I already asked a similar question earlier, but I am starting to get very nervous about whether my current grades are good enough to get into a US university like Stanford or Harvard.
I am currently going through the pre-IB program in a very academically focussed school. Also, I live in Canada so I realize that my chances of going to the US will be slimmer. I had a rough semester due to personal reasons, and my grades fell a lot. Here are my grades:
Everything matters at colleges with single digit acceptance rates. These schools are major reaches for any unhooked applicant…even students with perfect grades and standardized test scores.
To put things in perspective, even with perfect or near perfect stats (close to a 99/4.0 unweighted average and a 1600 SAT) an unhooked international applicant probably has less than a 1 in 40 chance (less than half the overall acceptance rate) at schools like Stanford, Harvard, Yale, etc.
This is not something to worry about. The odds are against you. You should focus on doing the best you can do, and when the time comes, find colleges that you have a realistic chance of being accepted to. You’re a good student, and plenty of colleges would be delighted to have you.
To add to other comments, there will applicants from your country with perfect grades who won’t get in. Barring some outstanding achievement, your grades put you on the lower slopes of a very steep mountain.
Harvard and it’s peers won’t care that you had personal troubles, because there will students with personal troubles who still manage top grades. Posting a similar question isn’t going to change facts: your grades are what they are.
Think hard and research what features you like about Harvard and Stanford, besides their prestigious names. There are plenty of attainable schools out there with similar features and an equally strong education.
I kind of expected this, but it still stings a little bit. Regardless of my chances, I will still apply to these schools as it has always been my dream to attend one of them. Anyway, thank you for being so honest and straightforward, and taking the time to answer my question.
@MasterMira you seem to be doing quite well (of course unless you aren’t personally satisfied with your effort and learning) - Really what colleges want to see is growth as a student and a person, even if that means you start off worse than you hoped. If you are unsatisfied take it as a learning opportunity, and improve - colleges will notice and seek you
Otherwise, learning, growth, and education (high school and college) are all an endurance event, and getting discouraged after the first hill won’t help you on a marathon