there are only a handful of universities that are need-blind and offer full need based financial aid for internationals, everyone knows them and you can look for them on Wikipedia.
I know them as well. I was just pointing out that those are the universities that i’m planning to apply to.
It is perfectly fine to take a gap year. Lots of students decide to do that.
Thank you for the help.
I have another question: since the time of the applications (regular decision) to September (beggining of classes) do colleges take in acount what you do? I mean, between application time and colleges decicion can you send extra stuff to universities that you did since you apply? Do they take that into acount when making a decision about aproving or declining your application? And also, after they acept you, what you do before classes start matter to them?
You do know that your chances of being rejected at those schools is about 90-95% right?
Those schools reject THOUSANDS (not exaggerating) of students with 3.8 GPAs and higher and perfect SAT scores. Do you know that? Are you the best student in your city - or in your country? The best student in your entire country may have a chance at Harvard… Do you understand the difficulty? I don’t think you do.
@suzyQ7 we all know that don’t worry, OP knows it too, so we can assume he has safeties already.
@pedrofbandre Universities don’t really care about anything you do after you get accepted unless it is something bad like a crime or dropping your GPA suddenly. Nevertheless, they do care about what you do during your application year, just don’t try to add a gazillion of ECs because it will look like you intend to embellish your application. Maybe one EC wouldn’t hurt, but don’t do it to impress the adcoms, they will know if you try so.
I understand the difficulty. But i believe that a 3.8 gpa or a 4.0 gpa will not make a big difference. If it was like a 3.5 that will almost automatically exclude me; but i think that they will look almost the same way for a student with a 3.8-4.0 gpa. The rest, i think, it’s what will make a difference in decisions between students with high gpa.
And yes, i’m one off the best students in my school. I think that i have some strong points in my academic report such as: 19 out of 20 in Math (18 credits - highest level math possible in high school - A Level Math); 17 out of 20 in nacional exam of Economics, where besides being the best grade at my school, country average grade was 11; etc etc. Things like this can make a difference i guess and put me equally to a 4.0 gpa student in there, because my best grades are at subjects that matters to my major.
The rest of the things that an application includes are the things that will separate this high gpa students (accepted and non-accepted), i guess.
That doesn’t mean i can’t try. Maybe i stand out in their eyes for some reason.
Thank you @Mrduque. I’m not trying to add a bounch of ECs just because of college application. Instead, i will be looking for things that can make me stand out from the rest; also things that will enrich my knowlege and give me new experiences that will be valuable in the future, either at Harvard or at another college.
I took a gap year and applied to colleges the next admission cycle! I improved my ACT score, did bunch of ECs and internships, travelled internationally etc, and it worked out in my favor. I’m not sure about international applicants, but I would definitively recommend a gap-year if the student feels the need to explore more options.
That’s what i’m planning to do. Improve my ECs and take internships, maybe visit colleges, travel to other countries, etc etc.
Taking a gap year is very common for international students applying to the US, especially since senior year tends to be intense with high stakes national examinations.
American colleges will typically look at your 9th grade results as well as your end of 9th grade exam results in Portuguese and Math.
Also don’t convert your portuguese numbers into American numbers as the correspondence isn’t direct.
That’s another reason why i feel the need to take a gap year. It allows me to focus on 12th grade nacional examinations (A Math and Portuguese) which usually aren’t easy.
Do they give much importance to 9th grade results? I didn’t take it too seriously in 9th grade because in Portugal those grades usually aren’t important (i pretty much did the minimum to pass). However i study a bit to 9th grade exams and my results weren’t bad but they weren’t perfect as well (4 of 5 in Math and 4 of 5 in Portuguese).
I’ve only tried to convert portuguese numbers into American numbers to have an ideia if i was anywhere near to competitive GPAs.
US colleges that accept students from Portugal will know the different emphasis placed for its students and will look to other indicators of academic potential. In such cases, worrying about a one to one comparison with US applicants won’t be of benefit. Either the college will already know or it won’t.
Thank you for clarify that for me.
Another question, are colleges aware that Portugal doesn’t have the culture of extracurricular activities in high school? Meaning fewer opportunities. If they’re aware of that maybe my ECs will have more value (and i’m talking big accomplichement ECs).
You are wrong. A 4.0 is much better than a 3.8. Read Suzy Q’s post again. Let me tell you about my Ds good friend. Class valedictorian (highest grades) in a school of 1200. 2370 on the SAT. Hundreds of volunteer hours. High level musical instrument. Many awards. Great recommendations, great essay. Denied from every Ivy League school she applied to and waitlisted at Johns Hopkins. I don’t doubt that you are a good candidate, but you need financial aid. I will be a pessismist and say your chances are almost zero, even with a gap year.
A 3.8 GPA (even if you consider possible convert portuguese grades into american grades; from what i’ve been told i shouldn’t do that) showing a terrific recuperation since 10th grade (were my average grades were very low) to 12th grade (all grades above 18 out of 20) can make up for that 0.2 GPA discrepancy (note: high school starts at 10th grade in portugal).
Financial aid: problem that can be solved; first there are need-blind admissions colleges; secondly with a great SAT score and a 3.8 GPA i can get external scholarships in a relatively easy way; thirdly my family can contribute with something.
Your friend: hundreds of volunteer hours - did she found a national/international level non-profit organization or did she create an amazing found raising with an impact?; awards - nacional level awards? international level awards?; great recommendations and great essay - like any other 10000 students that apply to harvard. I’m not saying that she isn’t a great student highly above average, i’m just saying that maybe she didn’t stand out from top level students that apply to Ivy League Schools every year. In my case, i still have time to accomplish that kind of application, that’s what i want to achieve.
“did she found a national/international level non-profit organization or did she create an amazing found raising with an impact; awards - nacional level awards international level awards
In my case, i still have time to accomplish that kind of application, that’s what i want to achieve.”
You are going to achieve all this in a year?
I divided my main ECs goals withing range periods: this summer; 12th grade, 2017 summer, october 2017-january 2018. Each period i’m planning a EC with impact, let’s see how it goes. In addiction to this, planning to do other ECs that i think it will benefict me and may not even include in my application (colleges programs, etc etc).
OP believe what you want to beleive, but please have a back up plan. As skieurope said, one kid from Portugal got into Harvard. Your chances are very poor and your gap year plans will not make up for the other years of doing nothing, if nothing is what you did. More power to you.