Actually, are these enough for being accepted? Should I do more things or focus on my essay and recommend letters?
All right, here’s a real world example. My daughter is a US citizen, applied with tests scores similar to yours (but switch the math and CR scores), higher GPA, some national awards and international volunteer experience, and was accepted Cornell, denied Yale, waitlisted Columbia. She didn’t apply to the others because they didn’t suit her as well as some other non-Ivy schools. You may have a harder time because the international pool is so competitive. But then, maybe not, because you have some interesting qualities in your ECs. However, you must also apply to other schools which have similarly excellent academics, even if you or your parents haven’t heard of them before, because the chances for anybody are slim.
Nothing is “enough” to be accepted. That’s what it’s like at colleges that admit fewer than 20% students. You have a shot, but odds are minuscule. These odds apply to you, too, no matter how exceptional you are. Applicants to these schools are almost all exceptional and 80%, 90%, 95% of them are denied. Now add to this that it’s even harder for internationals.
The only way you can attend a US college is if you include a variety of schools with selectivity below 20%, 20-30%, and in the 30-50% range. If you are just after prestige, you can throw in your lot and apply to local schools as well as US schools, but don’t underestimate the blow to your self esteem when being rejected by school after school (look at the many, many threads from kids with stellar credentials who were denied everywhere or close to everywhere…)
What kind of good schools should I apply also? Like Georgetown etc.?
USNWR is just a start, but you could start there. Look at national universities ranked up to 45 or so, and consider applying to the public universities’ Honors Colleges; add the national liberal arts colleges up to 50-60 and see which ones you find interesting.
Order the Fiske Guide, and/or Princeton Review’s Best colleges, and/or Insider’s Guide to the colleges. Start reading to find colleges that are “good fits”. (All of these guides focus on top colleges).
My EC’s are enough for uPenn Johns Hopkins?
Please pay attention. Nothing is “enough” for universities that admit 20% applicants (or fewer).
Instead of focusing on that, read descriptions and try to find good fits where admission rates are 20-30% and 40-50%. Once you’re done with that part, you can add whatever super selective college you want.
@duygue, two more questions:
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are you in the very top of your class, and is your school a top level school? It sounds like it. That is who gets into the “Ivy League” colleges: nearly half of them are either #1 or #2 in their class.
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is the main reason to go to the US to go to a school that would have a big ‘name’ at home (which means either “Ivy” or maybe, say, Stanford), OR is it that you want to go to the US no matter what, and want to get into the highest level US college that you can?
If you are only really planning to go to the US if you can get into a big ‘name’ school, you can ignore much of the advice here. You are a credible applicant, and that is really all that anybody can expect. So, just apply to the colleges that people at home have heard of and stop reading here.
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On the other hand If you are planning to go to the US no matter what then a lot of the advice here is useful.
First, though, decide architecture or not architecture (see below if you want to go the architecture route, which is separate to general undergrad) (Yale has an Architecture major, but that is a ‘pre-professional’ general degree, not a degree in Architecture).
Assuming that you are not going for Architecture, think about what you want from a college: big/small, rural/urban, sporty/intellectual, conservative/liberal, geography (coastal/inland/mountains, warm/cold, region of the US), strong core requirements/flexible curriculum, any subject specific elements. Answer those questions about you first (normally I would add $$, but you said that you are ok on that front).
With that you will be able to eliminate at lot of colleges. For example, Columbia and Brown are both “Ivy league”, but one is in NYC, and one is suburban, one has a strong ‘core curriculum’ and one is famous for it’s flexibility. Which one would be better for you? There is a lot of information about the facts and personalities of all of the competitive schools online.
As several people have mentioned the top 50-100 colleges are all academically rigorous and will have lots to offer you. Within that group you are looking at relatively small differences in opportunity for getting into graduate schools, for giving you research opportunities, for alumnae networks, for internship possibilities and so on- not to mention meeting a lot of interesting people and having an excellent college adventure. All of them are ones that you should consider a good use of your IB marks.
On the other hand, trying to guess whether your marks will get into JHU or Penn is a mug’s game: as many of the above posters have said, the marks are necessary but not sufficient to any of these colleges- and all of us here are just going on our own experience. None of us are (at least currently) on an admissions committee. So, look for colleges that suit you. Just make sure that for at least some of them your numbers put you in the top 15-20% of admitted students.
**Architecture is pretty much always a separate application, and not all the Ivy League schools offer it at undergraduate level (Harvard, for example, does not; Yale offers a ‘pre-professional major’). Here is a good list of the top schools for architecture (http://www.archdaily.com/295331/2013-united-states-best-architecture-schools/).
- Cornell University
- Southern California Institute of Architecture
- Rice University
- Syracuse University
- California Polytechnic State Univ., San Luis Obispo
- University of Texas at Austin
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- Rhode Island School of Design
- Iowa State University
- Auburn University
- Pratt Institute
- Carnegie Mellon University
- University of Notre Dame
- University of Oregon
- Boston Architectural College
- University of Southern California
- Cooper Union
- Pennsylvania State University
- University of Arkansas
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Notice that most of these are neither Ivy League nor especially ‘famous’ names (yes, I know Cornell is an Ivy, and that many have very good names, but OP & her/his friends / family are not likely to have heard of most of them). You will need to submit a portfolio to most (if not all- I didn’t look them all up!) of these programs.
Thanks for your respond 
Actually I can decide what I want exactly but the problem is If I want to study in US, I study at good colleges, If I cannot be accepted these colleges you showed me above, I would be able to being accepted good colleges in Turkey but I am an IB student you know and It gives me lots of qualities and achievements. My aim is not only being accepted in Ivies, actually good school and make me approach to my dreams.
There are lots of great schools in America beside Ivy League. You should really research schools. I heard that in China College Name is very important but those school are very different schools. You can look at this article from business insider there are more great colleges beside Ivy League. http://www.businessinsider.com/smartest-colleges-in-america-2014-10
I think one thing the OP may be having trouble understanding is the different between getting into a good college in Turkey and one in the US. I am married to a Turk and I lived and taught in Turkey so I know the systems are quite different.
In Turkey, getting into a university can only be done by taking an exam. This exam is offered once a year. The student applies to specific universities and majors. There are extra points given for specific secondary school programs - for example my niece attended a secondary school where she did an accounting program. This helped her get into accounting at the university she attended. In the end, the gov decides and the student “wins” a spot at a specific university with a specific major. One result. End of story. With this type of system it is really hard to understand how universities work in a totally different culture like the US. My husband is still getting his head around it. Our son is a Jr this year and is heading into the college application season.
The thing you have to realize @duygue is that the United States is rich with different options. There is a place here for everyone and most people in the US do not attend Ivies. Most people do not want to nor do they even apply. College Confidential is not typical of the US.
The above poster gave you a good list of schools for architecture (I know nothing about this degree). Your list is wide open if you choose psychology because it is at just about every school. But you also need to think about what type of place you want. If you have lived in a large city like Istanbul or Ankara you may have trouble in a rural setting (or you may LOVE the change of pace) but you need to go in with your eyes open.
You might also want to ask yourself if you want to be in a city with other Turkish people. I don’t mean at the school, but in the city. If you go to NY or Los Angeles you will have many Turkish people. If you head to Iowa maybe not as many. Think about this. It is significant.
Your best bet is to visit some schools. I see that you have been accepted for an art program for the summer in CA - if I read that correctly. If you are coming to CA you may want to visit some local schools of varying types just to see what they are like. It will help you make a list. When I took my (half Turkish) son to several schools this past month he completely changed his mind in terms of where he wants to go. The visit to the campuses really helps, especially in such a large an diverse country as the US.
Feel free to private message me if you have any questions. My understanding of Turkey as well as having a son your age might help me to explain the system better.
@duygue I am a Student in Turkey as well.can you please tell me what school you are in ? I am planning on changing my school.so it would be very helpfull if you could provide that information oe any suggestion abo
@xxsmeyyencexx duygue had not been on College Confidential since July. She or he probably won’t respond.
Okey thanks