<p>Hello, this is my first post so bear with me for my lack of knowledge.
I'm a rising junior in one of the top high schools in the US and I am a South Korean without a citizenship or anything here in the states. Well I should probably mention that I had a bit of a different life. Due to the fact that my dad is a diplomat, I was given the privilege to move around every 2~3 years ever since I was 4. I have lived in about 6 countries (5 different continents(or regions)) and pretty much had an international life. Now I've ended up in the US and of course concerns about college admission issues are crawling up. </p>
<p>My family is just another middle class that has no chance of supporting the tuition fees of an American college and especially with the fact they're even more expensive for internationals. So, I've thought a lot about my life plan and figured that my best plan would be to attend KAIST (a very prestigious South Korean college in terms of math and science) and grasp on any opportunities of getting scouted to an american grad school since KAIST students are known to be one of the top even outside of Asia and if I was to major somewhere along industrial engineering, the program would normally ensure a full scholarship. Of course, even this plan is an almost impossible dream because the school is just extremely hard to get in. </p>
<p>My other option which I will be pursuing is to give it a shot for the need blind american colleges and apply for a full financial aid. Pretty daring I'd say since these need blind colleges are also among the top and every geniuses across the globe will be signing up for it. I am really grateful for any readers that have read up to this point and now I'll reveal some of my academic achievements during my freshman and sophomore year.</p>
<ul>
<li>AP Calc BC 5</li>
<li>AP Microecon 5</li>
<li>will be taking multivariable calc/linear algebra (a year course together) my junior year</li>
<li>maintained 4.0 gpa in freshman and the first half of sophomore year in an american school back in brazil. (Now this is what trips me because even though it's a perfect uw gpa, the school itself compared to other top high schools is essentially of a lower standard so I wonder how this will play out)</li>
<li>Moved school to here in the states into a high academic standard high school and got a 3.6 gpa for my 2nd semester of sophomore year which is stressing me out big time
<ul>
<li>still have not missed a single honor roll</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<p>EC
- taught math in a math club for my sophomore year
- elected as high school student council treasurer for sophomore year
- taught music in local schools in Brazil that were in a rural region
- Varsity softball (for some reason baseball did not exist) freshman year
- NJHS (national junior honor society) freshman year</p>
<p>I guess what I can really appeal about is my math level perhaps? considering that I have yet to meet another junior to take mv even though my school has around 4000 students. These are my plans for junior year</p>
<ul>
<li>sat/act exams until good grade</li>
<li>sat subject test math 2</li>
<li>sat subject test physics</li>
<li>AP physics c</li>
<li>AP statistics</li>
<li>AP us history</li>
<li>AP english comp</li>
<li>join math team for competitions</li>
<li>continue tutoring math</li>
<li>keep a 3.9 + gpa hopefully</li>
<li>if I have the time although unlikely, join varsity track.</li>
</ul>
<p>What do you think my chances are getting into the top need-blind schools such as harvard, princeton, yale, and so on? I know these colleges are just painfully difficult to get in and I'm not sure if my math level would exactly be something that really stands out so I'd love to hear any advice and insights. I apologize for the really long post and thank you again for anyone who can offer me some wisdom.</p>
<p>Cheers</p>