How can i study at ivy universities?

Student Lounge International Students
1

I am Syrian but i live in Turkey . Now I am in 10th grade i will take ap cal AB &BC and AP CSA next year and I will take sat math 2 and sat physics so if take these exams with +1500 on sat with national math and cs awards (and i am preparing for math Olympiad but i don’t know if i can finish) am I eligible to be admitted at Ivy League universities in cs major ?

2

You may be “eligible”, but gaining admission would be another issue.

3

so what you recommend . Is there anything else should i do?

4

I am Syrian but I live in Turkey. Now I am in 10th grade I will take ap cal AB &BC and AP CSA next year and I will take sat math 2 and sat physics so if take these exams with +1500 on sat with national math and cs awards (and I am preparing for math Olympiad but I don’t know if I can finish) am I eligible to be admitted at Ivy League universities in cs major?
NOTE: my school doesn’t afford ap exams so I go to another city (It is 1114 km away) and my grade is 98.20 my grade is the top at my school.

5

Being the top student at your school, and making the effort to take those standardized exams is a great start. But being admitted to an Ivy is difficult even for the very top students. Keep doing what you are doing for now.

6

Can you afford the cost of attendance, and why do you want an Ivy for engineering? Cornell and Princeton are reasonable, but the others, while they may have engineering (e.g. Yale, Columbia, Brown, etc) these may not be the best choice.

7

Is international research contests and mathematical olympiad can give me a big chance?

8

Acceptance rates into the ivys are very low, and even lower for Internationals.

9

Is international research contests and mathematical olympiad can give me a big chance?

10

A big chance? No one has a “big” chance. You will be competing against other applicants with strong qualifications, have won competitions and awards, etc. It will help, but alone may not be compelling. What competitions have you won?

11

Are you looking for financial aid? Can you afford full pay?

12

It sounds like you are doing very well.

You are a competitive applicant for the top universities in the US. The problem is that there are many competitive applicants, and the top schools in the US accept only about 1% of international applicants.

I think that you should keep doing what you are doing. You are an exceptional student. I think that it is worth your effort to apply to top universities in the US. However, you should also understand that it is more likely that you will not be accepted. As such, you need to also have options that are more certain, such as the top universities in your country.

13

yes, I can’t afford full pay

14

I am preparing for IMO and international research contest?
is there another thing that I can do?

15

Thanks very much for your response

16

"Is international research contests and mathematical olympiad can give me a big chance? "

Unfortunately, not nearly as big a chance as having perfect stats accompanied by a donation of tens of millions of dollars.

Assuming that isn’t going to happen, you’ll have the best chance of you are one of the top five or so students in your country. Harvard’s acceptance rate is 5% but that rate for international students at Harvard, the ivies, or any top 20 university drops to only about 1-2%.

Apply by all means! You certainly can’t get in if you don’t try. What everyone is trying to tell you here is that it would be a mistake to rest any of your hopes, dreams and future plans on any top 20 university in America. College is a step, part of the journey. It is NOT the destination. If you think you are smart enough to have a chance at the best schools, you are smart enough to understand the odds and form backup plans that also excite you, and will prepare you well for life BEYOND college.

17

So, back up and take stock:

  1. You are an international student. Most US colleges have about 8-15% international students in each year. So, whatever the acceptance rate is for US students, it is much lower for international students.
  2. If you need financial aid, that makes it extra hard: you have to be a good enough candidate that they won't just accept you- they will have to want you so much that they are willing to pay for your some/most/all of your education.
  3. You need to figure out what the relative importance of each element: Ivy / CS / USA? As noted above, not only do the "Ivies" have some of the lowest admissions rates, they are not necessarily the best options for CS. They also have some of the lowest admissions rates in the world. So is the priority to be in the US? or only if the name is famous enough to be useful in Turkey?
18

FInd a cure for the coronavirus :wink:

19

OMG, just that it is easy
Maybe it is better for me to think about studying in European good universities like TUM in Germany

20

Congratulations on your achievements so far.

However, to give you some context as to how hard it is to get in as an international student, Harvard currently has 21 undergrads from Turkey (1 from Syria), or 4 or 5 per year. https://hio.harvard.edu/statistics Of those, there may be a few who are children of alumni or from powerful or rich families.

The good news as far as some of the top schools are concerned, like Harvard, Yale and Princeton, is that they have extremely generous financial aid, are need blind and meet full need with 100% grant aid for international students. They will also be extremely difficult to get into. You need to do your research for each school that you are interested in in terms of the overall quality of the student body and their admissions and financial aid record/policy for international students. As mentioned numerous times above, it is fine to reach high, but you also need to plan realistically both as to admissions probability and the finances involved.