<p>I am a 16 year old and I am German (I also live there).
I attend an international boarding school in the South of Germany and I will complete my IB Diploma may next year.
I would be really interested in my chances to get into harvard (my dream school since i am 9).</p>
<p>First the bad news: SAT I 1250 (600 verbal and 650 maths). This is quite bad even for ESL, right???</p>
<p>I grew up bilingual (German and English) and have done performance sport (rhythmic gymnastics & ballett) professionally on an international level (used to train 18-24 hours/week) since I am 6 year old (till 15). I have also done ice skating and gymnastics very intensly but stopped with 10. I have taken part in the German nationals in rhythmic gymnastics and am ranked 12th in Germany and was asked to come into the national team. However then I got a scholarship for the boarding school, which I attend just now.
Since I am 3 years old I play the violin and have taken part in some competitions and at the moment I play in an orchestra and do chamber music.</p>
<p>I have won a second prize in a national Latin competition and have done the DELF (a french certificate).
I skipped to school years (that means, I am 2 years younger than most of my classmates) and do community service since one year each week.
I have taken part in a round square project to st petersburg where I worked 8 hours a day for 2 weeks in an institution for mentally and physically highly disabled grown ups.
At the moment I do athletics and run quite a lot (I might take part in a marathon or halfmarathon in summer), as I had to stop doing my sport (rhythmic gymnastics) when I went to boarding school 8 months ago.
From my school (said to be the best one in germany) already some people have been admitted to harvard in the past years.
I am only half German, as my mother is Kurdish (from North Iraq). Would that aspect rather help or hinder my admission???</p>
<p>Sorry for seeming to brag. I don´t usually talk about myself in this way.</p>
<p>Maria, 1250 is very low for Harvard. But you are only 16. You should be able to raise that score substantially. If you want a reasonable chance at Harvard, you really need to score over a 1400 on the SAT. You can still get in with a 1350 or even a 1300, but anything less than 1400 will require a great deal of luck.</p>
<p>Everything else, from your ECs to your grades, is good. But your SAT is your Achilles heel. </p>
<p>What do you want to major in? You realize that there other amazing universities in the US. Do not limit yourself to just Harvard.</p>
<p>And with the new SAT, it is even harder... you have to got 2100 so with 700 also for writing. Although this year they dont consider writing as important as CR and math</p>
<p>Duke University
Johns Hopkins University
MIT
Stanford University
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of California-Berkeley
Yale University</p>
<p>Also check out the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It may not be as impressive or prestigious, but it is amazing in the Bio-sciences.</p>
<p>Your SAT will require a boost, especially on the Math. You really should break the 750 on the math section if you want a serious shot at Harvard, MIT, Stanford or Yale.</p>
<p>Also, if you expect to get into Medical School in the US, think again. The US does not usually admit international students into Medical School.</p>
<p>maria- if your bright enough to get 40/45 on IB, you should be able to own the SAT with abundant prep. People from my former school in Tokyo with predicted IB results far lower than yours got into top schools. But their SATs were in the high 1400s/low 1500s. this person with 35(IB)/1520/~3.92? got into Princeton and Harvard, but he was the school idol. His ecs were like Hmmmmmm, if you know what I mean.</p>
<p>Harvard admissions are so crazy so don't get too obsessed with the school. You don't want a gazillion psychological disorders to strike you if results don't turn out well :).</p>
<p>EDIT- sorry didn't see you post about on the NEW SAT. I took the SAT IIs too... Hope we do well!</p>
<p>What about other graduate schools? Do they admit international students??</p>
<p>So, for example, if an international student attends a certain university as an undergraduate he/she has no advantage in the admission process for the medical school of that university over other applicants from other universities?? and even has a striking disadvantage by being international???</p>
<p>thanks for your suggestions of other universities.
i have heard that universities see all ones scores. so, even if the next sats will be better, will i have a disadvantage due to my 1250 one (it was my first one) ????</p>
<p>sorry, i don't know :p. Im also gonna study for the SAT over the summer. You might want to check out the SAT+ACT Prep forum and run a search. Lots of excellent SAT Advice+ prep book recommendations from intelligent people who aced the test. The advice of Xiggi= CC SAT God is somehing that you would want to take a look at according to CCers.</p>
<p>maria:
like Alexandre said, it is VERY difficult for an international to study medicine in the US, so I would not count on it. First priority is given to US citizens, so they usually do not admit internationals. Unless you get a green card, it is highly unlikely you will be able to study medicine in the US. However, this applies to med schools, so most grad schools do admit internationals. One of my German friends actually decided to go back to Germany; she wanted to study medicine in the US, but discovered how difficult it is, so she decided to go back to her home country.</p>
<p>1250? Harvard? Doesn't this forum give you some idea about your chances? Harvard is a school that's rejected many 1600 applicants, 1250 doesn't even come close.</p>
<p>You should be able to evaluate your chances using your school's past experience with college admission. I have a feeling that in international admissions, each country has a different standard for the qualities of the applicants can differ significantly (ECs particularly). What were the stats of the grads of your school that were admitted to top notch schools? (if you wouldn't mind sharing it with us). </p>
<p>Wow, your ECs are very interesting. You're only taking a 'break' from rhythmic gymnastics because your school doesn't offer the oppurtunities right? Then you may want to acknowledge colleges that you want to pursue this activity at their school- therefore ACCEPT ME! ;)</p>
<p>hmm.. this is interesting :) i'm not going to harvard and im probably not gonna be accepted, but some of my friends did. So...</p>
<p>I think your SAT is your weak point of your application (well, duh), but if you work hard enough over next 1.5 yrs it wont be hard to get over 2250... </p>
<p>If SAT isnt your particular interest, what about TOFEL? TOFEL is generally much easier than SAT and it can take place of VSAT in college application if your are a foreign student...</p>
<p>Second of all, i thought they only look at your EC over the high school years... (maybe im wrong)</p>
<p>And last of all, Is there a particular reason why you want to go to harvard? I think collegeconfidential gives a bad influence to some people b/c all you see is people posting "what are my chance to harvard/Ivies." You should definitely think about whether harvard is the right college for you. Sometimes it's quite nice to even look outside the Ivies and top 25s. But... Johns hopkins is also excellent for major in medicine and many other schools that are out of top 25 are great schools to consider.</p>
<p>I know how you feel about harvard and i've been dreaming to go to harvard since i was 5. But lets be realistic here, if you have no interest in harvard then why bother to even apply there?</p>
<p>All in all, please dont be offended by my words (everyone know that im stupid and i may not be right.) What im just trying to say is make wise choices on college and harvard is not your only way to go:)</p>
<p>P.S. it would never hurt to send in an application to test your luck in harvard :D</p>