<p>Hey guys!
I am French so I am not very aware of the type of people that top universities accept. So could you give your opinion on weither or not you think Yale, Stanford or Brown would accept me? I am passing the IB this year and here is my CV: 11th grade GPA around 87%; 2370 on my SAT; 800 on my SAT subject test in Modern History; 780 on my SAT subject test in Math II; 5 years of piano; 2 years of Taekwondo; I created the school newspaper and I am currently the editor; I went to Kenya in the summer to help the locals, I wrote some articles about it that were published in regional and national newspaper; lots of cumminity service; leader of a charity project in my school. Thank you very much for the time you took to read my post and any idea about my acceptance to this universities are more than welcome. Good luck for those of you who are applying to college!</p>
<p>I think you have realistic, however still being reaches, chances at all three, Brown likely being the easiest of the three for you to get into, yet still being very difficult. If you are applying next year, and would be fine with passing up the chance of applying to Stanford and Yale, you could consider applying ED to brown.</p>
<p>what are your ib grades like?</p>
<p>frstudent - your extracurriculars are very impressive, and your standardized test scores are certainly within the range for Ivy admits.</p>
<p>Pieisthe best- Thank you for replying. Do you think that I should apply to Brown as ED? I thought about Yale in order to boost my chance, since Brown is easier.
Raphael- Thank you for replying. I got 87% overall in 11th grade, meaning that I did the average of my year grades in my six IB classes.
Surume- Thank you for replying. Well I actually thought that my extracurriculars were actually my weakest point since I do not have any strong talent and that I often change activities.
By the way, I forgot to say that I got a 4 on my AP microeconomics exam. But my guidance councellor told me that I will not get much credit for it since I take IB economics HL. I actually don’t get why I would not get credits since I took the time to study and pass the AP test :/</p>
<p>Your counselor is wrong: the AP score will be given full weight by any school regardless of the curriculum you took before the exam (some students, for exam, pass the exam without benefit of any formal curriculum by self-study). However schools have varying policies with respect to extending credit for AP exams. Some can be quite stingy with credit, others quite liberal.</p>
<p>[Table</a> of Acceleration Credit | Yale College](<a href=“http://yalecollege.yale.edu/content/table-acceleration-credit]Table”>http://yalecollege.yale.edu/content/table-acceleration-credit)
Yale does not extend credit for AP Micro regardless of score. You can, however, receive retroactive credit for intro AP Micro if you complete the subsequent course with a B or above during your first year. This appears to apply to any student regardless of AP/IB/or other preparation.</p>
<p>[Brown</a> Advanced Placement Information](<a href=“Advanced Placement Exams | The College | Brown University”>Advanced Placement Exams | The College | Brown University)
Brown automatically grants Micro credit for AP Micro scores of 4 or above.</p>
<p>[Stanford</a> University Registrar - AP Credit Chart | Student Affairs](<a href=“http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/registrar/students/ap-charts]Stanford”>http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/registrar/students/ap-charts)
Stanford apparently does not grant any credit for AP Micro.</p>
<p>Yale and Stanford’s relative parsimony does not mean AP and IB classes are not valuable additions to your transcript as they still very much contribute to your admissions viability.</p>
<p>87% will seem like a relatively low average to American students where, typically, scores of 90+% are required for an “A”. However the Yale admission committee will probably be aware that for many countries the standard is often more like 80+% (because tests and papers are often more difficult). Your standardized test scores and, presumably, letters of recommendation will attest to your abilities.</p>
<p>Thank you Descartesz for the time that you took. These informations are really helpful. I know that 87% does not seem that good, but the IB is more challenging that the high school diploma (I know that because some people take the high school diploma in my school and the difference of the amount of work is huge) and I think that the admission office knows about that. Well, that’s what my guidance counselor told me… I hope he is right on this one :P</p>
<p>It’s possible. Nevertheless, nobody can know for sure.</p>
<p>Frstudent, do you attend some special school in France or do all schools in your country offer IB?</p>
<p>Impressive standardized test scores
Respectful ECs
GPA could be better
(Like everybody else has said)</p>
<p>Although you have good chances, they’re still reaches.
Is there a specific school you’re interested in? If so, that’s where you should apply. As you probably know, you should think about ED carefully.</p>
<p>Lucerevita- I actually live in Belgium, even though I’m French. But no, only a few schools offer the IB and these are most of the time International Schools like mine (which are not affordable for everyone unfortunately).
Special- I am really interested in Brown, I love their undergraduate program. It is definitly my dream college. I’m only applying to Yale and maybe Stanford to make my parents happy, but I actually hope to get rejected by these colleges and get into Brown 
Thanks for the advice
Last question guys. One of my father’s friends who went to Northwestern and Harvard University, told me that international students don’t compete with americans when they apply but only with other international students. Is it still the case? And if it is, is it a good thing or a bad thing for me? Thanks! :)</p>
<p>Competition for international students is very tough. Admission is much more difficult because there are so many international applicants with stellar grades, standardized tests etc. I gathered from many threads on CC that the average admission rate at selective colleges for internationals is less than 3%. schools like harvard, MIT, Stanford get many thousands of top international applications for only 100-150 spots.
With your grades and achievements, you are of course in a good position, but admission remains totally unpredictable.
Wish you good luck</p>
<p>Luceverita- Ouch, these informations kind of stressed me. But well, it pushes me to work even harder. Thank you for everything.</p>
<p>Hey frstudent. I am not entirely sure whether what Luceverita said is entirely true. While competition for finaid is very VERY hard at those schools that are not needs blind, I do not think that it is any harder for internationals to get into the need blind schools: HYP for example. Therer you have a 6-7% chance (whooopeee) like everyone else. At places like MIT, where they are need aware, then it is about 3%. </p>
<p>Working harder is never a bad idea though :)</p>
<p>Please also check these facts, though I should know: I am an international</p>
<p>your scores btw are certainly good enough and the EC’s look fine so I think you have done everything that you can and just need to put in a good application. Don’t fret about percentages just put in your best application, make sure you know what the places you are applying to need and give in the way of aid (if you need) and then try relax :)</p>
<p>Last year, 16% of all Yale College applicants were internationals (<a href=“http://www.yale.edu/oir/open/pdf_public/W125%20Intl_Admis.pdf[/url]”>http://www.yale.edu/oir/open/pdf_public/W125%20Intl_Admis.pdf</a>) and 13% were matriculants (see bottom line of <a href=“http://www.yale.edu/oir/open/pdf_public/W026_Fresh_byState.pdf[/url]”>http://www.yale.edu/oir/open/pdf_public/W026_Fresh_byState.pdf</a>). Assuming the yield rate (percent of admitted students who attend) is a little lower for international students than for domestic ones, this suggests that the international pool is accepted at about the same rate as the domestic pool. However the statistical aggregate of neither the applied nor the attending set of international students is published so we can only speculate about how deep it is.</p>
<p>I do note that there was only one French and no Belgian student in Yale College in 2009 according to this: <a href=“http://www.yale.edu/oir/open/pdf_public/W020_Internl_Enroll_byCitz.pdf[/url]”>http://www.yale.edu/oir/open/pdf_public/W020_Internl_Enroll_byCitz.pdf</a>. I cannot say if this is because they receive few or accept few such applications. If the former, that might be good news for you, if the latter, it might not be.</p>
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<p>i wouldn’t assume that; i would think that most international applicants are dead set on matriculating if accepted, whereas american applicants are more likely to have applied on a whim.</p>
<p>Possibly, although distance, cultural, linguistic, and governmental issues would seem to be increased disincentives for them. Too, are they any more likely to have been admitted to only one American school?</p>
<p>It is difficult to find information on this topic, but here is one very selective school, Williams, which last year had a lower yield among its international students than among admittees in general: <a href=“The Williams Record – The Student-Run Newspaper of Williams College Since 1887”>The Williams Record – The Student-Run Newspaper of Williams College Since 1887;
<p>And this paper documents that, in total, international students applying to American schools yield in the 38-43% range: <a href=“http://www.cgsnet.org/portals/0/pdf/CGS2005IntlAdmitIII_Rep.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cgsnet.org/portals/0/pdf/CGS2005IntlAdmitIII_Rep.pdf</a>. We can’t reliably extend this to Yale in particular, but it does show that international students frequently do apply, are admitted, but fail to come.</p>
<p>Thanks for the links Descartes</p>
<p>Hmmm…thanks for those Descartesz. i guess its quite likely that international students have a lower yield rate…</p>