Do I stand a chance at Carleton? (Still considering EDI - if i have a chance)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Carleton College
1

<p>Im from an indigenous tribe in Borneo, and a minority group in Malaysia. Didn't grow up in a city, and had a different growing up experience from some of you guys here. i received a government scholarship to study abroad in a foreign country four years ago, and fortunately was exposed to the idea of US education. do help me out over here. </p>

<p>Im currently on a gap year and will be applying for the class of 2015.</p>

<p>Test Scores:
SAT 1
1470 (CR+M) 2080 (Total) 690-780-610 (CR/M/W)
SAT 2
Maths 2- 800 Chinese- 800 Physics - 760</p>

<p>Academics:
Cambridge GCE A Levels Grade: Maths A Geography A Physics A Economics B
Final year grade: Maths A Geography A Physics B Economics D (No GPA or school rank)
11th Grade: Maths B Geography B Physics D Economics E
10th Grade GPA 3.57 out of 4.00 (distracted by year-round business research projects)
9th Grade GPA 3.78 out of 4.00
*the most rigorous course load at a top high school in the nation</p>

<p>Archery (11th-12th Grade) School Captain
-Represented school in various National level competitions
-Best: National 1st Position in Team Standard Recurve for National Inter-school Championship
Judo (8th-10th Grade)
-Represented school at Inter-school competition
-Bronze for individual event at inter-school competition
Badminton (till 9th Grade)
- Second place for Men's Under 14 doubles in State competition
- Borneo Badminton Cup (top 8 Men's Under 14 Doubles)</p>

<p>Work Experience:
- English translator of Malay Guidebook: Indigenous Community Building (10k words), and several articles on Borneon native communities from Malay to English, vice versa.
- Research assistant on Indigenous Land Rights and GPS Mapping
- 3 months outfield assignment in collaboration with Raleigh to build gravity water feed system equipped with pioneering filtration in a remote village, Borneo. Facilitated the Project Managers from cambridge university and france with a team of 16 global participants aged 17 to 24 from US, UK, Holland, Ireland and Scotland.
- Service auditor at a consulting firm, doing clandestine inspection of service standards in high-end retail stores. Conducted interviews and phone surveys with employees to assess corporate service qualities. Data analysis of gathered project materials together with graduates and professional adults.
- Other odd jobs such as doing sales at Singapore formula 1 grand prix, private tutoring and waitering.</p>

<p>Awards:
- top12 for a national business competition by a university with teams from India, LA, Singapore. and another recognized national business competition. (a year-long project)
- Research project on human geography was nominated finalist at another national competition.</p>

<p>Community work:
- also a big part of my ECs. Volunteered overseas at Maldives, Indonesia and Singapore at various occasions (on sponsored trips with recognized NGOs)
- initiated a few community work as well during high school</p>

<p>Essays: Matured writing, would say they are rather good. My counselor says it speaks a lot about who i am. I also wrote an extra letter detailing my experiences during my gap year.
Recs: Pretty good i hope. And my counselor is pretty experienced and well know among the deans for some colleges.</p>

<p>Weakness:
- probably my SAT1. my reading and writing are terrible. takin again in october, last chance!
- dont really have much awards in the academic field, like the many science olympiad winners i've seen on CC.</p>

<p>Im applying for FULL FINANCIAL AID to Carleton - can contribute about 4-5k per year. (still considering if I should EDI carleton or vassar)</p>

<p>and if you have suggestions on how i can improve my application, do let me know too! Im also a first generation college student. :)</p>

<p>Ps: Does carleton cover such great amount of Financial need for a prospective international applicant?</p>

2

<p>I read somewhere that Carleton does have a few really great scholarships for internationals who apply ED. I don’t know anything about Vassar and international admissions are really a different pool from those of us in the US who are applying so I’m not going to address your chances in ED as between those two, but I wish you luck.</p>

3

<p>Carleton’s website says that for international students they give up to six full scholarships annually covering tuition, room and board and up to six more partial scholarships up to half of the comprehensive fee. So, the answer is yes, there are full scholarships available for internationals. I agree with your thought that improving that 610 in writing would improve your chances at this school. You might also try to set up a phone interview.</p>

4

<p>Thanks griffen and niceday. </p>

<p>I’ve heard of the six full scholarships by Carleton as well. But one reservation that I have is - does it mean that Carleton only gives out 12 Financial Aid to international students per year? If that is the case, it is certainly much more competitive compared to Vassar. </p>

<p>Because according to Vassar’s website, Vassar admits about 30+ international students per year with financial need, and the aid averages about $40,000. That is the main reason why I thought Vassar might be more compassionate when it comes to reviewing the application of an international student requiring aid. (Hence I thought i might stand a better chance if I ED Vassar)</p>

<p>But to be honest, Carleton is really my dream school. Second is Vassar.</p>

<p>Please correct me if i am wrong.</p>

5

<p>Borneo, I was accepted to both Vassar and Carleton, and, honestly, part of the reason that I chose Carleton over Vassar was that Carleton offered me more money. </p>

<p>Also, for what it’s worth, I think that you’re a good candidate for admission.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

6

<p>It’s worth calling or emailing the admissions office at both to get your questions answered. I’m sure they’ll be happy to give you this information. You would expect a 20% difference in the raw numbers between the schools just because Vassar’s student body is 20% larger than Carleton’s overall. I suspect the relative number of international scholarships is comparable between the two schools.</p>

7

<p>thisisimportant - thanks a lot. were u an international applicant? I have actually completed both applications (commonapp + supplement) for Carleton and Vassar, and right now i am still unsure about which college to apply to for ED! Ahhh. On one hand, im afraid that if i apply Carleton for ED, the competition might be too fierce for me since im just a mediocre applicant and maybe I might have a better chance at Vassar. On the other hand, if I apply Vassar ED, and if I dont get in, EDII Carleton will be even more competitive.</p>

<p>Griffen - I agree with you completely. Perhaps I ll try emailing the admissions office regarding financial aid for international applicants during the ED cycle. </p>

<p>*also, i was informed that Carleton recently had a very successful fundraiser with over 300+million dollars pledged. do you think this event might presage more aid for international students for this coming admission cycle?</p>

8

<p>if you find out more info, let us know. I’m applying EDI to Carleton this year- not international - but interested in everything I can know about Carleton.</p>

9

<p>thisisimportant–Interesting that you accepted Carleton over Vassar. My daughter, a very happy rising senior at Carleton, also chose to be a Carl. … But when we visited Vassar, I fell in love. Too bad I was 50-something, or that’s where I would have chosen to go. … What tipped you in the direction of Carleton?</p>

<p>borneoboy–You’re very qualified for Carleton, as far as I can see. And, like my daughter (from the backhills of Kentucky!), you’re an “exotic.” Good luck to you!</p>

10

<p>thanks a lot hindoo.
Would you mind reading through my essays for Carleton? I sure hope to get some opinions so that i can improve my essays. :)</p>

11

<p>My S also was accepted at Vassar as well as Carleton and a few other places. He knew students at both and visited overnight a few weeks apart. The very big difference he found between the schools was the fact that most of the students he met at Vassar did not have Vassar as their top 1-2 choices and openly told him that they has wished to go elsewhere. During his Carleton visit he was struck by just how many students purposely chose to attend Carleton and that gave the campus a very different vibe. Now admittedly it was a small sample but I think this is generally true of the schools.</p>