Chances for an International Student to Ivy League / Ivy-Level Colleges

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi, I'm an international student attending American (International) school in S. Korea.
I've seen lots and lots of chances threads for Ivy League and similar-level schools from different people in the United States and English-speaking regions, but I was wondering how my different background would affect my chances in getting in to such schools.
I'll most likely be majoring Economics/Finance.</p>

<p>The colleges/universities that I'm planning on applying to are:
-ED/EA-
UPenn (ED)
UChicago (EA) <em>I'm thinking of applying for more EAs but haven't made up my mind yet</em>
-Regular-
UC-Berkley
UC-LA
UC-San Diego
Cornell
NYU Stern
Duke
Northwestern
Brown
Boston University
Harvard**</p>

<p>I know it's a lot and I'm not asking you to chance me for every single of them.
I'm just most curious of my chances for my ED and EA and NYU Stern.
If you would be so kind to comment on any of the other colleges listed, I would greatly appreciate it.</p>

<p>Here is my brief specs:</p>

<p>SAT (CR/M/W): 720/770/700 = 2190</p>

<p>SAT Superscore (CR/M/W): 720/770/770 = 2260
<em>I'll be retaking SAT and I'm pretty confident that I will get at least mid 2200s this time. But the only major concern I have for SAT is that I've taken it too my times now (if I take it this time again, it will be my 4th time). I'm worried if this will bring down my chances considerably</em></p>

<p>SAT II Subject Tests: Math IIC (800) Chemistry (760) World History (720)</p>

<p>TOEFL: 114</p>

<p>GPA(Unweighted/Weighted): 3.82 / 4.10</p>

<p>Ranking: N/A, 1st docile</p>

<p>AP Courses: AP Macroeconomics (5), AP Microeconomics (5), AP World History (5), AP English Language (4)
<em>Because of school policy, I couldn't take any AP Courses the year I transferred to the current school (10th grade). So all 4 of the APs listed are solely taken during my junior year</em></p>

<p>AP Courses that I'll be taking upcoming senior year: AP Calculus AB, AP Statistics, AP Psychology</p>

<p>ECs: Economic Investment Club (Vice-President 2 yrs), Global Issues Network Club (President 2 yrs), School Wind Ensemble (been in different school bands for 7 years, 1st chair), Rock Band (founder, several performances in different school events), Red Cross Youth volunteer services (2 yrs, 75 hrs), English-tutoring in local libraries (1 yr), no sports</p>

<p>Work Experience: Internship at a Harvard biology laboratory, Internship at a major banking firm in Korea, Internship at Washington State Senate with official ceriticate & recommendation letter from Washington state senator.</p>

<p>Recommendation Letters: 1 really good letter guaranteed from math teacher, 1 most likely decent~good letter from English teacher, 1 from a manager in the banking firm that interned at, 1 from a Finance Department manager of Washington state, 1 from Washington senator</p>

<h2>Thank you so much for reading this extremely long thread, and I promise that I will help others out as well once I get settled with this!</h2>

<p>**I know this is extremely far reach for me (I guess it is for anyone, really). The only reason I'm bothering to apply there is because my uncle and aunt are both professors there and because I have an internship experience at a Harvard laboratory. Would these two factors influence my chances at all?</p>

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<p>oh btw I’m not applying UPenn for Wharton. It’ll be CAS.</p>

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<p>bump bump bump</p>

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<p>Your scores are amazing. A definite entry to Upenn CAS. Make sure your essays are good.
Harvard- You can ask your uncle and aunt to put in a good word with the admissions. That will increase your chances A LOT!!! And the internship you did in Harvard will definitely be helpful. Try getting a recommendation letter from whoever you interned under in Harvard.</p>

5

<p>The only way you cant get in for sure is if you dont apply. Nuff said ;)</p>

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<p>Your odds are as good as anyone’s with a chance, but that’s still about 1 in 5 for ED and 1 in 10 otherwise…
You need to diversify your list. Also, will you be paying full price or are you applying for financial aid?</p>

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<p>If applying for aid hurts my chances, then I’ll be paying full price w/out financial aid as I don’t have much difficulty paying the tuition.
Also I would greatly appreciate if you could explain what you mean by diversifiying the list!</p>

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<p>And thanks for everyone else who responded :slight_smile:
If theres anyone else who wants to give a comment, please feel free to do so!</p>

9

<p>If you can afford to pay full price - not just the tuition but full cost of attendance : tuition room and board insurance books incidentals … - then you’re in a very favorable position.
Diversifying your list means including a couple schools that you like and that have more than 25pc admit rates :)</p>

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<p>For example include UC’s that. aren’t in the top 3 :)</p>

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<p>Oh, I didn’t know that paying full price without aid can help with my chances! Thanks for the information :smiley:
And as for the diversity of the list, I have 3~5 safety schools in mind that I just did not mention in the post. Thanks for the advice :)</p>

12

<p>^It really depends on the schools. Some top schools, like Harvard, are need-blind, so paying full tuition has no effect whatsoever.
And I completely disagree with squasher001; UPenn is one of the most selective schools in the country, and Harvard’s admission rate is still crazy low even for children of Harvard graduates or faculty.</p>

<p>UPenn (ED): high reach
UChicago (EA): high reach
UC-Berkeley: mid reach
UC-LA: high match / low reach
UC-San Diego: high match
Cornell: mid reach
NYU Stern: high match / low reach
Duke: low reach
Northwestern: low reach
Brown: high reach
BU: mid match
Harvard: high reach</p>

<p>Good luck! :)</p>

<p>Chance back?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1533634-chance-me-harvard-scea-yale-amherst-etc.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1533634-chance-me-harvard-scea-yale-amherst-etc.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

13

<p>UPenn (ED): high match(ED goes a long way and i think you will get in)
UChicago (EA): reach
UC-Berkeley: match
UC-LA: match
UC-San Diego: safety
Cornell: low reach
NYU Stern: match
Duke: high match
Northwestern: high match
Brown: low reach
BU: safety
Harvard: reach</p>