Chances for International Student

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Dear fellow students,

Over the past couple of years I have been thoroughly following many threads, sometimes with hope, sometimes in desperation. In that sense - thanks to everyone who provided useful advice.

The application deadline comes closer, therefore I’d like to ask you to assess my chances for the following universites: STANFORD, HARVARD, PRINCETON, MIT, YALE. I am applying for financial aid (there is a chance to pay roughly 30.000 USD per year but consider me as a full-aid candidate as I am not sure about future finances).

My Stats:

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): In previous test sessions I got 2310/2400, let’s assume I get similar results on the new SAT…

IB (place score in parenthesis): 44/45 (predicted)
Math HL - 6
English HL - 7
Economics HL - 7
German SL - 7
Chemistry SL - 7
Philosophy SL - 7

Attended a lecture about Entrepreneurship at the local university (Top 10 Germany) and got a B+.

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
My biggest hook is that I am the co-author of a national bestseller. It ranked No. 1 in the categories Politics, History, Business, Money & Economics

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): With fellow football players, I co-founded a football club (not the next FC Barcelona but still a fun adventure!) very local though
Job/Work Experience: Since May 2016 (gap year started), I work for an investment company that provides hedge fund advisory, M&A services and publishes a market letter (monthly)
Volunteer/Community service: I work for the Federation of Circassian Clubs in Europe which strives to connect all Circassians all over the world by maintaining our culture (have done a number of projects)
Summer Activities: Helped to build the website of the aforementioned investment company, attended a research academy (1.000 / ~ 500.000 are admitted), spend 10 days in an Economics Camp in Lithuania for “highly gifted students” (equally competitive as the research academy), did research at the Max-Planck-Institue for Innovation

Recommendation
Teacher Rec #1: Places me in “one of the best in my career slot”
Teacher Rec #2: Places me in “one of the best in my career slot”
Counselor Rec: Places me in “one of the best in my career slot”
Additional Rec: Thinking about my boss, a not-so-famous billionaire hedge fund manager

Other:
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Country (if international applicant): Germany
School Type: Private International
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: < 25.000€
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): I am of Circassian heritage, with dual citizenship (German / Turkish) -> URM doesn’t count as international I guess…
first-generation college
I speak German and English fluently, Turkish conversational and can read Latin as well as classical Greek
I skipped grade 1

Weaknesses: Terrible grades in grade 9 & 10, mostly Cs with some Bs and Ds; extremely dependend on financial aid.

The title was changed per the OP’s request based on the negative feedback below. Therefore some of those comments no longer apply, but I am not going to edit them all. - Fallenchemist

2

If you have a national best seller, aren’t you making a lot of money from that and thus would not need aid?

To answer your question, I do not believe that this would guarantee you admission.

3

Thanks for your response.

Yes and no - the money is split between the authors, that is why I indicated a possible 30.000 USD contribution. Of course I assume the worst-case scenario.

4

“Weaknesses: Terrible grades in grade 9 & 10, mostly Cs with some Bs and Ds;”

This, plus the fact that you’re an international applicant, trumps most everything else. Your chances are extremely extremely thin. Apply broadly beyond the schools you mentioned. Expect rejections from all – lower your expectations.

The fact that you even use a phrase like “guaranteed admission” with schools like HYPMS, says you don’t have any understanding of the competitiveness of the applicant pools. Regardless, good luck.

5

I was wondering why I wasn’t seeing a GPA anywhere LOL you already know that this is your weakest area. Improve! Other than that, you sound like a terrific individual, with solid SAT and IB scores. You’re unique with your bestseller and football aspirations, and you look to have terrific recs. Make sure your essays are stellar and I say you stand a chance! :slight_smile:

6

On a more personal note, what is the name of your bestselling book? You can PM me the info if you’d like.

7

No. Not guaranteed. You do have very good stats, however. Big issue will be how well you will stack up against other applicants from Germany.

8

Hi T26E4,

Thank you for your response :slight_smile:

There is nothing like GPA in my school as we only focus on IB scores. I would challenge what you are saying as I think that the IB scores at least compromise the grades I got in grade 9 & 10. Would be interesting to hear other comments on that.

Also, I am very aware of the competitiveness - it is only a catch phrase (notice the question mark). Thank you for your input.

9

Hi DeeperBlue25,

Thank you for your response. There is no GPA at my school. Focus is the IB.

Also as I have seen this on my other threads, I don’t see a national bestseller as a guarantee - it is a catchy title.

10

Thank you for your response.
That means I am competing with other Germans for maybe ca. 5 places and not Americans, yes?

11

Let me echo T26E4’s comments.

HYPSM limit the number of international students to about 10% to 11% of an incoming freshman class. That means that Harvard admits about 160 to 190 international students per year – and most of those students are from 6 countries: Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, China, Japan and Korea. To see how many students from your country are currently attending Harvard, go to: http://www.hio.harvard.edu/statistics. From the pull-down menus, select STUDENTS, HARVARD COLLEGE (the undergraduate school) and YOUR COUNTRY. Be sure to divide that number by 4 to get an idea of about how many students are admitted each year from your country.

Then read this article about all the famous people who have been rejected from Harvard: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704211704575139891390595962.

If a future Nobel Laureate can be rejected from Harvard (twice), so can anyone. Nothing is guaranteed.

12

Your grade 9 and 10 grades will really hurt your chances of admission.

And as another poster said on your other thread. asking about guaranteed admission at any of those schools says you know nothing about the competitiveness of those schools.

13

And those IB scores are only predicted? No, they do not erase other performance.
You need to understand what that level of college looks for. And not only is admission fiercely competitive for internationals, there will be significant competition from within Germany.

What’s the relationship with the co-author? As a high school kid, what was your real contribution?

14

These IB scores are predicted yet realistic. My school is known for predicting rather lower.

The book was a solid project and my contribution was significant - further details are not important but it was definitely not a please-put-my-name-in-the-book-favor.

My biggest worry have been grades and according to some responses it is worse than I expected. Regardless, lowering expectations is a loser’s mentality and a bad advice - this is no ad hominem attack, just my 0.02$.

gibby, I am aware of what you wrote. Roughly 8 students per year with how many applicants, that is the thing :slight_smile:

EDIT: Interesting thought but I wonder to what degree we can compare a future Nobel Laureate to his 18 year old “counterpart”…

15

They will likely be important to Harvard etc.

16

Just for the record, the title is no expectation but a catchy phrase. I am very aware of the competitiveness.

17

Unfortunately, Harvard doesn’t release that information, but my guess is that a significant number of applicants from Germany apply to Harvard each year. My guess would be anywhere from 500 to 1000 students. If I’m correct, at the low end you’d be looking at a 2% acceptance rate. High end would be less than 1%.

18

“Regardless, lowering expectations is a loser’s mentality and a bad advice - this is no ad hominem attack, just my 0.02$.”

Then why did you post the multiple threads to begin with? Fishing for “attaboys” or “great chance!” from fellow 16 and 17 year olds?

Like I said, best of luck to you but you’re in need of much more than my good wishes.

19

No, no attention intended. This explains everything :slight_smile:

“I’d like to ask you to assess my chances for the following universites (…)”

In similar threads I have read people make the OP aware of weaknesses and make suggestions for the application; my intention was exactly that, does that make sense?

20

You are not off to a good start on CC. No one likes click bait.