Gap year or regular decision? (International student taking the IB)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>So, my predicted grades came out today, and they're not what I was hoping for. I take the International Baccalaureate in Singapore and I aim to apply exclusively to the United States and Canada, and I've been told this round of predicteds carries the most weight in a university's admissions decision. I had made a previous post (<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1552470-international-student-taking-ib-what-schools-should-i-looking.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1552470-international-student-taking-ib-what-schools-should-i-looking.html&lt;/a&gt;) regarding my options, but I was over-predicting myself by two points; a massive number when put into perspective. </p>

<p>My actual predicted grades are as follows:</p>

<p>HL Economics: 7
HL Computer Science: 7
HL Maths: 5
HL Physics: 6
Ab. Initio French: 6
SL English Language & Literature: 7</p>

<p>Even with four HLs, that's only 38/42 IB points (excluding the bonus points) and, crucially, a 5 in a higher level subject.</p>

<p>These are the schools I would like to go to, in order of preference:</p>

<p>MIT (Absolute dream school for as long as I can remember),
Harvard,
Stanford,
Princeton,
UC Berkeley; UCLA; UCSD (California school system counts as one application),
U Chicago,
Yale,
Cornell,
Carnegie Mellon,
University of Toronto</p>

<p>and I'm also thinking of </p>

<p>McGill,
Williams College,
Amherst College,
Columbia,
UBC (Vancouver),
Brown.</p>

<p>Not many safeties, but I will amend that once I've decided regular or gap year.</p>

<p>Taking into account my current predicted grades (which are a huge improvement over my June predicted grades apparently), my SAT scores (2300, 800 and 800 for SAT I, Physics and Maths II respectively) and my almost straight A* grades for IGCSE in Grade 10 (apart from an A in Extended Mathematics and a B in Additional Mathematics), are these schools too selective for me to apply to? Should I take a gap year and apply with what I'm sure will have a 44 overall in the IB? If I improve for the Midyear Report in December will it matter? Do my SAT scores absolve me of my 5 and 6 predicted for Maths and Physics in the IB? </p>

<p>Thanks so much for all your help! It really does make it easier having a second opinion! :)</p>

2

<p>I’m in EXACTLY (almost) the same boat as you. I was getting predicted a 40 until my mid term marks (38 ): ), my IGCSE results are straight A*s too etc, and i’m applying to a very similar list of colleges as yours. </p>

<p>So here’s what i’m doing. I’m applying ED to the school I want to get into most, and applying RD everywhere else. IF I get into my ED school, I’m done. IF I don’t, I’ll finish my RD applications and send them in… when I get them back, i’ll determine what the best offer/admission is… and if I don’t get into any of my colleges, i’ll sit back for a year and wait.</p>

<p>That’s what I think you should do. ONLY apply to the schools you know for a fact that you want to go to. DO NOT apply anywhere you don’t want to go. </p>

<p>In my opinion, your SAT Physics score compensates for a 6, which isn’t that bad at all for the hardest IB subject… but the 800 in Math II does not seeing as Math HL is at a completely different level than Math II. Judging by the schools you’re applying to it looks like you want to apply as an engineering major, and a 5 in Math, although good, may hurt slightly. But that doesn’t mean that your chances are completely gone… seeing as you’ve taken 4 HL subjects and have managed 7s in both.</p>

<p>I’d say although your chances have decreased a little, it’s not by a lot. You still have very strong SATs and a fairly strong IB score. As long as your ECs as well as your essays are good, you have a fair shot. (Just remember that as an international student, it’s even harder to get into a lot of these schools than domestic students)</p>

<p>So to sum up, here’s what I think you should do:

  1. Apply to the schools you want to go to.
  2. If you don’t get in, take a gap.
  3. If you do, have fun at college!</p>
3

<p>Thanks for the reply Truust :)</p>

<p>Yeah, I was thinking of going for maybe two or three reach universities in this application cycle and taking a gap year in the likely case none come back positive. My school unfortunately allows only 10 applications to be made (lifetime), so I have to ration them. I’m actually only considering of applying this year because I know I will just waste away during a gap year; it’s 12 whole months wasted! Even if I do find something useful, I could have spent it studying…</p>

<p>Can’t wait to just get this whole thing behind me :/</p>

4

<p>38 is FINE. Don’t sweat it. Apply to all of them :slight_smile: Although idk why you would want to go to CMU the campus is soooo ugly that one would get depressed. lol</p>

5

<p>The lowest grade of anybody accepted into Princeton (from my school) in the past five is a 43/45 :/. To get into America’s top universities with a 40/45 is a real stretch!</p>

6

<p>If your goal is “Princeton or nothing”, you must remember the odds are very, very low in any case. Taking a gap year in case Princeton takes you means running the very high risk of not getting in anyway!
You’re right: Canadian schools are all safeties since you have the numbers. So pick one or two between UT, UBC, and McGill (McGill is slightly more known in the US), use 1-2 of your slots for schools you like better than the Canadian schools but aren’t as selective for you (I’d say the UC’s would be one definite slot, if you’re full-pay UMichigan, Georgia Tech or Vtech may be other good choices), 2 LACs one in the top 6 one in the top 20, 4 among HYPSM, and two others. Think of fit: you can’t just apply to schools because they’re famous… UChicago and Stanford have very different environments, and I’m not sure a student who is a perfect fit for one is a perfect fit for the other, something admission officers would see immediatly.
Why does your school limit the number of schools you can apply to? It seems so limiting for students applying abroad when the percentage of admission is so low. Wouldn’t they rather have several admissions, than a student forced to take a gap year because s/he couldn’t get into his 10 schools (especially with sufficient financial aid)?</p>

7

<p>My goal isn’t Princeton or nothing, it’s to get into a school that’s academically rigorous and that attracts the world’s best and brightest. I don’t mind going to an LAC that does the same, but the reason I would prefer a HYPSM for example is that the professors there have already done the world-changing. To study under their tutelage would be a dream!</p>

<p>I’m applying to both UChicago and to Stanford because I’m not yet sure about what I want. If I get into one, I’ll try to get the best out of it that I can, and let the lottery of life decide where I go from there! I don’t specific requirements when I apply to a university because I want the experience I get there to develop me as a person. I’m very aware that different schools offer very different experiences and that there’s a chance my life may turn out very differently should Chicago accept me over Stanford, but isn’t the fear of the unknown the spice of life? ;)</p>

<p>I have no clue why my school limits the number of applications. I think it’s ridiculous, but they take it very, very seriously. I don’t know if its to improve the school’s reputation or to keep the counsellors’ workload down (or both!), but whatever it is, it’s the system and I have to work with it…</p>

8

<p>What major are you applying for? Like MYOS said, I find it very hard to believe that you (or anyone really) would fit in perfectly in every single one of your schools. I understand you don’t know exactly what you want in a school, but just do some research into each school and you’ll find what really attracts you. Maybe watch some youtube videos, check out the nuances of their programs, and you’ll be able to cut your school list down. I’m applying this year too and I started out with the same list as you. However, I found after doing a lot of research that the prestige of schools like Harvard and Yale aren’t as appealing as say, the CS program at UMich-Ann Arbor or at UWisconsin. Don’t be blinded by the “prestige factor”.</p>

<p>My point is, when you say you want to study under professors that have done the world-changing, that’s great. But, I promise you that you’ll find great professors at all top tier schools and not just at HPYSM and UChicago, and that that isn’t convincing enough to decide on your schools. You will find, that many interesting schools are easy to get into.</p>

<p>Especially since you only have 10 slots, I highly recommend you do a lot of research. Don’t just look up the ranking of each school or how well known they are but actually look into the subtleties of each program. If you do this, you’ll apply to less schools and you might find “safeties” which you actually would love to go to. You won’t have to go to take a gap either if you apply to all the right schools.</p>

9

<p>Thanks for the advice Truust; I think you raise a very good point.</p>

<p>I will definitely try to do the research, but it’s difficult when you’re sitting on the other side of the planet! I don’t have the luxury of campus tours or overnight visits, and the information you get online is subjective at best. </p>

<p>At the moment, I’m not sure what I want to major in. I’m equally torn between the Social Sciences (Economics, Poli Sci, International Affairs) and Computer Science (more on the software side than the electrical engineering side). The Stanfords and MITs suit the left brain and the Yales and Harvards the right, but where do they meet?</p>

<p>One of the reasons I’m not applying to UPenn for example is because whilst I know their management and economics education is the cream of the crop their computer science courses pale in comparison to some non-Ivy schools. The wide gap in interest that I have is the key reason I’m applying to the U.S., but I just need to find a school that can accommodate both my interests.</p>

10

<p>Okay, well using that information, I’ve never thought of Harvard and Yale as schools I’d go to for CS. They’re great for a lot of majors, and they’re pretty good with CS too but not at the level of colleges like Cornell, CMU etc. So if I were you I wouldn’t apply there (even though they have great Econ and Poli Sci programs, because you might find that CS is the field for you later on). Cornell as well as CMU are great fits on the other hand because they’re outstanding in CS and very well known for Economics as well.</p>

<p>If I had to recommend a few universities that are very good at both the social sciences AND CS, and are easier to get into than your compiled list, I’d say:</p>

<p>Boston University (great for Econ, pretty good for CS AND in Boston which is a great town)
UT Austin (great for both, slightly difficult to get into but not as difficult as your other schools)
UVA (both UT Austin and UVA are tough publics but I think you can get into both)
UIUC (amazing for CS, pretty good for Economics)
UMich Ann Arbor
UW Madison
U of Maryland</p>

<p>Look into all of those and apply to a couple if you like any of them!</p>