HI FRIEND! wanna help? i'll return the favor! chances for an international...

Student Lounge International Students
1

<p>hi thanks for doing this! ok so here it goes: i'm moving to europe this summer from a very competitive public high school in the US. this year i'm a junior but i've decided to do IB and so i'll be a junior again next year. yea kinda lame but i'm willing to make the sacrifice. so here's the thing: i'm DEFINITELY not going to apply to all ivy's or any of the such, but i'm looking at pretty selective top 10 to top 50 schools. please keep in mind that i'm NOT a ranking obsessed person lol. </p>

<p>the thing is is that finding out about this move has been pretty hard on me. i've lived here for about 6 years and i've made the most amazing friends and times here so when i found out we were moving i was devastated. i know a lot of people go through this and i'm not trying to make an excuse of it or be whiny but in my "depressed" behavior i've seriously suffered in school work, especially math. as the eldest of 6 (!) i carry a big responsibility and i have absolutely no time for school work right now. that's why i'm almost positive that i'm going to get a C in Alg2 Honors this semester even though i got a B last semester. you see, i'm awesome in all other subjects- except math. idk it's weird i've just never been able to do this. how badly would one high C affect your chances?</p>

<p>i appreciate you reading all this so i'll get straight to the point and put in only my most important stats. thanks again!</p>

<p>STATS</p>

<p>GPA: 3.5 UW/4.5 W (Top 6% in class of 900)
SAT I- 2230 (am looking to retake it again. i dont want to tho :/)
SAT II- US History- 760, German- 800, Biology- 750
AP's: AP Scholar with Distinction (after this May I will have taken 6)
National Honors Society, NEHS, Ventures Scholar</p>

<ul>
<li>Public Relations Chairperson/International Relations Chairperson World Affairs Council (I did a BUNCH of stuff, got several awards but I won't bore you with them right now)</li>
<li>Vice President of Spanish Club (same thing as above)</li>
<li>250 Community Service hours and I organized several fundraiser in my town and got significant coverage from that. Raised $2000+ in one year for a hunger relief program in my city.</li>
<li>Nationally ranked/Top 75 State Ranked golfer (I might get recruited and there's a bunch of stuff that goes along with this)</li>
<li>4-year member of Rotary Club</li>
<li>Three Finalist finishes at state Spanish academic competition</li>
<li>Half-Hispanic</li>
<li>Fluently speak four languages</li>
<li>I'll be needing little to no financial aid </li>
<li>This summer my friend and I will be traveling to Peru with a program at my new school to do a variety of things like teach English (I got a license for it) at poor rural schools, organize relief drives, build shelters for homeless, and provide assistance to local doctors. I'm hoping to do it again next summer!</li>
</ul>

<p>THE SCHOOLS (I'm looking to major in international relations)</p>

<ul>
<li>William & Mary (top choice)</li>
<li>Carnegie Mellon</li>
<li>Middlebury</li>
<li>U Chicago </li>
<li>Wake Forest</li>
<li>Syracuse</li>
<li>George Washington</li>
<li>American</li>
<li>Boston College</li>
<li>Baylor</li>
<li>Emory</li>
<li>Claremont McKenna</li>
<li>Lehigh</li>
<li>U Pittsburgh</li>
<li>Boston U</li>
</ul>

<p>(I know it's a long list but I'm willing to keep my options open!)</p>

<p>Anyway, thanks again for reading all this. If there's anything I can do for you lemme know! Please be honest! Oh and if anyone wants to give me some safeties with good IR programs that would be awesome!</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

2

<p>I think you have very good chances at all of those colleges, but you do need to bring up your UW GPA. UChicago may be a reach, but I'm not sure.
Other than that, everything looks good!</p>

<p>BTW, could you please break down your SAT I score? I'm not good at math either and I'm interested in what you scored on the math section :)</p>

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<p>yea i really need to bring that GPA up. that's why i've decided to add on another year. okay here's my score breakdown:</p>

<p>Math- 710 (weird i know), CR- 740, Writing- 750</p>

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<p>you should aim higher i suggest</p>

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<p>Will joining the IB make your GPA higher? Because it might have the opposite effect. You seem very smart though, and I'm sure you'll do fine. But if you haven't already, I suggest you look at IB books, past papers and syllabi of courses you want to take, and see if joining IB would really help your chances of getting in to the colleges you're aiming for. It might just be a ton of uneccessary extra work, you know. You seem like a good candidate without the IB :)</p>

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<p>liangsheng, several people have told me that but i really don't know about that C...</p>

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<p>I agree with liangshengtm. Seriously, you should aim much higher.</p>

<p>But in the end, its your decision anyways. Don't only go by the IR Dept Rankings...also do little bit of research on the college life and facilities each college provides (Which I'm sure that you've already done)</p>

<p>Anyways, all the best for your college admissions process. :)</p>

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<p>Maybe you should consider Columbia. Even though it doesn't have an IR major, it is in the same city as the UN ;) Besides, you can always major in political science, which isn't <em>that</em> much diffrerent from IR.</p>

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<p>What about Georgetown and Johns Hopkins?</p>

<p>Georgetown has great location, academics and reputation for IR major.</p>

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<p>Columbia has a 5-year IR programme, which isn't listed as a major though I think.</p>

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<p>Ok, cool! :)</p>

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<p>You should definitely aim for more competitive colleges (like middlebury, u. of chicago). Your SAT scores are amazing... don't worry about 1 C... you are going to do the IB and if you work hard and get good scores, it wont matter at all</p>

<p>The IB is also very well reputed so you will instantaneously be a favorable candidate at all US colleges/universities</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>could i get into any of the schools listed if i were to NOT do IB and apply this fall????? i have another option of going to another school to do this.</p>

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<p>IB is living hell. It will not bring you unweighted gpa up. maybe your weighted one. </p>

<p>Getting a 4.00 UW GPA in IB is like sooo hard.</p>

15

<p>yea of course you do... it'll also save u repeating another year of high school</p>

16

<p>You'll be fine getting into the colleges you listed and you'll be fine without IB, you should try NYU as well</p>

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<p>By the way, mind returning the favor, and chancing/answering a question of mine thanks...
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=341435%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=341435&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

18

<p>Get into NYU. It's easier than Columbia, and it's in NYC. If you're a girl, try Barnard.</p>

<p>But you seem like a candidate for some of the Ivies and equals.</p>