In DIRE need of advice. Good CC Samaritans please come in.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm from the midwest, and Asian. I'm applying as an international student.</p>

<p>ACT: I'm sending two scores, a 29 with writing and a 32 without the writing :(.</p>

<p>SATI: I haven't taken it, and I probably won't take it</p>

<p>SAT II: Math IIC-760 Chemistry- 750 (and chinese-800)</p>

<p>GPA: (UW) 3.95ish. I got a B for AP Chemistry the first semester of junior year. The rest are A's.</p>

<p>Rank: Competitive public school. Top 10% (That's the best you can do at my school).</p>

<p>AP classes:
11th
Chemistry (5 on AP)
Psychology (5 on AP)</p>

<p>12th
Biology
English
BC Calc</p>

<p>EC:
School newspaper (10th-present)=senior managing editor
Speech/Debate (9th-present)
Hospital volunteer (every summer, 200+ hrs)
Principal's advisory (10th-present)
Cheerleading (9th-11th)
International Students' Club (10th-present)=position pending
Mock Trial (10th)
DECA (10th)</p>

<p>Awards/Honors:
JOURNALISM (my strongest point)-
1. Winner of a national journalism contest in in-depth writing.
2. Highest award (only one in the state) in state journalism contest for in-depth/series writing.
2. "Superior" rating for two different feature writings in state journalism contest.
3. Attended all-expense paid minority journalism workshop
4. Finalist for Princeton University's journalism workshop (about 60 finalists/900 across the nation)</p>

<p>SPEECH/DEBATE (DRAMATIC INTERPRETATION)-
1. State speech/debate comp. qualifier, finished in the top 15 in dramatic interp.
2. First alternate for nationals speech/debate comp. in dramatic interp.
3. 2nd in city wide speech/debate competition in dramatic interp</p>

<p>Prospective Major:
Undecided</p>

<p>Schools I really want to get into: Yale, UPenn, Washington University in St.Louis.</p>

<p>MY DILEMMA: Originally, I was set on doing ED for WashU because I really like the school, going there is convenient, I don't have to spend about 200 dollars taking the TOEFL, and I can go there for free, but then I started looking at other schools and I became fascinated with Yale. I'm not sure if I should take a risk and apply SCEA to Yale instead because I would hate to see myself get rejected from WashU (I'm probably not going to get a full ride anywhere else). Also, the application pool is SO competitive for everyone at Yale, especially since I'm applying as an international students even though I've been in the states for 6 years (so I'll be regarded as one of the "contaminated international students"), so I'm really not sure if it's realistic/worth it for me to give up doing ED at WashU and apply SCEA to Yale.</p>

<p>Any help/comments will be greatly appreciated!</p>

2

<p>If you live in the US, why apply as an international?</p>

<p>Things are much more difficult for them than for domestics.</p>

3

<p>I have to apply as an international student because of my legal status here :(</p>

4

<p>He's applying to private universities, so I doubt it matters. Stats don't give much promise to getting in at any of them, and course rigor is not so...rigorous. However, what does stand out for me is that, despite the fact that you're intl', you're winning in speech/debate, and English. That's a paradox that might be a very enticing thing for colleges, and I've known less than perfect (a lot less than perfect) people get into good schools for being int'l yet trying to do APs. Still, that comes undone when they see your ACT score, so I would suggest you work on that a lot. While I won't say any definite chances, my guess is that, if you do get into any of those schools, it's not going to be because of your numbers, it'll be from your interesting background and strong ECs (good job on those).</p>

<p>For now, Yale is very much a reach, especially I suspect this year, since last year's admissions rate was somewhat higher than usual. I think you can still be looking into U Penn if all you're applying to is undeclared. The best shot you have at any of those is, of course WashU, which I think a beefed up ACT will put in the slight reach category. Also, you might want to take another SAT II. I don't know how much weight they'll put on this, but a Chinese person (I'm assuming you're Chinese, otherwise, kudos to getting an 800) getting an 800 in Chinese isn't exactly something that will stand out.</p>

<p>Edit: What kind of int'l are you? If you're from Canada or something, I think whatever I wrote up there doesn't so much apply to you..</p>

5

<p>i agree.</p>

<p>edit, oops, i was agreeing with sinistercharity. i posted way too late though.</p>

6

<p>Thanks for your comment Peppers. I'm from China. I don't have many AP classes but I have been taking all honors classes since Freshman year.</p>

<p>I studied very hard for the ACT in June after taking it in April, and I'm really not confident about doing better than a 32 if I take it again (especially since school work is taking up most of my time now). However, if I decide to not apply ED to WashU, I will also take the TOEFL. About the SAT IIs, I don't know what other SAT IIs I can take since I haven't taken the AP courses I need to help me prepare for additional tests (and I'm definitely not confident about taking Lit).</p>

7

<p>maybe you could try taking biology? or have you ever taken a us history class?</p>

8

<p>andreaaaaaa: I'm taking AP biology this year, and the only history classes I've taken in high school are the general world/us history classes required by the school for all freshmen and sophomores.</p>

9

<p>yes, but at least you would have somewhat of a background in them. if you took the biology test at the last possible test date, you wouldnt have to self-study too much of it.</p>

10

<p>Thanks for the advice, I'm going to get a book this weekend and see whether the test is doable for me or not.</p>

11

<p>bump10char</p>

12

<p>Also, I'm thinking about having a career in business (right now, I'm thinking about accounting, but it can change). Yale doesn't have an undergrad B school, but I heard that big companies still recruit a lot from there (but as of now, I'm thinking of doing accounting, so I don't know if a Yale education is worth it especially since I won't be able to take an accounting class at Yale undergrad). I don't think I have a chance at Wharton, and I'm not sure if I'd rather take some business classes as a CAS student at UPenn without all the benefits from Wharton. WashU's Olin is very mediocre, and I don't know how beneficial it will be for my future career.</p>

<p>Though legally, I'm considered to be an international student, I still don't know how colleges will look at me. I don't think Yale will put me in the international pool because I went to middle school and high school here, but WashU will (since I still have to fill out the international supplement), and I'm not sure about Penn.</p>

13

<p>Bump, anyone?</p>