OP, not to distract you from your Ivy dreams, but have a look at HBCUs (historically black colleges and universities in the US), their histories and their impact. Howard university in D.C. is called “the Black Harvard” and used to have very generous scholarships, for some if which I think international students were eligible - check out the current situation. The Vice President elect, Kamala Harris, is a Howard grad I believe.
Going to university in a place where, suddenly, everyone is like you, can be very empowering.
I will definitely do my research. When looking for colleges , I search up the black communities on their campus because as you said it can be very empowering seeing people that look like you especially when you haven’t had a black classmate your entire school time. It really does sound great.
I hope you begin working with animals, regardless of whether or not that will affect admissions. (I actually think that doing something you are really interested in, and do with commitment over a few years, does affect admissions). Please see my example of how that interest in animals could evolve (in a post above).
I hope you will also look at the website Colleges that Change Lives. For instance, Clark U. has a very international and diverse student body. You might also like Tufts, which has a veterinary school and is quite selective, and 10 minutes from Harvard Square.
But you are only in 9th grade so I would wait a year or two
@curiousstudentlr, where do you hope to practice law and become a judge? You’d need a VISA to work in the US. We don’t have a shortage of lawyers so I don’t see how an employer could say they can’t find a qualified citizen. Will attending a US college help you get into law school in Germany?
Yes, the OP is in 9th grade. S/he is also an international student who currently hopes to be a lawyer and judge. But why attend an Ivy? Does the path to law school in Germany include a degree from a US college? OP hasn’t said, but before they decide to pursue activities that they think might help them get into an Ivy or contemplate what other US universities to target they need to learn whether or not those schools will help them meet their career goals when they return home.
Every year we hear from students who spent their entire high school careers in pursuit of an elite school admission and are frustrated and feel like their entire high school life was a waste because they didn’t get the results they wanted. Right now the OP wants to be a lawyer and a judge, so I think s/he needs to approach their high school choices based on their career goals, not what college they hope to attend. Next year their career goals might be different. If that’s the case they can choose different types of activities. But the choices should be based on the career goals, not the specific tier of colleges they hope to attend.
Austinmshauri is exactly right: attending an Ivy League school shouldn’t be viewed as a do-or-die objective, but merely as one of many possible paths for achieving longer term (and more important) goals. I had the good fortune of attending an Ivy many years ago, but frankly I think I would have been just as happy – and maybe happier – attending an academically rigorous LAC, and I regret not exploring that option to a greater degree when I was in high school. And for many folks, far less prestigious paths (e.g., going from community college to a state university to grad school) yield the desired outcomes.
It is not necessarily about how a degree from a US college is helping me to get into law school in Germany. There is a University in my hometown that offers exchange years while studying. As a student you for have the chance to study one year at Harvard , for example.
Which doesn’t help international kids at all, because their educational systems and the social forces around them would cause them to have a completely different focus.
If you start thinking about applying for schools not in your home country (doesn’t even have to be the US), you may end up finding out about admissions criteria when it is way too late.
Most German universities, for example, you apply to in the summer after graduation, with your junior, senior and finals grades and sometimes a relevant internship, but freshman and sophomore grades are completely irrelevant, and so are hobbies, no one has ever written or demanded a letter of recommendation, and cost is not an issue. If she were to focus on what 9th graders around her focus, even the highly capable ones, she wouldn’t stand a chance.
And she needs to start researching the financial issues now, precisely because as an international, her options are so limited - whether she wants to apply to Harvard or to Prairie View, needs full FA or 300k USD, she needs to understand what the options are and prepare accordingly.
And for most international kids interested in a high quality US education, unless their families are wealthy enough to be full pay (and there aren’t many countries in which families are typically wealthier than in the US, where most families aren’t, full pay, either) it is really Ivy or bust - in the sense that Ivy is usually used even on these knowledgeable boards: schools with deep pockets who meet full need for internationals. If you want need blind for internationals, the list is currently about 5 schools I believe, and the non Ivies are MIT and Amherst.
She’s got two years to work on her transcript and resume, and can come back to have it evaluated here. That will be the right time to tell her “go for it” or “forget it”.
Hello there.
Until now I have gotten a lot of useful advice and I am very thankful for that. Already started reaching out to people and found a law firm which offers pro bono for non profits in my hometown. I will email them and ask if they need any help.
I should probably add that I still have to learn a lot about where i want to study and how I will do that. I am not just considering ivy league colleges,which may sound a bit strange because of the fact that this decision will have to be made far in the future.
I can understand why some of you doubt that this will be my final decision later, but i know what my strengths are and what I want to contribute to this world and for now law seems to be an interest of mine . I think out school activities are never bad especially when you help people in need.
When it comes to the way I want to practice what I learned in the college I can assure you that I am aware of the fact that the american law can not be practiced in Germany. Thats why I consider moving to where ever I will study at.
I am really looking for activities or projects I can still participate in although there is an pandemic.I have already gotten so many good ideas and I definitely got inspired. if you have any other ideas please share them with me.
I also am looking forward to participating in a competition that all come this year, which includes argumentation and discussion skills. It is a contest for young students , whose argumentation skills are good enough to get qualified. At first I will have to be the best in my class , at my school, at my state and than in the final round. I hope I will still be able to take part in this , because during the pandemic everything is so unpredictable.
Yes! This is the way you need to start thinking. For those who say that you are young and have plenty of time, that is true - if what you want is to go to college in Germany (although I think that other EU schools are open to you, too? Perhaps consider The Netherlands?)
But if you want top colleges in the US, the kind that can offer you full funding, you need to really stand out, and that means unusually highly impressive achievement in something (in addition to stellar grades). That almost always means an interest that you are deeply immersed in, early on, even before high school starts. For you, it seems that could be social justice activism. Sharpening your skills in debate is an excellent idea. Volunteering for the pro-bono law firm - yes! You’re on the right track, and if it’s what you love doing, it will yield rewards for you, no matter where you wind up going to college.
You need to understand that not having US citizenship or permanent residency could be a roadblock in the future - but it would not prevent you from going to college in the US, nor would it prevent you from going to law school in the US, although in both cases, you would have to be outstanding to get admitted and funded. But I could definitely see a path where you become qualified in both the US and EU for law, and wind up in international law, working for international social justice.
You do not have to have immersion in an interest yet, nor do you have to have a career goal yet. You can use 9th, 10th and even 11th grades to explore. You have plenty of time, even for top schools.
And I advocated early in this thread that OP self explore, learn what colleges here are about, look at non Ivy options, as well as the law school sequence here. It just seems some tone in this thread focuses as if that’s done.
And, I noted she doesn’t have sufficient record yet. You told me back (what seemed to me) that being in Gymnasium is enough.
Let’s get off the German vs US differences and focus on the realities of US admission. As you now say, "two years…"Let’s have OP use those 2 years wisely.
Agree with @compmom here. What’s needed is time, awareness, and some initial plans. OP doesn’t need immersion yet, nor does the US expect career goals to be identified in 9th. The idea is to asess your interests and take (the first) steps to being involved in those directions.
It’s not necessary to have “highly impressive” achievements. (Most admits to our tippy tops are not these tip of the iceberg sorts, nose down all the time, pursuing some one thing to extremes. Other traits and accomplishments matter much.)
Instead, it helps to have some vision, some ideas that you pursue, quality activities related to the path you believe you’ll be on. Depth AND breadth.
Yes, OP has some good ideas. Yes, debate experience would be good (for various reasons and skills.) But that’s not standing up in a protest and speaking up. International debate unions are more formalized, they build and test skills.
The competiton from Germany (and to some extent, Austria,) will be serious and at a high level. Many top performers, fewer seats available at US tippy top colleges. One step at a time.
Thank you! I have been looking for a website like this for a long time. As some of you told me I will have to research more about what options there are and also about how i will make everything happen.
Researching now might be a bit to far ahead but it wouldn’t hurt to know. It may help me with my decision and I am always looking for book recommendations.
