Crazy high aiming!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I just wanna say I'm applying to every imaginable top university in the US (Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Columbia, Berkeley..), Canada (Queen's) and England (Oxford, Cambridge).</p>

<p>I'm in 11th grade, doing the International Baccalaureate (just started). I live in Switzerland, just moved here from London.</p>

<p>My grades are average to bad, especially in the sciences.
I still have two years to improve though! I know I can ace every class, get As, get loads of extracurriculars (rugby, debate team, something else..) in that span of time, enough to make me desirable in the Yale admission officers' eyes.</p>

<p>Until now to be frank I have been a lazy student with average grades. People have told me since I was a kid that I could ace everything if I worked.. Well I started working last year, and my grades have gone up. I'll post my mock GCSE results tomorrow to give you an idea (mostly As by the way).</p>

<p>Anyway people say I'm aiming way too high with Harvard etc, but regardless of what they say I'm still applying there. There is no way I'm aiming lower. Sound crazy? Might be. But I am willing to forego sanity if it means success in the end.</p>

<p>Is 10th grade that important for universities? Nah I don't think so. People place way too much importance on these early years.
If I ace this year and the next, and finally 13th grade as well, and get some hooks, I know I'll be more than eligible for the likes of Princeton.</p>

<p>I know I can do it. I know I will do it.
Nothing and no-one can convince me otherwise. This is a goal I've set for myself and I'm going to achieve it, regardless of my past. </p>

<p>(will post my grades tomorrow. now sleep)</p>

2

<p>"I still have two years to improve though! I know I can ace every class, get As, get loads of extracurriculars (rugby, debate team, something else..) in that span of time, enough to make me desirable in the Yale admission officers' eyes."</p>

<p>-Bad idea. Joining a multiple amount of clubs all of the sudden shows that you are in a state of panic due to your lack of EC's and joined a lot just to create a "laundry list" on your resume with things that you don't show much passion in. With just 1~2 years, there little to no chance of acquiring a leadership position and overall, this can be a negative thing to do. By the time you're in your junior year, you should have narrowed down your EC's from your previous 2 year of high school (the period called "experimenting" what you like/dislike) and go in depth. </p>

<p>"Is 10th grade that important for universities? Nah I don't think so. People place way too much importance on these early years."</p>

<p>Yes it is actually. 10th and 11th. Don't think that the adcoms don't look at those grades as part of consdiering your admission.</p>

<p>"If I ace this year and the next, and finally 13th grade as well, and get some hooks, I know I'll be more than eligible for the likes of Princeton."</p>

<p>Grades are only one portion of what they look at about you. There was NEVER a human being that existed on this earth who was "more than eligible" for the Ivies. Ever. </p>

<p>You seem like you have a strong goal. I'm not "convincing you otherwise" I'm just showing you what you should consider if you're going to reach your goal.</p>

<p>In addition, your determination seems really strong. But don't forget that there are thousands of students in America with the same type of determination, in the IB program, with a large number of EC's you can imagine. Good determination is important, but it isn't a key to getting in.</p>

3

<p>I'm considering, I'm considering. .
What you said is interesting, and true. Almost burst my bubble lol, but not quite.
Anyway what do you think I can do exactly to maximise my chances of getting into a (ANY) prestigious university in the US?
Please tell me it's not hopeless. I'll cry :( lol.</p>

4

<p>I guess my post made it seem that it was hopeless, but know that it's not. :) </p>

<p>One thing I can advise you to do is, if you do join EC's, join a select few that YOU like, not what the college would like. This is because usually, if you like what you do, you will be good at it. And if you're good at it, who knows? Leadership positions might come in.</p>

<p>Study hard for SATs. A high score can cover up for your past 2 years to some extent. A good essay + good recs. </p>

<p>Again, like you've said in your other posts, its not too late to improve. If you keep that motivation, who knows what'll result, right? </p>

<p>And don't forget that those Ivies are not the only path to sucess, at all. There are plenty of great colleges in the U.S. that you should also apply to as well.</p>

5

<p>Do you have any match/safety schools? At this point, I don't see you getting into any of the top schools. One of the first things you said was that your grades are bad. Also, you don't seem to have a passion for any EC's. Colleges don't like people who "hoard up" on EC's at the last minute. And to repeat what Tami said, 10th grade is certainly considered. Freshman year may not be as important (some schools like Princeton and Stanford overlook them), but sophomore year certainly is.</p>

<p>Do you have a cumulative GPA and/or class rank? What about SAT scores? It's hard to tell without any hard numbers. Basically, from the information that you've presented here, you'll have a very tough time getting into the Ivies and Ivy-caliber schools, especially as an international student. I admire your determination, though. Good luck (you'll need it).</p>

6

<p>Ok a bit of numbers for you guys:
These are my mock GCSE results (the school said they graded slightly harsher than normal though, and that people are likely to get a grade above what they got in the mocks in the real exams)</p>

<p>French: A
English: A<em>, B
Geography: A, A
Biology: B
IT: A</em> </p>

<p>I'm still waiting for the maths and chemistry (I hate the latter, will drop it as soon as I can) exam results, though. I'm also doing Economics, but we didn't have an exam on that yet.</p>

<p>So, do these results make it sound like I'm on the right path?
Well, gotta go now to revise some economics.</p>

7

<p>I think you need to make sure you do well on the SAT. It will go far to validate your improvement. Outside of that, Improvement is great and focus on a couple activities. Yale is crazy, even perfect people don't get in. But you should be a contender for Cornell, Chicago, Northwestern at a minimum if you show the improvement you are aiming for.</p>

8

<p>You should not pick your colleges based on prestige. The Ivies are very different from one another. You should determine what you want in a college, buy a good guidebook, and choose colleges based on your interests.</p>

9

<p>Most of the ivies offer a wide variety of subjects and are not very specialized with the exception of U Penn I'd say. I agree picking colleges by prestige is not a good idea but the ivies are wide ranged and that's why they are so good.</p>

10

<p>Tezasmathwhiz- I completely agree with you in terms of academics, but the schools have very different feels to them. They differ in terms of location (urban, rural, suburban, small town), student body (quirky, preppy, athletic), and other aspects.</p>

11

<p>Yes, I agree. Aside from the wide range of academics to consider, there are also other factors.</p>

<p>When I did a college match thing at collegeboard.com The only ivy leagues that came up we're Yale and Cornell. The next best was Duke and then UCSD.</p>