Eager student from Australia

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi there guys!</p>

<p>I was just wondering if it is worth applying to any of these colleges:</p>

<p>Princeton, Harvard (I bet I've already got you yawning :P), Brown, Columbia, Swarthmore, Middlebury, Pepperdine, Pomona, Stanford, Dartmouth, UPenn, Colgate...</p>

<p>(My dream ones are Princeton and Columbia)</p>

<p>This is my brief record:</p>

<p>Academic Achievements<br>
- Achieving High Distinctions and Distinctions in National Mathematics, English and Science Competitions (2001-2004)<br>
- Achieving High Distinctions (2003-2004) only in National French competition<br>
- Average course scores for ALL my Year11/12 subjects exceed 90. Overall session scores for English and World Literature include: 97.3, 99.9, 99.1 and 100.2<br>
Overall session scores for Specialist Math and Method Math include: 92.1, 93.3, 91.5, 96.7, 98.5 and 98.9.<br>
Overall session scores for Chemistry include 92.7, 92.8, 95.6 and 99.1<br>
- Achieved awards in 2004 in recognition of excellence and commitment to studies in High Level Math, High Level Science and High Level English.<br>
- Received Honours for National Gene Ethics Essay
- Played a central role in organizing and acting the dramatization of the national finalist essay which eventually took first place in Australia.<br>
- 2004 Runner-up for Senior Secondary Category of CSIRO’s ‘Sport in Space’ Competition.<br>
- Recipient of a 2-year scholarship from the ANU for MuST (Music for Students with Talent) in which I was accepted immediately upon audition and sent to one of the Conservatory’s best teachers – a privilege beyond the scope of the scholarship. </p>

<p>Leadership & Communication<br>
- Active SRC (Student Representative Council) member during high school<br>
- Attended SRC Leadership Workshop<br>
- Represented Telopea Park High School at a National Youth Leadership Conference<br>
- Winner and CEO of 2004 Australian Business Week<br>
- National Finalist in SCRAM – A competition based on conflict resolution and mediation.<br>
- Speak, read and write at an intermediate level of French and can speak fluent Persian.<br>
- Participated in the 2006 World Vision Global Leadership Conference.<br>
- School youth coordinator for World Vision 40 Hour Famine. Since becoming coordinator, our school doubled the previous record and achieved over $7,000 in donation and the participation this year had tripled.<br>
- Selected by the Australian Government as 1 of 11 2005 Harmony Ambassadors to promote equality.<br>
- Information Officer at the ACT Annual Multicultural Festival<br>
- State finalist in Lion’s Youth of the Year Award<br>
- Assisted in school activities such as Music Night, Open Day and so on.<br>
- Completed Australian Education for Peace program with Honours and have also completed the Australian Advanced Education for Peace and Leadership programs – which combine to become a 4-year course training youth in leadership skills, cultural understanding, community involvement and peer mediation. </p>

<p>Other<br>
- Represented Telopea Park High School (2002-2004) in Volleyball, Indoor Soccer, Futsal and (2004) Indoor Hockey.<br>
- Member of Belnorth Soccer Club (1999-2004)<br>
- Participant of Clean Up Australia Days and 40-Year Hour Famines.<br>
- Member of School Band for 4 years.<br>
- Professional, trained LavAzza barista<br>
- Long term casual employment for Valentino’s Café/Restaurant and Bookware Bookstore.<br>
- Publicist for “White Ribbon Day” – International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.<br>
- Sponsored by Rotary International to participate in an intensive science and technology based program offered by Siemens at the ANU and UC.<br>
- ICT Competencies Certificate.<br>
- Participated in 2003 Exhibitions program, receiving High Distinctions in all marking criterion.<br>
- Took part in Lifeline counseling and peer mediation course. </p>

<p>I have no idea about GPAs, APs etc but I took at least 6 subjects every year which is 1 extra subject per year which isn't particularly required. </p>

<p>My SAT scores are CR: 670, M: 750, W: 620 ... (I sat it a few days after knowing about it! lol)</p>

<p>And my SAT II scores should be in the 700s methinks (and I'd be very upset if I don't get 800 in Math hehe)</p>

<p>I've written a personal essay but can I use this for CommonApp etc?</p>

<p>If anyone would like to see my essay and would be able to provide me with some good feedback, please just PM me with your MSN or AIM !</p>

<p>Thank you so much !
Deadlines are around teh corner and for an international student, that means hurry up!!! So please help me as soon as you can!</p>

<p>Cheers!
Ves</p>

2

<p>Your SAT scores are the weakest part of your application, but I don't think they're way out of range for top schools, especially if you can pay full tuition. </p>

<p>You have a lot of impressive extracurriculars, but there's no immediate "theme" that pops out...try to see if you can focus your extracurriculars so the adcoms have more of an idea of who you are and less of a laundry list of activities and awards. </p>

<p>I'd also advise you to think about what you want in a college/university. It seems like you've just picked well-known top schools without thinking about what YOU want. You have listed some urban schools (Columbia, Harvard), some rural (Dartmouth, Middlebury); some large universities, (UPenn, Stanford), some small liberal arts colleges (Swarthmore, Colgate)...you get the idea. Make sure prestige is not your only criterion. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

3

<p>well thats the thing... these unis provide need-based aid to international...
I think my fam could only afford 6000 a year! :(</p>

<p>Do you think you could help me with that "theme" business because I feel that if I take something out, then I've wasted something if you know what I mean...</p>

<p>Alternatively add me on msn or aim</p>

4

<p>I don't think you need to take anything out of your activity list, but try to group your activities into "themes" or topics, like "Music" or "Sports" or "Activism" (which in your case might be subdivided further) so that someone could scan the list quickly and get a better sense of your activities. Do the same for awards/honors. Adcoms like to see that you have fields of genuine interest and not just a long list of extracurriculars. You've done a lot, which is really impressive, but giving it more focus will help them get a better picture of you. </p>

<p>Another hint: play up the social activism stuff. It's impressive and probably the strongest "vibe" I picked up on. :-)</p>

<p>Best of luck, and maybe I'll see you at Brown or Swarthmore next year...who knows?</p>

5

<p>ok so how about this:</p>

<p>SOCIAL ACTIVISM
- Participant of Clean Up Australia Days and 40-Year Hour Famines.
- Publicist for “White Ribbon Day” – International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
- Participated in 2003 Exhibitions program, receiving High Distinctions in all marking criterion.
- Took part in Lifeline counseling and peer mediation course.
- Honors Graduate from the Australian Education for Peace program and have also completed the Australian Advanced Education for Peace and Leadership programs – which combine to become a 4-year course training youth in leadership skills, cultural understanding, community involvement and peer mediation.
- Participated in the 2006 World Vision Global Leadership Conference.
- School youth coordinator for World Vision 40 Hour Famine. Since becoming coordinator, our school doubled the previous record and achieved over $7,000 in donation and the participation this year had tripled.
- Selected by the Australian Government as 1 of 11 2005 Harmony Ambassadors to promote equality.
- Information Officer at the ACT Annual Multicultural Festival
- State finalist in Lion’s Youth of the Year Award
- Assisted in school activities such as Music Night, Open Day and so on.
Active SRC (Student Representative Council) member during high school
- Attended SRC Leadership Workshop
- Represented Telopea Park High School at a National Youth Leadership Conference
- Winner and CEO of 2004 Australian Business Week
- National Finalist in SCRAM – A competition based on conflict resolution and mediation. </p>

<p>MUSIC
- Member of School Band for 4 years.
- Recipient of a 2-year scholarship from the ANU for MuST (Music for Students with Talent) in which I was accepted immediately upon audition and sent to one of the Conservatory’s best teachers – a privilege beyond the scope of the scholarship. </p>

<p>SPORT
- Represented Telopea Park High School (2002-2004) in Volleyball, Indoor Soccer, Futsal and (2004) Indoor Hockey.
- Member of Belnorth Soccer Club (1999-2004) </p>

<p>ACADEMIC:</p>

<p>AWARDS/HONORS - Achieving High Distinctions and Distinctions in National Mathematics, English and Science Competitions (2001-2004)
- Achieving High Distinctions (2003-2004) only in National French competition
- Received Honours for National Gene Ethics Essay
- Played a central role in organizing and acting the dramatization of the national finalist essay which eventually took first place in Australia.
- 2004 Runner-up for Senior Secondary Category of CSIRO’s ‘Sport in Space’ Competition.
- Sponsored by Rotary International to participate in an intensive science and technology based program offered by Siemens at the ANU and UC.
- ICT Competencies Certificate. </p>

<p>SCHOOL
- Average course scores for ALL my Year11/12 subjects exceed 90. Overall session scores for English and World Literature include: 97.3, 99.9, 99.1 and 100.2
Overall session scores for Specialist Math and Method Math include: 92.1, 93.3, 91.5, 96.7, 98.5 and 98.9.
Overall session scores for Chemistry include 92.7, 92.8, 95.6 and 99.1
- Achieved awards in 2004 in recognition of excellence and commitment to studies in High Level Math, High Level Science and High Level English. </p>

<p>OTHER:
-- Speak, read and write at an intermediate level of French and can speak fluent Persian.
- Professional, trained LavAzza barista
- Long term casual employment for Valentino’s Café/Restaurant and Bookware Bookstore.</p>

6

<p>That looks much better. Keep in mind that some applications may ask you to choose 5 or 7 of your most significant extracurriculars, so start thinking about what those are. You can send an additional sheet to some schools (I think others request no additional materials...you need to check before you send) with your other activities, but keep it brief! Two pages, tops. </p>

<p>Good luck with all the paperwork. :-)</p>

7

<p>If you cant pay most of your way through, you're screwed. Unless of course you are that poor (I dont even know if that includes int'ls?)</p>