Chances to some top schools as an international

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I am an international student and I will be applying to some very highly ranked US schools. There are a couple caveats in my performance so far. I will be applying for engineering, and I know that I wish to study aerospace. I am white. Here are my qualifications:</p>

<p>-Grades
86.5/100 GPA
My freshman and sophomore years were super low, around 83.5 each but my junior year was around 93. I hope to perform well this first semester and bring it up higher. You can think of it as having 3.5ish gpa first couple of years and 3.8ish in my junior though my school does not calculate gpa out of 4. (There is no direct linear correllation)</p>

<p>I took mostly difficult classes including AP level physics, calculus, english and chem, difficult-considered music theory, modern physics and art history classes. My counselor said that I had the hardest junior classes in my school and still pretty difficult senior ones. Sophomore curriculum is same for all in my school.</p>

<p>SAT:
2210/2400 (700 CR, 800M, 710 WR)
Physics subject 800
Math II subject 800</p>

<p>AP:
Physics C E&M and Mech, Physics B, Chem, Calc BC, English lang are all 5
English lit is 3 :(</p>

<p>ECs:
-Playing guitar for 6 years, played at local venues and school (maybe can do an art supplement)
-Writer for school newspaper since 10th grade. Copy editorship in 10th and 11th grades. Editor this year.
-Two reserch internships totalling hundreds of hours in sophomore and junior summers at two very prestigious universities here
-Spent countless evenings reading philosophy (Kant, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Marcus Aurelius, Camus and Aristotle are my favorites) Top 25 qualification among thousands in the national philosophy olympiad.
-Community service teaching music to kids at a local school</p>

<p>I feel like my main weakness is freshman and sophomore GPA but I can write essays very well so maybe I can compensate for that. I am planning to say that I did not focus well and slacked and learned my lesson and would not repeat the mistakes in college, and that I can succeed well if I focus and work hard.</p>

<p>Here are the schools I'm considering:
-Princeton early (hoping for a defer, I know I wont get admitted 99.9%)
-Michigan early (I have a hook-I know a representative who will write a recommendation to the school)
-Georgia Tech
-Columbia (again, have a hook like Michigan)
-UCLA
-UT Austin
-UIUC
If I get early michigan:
-Penn
-Cornell
-Dartmouth</p>

<p>I am also applying to Imperial and Cambridge in the UK. (Who admit depending almost solely in APs)</p>

<p>Thanks for chancing me! I can chance you back if you will.</p>

<p>GA tecg, UIUC, UT Austin I know for sure you have good chances of getting in. Cornell too, probably you will. Penn, Dartmouth, UCLA ooof tough!</p>