International student - chance at 18 schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi. I am an international student coming from Romania, and I am going to graduate from high school in 2013. </p>

<p>Here are my stats:</p>

<p>SAT I: 1950 (570CR 700M 680W)
SAT II: Math I: 670, Physics: 680
TOEFL test: 101 (28 reading, 25 listening, 23 speaking, 25 writing)</p>

<p>GPA (including first semester of senior year): 3.8 out of 4
Highest GPA in class: 3.88 out of 4
No class rank
Courses: mostly Mathematics, Computer science, English, Physics
There are no AP equivalent courses available in our educational system whatsoever.</p>

<p>Extracurricular activities (the order is from the Common App):
- 6th to 9th grade: student exchange program in the UK, host for international students, volunteered in the UK, organised field trips for the English kids
- 11th grade: Euroscola project: I have developed a case study on an influential person for the European Union, and I then represented Romania in a day-long mock session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France
- 11th grade: member of staff at the Online Career Day 2012 conference: I designed banners to advertise the event, I set up the sound equipment, I filmed the event and then video edited the recording
- 10th to 12th grade: mentoring middle school children (helping with homework and projects), at home or over the Internet
- 9th to 12th grade: photographer for school events, have hosted multiple exhibitions inside school, hobby
- 10th to 11th grade: member of the Student Body: I organised volunteering actions and was part of the organisational team for the Freshman party in 2011
- 10th grade: participated in a national Model UN conference
- 11th grade: I developed case studies on School Bullying and translated given texts from English to Romanian, as part of an international project</p>

<p>Honors:
- 9th to 11th grade: special prize for critical thinking at a national Creative Physics contest
- 9th to 12th grade: second prize at regional English Olympiad
- 10th to 11th grade: silver certificate at an international Logics contest
- 9th grade: second prize at a national interdisciplinary contest
- 10th grade: special prize at a regional ecological entrepreneurship fair</p>

<p>Short essay: about my participation in the partnership between my school and the school in the UK, and the things that I have learned through these activities
Long essay: "Words made me become a dad": about the friendship between me and a boy five years younger than me, and the great influence that we've had on each other (everyone who has read it considered it a really strong and original essay)</p>

<p>Recommendations: strong recommendations, showing my qualities through real examples, from the counsellor (which is also my Headroom and Geography teacher), English teacher, and Computer Science teacher</p>

<p>Background:
- divorced parents, live with mom, barely keep in touch with dad (I would really love not to rely on his help - his income is only about 9.000$ per year anyway)
- household income: around 34.000$ per year
- will need a good amount of financial aid (can only afford to pay around 6.000$ per year)</p>

<p>Intended majors:
- Computer Science
- Information Systems
- Science, Technology & Society</p>

<p>The colleges that I am applying to:
- Brandeis University
- Bucknell University
- Colby College
- Colgate University
- Connecticut College
- Cornell University
- Dartmouth College
- Franklin and Marshall College
- Gettysburg College
- Jacobs University Bremen
- Lafayette College
- Lehigh University
- Middlebury College
- Oberlin College
- Trinity College (Connecticut)
- Trinity University (San Antonio) - applying Early Decision II
- University of Richmond
- Vassar College</p>

<p>I would be happy to attend any of these colleges, even though I know there are a lot of differences between them. So what do you think my chances are?</p>

2

<ul>
<li>Brandeis University: High match</li>
<li>Bucknell University: Reach</li>
<li>Colby College: Reach</li>
<li>Colgate University: Reach</li>
<li>Connecticut College: High match</li>
<li>Cornell University: Reach</li>
<li>Dartmouth College: Reach</li>
<li>Franklin and Marshall College: Match</li>
<li>Gettysburg College: Low match</li>
<li>Jacobs University Bremen: Match</li>
<li>Lafayette College: High match (pay attention to your interviews)</li>
<li>Lehigh University: Match</li>
<li>Middlebury College: Reach</li>
<li>Oberlin College: Reach</li>
<li>Trinity College (Connecticut): Reach</li>
<li>Trinity University (San Antonio) - applying Early Decision II: Safety (low match if RD)</li>
<li>University of Richmond: High match</li>
<li>Vassar College: Reach</li>
</ul>

3

<p>Dartmouth/Cornell-High reach
Lehigh/Trinity(SA)-Match
Not sure about the rest. Good luck!</p>

4

<p>Any other opinions on my chances at Bucknell, Colgate or Oberlin? I might get them off my list if my chances are so low.</p>

5

<p>You have made a big mistake in applying ED II to Trinity TX. Email them and say you want your application to be an RD one instead. Look at Common Data Sets (CDS) Section H6 and you’ll see that most of your other places are much better for international FA. ED II will prevent you from seeing other offers. So you’ll never know where you else might get in and with what FA.</p>

<p>EDII is for those who are certain.</p>

6

<p>OHHHHH I am so sorry. I applied EA, not ED !</p>

7

<p>Bucknell has very few internationals on FA. I would not scratch Oberlin.</p>

8

<p>Firstly, 18 universities? Woah, you do have a lot of patience!! I had a tough time completing 7!! :)</p>

<ul>
<li>Brandeis University: Low Reach</li>
<li>Bucknell University: Low Reach</li>
<li>Colby College: Low Reach</li>
<li>Colgate University: High Match</li>
<li>Connecticut College: Match</li>
<li>Cornell University: High Reach</li>
<li>Dartmouth College: Low to High Reach</li>
<li>Franklin and Marshall College: Dunno</li>
<li>Gettysburg College: Low match</li>
<li>Jacobs University Bremen: Low Match</li>
<li>Lafayette College: High match (pay attention to your interviews)</li>
<li>Lehigh University: Dunno</li>
<li>Middlebury College: Low Reach</li>
<li>Oberlin College: Reach</li>
<li>Trinity College (Connecticut): Dunno (I’ve only heard of the more renowned Trinity,Dublin & Trinity, London)</li>
<li>Trinity University (San Antonio) - Dunno</li>
<li>University of Richmond: Match</li>
<li>Vassar College: Match</li>
</ul>

<p>Anyway, these ^ chances might vary depending on your FA situation. I only know that Cornell, Dartmouth, Middlebury are need blind for Intn’ls but then again they are already reaches!!
Final Verdict - You will surely get into atleast 1 of the 18 Universities with decent FA, so no worries!!</p>

<p>And I loved the idea of your essay!! :)</p>

9

<p>Hey I’m also from Romania , TM :slight_smile: message me if you want to</p>