<p>So i was deferred from an early school just today (they defer a large number of their applicants) and I'm feeling incredibly discouraged and unsure about which schools to apply to for regular decision. The school I was deferred from has a 13-15% early acceptance rate and is one of the least competitive schools I'm applying to in the US (I'm an international applicant). I understand that it is still a very competitive school, but in terms of acceptance rates, it has one of the highest compared to the other schools I'm applying to. I feel like I should refine my list of schools because almost all of them are as competitive or more competitive than the school I was just deferred from. I have that feeling of "if I can't get into this school, how can I get into a school like Yale with a 7% acceptance rate?" </p>
<p>Please let me know if I should change anything:</p>
<p>Applying to: Stanford, Yale, Cornell, UPenn, Brown, Princeton, Berkeley (my matches and safeties are schools in my country)</p>
<p>Basic Stats:
GPA: 3.75/3.8 (not sure about weighted and unweighted because I'm international)
Course load: Full IB Diploma
ACT: 33
SAT II: 790 Mandarin, 730 Biology E</p>
<p>EC's
Founder of international organization that is now in 5 different countries
Secretary General of one of the largest MUN conferences in the nation (attracts hundreds of people a year)
City Council committee (mayoral appointed member)
Editor in Chief of school newspaper
Write for two other publications
Youth advisory council for nation-wide teen magazine
Tennis
Choir (many choirs throughout high school years)
Youth Council for a philanthropy organization
Student Government for a school program
Other misc. activities.</p>
<p>Other
Asian female
No fin. aid needed</p>
<p>Is anyone feeling really discouraged for the regular round? And does anyone have any tips for the schools I'm applying to? Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>If you like thee schools in your country you’re fine.</p>
<p>But if your EA school was Georgetown as it seems, and you didn’t get in early with no aid needed, you have a pretty good read that ivies are unlikely. Is is the time to decide if you want to stay will all reaches in the US or add some less competitive schools. There are so many wonderful US colleges you can get into given you don’t need aid.</p>
<p>Don’t base your assessment of your chances at other schools on what your ED/EA school does.</p>
<p>I assumed I’d be rejected at similarly selective schools when WUSTL rejected (not deferred) me ED. I was later accepted to Northwestern, Rice, and Emory, among others.</p>
<p>It might be related to who else from your country applied and what their stats were. Don’t be discouraged. There is a great fit out there for you. It could still happen that your deferral changes to an admit, but just don’t put all your eggs in that basket. p.s. A few years ago (3-4) my next door neighbor was deferred ED from MIT, but than accepted in the regular round, so it does happen.</p>
<p>You should take Duke as a good read of what you can expect. This doesn’t mean you won’t get into one of your schools.</p>
<p>Not needing aid will help a lot. But if you’re counting on a US college, yes, add some less selective ones. The competition from Asia is insane at all of your schools. Add a few that don’t see as many Asian applicants.</p>
<p>Consider Colby, Bates, Colgate, CMC, Carleton. All wonderful schools.</p>
<p>Since you really want us to evaluate your stats, I would say that SAT2 scores are not that great. Depending on your major, it can be justified though.</p>
<p>Does anyone mind letting me know what they think about my chances at ivies for RD? </p>
<p>I agree with Waverly. You need to find some MUCH, MUCH safer colleges to apply to. take a look at the deferrals and rejections on the Stanford , Yale and other threads to see what kind of kids were rejected and deferred. Thsoe deferred at Stanford only have a 10% chance of eventual acceptance, so look carefully at what your competition is. Your stats do NOT put you in the top 10-25% of accepted students at those colleges. Your Duke deferral should be a big wake up call for you to search for less highly ranked colleges, if you want to go to college in the US.</p>
<p>The problem is that these schools are really competitive and more factors are at work here. Keep in mind that some available spaces at these schools go to kids with connections (daddy is a congressman, mommy a judge, uncle donates heavily to the school, etc…). So, those without connections have a very small chance. </p>
<p>That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try. Just make sure you apply to those safety schools. And look for a place where you will be happy and comfortable. Is that in your home country? Or do you really want to come to the US to study? What is your career goal? There are many fine schools were you would probably be accepted right away. They just might not be on the Ivy League list. And, they just might be a better fit for you anyway. Something to think about.</p>
<p>Just to clear things up - I wasn’t deferred at Duke. Duke’s early acceptance rate was actually 25% this year while the acceptance rate for the early school I applied to was 15% (which is actually about the same as Yale’s early acceptance rate btw, although I understand that the applicant pools are still different). </p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who has responded. My matches and safeties are mostly in my home country but I’m thinking about adding NYU and Carnegie Mellon to the list. Does anyone mind commenting on parts of my application that are particularly weaker/I can improve for RD? (besides SAT II scores) Thanks :)</p>
<p>^International students do satisfy the foreign language requirement since most have taken their languages almost through out the school year. But having said that, I agree SAT2 language scores do not strengthen your application as it is expected. Since you do not have time for more subject scores and if you really really want to come to the US, you need to add some more matches (not sure of your major), but add a couple more to your list (depending on your major).</p>
<p>If your GPA is what you write, with the lower as unweighted and higher weighted, then it’s pretty low for the ivies and stanford.
I’m sorry, but the international applicant pool is EXTREMELY competitive. The percentages are much lower when it comes to international applicants. The sad thing is that you do not have “talent”, like being an IMO medalist, or winning some kind of International competition.
Since you took the Mandarin Chinese SAT2, I’m going to assume that you’re Chinese, and you’re at an International school because regular public schools don’t have grades. They just have an end of year test. (source: 5 years in China, 4th to 8th grade)
Being Chinese makes things infinitely worse for you. For Chinese students, it is not uncommon to have scores above 35 on the ACT and 2300 on the SAT. A few of my cousins are at international schools in China, and the curriculum is frickin ridiculous. They are MUCH more competitive than I am, but they will not get into a better college because I’m an American citizen applicant and they aren’t. It sounds very harsh, but it’s true.
The fact that you didn’t get 800 on the SAT2 Mandarin is also not very good. Every year, more than 40 percent of the test takers score 800. If you are a native speaker, you are expected to score 800. I’m sorry if that sounds terrible.
The best you can do now is try to fix your essays. Which isn’t possible for Berkeley because the UC deadline was Nov. 30.
Out of all these colleges, the one you have the best shot at is Berkeley, and even then you’ll have trouble. Regular US applicants would have a hard time getting into Berkeley with your stats.
Change your major to some obscure one that no one wants to do. It will help you a bit, unless the school admits students based on colleges (college of arts and sciences, college of engineering, college of business etc).
I can only wish you good luck! Also, bear in mind that admissions officers are beginning to get more and more skeptical about Chinese applicants in terms of ECs, because, as sad as it seems, a lot of Chinese students fudge their ECs hoping to get into better schools. Even American students do that. So, be honest, even if it doesn’t seem as impressive as you want it to be. You can exaggerate, but it has to be within REASONABLE boundaries.</p>
<p>Good luck. As minuscule as the chances are, don’t give up hope. There will ALWAYS be a possibility of being accepted :)</p>
<p>There are so many people applying to the Ivies with stats similar or better than yours that acceptance is never guaranteed. Having the grades and the out of class experiences that are needed is not enough - it often comes down to just plain luck for who makes it in and who does not.</p>
<p>It’s a sad fact, but thousands of hearts are broken every year by the Ivies due to supply and demand for those coveted spots.</p>