I have no intentions of bragging or any sort of superiority complex but i desperately need suggestions with regards to my college application.
BIO: Recently done with my HSEB science boards (+2). 80.2 percent in 11 and expecting similar range of percentage in my 11 & 12 aggregate. Strong base of ECA’s. School captain from a catholic school in Lalitpur. Member of the student council in High school. Chief editor of editorial board for the annual school magazine. Recently won a inter college PowerPoint Presentation Award. Best actor award in the annual school play. Awarded the Best Leadership award among students from about 15 schools. Many elocution, painting and speech competition awards. Active member of the environment and social club.
Not taken the SAT and TOEFL tests yet. Planning on taking them by Dec.
Major Question: Do I have any chances of getting into an ivy-league? Or should I stick to the match and safety colleges from my list? I desperately want a journalism degree from my dream uni, Yale.
Any sort of suggestion would be highly appreciated! Thanks!
@thehippie - Whoa! Your EC’s are impressive. However, SAT scores play a pivotal role in the college application process, if you end up scoring pretty good on your SAT, I’m pretty sure you’ll go to your dream college.
Anyway, I’ve listed some suggestions for you below.
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Be punctual. Better yet, be EARLY. Complete everything on time. Apply to multiple non-binding Early Action colleges, one Early Decision 1 college, and if you still haven’t been accepted, 1 Early Decision 2 college.
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ESSAYS! Don’t overlook the importance of essays. After all, essays are what give your applications weight.
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EC’s will definitely help you. More importantly, you should have EC’s that are relevant to you. For example, if you like to draw, you want your EC’s to show that with art competitions, event organizations, etc. Try to describe your EC’s in a way that make them pertinent to you as a person.
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APPLY TO SAFETIES.
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Research colleges you apply to.
As for your questions, nothing can be predicted until your SAT scores are out. You really need to crush the SAT. If you succeed in doing that, you may definitely go to Yale.
All Ivies are hyper-competitive for entry. If you really think it is worth it to you, go for it. No one should ever tell anyone that they will go to a highly selective school based on their test scores. Everyone who goes to competitive schools have high test scores. To a certain degree the selection process is rather arbitrary as the qualified candidates tend to have very similar scores and activities. The essay is one way to really separate oneself.
Be aware of one fact though. There are no match or safeties for international students. All the private colleges offering financial aid to internationals are reach. I don’t mean to discourage you, but you should have realistic expectations as well. Go for the ivy league, but don’t stop from applying to “less prestigious” colleges as well.
@decimator thank you for your suggestions man! I have been thinking about Early action colleges but, since Early Decision binds you to commit to a single college and I want to compare the financial aid given by many which is not possible in ED is it a risk I should be willing to take?
And about the SAFETIES, what are your thoughts on Bennington, Mercyhurst and Ashland Uni? (My apologies for being such a noob) Thanks!
@cauldroncastle Yeah, I completely understand what you mean. I do have realistic expectations but once you get a picture of a degree from an ivy, everything else feels tawdry. But I am trying. :/I just hope one of them sees a potential in me. But thanks!
@Torveaux will surely keep that in mind. Thanks!
@thehippie - I don’t know… it’s up to you, man. I’m definitely gonna take that risk, haha!
I don’t know much about those colleges and I don’t know if it’d be appropriate to label them as “safeties” either. Nonetheless, I presume two guys from BWIC got into Bennington this year. Never heard of anyone getting into Mercyhurst or Ashland University though.
“I just hope one of them sees a potential in me” That makes you sound like you are applying to all 8 ivies. Lol. And also applying ED is not much of a risk financially, I think you should go for it. I haven’t heard about the other two colleges, but Bennington is definitely not a safety, I think.
@thehippie, For safety schools, you can apply to Howard University and UNO. They give you good scholarships based on competitive SAT scores.
P.S. I don’t think that Bennington College can be considered a ‘safety’ in any way. It’s very difficult to get in provided that you are an international student with financial aid need. This year alone, more than 25 students applied to BC but only two of them got in.
@decimator, They are from BWIC and SOS.