Chances for international student

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey!
I'm an international prospective student from Israel.
I'm currently serving in the IDF and planning to study in the US when I'm discharged.
I'm a Mamram graduate (The IDF elite technological units' programming course).</p>

<p>Graduation Year: 2009
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White
Religious Affiliation:Jewish
First Language: Hebrew</p>

<p>Class Rank: 10
Class Size: 190
Rank (%): 5.26%
Unweighted GPA: 90 out of 100
Weighted GPA: 107 out of 120
SAT: 600 R 750 M 650 W<br>
1350/ 2000</p>

<p>Extra-curricular activities:</p>

<p>I have to mention that the typical Israeli high school
has few clubs or has no clubs at all. So I'm sure I
didn't take a part in a lot of clubs as you guys probably did.</p>

<p>I hope these activities still interest the universities since I graduated in 2009...</p>

<p>Urban Squash Team - 9th grade</p>

<p>Class President - 9th grade</p>

<p>Ness Technologies CTM-Ed Program - 10th, 11th, 12th
A student in Ness Technologies' "CTM-Ed" (Certification, Technology, and Management – Education) program. The purpose of the course is to educate future Technological Leaders and to achieve that goal the students learn and experience a wide range of topics from Leadership, Teamwork, Policies and Strategy through Singularity, Nanotechnology, Biotechnology and computer science to Knowledge management, Assertiveness and Research methods.</p>

<p>School Robotics Team - 10th, 11th, 12th
Participating in the international fire fighting robot contest at Trinity college (CT) after winning the national contest in Israel.</p>

<p>Community Service - 10th, 11th
Beit Chabad (Helping poor families with food and other basic needs).</p>

<p>Poland Delegation - 12th
Visiting the Holocaust memorial locations in Poland.</p>

<p>Staff In Training Program - 9th
Associated with Tel Aviv university's summer camp in Israel.</p>

<p>Camp Chi, Wisconsin - 11th
Spending a month at this camp as a part of the Israeli delegation.
Camp Poyntelle Lewis Village, Pennsylvania - 10th
Spending a month at this camp as a part of the Israeli delegation.
I was also water skiing and wakeboarding everyday while I was at camp.</p>

<p>I want to major in Computer Science.
I'm really into programming...</p>

<p>Universities I'm going to apply to:</p>

<p>MIT
Yale University
UC Santa Barbara
CalTech
Stanford University
UCLA
Pepperdine University
Georgetown University
Harvard University
UW Green Bay</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>You should retake the SAT because they are kind of low for the schools you are applying to. Ivies are reaches for everyone, you just cannot know what the decision will be</p>

<p>MIT - reach
Yale University - reach
UC Santa Barbara - match
CalTech - reach
Stanford University - reach
UCLA - high match
Pepperdine University - don’t know about this school
Georgetown University - high match
Harvard University - reach
UW Green Bay - in</p>

3

<p>Grades are good, but the test score is gonna hurt for the upper tier colleges.</p>

<p>MIT - Reach
Yale University - Reach
UC Santa Barbara - Match
CalTech - Reach
Stanford University - Reach
UCLA - High Match
Pepperdine University - Don’t Know
Georgetown University - Lower Reach
Harvard University - Reach</p>

<p>You have a shot due to your grades, but the test score may hurt.
UW Green Bay</p>

4

<p>oh, and UWGB, from what I saw on college board that should be an In too.</p>

5

<p>Have you taken SATs subject test? I wouldn’t recommend taking modern hebrew.
Definitely retake SATs, get your reading up.</p>

6

<p>Does anyone know Pepperdine University and can chance me??</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

7

<p>bump bump bump :)</p>

8

<p>I know about Pepperdine! Did you take any subject tests? Some (actually most) of the schools you are applying to require them. This could be a huge gap in your application.
MIT - Less than 5% chance
Yale University - High Reach.
UC Santa Barbara - In
CalTech - Less than 5% chance
Stanford University - High Reach
UCLA - Reach
Pepperdine University - Low Reach (will have better chance if you retake SAT)
Georgetown University - Mid Reach
Harvard University - High Reach
UW Green Bay - In
Good luck! :)</p>

9

<p>ICanDivideByZero- about Pepperdine…isn’t their average SAT score lower than what I got?</p>

<p>When I’m discharged I’ll have 4 years of programming experience…doesn’t it help me?
Isn’t it rare among the applicants??
Do schools care just about the SAT score?? I really thought I had a better chance than 5%…but I guess I was wrong…
Should I apply to other schools??coz It seems I’m not gonna get into most of them…If Pepperdine is a reach school for me I can’t really get into an Ivy one…</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

10

<p>“When I’m discharged I’ll have 4 years of programming experience…doesn’t it help me?”</p>

<p>It would help you if you were applying for graduate school. In the US, the top undergrad institutions aren’t big on taking older and non-traditional students. They like to take kids straight out of high school. State schools are more willing to take the older and non-traditional students into their undergraduate programs.</p>

11

<p>Atacom - So according to you, almost no israeli student has gotten into the top undergrad institutions…since serving in the army is mandatory…it seems really weird…coz I know many israeli students who are now studying at MIT and Yale…and I am for sure know that these universities are looking for Israeli students and know about the army thing…</p>

12

<p>"So according to you, almost no israeli student has gotten into the top undergrad institutions…since serving in the army is mandatory…it seems really weird…coz I know many israeli students who are now studying at MIT and Yale…and I am for sure know that these universities are looking for Israeli students and know about the army thing… "</p>

<p>No, I didn’t say no israeli student gets into a top school. What I said was in response to your question about whether having 4 years of programming experience helps. It is true that the top undergrad programs aren’t big on taking older and non-traditional students. That doesn’t mean they don’t take any.</p>

<p>And you may not like this bit of information either but it is true, too - they have a lower acceptance rate for international students. These are US institutions that receive tons of money in research grants from US taxpayer supported federal agencies as well as large amounts of money from the federal student loan programs and they limit the non-US students admitted. If they didn’t, US taxpayers and the representatives they elect would not be too happy with them and not as likely to support these institutions monetarily. </p>

<p>What that means is that it is easier to get into these institutions if you are a US resident. So when looking at the averages keep that in mind. </p>

<p>They also give preference (i.e., accept them with lower gpas and test scores) to underrepresented minorities - blacks, hispanics and native americans - and their stats pull down the averages. So if you are white or asian, keep that in mind - you will be held to a higher standard.</p>

<p>Moreover, some institutions like Stanford, their admissions process is need-blind for US residents but it is NOT for international students. So keep that in mind if you need aid to attend.</p>

<p>But back to your original point - 4 years of programming experience in the Israeli military may help you in comparison to the other international applicants to the institution (which is whom you are competing against), but not in comparison to the US applicants.</p>

13

<p>I think that that uofw green bay is the only for sure the ivies are very uncertain for everybody think a little lower chance me back <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1041167-chance-me-i-will-chance-you-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1041167-chance-me-i-will-chance-you-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

14

<p>Here is an example of what I am talking about. You say you know many Israeli students at MIT. OK, from MIT’s web site, they receive 3k international applications a year for freshman and admit 100 international students.</p>

<p>[MIT</a> Admissions: International Applicants: Helpful Tips](<a href=“http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/international_applicants_helpful_tips/index.shtml]MIT”>http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/apply/international_applicants_helpful_tips/index.shtml)</p>

<p>Moreover, for the last year that data is available, there were only 6 Israeli undergrads enrolled at MIT - and that is for all 4 years so there are 1 maybe 2 Israeli students enrolled as a freshman undergrad each year. </p>

<p><a href=“Statistics & Reports | MIT Registrar”>Statistics & Reports | MIT Registrar;

<p>Now there were 46 grad students, but graduate school admissions are much different from undergrad admissions.</p>

<p>You have to keep in mind that on these chance threads, you are by and large encountering US students who are giving your their guess as to whether your admissions stats would get a US resident admitted. Most are not at all educated at the differences between admissions for US students and international students. And some aren’t even knowledgeable about the admissions standards for US students, lol!</p>

15

<p>“I think that that uofw green bay is the only for sure”</p>

<p>Ok, that is a perfect example. U of W is a state school, so not only do they have a limit on the number of internationals they can take, they have a limit on the number of non-Wisconsin residents they can take. Under 5% of their enrollment is international students. And in 2009 they had 1 Israeli enrolled in their entire undergraduate student body.</p>

<p>[Geographic</a> Origin Details - Fall 2006 - Office of Institutional Research & Assessment - University of Wisconsin - Green Bay](<a href=“http://www.uwgb.edu/oira/factbook/demographics/enrollment/geographic/2009.asp]Geographic”>http://www.uwgb.edu/oira/factbook/demographics/enrollment/geographic/2009.asp)</p>

<p>You really would be better off trying to find a site where the posters have more knowledge about international students applying to US colleges. This thread is not the greatest for that.</p>

16

<p>Atacom - Thanks a lot!! You were really helpful…:)</p>

<p>I really got what you are saying…I’m just so nervous and really want to know my chances…
Do you know Pepperdine U??</p>

17

<p>MIT - Reach
Yale University - Reach
UC Santa Barbara - Match
CalTech - Reach
Stanford University - Reach
UCLA - High Match
Pepperdine University - low reach
Georgetown University - Low Reach
Harvard University - Reach</p>

18

<p>mib1624 - Hey! Thanks for your reply…
Can you tell me why Pepperdine U is a low reach for me?? I know this school pretty well and I thought it’s a match… </p>

<p>Thanks again :)</p>

19

<p>DKDC - I don’t know anything about Pepperdine other than what is on their web site, but you do realize this is a Churches of Christ school, right? They can’t by law discriminate on the basis of religion in admissions, but perhaps you want to think whether this is a place where you would be happy:</p>

<p>[Christian</a> Tradition | About Pepperdine | Pepperdine University](<a href=“http://www.pepperdine.edu/about/pepperdine/christiantradition/]Christian”>http://www.pepperdine.edu/about/pepperdine/christiantradition/)</p>

<p>My kid was raised Christian and I wouldn’t send her there. Not trying to dissuade you from applying, but I do think you need to think about that sort of thing. Why don’t you read this thread over on the parent’s board:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/931514-colleges-jewish-b-student.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/931514-colleges-jewish-b-student.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>As you can see, even the parents of American Jews consider the culture of the school when deciding whether or not to send their children there. The fact is in this country, there are places where people have never even met an American Jew let alone an Israeli who served in the IDF. </p>

<p>Perhaps you can post on that thread and ask those parents to give you input or even start a new thread in the parents forum to get their input on the culture issue because I think it is something you need to consider.</p>

20

<p>Yeah I know it’s a Churches of Christ school…
You might be surprised but I know some jews who are/were going there.
There is even a course called The Religion of Israel and an Israeli culture club…
When I talked to some Pepp students it seems like you don’t have to be religious to fit in…
But I totally know what you are talking about…especially these days…</p>