Harvard. Can I get in?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I am an international applicant, applying from a rather expensive international school from Europe.
Around 10 students every year from our school gets into Oxbridge/Ivy Leagues.
I am currently a junior, I plan to apply for mathematics.
I am from South Korea (I love my country, but I am aware that this is a rather big disadvantage)</p>

<p>STATS:-Did a lot of my academic stuff early </p>

<p>GPA: 4.0/4.0 (Unweighted) 4.55/4.60 (Weighted). Rank: 1/60
SAT: 2380 (800 M, 790 CR, 790 W)
ACT: didn't take it yet, aiming for 35+
SAT II: Math II 800, wondering what to take next
APs: its an IB school with only a few APs offered, I already have 5s on Calc BC and Stats. Planning to study for
Econ and Chem. (Also took IGCSE Math when I was in 8th grade... changed schools since then. Idk if this will help)
IB: Math HL (took it a year earlier, in year 2 now), Chem HL, Econ HL, German B HL (I speak fluent German, took a course slightlier easier for my level because of my scientific focus), English A Lit SL, Physics SL
I will probably get around 43-44 on my Diploma, losing points in English and TOK. (For those of who you don't know, the IB is out of 45, Oxford requires the candidates to have more than 38)
School Awards: Not many yet except being recognized for my AMC performance. due to our school's system where it is next to impossible to get honors in your freshman/sophomore year (except me, we had two other student who got an award). I am aiming for a few awards this year, including Maths, Chemistry, the Harvard Book Award (awarded to a student in the junior class by the Harvard Club in Austria) and hopefully a few more ^^</p>

<p>ECS: Most of my activities have been started in grade 10 as I was in a different school in my freshman year, I don't know if this impacts me negatively?</p>

<p>Math Team: Captain of junior team last year, participated in the ISMTF math competition with students from across 60+ schools in Europe I got 6th in individuals and 2nd place in team. I am in senior team this year, aiming for top 5 this year and the next
AIME qualifier, got 6 correct aiming for 10+ in my senior year!</p>

<p>Knowledge Bowl: 2nd place last year in the CEESA (European International School's organization), will do it this year and in my senior year as well </p>

<p>Amnesty Youth: Human rights organization, I did it from grades 10-12. Participated in a few activities. I will hopefully be an officer next year.</p>

<p>Chess Club: I guess I am president? Started last year, will do it till my senior year.</p>

<p>Math Corner: A place where more advanced math students help less advanced ones in our school. I am the leader, and have been helping since last year.</p>

<p>MUN: did it for 1 year last year, debating is not my thing so I will discontinue this year.</p>

<p>Varsity Baseball: Started last year, will hopefully (IF i make the team!) do it till my senior year</p>

<p>Varsity Cross Country: Started this year, our competition in 3 weeks! There isn't a chance of me getting an individual award, but our school has a few good runners (including the winner of ISSTs last year), so I have a good chance of getting a team medal . I'll hopefully get to do this next year as well.</p>

<p>OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL:</p>

<p>Lab assistent in a University in Hungary for 3 weeks (did it with my friends, recommended by a school teacher who is friends with a professor.)</p>

<p>Worked as a translator for KIA in Slovakia for a week (might do a bit more of this)</p>

<p>Chance me please guys.. I am really anxious to go to a good university
Due to cost reasons (and the fact that I can't apply to all the good colleges at once), my parents have decided that it is not worth it if I don't make it to the following universities, so no safeties, but if you have a really good recommendation, I will consider! (I will apply for aid, but it is not necessary):
(MAJOR: mathematics, might be econ with econ or stats)</p>

<p>Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Stanford (Kinda skeptical on this one, idk if i will apply here as a couple of my cousins went to UCB and they advised me against going to Stanford )
MIT
Caltech
UPenn
Columbia
Chicago</p>

<p>And if there are any of you guys who are knowledgeable, can you chance me for Cambridge as well? </p>

2

<p>“How much can you pay?” is the first question you need to think about in schools like Stanford, Upenn, Caltech, Columbia and Chicago(all of them are need aware). As you probably know, more you need, less likely you are going to be accepted.</p>

<p>As of now, your GPA and test scores are totally fine, and EC seems quite good, if not particularly standing out. I think you need to spend more time in what you do: math activities, translator and stuff like that. However, you being an international and an East Asian will have some negative impacts…</p>

<p>I have to point out that not putting any safeties is very, very dangerous choice. You need to think about the worst situation, and I have seen many international applicants who were rejected by 22 schools because of the cost issue(they would have gotten in if they could pay the full cost, which was not an option). At the end, the cost is the biggest issue; Ivies are reaches for everyone, and while I think it’s worth applying there-assuming you can write very well-look for schools that offer good merit scholarships, like</p>

<p>U of Richmond
Clark Unviersity-LEEP scholarship(full ride)
UNC Chapel Hill-Robertson
U of Alabama-full tuition with ACT 32+ and 3.5GPA+
Fordham-offers full tuition+room</p>

3

<p>The thing is, I will apply to safeties, just not in the U.S… </p>

4

<p>Then I guess you are fine :slight_smile: but why not in USA?</p>

5

<p>The thing is, because I don’t currently live in the U.S, moving to U.S for college is a big sacrifice for me and a big change, so for safeties, I’d prefer places where I am more familiar with (Korea), or where it is closer to my parents (Britain) </p>

6

<p>oh okay. good luck!</p>

7

<p>YES! 100%! Good luck!</p>

8

<p>Your question is “can you get in?” The answer to that is “absolutely.” The next question is “will you get in?” That is harder to predict. You are highly qualified, but every college on that list rejects thousands of highly qualified students (especially highly-qualified Asian students) every year. I predict that you will get into at least 2-3 colleges on that list. I can confidently predict that all nine of those colleges will give your application careful consideration. I think your background is unusual for the time you spent in Hungary and Slovakia - that might separate you from the pack. </p>

9

<p>So with respect you are looking to get into oxford, again you have to admit, you probably stand a good chance at Harvard, but I just dont think you have what you need to be considered admittable to Oxford (my alma). Stats are good, but not as good as some, EC’s are irrelevant, BUT are you an Oxbridge student, it doesn’t come off as such. Your location and nationality don’t help, you need to get to an open day and test really well in IB, be aware Oxbridge prefer A levels to AP or IB</p>

10

<p>GOOD LUCK! I BELIEVE IN YOU !!! :)</p>

11

<p>With regard to Oxford/Cambridge, I think Englishman’s key point might be overlooked: Oxbridge students tend to have depth in a specific area, rather than breadth. Where US universities (mostly) want evidence that you are well rounded, Oxbridge wants to see that there is a subject that you specialize in- in the words of one Oxford tutor: “we want you to love our subject as much as we do”. </p>

<p>If you have a genuine passion for something it can often be seen as a thread that runs through how you spend your time in and out of school. Very often that thread can be discerned through a ‘chance me’ posting, and I think that Englishman is saying that thread isn’t visible in yours. </p>

<p>Remember also that the tutorial/supervision format of Oxbridge doesn’t suit all students- even exceptionally clever ones. It is a back-and-forth style of learning, where you may have some (usually very small group) lectures, but mostly you learn independently or through one-on-one interaction with your tutor/supervisor. </p>

<p>If you are seriously interested in Oxbridge, go look up the courses and read the descriptions- it will be important to be sure that you love the actual course, not just that you are good at the general subject area (especially at Cambridge, which does not offer any joint-courses, such as maths with stats)</p>

<p><a href=“Mathematics at University | Mathematical Institute”>http://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/study-here/undergraduate-study/mathematics-university&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“Undergraduate Mathematics | Undergraduate Mathematics”>http://www.maths.cam.ac.uk/undergrad/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>In practice, both unis have an admissions test- at Oxford all applicants take the MAT (samples available online), at Cambridge it is done by college.</p>

<p>At both unis, test scores are seen as a necessary but not sufficient criteria for admissions. So, if Oxford asks for a 38 IB, and you have a 42 you may get in…or you may lose the place to somebody with a 38 who outscored you on the Maths admissions test…or to someone who is better suited to the tutorial format.</p>

<p>None of the above is meant to be discouraging, btw. If you actually do love math, and are interested in the course descriptions, by all means go for it- your stats are certainly good enough.</p>

12

<p>And after looking at the STEP, I don’t think it would be too much of a problem for me to score a S on the STEP, and MAT is reputed to be easier. I thought that my placements in international math competitions would suggest as much though. And I do love math more than anything more than I do. I actually spent the entire last summer (sophomore year to junior) in a rigorous math course for which I had to work around 8 hours a day for, and enjoyed every minute of it. </p>

13

<p>@Chrislee1111.

What do you expect UCB students to say about their overbearing dominating neighbor…you don’t want to hear the derogatory things Stanford students say about UCB…it’s not kind. Nevertheless, your odds of getting into Stanford as an international over-represented Korean national will be at the lowest odds of all the schools on the list…just by the sheer number of international Koreans and Korean-Americans (most live in California) applying…</p>

14

<p>Very good chance, but Asian International will hurt.</p>

15

<p>I agree with @woogzmama‌. Your stats are incredible and definitely make you a very strong applicant, but the fact of the matter is that what may drag you down is the fact that you’re an Asian international applicant. I wish you the best though!</p>