<p>I am a Kenyan applying to most Ivy league schools. I received my sat scores recently and my stars waned. I have an 1800. As much as colleges peddle rumours about the application process being holistic and not solely pegged on sat scores and what not, i feel that they have scarred my chances of getting into my dream school. Please advice on whether I should still apply to these top schools and if not, which ones would be my best fit. I have a gpa of 3.94 and really good recommendations, my teachers showed them to me. </p>
<p>What is the breakdown of scores? </p>
<p>Is English your primary or second language? </p>
<p>Many US students take the SAT junior and senior year. </p>
<p>1800 is quite low for Ivies. If you are targeting US colleges, do you think you could take a year of high school in the US, and retake the SAT as well?</p>
<p>You have to understand, not being “solely pegged on sat scores” and having tangible minimum scores is not the same thing. Look up the 25th and 75th percentile SAT scores for each college. For example, Harvard is 2120 for 25th percentile - that means that only 1 out of 4 accepted Harvard students have SAT scores 2120 or below. And 1800 is far below that. Look for schools where 1800 SAT (and whatever your breakdown of scores is) is at least 50th percentile, those are schools you should be looking at.</p>
<p>A 2300 SAT would not guarantee entry to Harvard, but an 1800 SAT would make it very very VERY difficult for you to get in.</p>
<p>Have you taken SAT II (subject) tests? And what major are you targeting?</p>
<p>mom2collegekids. English is my second language, though I am way proficient in it than my first, which is swahili</p>
<p>I am taking my subject tests on the January test date. am not stupid or anything, am just a bad test taker. could the flawless transcript and exceptional counselor recommendation do me any good? my target schools are Harvard, Stanford and mit. too much of a stretch goal huh</p>
<p><a href=“The Harvard Crimson | Class of 2017”>http://features.thecrimson.com/2013/frosh-survey/admissions.html</a></p>
<p>This shows the SAT/GPA for every student in Harvard’s class of 2017. Stanford and MIT probably aren’t much different. As you can see there are 10 people out of 1700 freshmen who have SATs at 1800 or lower, all of which had a GPA of 3.9+. Who are these guys? </p>
<p>-Athletes competing on an international level.
-Kids whose parents donated millions to the university.
-Best selling authors.
-Successful entrepreneurs who have made millions of dollars before graduating high school.</p>
<p>If you fit into one of these categories then by all means, go for it. Otherwise, I’m sorry, but I can’t see it happening. </p>
<p>Or if you have one or two excellent international olympiad records and Ecs that correspond with those.
@rhandco are scores in 25-75 percentile in one sitting or super scored? </p>
<p>Or you may have won the Boston marathon. </p>
<p>Judging from your post too I can tell that you are not a first language speaker of English. </p>
<p>The thing that I want to emphasize is that test scores allow you to be seriously considered for admission: colleges do not base their decisions solely on them, especially not Ivy League schools. You have to be much better than just good grades and good recommendations as most applicants to top schools have them. Especially as an international student, you would be competing with a much more qualified and competitive pool of applicants.</p>
to all the positive comments, I appreciate your help. the cynism and bad energy, duly ignored. here’s a thread for someone who got accepted to Stanford with a 1700 sat.
getting into a top tier college with low sat scores is not well nigh impossible, it can be done. I am ambitious, I take risks, I don’t believe anything is impossible and I damn right don’t take a cant-be-done for an answer. I will be getting back to you people on March 1st with the good news.
Well he is a bit of exception because his other credentials and gpas prove that he is more than capable of handling intense workloads(therefore overshadows his bad sat scores)
Do YOU have enough credentials that make it worth risking?
here are my EC’s
Innovation Club Chairman
Founder Christians In Aid(volunteer group that helps physically challenged people receive physiotherapy at a local hospital)
Secretary Young Writer’s Club
Member National Junior Tennis Team(Grand Slam Title Winners, Presidential Tournament)
First runner up(Engineering category) Kenya Science and Engineering Fair)
5th(International round, Diamond Challenge for High School Entrepreneurs competition)
Leader(Teens for Change, church volunteer group)
Most Environmentally Friendly Project(Lake Region Science Fair)
Best Teen Start-up( TENOM STRAWBERRY FARM) Young Innovators Competition
Student of the Year, Maseno School, 2014
Winner, social impact award, Kisumu County Youth Awards
Created a mobile phone charger that can use sole energy. comes in handy for rural folk with no access to electricity. its portable and cheap to make.
Best essay, East African Writing Competition
Winner,National Chemistry Contest(I have a knack for atoms and reactions and blowing stuff up)
I was a student leader in high school, Library Captain among other strainous responsibilities
I do odd jobs on the side to help my mom out. she’s a single mother with no stable job. plus we are a very big family. so am definately in need of a lot of financial aid.
my common app essay was about my passion for cooking, culinary rhapsody. I applied into elec Eng and comp science in most colleges. the rest were well written I guess. I brought out my determined and overambitious self in them. but one can never be too certain with those. in the Stanford short essays, I killed it. basically worked on them for a month.
apart from the big wigs which everybody thinks i cant possibly get into, I also applied to Amherst, Columbia Upenn and Northwestern.
sorry for the long post though, 
Good luck,.
There is a major difference between a Mexican American and an international in the eyes of adcom.
At CC, We do not comment on a once in a blue moon type of situation, that thread is 7 years old, No matter what, Stanford is a 5% lottery school, you just cannot comment on a chance question like that. Even if you get in you may not be able to afford, do you have a Kenya government sponsored scholarship? Or you have $250k in the bank, so you can full pay? If you are good enough you will be able to get the scholarship. Stanford does not guarantee meeting the needs of an international applicant.
It is very sad when bright young people set unrealistic aims and dismiss any criticism/reality checks as cynicism. Try and understand the admission process for internationals who need aid. First lesson is that Americans and internationals are treated very differently by Stanford. I wish you good luck!
Stanford is need aware but meets full need, artloversplus.
@kenyan254 You have very strong ECs and an excellent transcript, and Stanford will be intrigued by your entrepreneurial efforts. Please don’t listen to the naysayers here. An international student coming from a country that does not have a strong tradition of test prep is accessed differently than those that do. Good luck on your Jan. test date but if you don’t knock it out of the park, don’t stress, and hope for the best. To be on the safe side there are some great schools with Jan. 15 deadlines that give generous FA - Carleton and Haverford to name two.
@ stw2sg, thanks for the vote of confidence, I needed it.
@ International95, its not that I am in any way, blind to all the hurdles which lie in front of me, I simply choose to view them as motivating factors. trust me, I have spent hours researching and asking and convincing myself to quit. my ambitions cannot let me.
in any case, the sat I recently did was my first shot at the tests, I had no prior experience nor did I receive any training or preparation for it. the circumstances worked against my favour. It did not do me any good considering the fact that I am not a native English speaker, I was never trained to read through so much so quickly! but with time, I am certain I can pull of a 2300. don’t hate on me for trying. we do not choose to be born in poverty nor do we wish upon ourselves failure. I have the will to get me and my family a better life and I will use it to my advantage.
by the way, happy new year people!!!
If you are aware of the difficulty, then more props to you. Love the attitude! Good luck, but it would be wise to add to your list liberal arts colleges that give generous financial aid to international students. A Kenyan on CC told me about a year ago that she was admitted to Chicago, Dartmouth and Kenyon College with near full rides. These schools are not easy to get into but your chances would be better for sure.
I think people are confused about what year you are. Are you a junior (a year from applying to colleges)?
Your first statement is:
“I am a Kenyan applying to most Ivy league schools.”
Which in English means that you ARE applying to most Ivy League schools, as in NOW.
But perhaps you meant:
“I am a Kenyan planning to apply to most Ivy League schools”
and even better:
“I am a Kenyan planning to apply to most Ivy League schools next year when I am a senior”
I can surmise (SAT word!) that you need more English study to help you with the CR and W sections of the SAT.
If indeed you applied to no schools yet, then the advice is to not worry about your SAT score on first taking it. My son increased almost 200 points between the first and second time he took it, and likely would have improved on the third try if he needed it. He took it fall of junior year, spring of junior year, and would have taken it October of senior year if he had to. Also, many Ivies require subject tests so make sure to fit them into your schedule.
You need to take the SAT again, and prep for it. Going into the SAT with no idea of how it is is like taking a driver’s license test without having been behind the wheel.
The answers for someone who did just apply to those schools versus applying to start fall 2016 for those schools are totally different.
IMHO, if you did take the SAT as a junior, and did not do well, but do not take the SAT again, that is worse than taking the SAT twice and still doing poorly. Also, consider the ACT if it is available for you to take.
@ International95, I have all those but Kenyon on my college list. tough thing’s that I have to send my CSS profile to all of them for financial aid application and they charge a painstakingly large sum for internationals! if it helps, I have Trinity college and Amherst in my list too. need-blind schools are my top priority since they’re affordable. though the competition is a triffle rough. could you pm me more info about aid for internationals?
@ rhandco, the Kenyan system uses the calendar year. I have completed high school here and have already applied to us colleges. the only other sat I can sit with the hope of it being used in the admission process is the January one, on which I plan to sit for subject tests. so no I cannot afford the luxury of sitting for it again, much as I want to.
Email colleges to ask whether they accept ISFAA instead of CSS profile for international students - many do, and it’s free.
Apply to Carleton, Kenyon, perhaps Macalester and Dickinson.
I hope that in your application, you clearly emphasized those (which are buried in your list but would be ocnsidered most interesting):
Created a mobile phone charger that can use sole energy. comes in handy for rural folk with no access to electricity. its portable and cheap to make.
Best essay, East African Writing Competition
Winner,National Chemistry Contest(I have a knack for atoms and reactions and blowing stuff up)