International Student Chances - Physics

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi everyone, thanks in advance for reading my post.
I’m an international student from Europe, currently studying in an US High School for and Exchange Program. I’m a senior, and I already applied for Physics at this Universities:

  • Cornell
  • Gerogia Tech
  • Boston University
  • U Michigan
  • UC Berkeley
  • UCLA
  • UC Santa Barbara
  • UC San Diego
  • UC Santa Cruz
  • UC Davis

I know, a lot of Colleges! Anyway, also applied to MIT, Caltech, Stanford… But I don’t want to bother anyone because I know it’s a crapshoot for everyone. (If you have any comments about those Uni, however, be free to tell me).

Here my stats:

  • ACT : 31
  • SAT Math Level 2 : 770
  • SAT Physics : 730
  • TOEFL : 110/120
  • Current Courses : AP Physics , AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics
  • GPA: don't use GPA in my country, but the one that I currently have here in the US is 4.65. (All As)
  • Ranking (HOME-Country) : we do not rank, however I asked the principal. I'm TOP 5% (1200 students) in Physics and Math, and TOP 10% overall.

ECs:

  • 100+ Hours of Charity for an association in my country.
  • Played Basketball for 7 years competitively. Won a National Tournament in 2010 in my country.
  • Taken two EdX online courses. One at Hurvey Mudd College about waves mechanics, and the second one at Boston University about systems of differential equations.
  • Started, and President, of a Language Club in my US-High School. Almost 50 people joined.
  • Spent an intense 4 weeks program at Oxford University this summer. 2 Weeks of Theoretical Physics and 2 weeks of Advanced Mathematics. Take seminars with PhD students and professors at the University. Worked on interesting papers.
  • Extreme passion for math and physics. Self-studied college level topics alone. I've talked about that in some essays, and how this personal challenge changed me.

ESSAYS & RECs:

Common App Essay : Brilliant, one of the best essays I have ever written. I’d say 9/10.

Other essays : good, nothing special, but solid. 7/10

Recommendation letters : EXTREMELY good, I have 5, all of them really detailed and beautiful. When I read those I cried.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

2

Did you apply for financial aid?

3

No, I did not.

4

Eight out of your core ten and perhaps a couple from the remaining five. Good luck.

5

Thanks for responding! Anyone else ?

6

You have everything going for you except your ACT score. That might be low for Cornell, UMich, Gtech and Berkeley and any of HYPSM you might have applied to.

Did you already apply or are you applying next year?

7

I already applied. I know, my ACT might a bit lower for those. Do you think I’ll get into at least one of my list? I’m just a bit nervous, college decisions are near!
Thanks anyway :slight_smile:

8

I think you won’t get into any of your crapshoots (which includes Cornell). I say no at Georgia Tech, yes at BU, no at Mich, UCB or UCLA, and yes to the rest of the UC’s.