Chances for a South African?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey guys, I was born and am currently living in South Africa.. Ethnicity though I am Korean. (I mention these because I want to know if this will affect any of my chances).</p>

<p>First thing's first.. I'm not a perfect student, about average, and the universities I'm applying to, 3 or 4 are impossible, but I'd like to try anyway. </p>

<p>I'll be rewriting my SAT's in October (I got 1920 when I last wrote it)
I'll be writing SAT Subject Tests in Biology, Math 1 and Korean in November.</p>

<p>I do Cambridge IGCSE and A Levels as my school curriculum, which gives me advanced standing in a few universities, but I have no idea what that means..</p>

<p>My IGCSE results were:</p>

<p>English - A
Math - C
Co-ordinated Science: BB
History - B
Economics - B</p>

<p>My AS/A Level results for May/June exams were (I'm writing the rest in October/November):</p>

<p>Economics A Level - A
Biology AS Level - D (I don't know what happened, I was predicated an A, so I'll be rewriting, will be looking at maybe an A or B)
English AS Level - B</p>

<p>In the November exams I'll be doing AS/A Level Biology and AS/A Level History (of which I'm predicated a B).</p>

<p>The universities I'd like to apply to are:</p>

<p>University of Chicago
University of Boston
New York University
Northwestern University
University of Michigan
University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Purdue University
Rochester University
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities</p>

<p>I have hardly any EC's :(
I'm currently the Chairman of the Student Liaison Council and was vice last year (basically the highest student position at school) and I've got a few hours down... But that's it.</p>

<p>Also, another thing about my school is that its very liberal and college-like in that you are allowed to walk into class late without apologizing, leave the campus without permission, use toilet without permission, wear whatever you want etc.. Naturally, I got lazy. So my school transcript isn't <em>that</em> great, infact, it doesn't reflect my final marks (the IGCSE and A Levels results above, this determines whether I pass to the next grade). Reason being, I always powered through in the end, because, underneath the laziness was still the rational guy I am =/</p>

<p>I appreciate any help!</p>

2

<p>Because you’re international, you do take quite a hit in your “chances”. The other question is if you need financial aid. If you do, your chances go down further. However, any effect of your race is someone negated by these much larger detriments, so to speak. I’m not an expert on international students and their chances, far from it, but I do believe that you are stretching things. </p>

<p>U of Chicago, NYU, Northwestern are probably high reaches for you, not because they are individually equal, but because of what you are “bringing to the table”. Your SAT score leaves much to be desired, and sorry to say, but your profile as a whole is also lacking. Purdue is likely going to be a reach as well. University of Michigan and University of Boston are at best high matches. The rest…your chances might be a bit better.</p>

<p>Any other members, feel free to correct me.</p>

3

<p>Financial aid is covered… Any more opinions guys?</p>

4

<p>bumpbumpbump</p>

5

<p>Argh guys come on, any little bit of indication would be good</p>

6

<p>^Agreed with JustAnotherTry. Can’t even claim that URM status.</p>

7

<p>Hmm, so I’ll basically be seen as a Korean applying? Even though I was born here and everything?</p>

<p>But can you guys be a bit more broad? I understand UChicago and Northwestern etc are almost impossible, its mostly parents who are forcing me to try.</p>

<p>Can you guys give me an indication of the other universities? </p>

<p>University of Boston
University of Michigan
University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Purdue University
Rochester University
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities</p>

<p>Thanks</p>