German needs a chance

Student Lounge International Students
1

<p>Hey there,</p>

<p>Chance me, a german guy who graduated German "Gymnasium" in 2005.</p>

<p>GPA: There is no common GPA-System in my country and no scale to compare the "German Abitur" with an American GPA. I have to admit that my high school record is awful, having a "Durchschnittsnote" of 3.0 , which is quiet comparable with a "B" grade in the American system (like I said, there is no official scale)
But at least I went through 13 years of education. </p>

<p>SATs:
SAT l: CR 710; WR 740; M 800 (2250 overall)</p>

<p>SAT ll: Math ll 780; US History 730; Literature 710</p>

<p>I took the IBT TOEFL and got a score of 108/120 </p>

<p>Essay will be greater than great.
Recommendations will be fine to awesome.</p>

<p>EC:
In Germany most of the ECs are taken at clubs or instituitions which have nothing to do with your school.</p>

<p>Drama/Theatre: 5 years (wrote a local awardwinning play and got the main part; weekly coaching of kids ( age from 8 to 12); and of course many many performances as an actor)</p>

<p>Television/Film: played in a national TV-Show as a member of the main cast; played some supporting roles in movies</p>

<p>Tennis: 8 years of Tennis, won some local tournaments</p>

<p>Music: some record deals; producing music since 2001</p>

<p>Football ( no soccer): played in my hometown's team and got elected in a team that played on national level</p>

<p>What else?
I have been class president several years.
I have been student council vice-president for 2 years.</p>

<p>I think there will be some more facts if I think about it, but roughly thats it.
I know that my high school record destroys every Ivy League chance, although Im gonna apply there anyway. As my SATs proof, there is no lack of intelligence, I just had the wrong attitude back in the days, which had changed now by getting older and wiser. I thought I dont need my Abitur cause Im gonna be an artist only...but now I found my dream in the American Education System, so there must be a way.</p>

<p>These are the Universities I will apply to:</p>

<p>Yale
Brown
Dartmouth
Cornell
Columbia
Tufts</p>

<p>any more?</p>

<p>Btw, I need financial aid (but who doesn't?)</p>

2

<p>Your situation is so unusual that its hard to make any reasonable estimates. Normally, your grades wouldn't cut it at any of these schools-but your extra curriculars are attention-grabbing and your test scores show that you have the ability (to take tests, if nothing else). If your recs are that good and your essays compelling, it could happen...but you might want to consider applying to some less competitive schools (matches and safeties).</p>

<p>By the way, why are you applying to these schools? If you can share your criteria, you might get some useful suggestions.</p>

3

<p>What have you been doing since 2005?</p>

<p>Your SATs are not bad, but they are not amazing either (esp. the SAT IIs; you are allowed quite a lot of wrong answers before you lose points).</p>

<p>Your ECs are unusually good but not amazing and may not be enough to make up for your grades. I am sure you are an interesting person with a lot of experience - but universities are above all academic institutions and nothing you have said above shows me why out of all international applicants with national and international academic awards you should receive an elite education at an Ivy league college.</p>

4

<p>After my graduation in 2005 I spend a year doing social work in a hospital for 10 months, had an internship at a music label for 6 months, worked as an actor in theatres and tv productions and also as a resident DJ in a quite famous club for 2 years. So centralized, I just focused on my art side of my brain and didn't use it for academical matters or science a lot. That is what I wanna change and that is why Im applying at these schools, but B@r!um you are right...I know that most of the applicants know where they wanna go often already in 10th grade and work for it. I wasn't that wise unfortunately so I screwed up in high school a little. </p>

<p>Do you know any other good Universities that you would suggest in the North eastern area? Maybe some which are less competitive?</p>

<p>Thank you all</p>

5

<p>
[quote]
Do you know any other good Universities that you would suggest in the North eastern area? Maybe some which are less competitive?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>How much money would you be needing for college every year? It entirely depends on your financial need.</p>

6

<p>The financial support from my parents is close to nothing, so I would need financial aid calculated by my financial needs...which means that I need aid for full tuition, board, room, personal expenses...everything :-(</p>

<p>I know that this high need of financial aid minders my chances, but there is no other way unfortunately. SChools like Tufts and many other offer full financial support for demonstrated needs and thats good. It just doesn't say anything about how my needs affect my application.</p>

7

<p>I think we would all be glad to help you search for more colleges. I'll join the others and ask for more criteria, e.g. your intended major, size (2,000 vs 20,000 students), location (rural vs urban), atmosphere (do you want an artsy student body? a party school? should your social life be centered around sports?) and of course the financial factor.</p>

8

<p>Ok, here comes some more information:</p>

<p>Majors: First choice would be "undecided" cause im interested in so many different fields of study, but if I would have to decide, I would probably study film studies or something similar. Im also interested in languages, thus I speak German,English and a little bit Thai and Japanese.</p>

<p>Size: Im kinda flexible there, but it should not be too rural. I visited Yale in february and it seemed like the perfect size for me. Not far away from the big cities, but kinda quiet when you want it to be. </p>

<p>Atmosphere: Maybe a mixture of everything: I like sports (soccer, football, baseball, basketball, boxing) but I am not as good as gettin in a varsity team. Of course I like party, but I think studytime and partytime should be proportionally balanced. A Drama or Theatreclub would be awesome.</p>

<p>Financial Factor: The school should offer need-based financial aid to internationals...even if he admission process isn't need-blind I will try my luck. </p>

<p>Thank you guys so much for your interest. This is the best forum I have ever joined.</p>

9

<p>Oh, and the school should favouritely be located in the North Eastern area. CT, MA or NY would be great :-)</p>

10

<p>What do you think of Gettysburg College? A respectable reputation is also very important to me.</p>

11

<p>Guten Tag,</p>

<p>I find your background interesting and you seem to be a well-rounded young adult. I am a German myself and I can recommend you to take Barium's advice seriously as she has given me brutal but honest input.</p>

<p>I applied to three schools only and was admitted early though I applied regular decision. Right now, I am still awaiting decisions from two other schools. I was looking for a full ride as well though my credentials didn't seem to fit my demands.</p>

<p>I felt that this process is really about selling yourself. Neither lying nor exaggerating is encouraged but putting and explaining things the right way helps.</p>

<p>Concerning your chances, I agree with barium. Aim for some other schools as well. I can give you a list of schools that would probably help you as I found myself in a similar financial situation.</p>

<p>A close friend of mine graduated with a 1.0 (valedictorian) after 13 years of school with 6 "Leistungskursen". His extracurriculars are truly UNIQUE for a German. His test scores were above yours. He didn't make it into Harvard, but Princeton, Yale and Columbia. He is now a junior at Columbia.
As barium has pointed out earlier, these are the kind of people that you will be facing in the admissions process. </p>

<p>You say your essay is great; let me have a look. My essay was memorable which helped to probably get me the financial support that I was asking for.</p>

<p>Gut Glueck.</p>

12

<p>It's good to know that your friend made it into these high competitive schools, otherwise I would have shoot myself. A list of schools with good financial support for internationals would be very interesting. I just found some other universities that seem quiet fittable:
Emerson College,
Brandeis University,
Gettysburg,</p>

13

<p>Btw, which school admitted you ED and what credentials and other application materials did you send in? Are you getting your full ride?</p>

14

<p>I sent you a PM.</p>