HELP! Chances to ivies.

Student Lounge International Students
1

<p>hey everyone. i am from pakistan i was wondering if someone could help me out here. u see i graduated from school, </p>

<p>took a gap year and applied to a couple of unis in the U.S (jhu, middlebury, macalester, and vassar) from where i got </p>

<p>rejected :(. i also applied to LUMS, the most prestigious university in pakistan and got in, but they didn't have biological </p>

<p>sciences. now i am a freshman at karachi university studying microbiology but i just dont see it going anywhere. i really </p>

<p>want to experiment with different science majors to pick the right one and that kind of system is unavailable here. so i </p>

<p>am thinking of applying again which has now become a necessity. transfer is not an option since we don't have a credit </p>

<p>hour system. my stats are listed below. could u look at my list and help me out here.</p>

<p>harvard
yale
caltech
cornell
upenn
MIT
middlebury
rice
williams</p>

<p>SAT 1240 1st try
SAT 1380 2nd try (760 math, 620 verbal)</p>

<p>SAT2 math2c 740, writing 780, biology E/M 750. </p>

<p>(high school).
eng lang. 94
math 90+
chemistry 93
biology 96
physics 86</p>

<p>(college)
transcripts haven't come out yet</p>

<p>ECs
(high school)
member of the prefectorial council
member of the public speaking club
member of the community service club
member of the badminton team
first prize in art competition city wide
first prize in elocution contest school wide
volunteer work in a charity instituition of disabled kids</p>

<p>(college)
*founder, current pesident of the literary society (there never had been a concept of such a society before)
i've organised, managed and given presentations on avian influenza, relativity, artists of the renaissance,evolution and </p>

<p>more are underway. we're also conducting an I.Q test of all students in the dept. and organizing a debate competition.
won a cash prize on my first presentation.
*editor of yearly magazine 'microbia'.
*am single-handedly organizing,paying for, and advertising an exhibition for my comic-book/fantasy artwork, being the </p>

<p>first to give comic books a platform in pakistan.
*i have been teaching 2 'o'level kids math for a year now, and also help them out in biology, add math, chem, and </p>

<p>physics. their grades have really improved over time.
*i also have plans to write two books, but due to the paucity of time they might not get done before i apply.</p>

<p>Olevels
english 83
urdu(foreign language) 95
chem 84
biology 85
physics 88
math 86
pak.studies 72
islamiat(religion) 80</p>

<p>As levels
general paper (writing) 95
biology 93 (highest in the whole school and the only 90+ to our school after 2 yrs)
math 90
chem 89
physics 88</p>

<p>A levels
biology 86 (highest again)
math 89
physics 84
chemistry 82</p>

<p>i took a gap year to give my dad a break from the fiscal burden he had to bear to pay for my high school education, </p>

<p>although my family was against it. the job was intended to help him out financially and to pay for my exhibition. i know </p>

<p>that my scores aren't stellar, but the other stuff i've done (the exhibition, society n stuff) is unbelievably difficult to pull </p>

<p>off since there is no conception of these things here, and there is a hope that these things, and other burdens wouldn't </p>

<p>go past consideration when i apply.
could you help me out in deciding whether or not i should give the SATs again? how many of the above colleges have </p>

<p>representatives in pakistan? what are my chances at all these schools? how do i convey to them the situation/ </p>

<p>difficulties i faced in accomplishing what i have, and abstract qualities like leadership, intellectual curiosity etc, and that i </p>

<p>have done everything uptil now on my own with no external help whatsoever in anything. and any other advice that you </p>

<p>may have will be welcome. just keep in mind that there is not much i can contribute financially to college education and </p>

<p>any safeties etc u might recommend must be generous in giving need-based aid.</p>

2

<p>Caltech,cornell,upenn aren't need blind and aid is limited. As for other colleges if you could pull yourself to 2250+ in the new SAT you will have a fair chance. Only problem being that univ would ask you about the gap year you took. But if you could come up with something productive that you did during that year you will have a fair chance. Do apply to atleast top 10 LACs as safties.
Best of Luck
Ps: Are you from CIE board? Do they give marks in numbers rather then in grades?</p>

3

<p>u need to retake ur SAT I's im not saying that they are a low score or anything, but now that a year has passed colleges will not take the OLD SAT I and you will have to take the NEW SAT which you should AIM to get 2200+</p>

4

<p>Cornell is need blind with 100% need met (not for internationals though!!!!!!)</p>

5

<p>Also it seems like your aim is getting higher even though you were rejected from others...I'd say check out the ones you got rejected from again, and maybe some that you would have an easier time to get into. You are looking at the TOP schools (Harvard and Yale for instance) and top LAC schools (Williams for intance) and perhaps it would be advantageous to also look at a few a bit lower as well. Check out the top 100 schools and see if any others catch ur eye (usnews.com)...there are many great schools that arn't ranked in the top 5 for example....</p>

6

<p>thanx guys. i'll definitely regive the SAT1. but do u think they'll get to see my old scores or that i've given it three times??will that be detrimental to my chanceS?</p>

<p>abhishiv, yes i am from the CIE, and they do give marks out of a hundred. but they give grades as well. this is just the reach list. i'll be choosing safety schools later.
by the way will i need to take one more SAt 2 subject test? since writing was one of my old subjects.
and figgy, i know i have aimed higher this time coz there's a hellova lot i've done since last i applied. and these things are unbelievably difficult to pull off here. that's what i need help in. how do i express these abstracts things that are not on paper?</p>

7

<p>Def write essays about them. You probably have to take another SAT 2 tho...and yes they can see all your scores, but the top 3 subject areas within the SAT are combined, so just pretend the lower ones don't exist.</p>

8

<p>OP,
Cornell is Need-Blind for admissions , but NOT aid.
UPenn is Need-Blind for aid, but not admissions.</p>

<p>Also, redo SAT-1 and the Subject tests. </p>

<p>Lastly, also consider a few more colleges outside the top-20, just as safeties.</p>

9

<p>thanx a lot u guys. i'll really take the advice.</p>

<p>aren't the essay topics limited and already assigned? can we write more? do these unis coduct interviews here in pakistan?</p>

10

<p>Realistically, you should focus more on doing your best in your present situation. It would be rather tough even for domestic student to get in at the places you have listed with your score. As Arjun has pointed out, consider lower ranked schools as safeties.</p>

11

<p>I wrote an extra essay that I got from Tufts and sent it to all of my other schools because I thought it represented my passion really well, and I think it helped out with Cornell.</p>

12

<p>what do u think will be good safeties for me?</p>

13

<p>I think that safeties are something that only that person can pick...look at schools that you would go to if they had better students or scores or teachers n such (lol). You may have to fall back on it, so this catagory should always consist of schools that you would find bearable, and not just schools you saw for a second and went "whatever". You could also find schools that would be safeties because they are all-white and need diversity or because they are mostly girls and need guys n such. Some very good schools would fall into those catagories.</p>

14

<p>umm dude i think you really cant apply as a freshman....coz according to US university policies if u are going to a college full time then you have to apply as a transfer....Credit hour or no credit hour is for them to decide....Check that out with adcomms but be careful to not do something stupid here.....</p>

<p>Anyway if u have to transfer then getting aid at schools is unbelievably tough for internationals....if u will apply for Freshman then u need to add certain specific colleges which suit your interests to that list as the ones you've listed are where pretty much everyone applies and hardly anyone gets is so you cant bet on them.</p>

15

<p>Arseus, I know lums is starting Physical Sciences (Bio Chem Phy) in 2007. Apply to LUMS as a safety.</p>

16

<p>hey.
are u sure. i really dont want credit fr the work i've done in college coz i'm changing my major.
i applied to lums fr maths and got in. are u sure they're giving physical sciences next year. SUPPPERB! wow. where are u from?</p>

17

<p>im from Lahore. i got into lums too and am taking a gap year. LUMS plans to start Industrial Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Physics, Chem and Bio in 2007. However, dont take my word and call them up - but they intend to do that - i attended their seminar thingy.</p>

<p>Its going to be very cool - i am sure quality-wise it wont be any less than NUS but it will take some time to build its reputation. There are currently faculty members from the University of Chicago, MIT, Stanford, Caltech, NUS and ITT at LUMS helping out so that they have a top-notch engieering and science department.</p>

18

<p>thats really good news. but their fin aid form was really wierd and i didnt fill it up properly and didn't qualify fr any aid. i might be able to pull some strings for an awesome college abroad, but not for lums.</p>