Chances of econ major in Dartmouth or Northwestern? International student.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I’m planning to apply for an Econs Major in either Dartmouth or Northwestern. Also considering UMich and Cornell but not certain yet.

Demographics:

  • Male
  • Singaporean of Indian origin
  • Small semi-autonomous school with IB classes only

Academics:

  • 38/45 IB (according to some quick conversions this equates to about 3.75-3.8 GPA UW)
  • 7 in Econ HL, 6 in Math HL
  • 2130 SAT (680CR/800M/650W) planning to retake in May
  • Plan to take Math IIs in June, should be able to get 800
  • No class rank but it wasn’t too good

Awards:

  • Several honorable mentions from Model UN conferences
  • Several awards for service to the school
  • Special recognition by the Education Ministry for Achievement, Leadership and Service

Extracurriculars:

  • Photography, executive committee member and trainer. Organized an annual convention.
  • Model UN Society, chaired councils and organized MUNs for two years
  • Editorial board, kind of an ‘elite’ photography club
  • Sergeant in the National Cadet Corps

Other commitments:

  • Organized a TEDx Conference in school
  • Fundraised for the YMCA (about $150,000)
  • Did overseas volunteering in China, raised about $4000
  • Started a program to give free tuition and mentorship to underprivileged and academically challenged students
  • Run a website for IB students answering common questions and publishing articles
  • Play the violin for the National Orchestra
  • Did a three month internship for a corporate law firm and wrote out/proofread legal contracts worth several million dollars
  • Joining the military for a 2 year stint soon

Recommendations:
Counselor: 8-9/10. He worked with me on TEDx and we have a lot of common interests so I think it’ll be favorable.
Economics teacher: 7-8/10. We had a kind of rough relationship for a while because of a depressive episode I had in 12th grade but she knows me well and although it’ll be slightly critical, I’m confident that it’ll be realistic and helpful.

Open to any other school suggestions in the US in line with my qualifications if the aforementioned schools are too far out of my reach; I’m genuinely not sure.

2

You seriously funded $150,000!!! Impressive.

Honestly, I would say that your EC’s are very strong, especially for your economics major. The main thing holding you down is GPA and SAT scores. Be forewarned that the you will now be taking the redesigned SAT, so you should study up the format. Otherwise, try to bump up your unweighted GPA a little; if it means sacrificing a few weighted classes, so be it. Better to take 3 IB’s and get all A’s than take 5 IB’s and get some B/C’s.

Because of the scores: the colleges you listed are (high) reaches. Except maybe UMich, which is probably a match. Bumping up the numbers however, will certainly make you a very competitive applicant for all those schools, probably high match for them.

Chance me back for Cornell?

3

All are reaches right now SAT score is low for all four. As an international student you will face a lot more competition for fewer available spots. Do you need financial aid? Not sure which of these are need blind versus need aware but if you need financial aid and the school is need aware it’s very possible that alone removes you from consideration. ECs seem pretty good 150000 is pretty impressive. Get those test scores up and you’ll have a better chance best of luck!

4

Admittedly I was just a single cog in a very complicated machine, it was a (very large) team effort.

As for my grades, I’m working on getting my SATs up. Unfortunately I’ve graduated already so my IB/GPA is going to stay with me. My school grades are pretty weak and I’m especially worried about those. Hopefully a better SAT score can offset that and I’ll take my chances.

Thanks a lot! Appreciate it.