from India, China, Japan, etc. You have to come out on top of that pool, and that is an arduous task. I simply do not know how they weigh someone who is International. For what it is worth, if you were in the US, the UCs are a match for you IMO

4

You have solid stats. But none of these schools are need blind for internationals. Do you need financial aid?

If yes then consider that your chances will be lower than an international who can pay full freight.

5

Do you need FA and how much? This is a big factor for international students. No aid and you are competitive at all.