Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2380 (superscore)
[] SAT II: 800 (Math 2), 800 (Physics)
[] TOEFL: 111
[] GPA: 4.6 / 5.0
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): multiple prizes on national and international levels in Informatics and Math.[/li]
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): organized two summer programming courses for ~15 kids, won the environmental conference in Singapore with a project to reduce waste, became a spokesperson for overseas Vietnamese students on a tour across Vietnam, was an exchange student in Germany, organized tours across Moscow for foreign tourists, etc.
[] Job/Work Experience: algorithmic programmer in Vietnamese software company for half a year during the gap year.
[] Essays: I found them pretty neat, but not outstanding.
[] Recommendations: amazing, all the teachers and people I asked for recommendations knew me very well.
[] Interview: had with Princeton, MIT, and Harvard; they went very smoothly.
[] Supplementary Material: resume, diplomas, and several additional recommendations.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
[] Country (if international applicant): Vietnam (spent my whole life in Russia though)
[] School Type: public, best in Russia
[] Ethnicity: Asian
[] Gender: male
[] Income Bracket (mention if FA candidate): <$60,000
[/ul]
Basically, that’s it. I appreciate any questions you have and would like to answer your questions.
@humanordancer, no I didn’t apply during my senior year since I wanted to win another national prize in Informatics badly I decided I’d better have focused on that rather than on application process. In the end, the gap year turned out to be the best decision I have ever made. At first, it was only a means to win another prize during the senior year, but now I can say I have matured a lot due to activities I have participated in, which had little to do with school rather than with real life. I feel I am way more prepared for college now and know what I want to do with my life.
Hello, and congratulations! My twin sister and I are also doing a gap year. Do you have any tips for us? Also, did you take the SATs during this time or before? And one last thing, are you multilingual?
As a fellow international – congratulations!! Did you take any AP courses? Also, this probably differs greatly between countries, but where and how did you take your SAT IIs? At a prep institution, with a school…?
@torridall, I would suggest taking on an internship related to thing you want to major in–I did so and it provided me with new insights in my concentration, let alone a nice line in the resume. Also travel, I believe that would make a transition to real life easier. Having traveled and communicating with various people from different backgrounds, I broke the academic bubble I gained new perspectives on what I intend to pursue as well as learnt to accept the diversity of the world. Take up some hobby bc you’ll be very bored after the application process is over.
@Ciella, I took SATs in some international school I have nothing to do with. I prepared for SAT Subject Tests on my own. For SAT Reasoning Test, the only tutor I had was an essay reader.
@paul2752, you need to read a little more thoroughly. The OP wrote: “I would love to try to answer questions international students encounter during the app process since CC provided me with much information,” What’s so hard to understand about that?
Would you recommend waiting a year to win a highly prestigious competition (like IMO for ex.) for someone who has not won such awards? I can see how it would significantly help, but I am not sure it is worth a year, especially since you could leverage the award if waitlisted. Thanks!
Edit. I worded my question wrong. I’m actually wondering if it is even worth trying for such a competition junior year, or simply apply. I doubt I will have the vitality to try if I plan on attending whatever since waitlisted is not a very significant consideration for me. I wasn’t planning on studying in the summer but I was wondering if I should prep for a competition
@andyis, pardon me if I got your question wrong. I am huge fan of doing things I like. So if you think IMO what you would enjoy doing, go for it and take a gap year. If you get a medal, that would be a boost. I personally took a gap year partly because I enjoy programming and wanted to participate in the National Olympiad in Informatics in Russia for the last time, to get the vibe of coding four tasks in five hours. I had a dream of attending IOI but I was pretty realist to know that there were people who dedicate way more time to programming and are more proficient. But I did score high enough to become a prizewinner which definitely boosted my application. So again, if you enjoy Math enough to work hard for IMO, it is the chance you can’t waste. By the way, during the gap year, you can learn more about real life which also helps at college. I am a gap year supporter no matter the reason. My gap year was just the best decision I made in my short life so far.
