Chances at Princeton/Yale/Amherst/Cornell/Williams

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey! Sorry to bother you guys :confused: I’m an international student from Nepal (under represented nationality?) and intend to apply to these colleges. However, I’m applying early at Princeton. What are my chances of getting in? My stats are here below:

SAT I: 2250 breakdown (CR-700, M-800, W-750)
SAT II: Biology E/M 780, Math I- 800
GPA: 82% (really tough to achieve)
Rank: school doesn’t rank but probably top 10%-ish
No AP courses or whatsoever cause they’re not available in any school in Nepal

Subjects and predicted results: A level- Physics(A), Chemistry(A), Math(A*), Biology(A) and General paper (A)
The minimum credits required to graduate is 7. I hold 9 credits.

EC activities: president and founder of debate club (2yrs), numerous debate and public speaking awards (inter-school and regional), Honorable mention award in Nepal’s first and really big International MUN conference, Vice chair of a committee in another big international MUN conference (~500 students), attended other international MUN conferences in India and Nepal (passionate about debating)
Class representative (grade 10), 250+ hours of community service (which includes 80 hours volunteering in a hospital), took the initiative of building a library at a remote village in Nepal, Executive member of school’s Interact club (1year) promoted to Secretary in my senior year, have been playing badminton for 4 years- school team captain, represented school in an inter-school badminton tournament, interned at a bank for 3 weeks during winter break, attended several writing and debate workshops, writer at school magazine, recently i’ve joined a music institution where I’m learning guitar, also I tutor 2 8th graders (3hrs/week), member of numerous other clubs (poetry club, math club, theatre club etc)

(There are rarely any research opportunities available in my country for high school students)

Intended major- Biology
Teacher recommendations: 9/10, 9/10 maybe
Counsellor recommendation- 10/10 (knows me really well :D)
Common App Essay: 9/10? (Wrote about how my aunt is an inspiration to me and how she’s been able to carve a niche in my personality, taught me not to despair during difficult times)

Applying for financial aid. But that doesn’t matter much cause they’re need-blind institutions (except Williams)

Thanks! :slight_smile:

2

Your GPA seems very low… But you have great test scores. Your ECs are pretty good too but they don’t really show a passion or interest, especially considering your major is Biology as you don’t have any Science-related ECs.
Overall, I’d say Yale and Princeton are reaches/high reaches, and Amherst, Williams, and Cornell are Reaches/Low Reaches… But Good Luck!
It is harder to get in as an international student, so just be aware of that.

3

You are applying to other, safety schools right?

4

Yeah! My safety colleges are Hamilton, Vassar, Washington and Lee, Vanderbilt… Thanks tho :smiley:

5

Those arent really safety colleges because they can be just as selective

6

idk about the others but vanderbilt isnt a safety

7

While I would not they are “just as selective” (as Yale, Princeton @ about 5-6 percent, Williams and Amherst -11-13 percent admission rates) they are still very selective institutions.

8

LET ME CLARIFY THAT I WAS NOT WELL RESEARCHED AT THE TIME WHEN I POSTED THIS THREAD DURING MY JUNIOR YEAR AND THAT I PERCEIVED ‘SAFETY COLLEGES’ AS COLLEGES WHERE YOU APPLY UNDER THE REGULAR DECISION

9

It is really hard to get into any of those schools, especially as an international student, and to compound it need financial aid. I would say you need to find geographically where you like, which schools in those markets have the majors you want and preferably accept 30-50% of applicants not the 5-10% (which might mean 1% international).

Go for it!