<p>I originally posted this thread on "What are my chances?". Someone told me to post it here as well.</p>
<p>My stats:
SATII-Biology-720
Modern Hebrew-800
Math IIC-750
French-570 (will retake probably)</p>
<p>SATI-
M650 W660 CR500 (definitely think I will improve in October for a minimum of M750 W750 CR600)</p>
<p>I'm approximately ranked 1/90 and all my grades are 95+
I'm involved in many extracurricular activities (school newspaper, dance with handicapped people etc.).</p>
<p>These are the colleges I want:</p>
<p>Harvard
Princeton
MIT
Cornell
Stanford
Columbia
Brandeis
Duke
University of Maryland-College Park
Harvey Mudd
Upenn
Tufts
Amherst
U of Chicago
Northwestern University
U of Michigan
Cal tech
UC Berkley
Carnegie Mellon
NYU
Brown
Rice
UCSD
UCLA</p>
<p>Now, I'm not really sure if I'm considered international. I was born in Los Angeles and lived there till I was 10 (therefore, I have a US citizenship). I've been living in Israel for only 6 years so far. (Do you know if I'm required to do the TOEFL???)
I'm looking for medical and science schools since my intended major will be related to science and math.</p>
<p>I need a final list of 15 schools. Which of those do you think are the best? Should I add more safeties and matches? Add any other schools you think will match.
Thank you soooo much!!!</p>
<p>You might do better under College Search. (But at your current SAT level, every school on your list, with the possible exception of UMD, is a reach. How did you come up with this list? There are urban/rural, big/small, LACs/Unis, research/teaching institutions. Again, I think you'd do better under College Search where folks might help you really figure out what it is you want.)</p>
<p>you have a lot of reaches. and other than being high tier schools, i don't really see much of a common link among the schools -- they range enormously in terms of size and location. what are you really looking for -- other than big name recognition?</p>
<p>You are not an international which is good. Israeli's are common in the US so you get few diversity points. However, your schools are wildly optimistic. Your scores are not close to ivy claiber. Your CR score, for someone of native language, would be a problem at far lesser schools. </p>
<p>You will not be considered an international, which is going to help you. I am not sure if you need TOFEL (I think probably not, but you could check with specific schools once you narrow down your list).</p>
<p>Most of the schools on your current list are out of your reach with your scores. (The one think you don't need to worry about is retaking French -- no school asks for more then 3 SAT IIs)</p>
<p>You should look into Vanderbilt. It's a very good school, and being Jewish/Israeli might play in your favor there as a diversity factor.</p>
<p>I will guess that everyone here wonders why you are sure you'll pull your scores up that much. If you reported two actual scores that were 750's and a 600, I think people would find more of your list possible. </p>
<p>You probably have a study strategy that gives you confidence that your scores will improve, and hopefully they will. Mostly scores go up, and study can bring them up a lot, so hatzlacha, good luck!</p>
<p>In the meantime, maybe you need to make a sliding scale of a list, one for if your scores do rise a lot, and another if your scores improve but only modestly.</p>
<p>Can someone other than me (tired tonight from posting too much) please explain to this OP where to find out the "median SAT" scores for each college?
And what that means, in other words, that some are admitted above and below the median range, so it's an indicator and not a cut-off system.</p>
<p>Also, someone had a scattergram link that was really impressive, from the West Coast somewhere, to show students how each college takes from each SAT range. Can anyone remember or throw that link up onto this thread, to help the poster?</p>
<p>There are a number of factors that go into elite acceptances -- and GPA is one of the biggest, a point in your favor. However, SAT scores do come into play when the first cut is made. To get into the Ivies, you need to have all SAT I scores at or above 700 unless you have something extraordinary to add to the student body -- a celebrity, a nationally-ranked athlete, an inventor. The CR score is perhaps one of the most crucial because it predicts your (first year) ability to read and interpret complex texts. Princeton admissions officers have said that SAT scores matter less than you'd think but more than you'd like. In other words, they matter a great deal when narrowing the pool but never factor into the final decisions themselves. I'm afraid you might not make the first cut.</p>
<p>You should be realistic about your chances. By all means, apply to one or two of the elite schools because you never know who they will accept. It might be you. But you should be aware that your odds are slim at these schools unless you get the Math scores as high as you hope -- and the CR <em>much</em> higher. If you can do that, you will be competitive. Keep in mind that no one is a sure thing at the elite universities.</p>
<p>Build a more solid "match" list. What kind of learning environment do you prefer? What kind of location? We can help you a lot if you are more specific.</p>
<p>
[quote]
GPA is one of the biggest, a point in your favor. However, SAT scores do come into play when the first cut is made.
[/quote]
I suspect that SAT scores are very important for the graduates of foreign schools, since American colleges probably have no way to judge what a 95 average from your school actually means.</p>
<p>500 on CR is extremely low (and 600 is low as well) for almost any school on your list. Although foreign graduates do get a break on English scores sometimes (though not as big of a break as your scores would require), you will probably not "count" as such, since you are a native speaker.</p>
<p>without more from you as to what you are looking for, it is hard to give you specific advise.
i'll throw out two general suggestions-
1) look into which schools are sat optional -- each year it seems as if more schools are becoming sat optional and the list includes some really really good schools.
2) from your name, i am guessing you are female? would you consider an all women's college? there are some really excellent ones, and since by definition only half the population can apply to them, they may be slightly less competitive relative to their high quality. and many are located near co-ed schools with opportunities for educational and social interaction with those other schools.</p>
<p>Hi everybody!
Thank you for your replies. I understand that I should be more specific about my preferences. The problem is that I don't have a college counsler and all the information I have is from the internet or College Confidential. Therefore I might be missing some very good schools, I probably only know of the ones with high recognition.</p>
<p>Here are my preferences:
-major in science, medicine or math
-big Jewish community
-big scholarships
-I don't really care about the number of students, I just don't want it to be too small. I don't care where the university is either- west or east..
-international high reputation
-possibility of studying languages (I really want to learn Spanish and French intensively)
-coed school. Someone recommended to go to an all-woman school but Iv'e studied in a girl's class/school practically all my life. I really think it is time to meet some other people...lol
-nice campus
I guess that's it.</p>
<p>I will soon take a practice test to see my score improvement. I took the SAT only once in October 2006 so I think I naturally improved during this year. I'll tell you my new scores so you can have a better prediction of my chances.
Am I supposed to start working on my applications and essays now or is it to early? Do I need to have a final list of colleges by now?
Thanks for your support. I really need this information because I have nowhere to ask!</p>
<p>You can't major in "medicine" anywhere, and you can major in science or math at any school. (This will not narrow your list...)</p>
<p>"Big scholarships" - are you talking about need-based, or merit-based scholarships? Many schools on your list do not give any merit scholarships at all. The ones that do would require much higher (almost perfect) scores in addition to other accomplishments. You usually have to go to lower ranked schools to get merit money.</p>
<p>For languages Middlebury is exceptionally good (but you still would need to bring up your scores)</p>
<p>so that may in fact be a good option for the op. i am not sure how you tell them to look at your sat2's and not your sat1's since the collegeboard would include all -- i imagine there must be some way to specify this on the application. middlebury does not give merit based aid.</p>
<p>You should give University of Miami consideration. It sounds like a good match for you. </p>
<p>It has an excellent pre-med program and medical school
large jewish community
big scholarships
it's a medium sized school
very diverse with a high International population
Great for languages
gorgeous campus
excellent rep and getting higher every year
coed</p>
<p>My son is really excited to take the birthright trip to Israel next summer. He has friends at UM that did it this summer and said it was amazing. Do you have any knowledge of it?</p>
<p>U of Miami, Boston University, Emory, Vanderbilt, Northeastern, Syracuse, Brandeis, Uof Mass at Amherst, and NYU all have nice size jewish populations and are also part of a larger jewish community</p>
<p>I would take the ACT and retake SAT as these may present some problems as they stand.</p>
<p>I'd like you to know more than one school from each poster (prior post excepted), although everyone certainly wants to help you.</p>
<p>Let me be very direct with my advice:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Follow everyone's advice and put up a post on "College Search and Admissions." (It is charming that you approached the Parents Forum first,
but over at College Search people love to give the kind of advice you need!)
Keep this post up, too, but please add one over there if you haven't already.</p></li>
<li><p>Scores might "naturally" go up, but here most kids get busy with SAT preparation books, as well as look at the SAT CollegeBoard website itself for a bit of online practice work. </p></li>
<li><p>You sound bright, resourceful and courageous. I have a feeling that your SAT scores could rise, but it's essential to understood the test strategies, types of questions used. Under "SAT Practice" section of CC, look up the "Xiggi Method" to prepare for SATs. It's a "sticky thread" (sticky = always located among top few threads of the forum, regardless of date). </p></li>
<li><p>In the SAT practice books, read all the explanations for wrong answers. You'll learn much by what's wrong about the wrong ones. Dont' just score yourself, in other words; read all the analysis, question by question.</p></li>
<li><p>The popular SAT practice books used here are published by Kaplan, Princeton Review, McGraw-Hill, Barrons or Gruber. Each has its merits, and on the SAT Prep site mentioned, they'll be previous threads about which one is best for you to use. Or make a new thread, after you research the old ones, if you're still not sure which book to order. </p></li>
<li><p>I know they give the SAT tests in Israel (my S took his there while studying abroad Jr. year!). But do they also have practice courses for you to take? Or consider using Craigslist or some other way to advertise for an SAT tutor for yourself. Work with your parents to make sure you buy tutoring that
is valuable and not overpriced. The tutor should themself have earned at least a 700 to tutor you, AND be a good teacher/communicator. (Not my great-aunt who taught English since 1950 in Hadera...LOL, you know what I mean:)</p></li>
<li><p>Of course you've heard mostly of the famous places. Just be confident that you will absolutely find the right list of schools to fit you. There are so many here. Compare the # of airports in the U.S. to Lod, and that's the comparable situation. Some have the median SAT with 500 CR (not those on your original list), and it goes down and up from there.</p></li>
<li><p>After I submit this, I'll try to see if I can find those links I mentioned last night, and if so I'll post them. I think best for you is to know which places have the median SAT's at your current level, make a list that way. Then, study this summer hard for the SAT's. Make a different "dreamy" list if your SAT's do come up high as you hope.
There will be some overlaps! Maybe the "Safety" school on your dream list will also appear as the "Match" or "Reach" school on your current-score list.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thank you everyone, especially paying3tuitions for your elaborated reply...
Acutally, I AM studying for the SAT!! For my first test I took an SAT course which I don't think was so helpful. For this October I'm learning from many prep books. I read RocketReview and I found its tips very useful. Like I said, I still need to take a practice SAT to see how well I'm doing. I'll try to read plenty of books with difficult vocabulary and use flashcards to increase my vocab. I really think I can do MUCH better in all 3 sections after this summer's extensive prep.
I really wanted to do the ACT since I'm really strong in science and math but unfortunately it is not offered in Israel!! They said I can arrange to take it in my high school and have on of my teachers be my supervisor but they have a lot of requirement for this teacher and for the whole procedure- I don't know.. it looks really beaucoryatic. I guess I should focus on the SATs.
I will soon post this thread on the College Search forum since so many of you said so.</p>
<p>So do you guys think that my SATs are my major problem? Other than that, is there anything else that I need to improve? I'm sure my teacher recommendations will be AWESOME (they love me!) and so will the counsler's... I also have very interesting topics for my essay and many unique extracurricuals. In school, my pricipal told my parents that I'm the best student he ever had in his carrer (about 15 years!!). I really feel bad that these SATs are the only thing getting in my way. I'll do everything I can to improve them!!</p>