Hello
I am an Iranian student who is ambitious enough to aspire to go to top US schools.
Here are my stats. Now, I know that my chances are pretty slim because of my nationality, but I would like to know how slim.
Nationality : Iranian ( though I am a mix of all major middle eastern ethnicities)
Intended Major : premed/Biology/Biomed/Biochem
GPA: 19.2/20
SAT : I have not taken the real one yet, but I scored 2210 on a blue book practice without studying. I plan on getting a 2300+.
EC: Will graduate when I am 16.
English Teacher at a prestigious language college. ( I have passed the TKT)
No AP or IB classes, as we all have the same curriculum in Iran. however, I studied at a NODET (national organization for development of extraordinary talents) school, which means that our curriculum was tough as hell. however, I did have some advanced extra curricular classes in Math, Physics and Astronomy.
Arts and humanities club member.
Fluent in English and persian, good at Arabic, Intermediate in French
c++, HTML, CSS, JS, PHP coder.
Web designer.
Swimmer, no awards though.
English and Geometry tutor.
do thing like being an avid reader and stuff count?
That is all I can remember right now.
Thank you for sparing the time to read my question,
No way to chance unless you have a definite SAT score. Repost when you have the score and remember Ivies are a Reach for everyone.
Hello, thank you for the reply
Assume a 2350
If you were a US applicant, you’d have about a 5% chance. As an international you have a 1% chance or less. Will you require financial aid? Not all of the schools are full-need for international applicants.
Yes, I will.
HYPD provide aid, and Cornell, Upenn and Columbia will probably do so as well, though they are need-aware
You should not assume anything. Even with a 2400, your chances as an international student are ~2-3% at best.
“I scored 2210 on a blue book practice without studying. I plan on getting a 2300+.”
“Assume a 2350”
Why stop there?
I am not planning to stop there, but I did not want to sound overly optimistic.
Believe me, when you have the ambition to set your eyes on the big H as a citizen of Iran, 50 points isn’t that hard to dream. I just wanted to see what happens in a slightly worse scenario.
Let’s see what actually happens.
I hope the future doesn’t stray far from my predictions…
Realistically, a 2210 on a practice exam will most likely translate to a 2100 or less on the real thing.
True, but this was without studying. I can gain higher by studying.
"why stop there? "
For some reason I did not notice the sarcasm at first…
These lot are just discouraging you and bringing you down. I’m sure you could do better on the SAT, but a firm result is better than a prospective one. Anything from 2250+ is almost equal, so if you do score well, I think you’ll still have a very average chance unless you stand out with extracurriculars.
Not necessarily the case. The test is designed to measure aptitude, in theory “studying” should not do much. Sometimes it does, but in most cases I’ve seen at least the first sitting results in a lower score than most practice tests.
My main problems were vocab and grammer, as I had a 760 in math, a 740 in reading and a 710 or 700 in writing.
Vocabulary And grammar will improve with practice, right?
Well seeing that nobody bothered to give you an actual chancing, let me do one for you.
Your theoretical SAT is a very good score, not sure about your GPA as I don’t know the system(depends on your rank) You’d still need subject tests tho.
Being Asian sucks, being Asian without APs and IBs suck even more. Your chances suddenly become extremely slim because of that. You say that you are good at maths and that your school is competitive; there are schools such as (I presume) yours in my home country (Korea), which do send students to top US schools, but those students always have things such as IMO medals to PROVE their skill. Without this, APs or IBs you might as well have gone to a public school in Iran.
Ivies are definitely a high reach, maybe not even reachable. SATs above 2250 or 2300 or whatever do not matter, they are only to screen away the weakest applicants. You won’t be screened (based on your theoretical scores), but you hardly have anything to show afterwards. Your essay is your best shot at showing your personality, but even then it would be tough.
Always remember though: Ivy admissions are way too random to call. Don’t get too disheartened even with a rejection: for all you know, it was a mistake.
Good Luck!
Colleges will not hold it against an applicant if AP/IB are not part of his/her curriculum.
Thanks for the replies. It is worth noting that my school does not send students to top us colleges.in fact, It is very rare for an Iranian student to apply to US colleges.
Also, my case is not considered in the same way as yours are, because unlike East Asians, Middle Easterners are severly underrepresented. Yes, I will do the subject tests. Also, I asked harvard about IB and AP and they said that they will not hold it against me.
about my gpa, The average Gpa was 12.13 last year, but this year it is probably much lower. so consider the average to be about 10-11.
Once you’re done with your national exams, focus on your ec’s. you’re NOT am under represented group for higher education . Hopefully for you you’ll be considered White/Middle Eastern not Asian. What’s your religion ?
What SPECIFICALLY do you like about Harvard ? Are you able to articulate the difference between it and Princeton ? What’s your parents budget and will they support your project? Are you a boy or a girl? Have you been involved in any form of dissent - and I’m not talking going into the hills to drink in mixed company.
Beside your excellent grades , how are you different from the thousands of superb students around the world? Those are all questions you’ll need to be able to answer if you’re to have boy chance at admission at any university with an admission rate under 30% (meaning 1in 10 for internationals )