<p>@econsftw I didn’t mean it was guaranteed hence the maybe. Berkley is always tough for me to chance because while it has a low acceptance rate (18%) it has a wider range of accepted students (I think the ACT distribution was like 27-31). Might I suggest you look into other schools (such as UM Ann Arbor)? You seem to be shooting for the big name schools but there are others just as good. </p>
<p>Btw I have the same economic situation but my parents don’t want to pay, I wish that was cause for fin aid! :–D</p>
<p>Okay, it is much harder for international applicants to get in, but you definitely have a decent chance. Read up on what schools are good for you major and add a few of those in (and take out a few schools in the process). Also, the rule for # of matches and safeties per # reaches is not realistic. You only need 2 safeties because you should have a 95%+ of getting in. Also have a few matches ( schools you wouldn’t mind going to) because you can never count on getting into any if your reaches. If you are okay with going to your safeties, you really don’t need a match. The one problem with applying to so many schools is the work that needs to be put in for each application. Apply to as many schools as you can handle. As an international applicant and as an asian, you will have a hard time gritting into any of these schools even with perfect scores; you definitely have a chance though and good luck! </p>
<p>your stats look good—and I think you have a very good chance into getting into atleast one of the schools you mentioned(probably somewhere around duke level) Could you please chance me back? Thanks </p>
<p>@alsa2000 haha thanks I feel you - wish we could get fin aid because we don’t want our parents to pay/our parents don’t want to pay! Haha it’s a burden to feel so indebted to my parents, so I’m going to try really hard to get scholarships somewhere. What are you going to do if you get into your dream school and your parents refuse to pay? :/</p>
<p>@epan1997 yeah I understand being an international Asian doesn’t really help thanks! Will try to apply as many as I can, to widen my chances. Are my EC’s alright? I know I make the cut, grades-wise. </p>
<p>@thearrow thanks! I’d kill to get into Duke hehe It’s one of my top choices. Chanced you back!</p>
<p>@econsftw I’ve also been trying scholarships but no luck as of yet. My dream school is Cornell but my parents don’t see the sense in paying for the ivy league (there argument is that they both went to University of Nebraska but are still well off). They will pay for UMich though since I live in MI so I’m happy, I’ll just do Cornell for grad school.</p>
<p>@alsa2000 yeah umich is great too and you can save up money to maybe buy a car and splurge a little during college But I hope you get the scholarships! ^^ @peterg123 thank you! chanced you back. </p>
<p>“REA to Stanford (dream school)”
HELL NO! I don’t want to have such great competition Why not HYP? lol just kidding :)</p>
<p>Seriously, you have great stats. Where are you from?
Anyway, you definitely have a great chance at most of them besides HPS and uChicago which are reaches for everyone </p>
<p>1) your SAT/SAT 2 scores are ‘good enough’ to get noticed (of course)
2) your activity list is probably fine, but it is hard to stick out in this era of near ridiculous High School resume/activity - and this is very subjective. Would help if there were varsity athletics (especially at private schools where it is often easier to find a fit), and would help if a few more ‘objective’ successes in activities (paper chosen for award, won award at state level in something, 1 rated performance in solo instrument or choir etc.) - but probably fine.
3) What are your IB scores? Harvard and some of the elites weigh IB or AP scores in the admission decisions (and expect 5s and 4s on AP). Also - how hard is your schedule compared to your peers? I realize that at most schools IB is the most challenging track - but would your school confirm that you are taking “the hardest course load that is reasonably possible at your particular school?”
4) diversity probably works against you unless you are from an unusual country - but almost all of the data you could want on this is at NCES web site - and you can see which universities are more favorable to public vs private school students, which admit higher percentages of asians and infer a lot by comparison with their peer institutions.</p>
<p>Remember admissions decisions at elite Universities are VERY subjective.</p>
<p>Remember to run the cost estimators for your income situation - some schools (e.g. Princeton) seem to do the financial equivalent of “affirmative action for the upper middle class” (otherwise they would only get the poor and the rich since their applicant pool would take academic full rides elsewhere) while other elites give surprisingly mediocre aid to that income range. It varies far more than you would expect (and then there is national merit aid - NM finalists should clearly look at their annual report to see which Universities ‘bribe’ national merit finalists successfully to enroll - there is a list by college of where NM scholars go, and which got university sponsored awards and how many)</p>
<p>Remember finding a fit is more important than picking a school from US News rankings (although with your high test scores you are going to have a narrower list of good academic fits) - have you been able to sit in class(es) at Georgetown or Johns Hopkins or UVa to see what you like (presumably those are near enough to visit)? When I was applying I ruled those out quickly (even though they are great schools) because I didn’t like the campus atmosphere as much as at others.</p>
<p>Remember to have fun in this process- if possible be PASSIONATE in your essay about what you love to study/do/investigate - and that may entail telling them what major(s) you might be interested in. But it is more important to be authentic and interesting in your essays, than to try to craft a safe ‘correct’ essay.</p>
<p>@2018RiceParent Thanks so much! Those were some helpful tips!</p>
<p>I think my IB score is decent: tentatively I will be predicted 43/45(40/42). This could vary between 42-44/45 but that’s still a good range, I hope.</p>
<p>In my school everyone is only allowed to take 3HLs so I think there’s no “hardest course load” but I do take some ‘difficult’ subjects so it should be alright. </p>
<p>I don’t think I can do much about my activities now so I’ll work on my essays :)</p>
<p>Unfortunately I haven’t had the chance to visit many schools so I’ve been relying on CC and the schools’ website to get a sense of what I like. I’ve definitely narrowed down my list since my first post. Currently, I’m thinking of applying to 11 schools: Stanford, NU, UChicago, Georgetown, Duke, Dartmouth, Columbia, Harvard, UC Berkeley, UMich Ann Arbor, WashU in St Louis. It’s still a long list but I think from my research I’d be quite happy to attend any of these schools so it’s alright to spread out my chances. </p>
I feel you - wish we could get fin aid because we don’t want our parents to pay/our parents don’t want to pay! Haha it’s a burden to feel so indebted to my parents, so I’m going to try really hard to get scholarships somewhere. What are you going to do if you get into your dream school and your parents refuse to pay? :/</p>
thanks! Will try to apply as many as I can, to widen my chances. Are my EC’s alright? I know I make the cut, grades-wise. </p>
It’s one of my top choices. Chanced you back!</p>
Why not HYP? lol just kidding :)</p>
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