Chances at Princeton / Columbia?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>What up,</p>

<p>I'm a sophomore at an international school. I've been pondering what colleges I'll be applying to in the years to come, and after a series of talks with my school's university counselor, I've come to the conclusion that I'd be interested in applying to some of the top U.S. universities. I'm thinking about majoring in Politics/Philosophy/Literature or something in that field of study. The thing is that our school has the most absurd system, and I haven't really been able to compare myself to any U.S. students. We don't do APs, we don't do honors or anything of the like, so I find it hard to judge myself. So yeah here are my stats. I'd appreciate any sort of feedback.</p>

<p>Freshman Year:
-English 1st Language and Literature: A
-Math: B+
-German III: A
-Social Studies: A+
-Science: A
-Spanish III: A+
-Music: A</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:
-English 1st Language and Lit.: A+
-Math: A
-History: A
-Economics: A
-Spanish IV: A+
-German IV: A+
-Physics: A-</p>

<p>Class Rank: 2/90</p>

<p>I'm entering the IB Diploma next year with the following courses: English A1 HL, German A2 SL, Math HL, Econmics SL, Physics SL, and History HL. As for the SAT, I've been studying like a freakin' madman, and my practice tests tell me that I'll score above 2100.</p>

<p>Awards (we don't really do these like they are done in the U.S. either):
-Outstanding Student In the 09-10 Academic Year
-Outstanding Achievement in History
-Outstanding Achievement in Music
-1st place in school talent show (relevant? I think not.)</p>

<p>ECs:
-Participation in Musical Theatre, lead role in three musicals.
-Participation in theatre, starred in numerous classical theatre pieces.
-Soon-to-be participant in a piece in the regional English theatre.
-Musician, guitar and drums. Member in two bands with freinds/peers, compose and record songs on my own, and give guitar lessons.
-Tutor peers in Math, History, and Spanish.
-Teach English to members of the community who are interested in learning it and oftentimes have no or little previous knowledge.
-Participant in Model United Nations. Attended 3 conferences so far, more to come.
-Editor-in-chief of school Magazine of the Arts.
-Fluent in 4 languages and currently learning Arabic.
-School basketball team, 3 non-consecutive years.
-Hospital visits every weekend to entertain children who have fallen ill. Qualifies as volunteer work?
-Two week internship at central bank.
-Two one-week internships at neighbors delicatessen.
-In charge of school radio; makes announcements Tuesday mornings.</p>

<p>Sorry about the length. As I said, our system is bizarre and so we don't have a math club, or a chess club, and you can't really be president of anything. Any feedback is appreciated.</p>

2

<p>You’re doing really well! Have you taken any practice IB Exams yet? If you do well on those (6,7) then it would be worth it to go to the Ivies because you can get credit for IB, but not if you get less in subjects you want credits for. I’d say, you’re only a soph. but go for it if your grades stay consistent. IB is very rigorous, so you’re definitely challenging yourself, and your EC’s are off the charts-- good job. You never know, you may get in! Good luck.</p>

3

<p>Thank you! :slight_smile: No, I have not. As I said, I begin my first year of the Diploma Programme this fall. What were you saying about getting credit for the IB? I’ve heard that this is possible, yet I haven’t gone into the matter in depth… could you elaborate?</p>

4

<p>I’m actually entering DP too, so we’re on the same boat :slight_smile: But my school offered practice exams and we had to take them in MYP classes anyway, just to ready us for DP testing. Well, the schools that you want to apply to don’t give credit for mid-range to lower test scores. That is why you have to make sure that if you do want credit for HL’s and sometimes SL’s (although not all majors except SL test score credits) in whatever you choose to major in, you have to get 5’s, 6’s or 7’s in that subject. I haven’t looked at Princeton and Columbia, but I know this is the policy (with a whole list of exceptions) for Yale and John’s Hopkins. </p>

<p>Links for IB at Princeton and Columbia:
[Princeton</a> University | Advanced Placement Credits](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/preparation/advanced_placement/]Princeton”>http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/preparation/advanced_placement/) <– it doesn’t look like P’ton has a specific site for IB, but i’m sure the IB and AP policies are the same (just convert the numbers they have for AP test scores to the IB score scale) and it does mention IB credit on the site. </p>

<p>[IB</a> Credit](<a href=“http://www.barnard.edu/registrar/IB_Credit.HTM]IB”>http://www.barnard.edu/registrar/IB_Credit.HTM) <– and the Columbia site is pretty self explanatory</p>

<p>Hope that helps!</p>

5

<p>Thanks a lot! So basically, just to clarify this, if I get a above a 5 in any of my HL courses, I get to skip the first semester of the corresponding course I would take in college? For example, if I were to take Math HL and get a 7 (maybe? you never know! ;)), I would get to miss the first semester of my math course in college?</p>

6

<p>

</p>

<p>Can’t chance anything yet.
A full IB diploma comprises the biggest part of your academic component along with your SAT scores.</p>

<p>So, nothing yet.
Expecting to earn a Math HL=7; foolish assumption.</p>