I’m been living in Ghana for 12 years but i’m originally from India. I’m 17 and going to Upper six for my A levels.
I finished my IGCSEs last year with 9 A stars in all my subjects, also winning best overall IGCSE student in Ghana, and also best student for physics, chemistry, biology and maths. I’m doing Maths, Physics, Chemistry and AS Economics for Upper six. I’ve written SATs twice with my highest score being 1470 with a superscore of 800 in Maths and 700 in English. I also took subjects tests with 740 in Math 2 and 800 for Physics for which I was self-taught. I also attended the math olympiad camp and has been selected to write a qualifying exam for IMO 2019.
For extracurriculars, I have a blue belt in Sito-ryu karate, member of the school soccer team and volleyball team as well as the sports committee. I engage in fitness activities and i’m always looking to pick up new skills such as swimming, running, and various types of workouts. I also taught some kids football at a local public school as a volunteer. I also have a bit of programming experience in Python by courses i’ve taken online. I’ve maintained straight As and A stars for most of my high school life and was the top scorer of my previous high school.
So with all this what chance do I have of getting into an Ivy league or any other prestigious university to pursue computer science or electronic engineering with a generous scholarship or aid? Also please suggest any universities I can apply to and any tips. Thanks.
You can apply to the Ivy League schools. But it’s very, very competitive and your chances are not very good. No one’s chances are very good. All the international students who apply have amazing stats and accomplishments and are competing for a limited number of available spots. Look through these threads and this site for lists of other schools which offer good financial aid. Be prepared to work very hard on your applications, and have a back up plan that doesn’t involve studying in America.
See this link to the Harvard website that provides the number of international students at Harvard. http://www.hio.harvard.edu/statistics According to this page there is 1 student from Ghana attending Harvard College. The Ivies are need blind and will meet full need for international students. What is hard to gauge is how you will be compared given that you are an Indian living in Ghana.
@BKSquared Actually only three of the ivies are need-blind - Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. MIT and Amherst are also need-blind for internationals.
Remove that limit of “Ivy league or any other prestigious university” and you have a better chance. If you apply to only the top schools, considering your stats, you could end up with rejections and waitlists. Sure, you could get lucky, because it’s almost always luck, but you could also be unlucky and end up with nothing.
Have you heard of liberal arts colleges? Yes sire, that is where you should look. Let me recommend Lafayette, Trinity College, Union, and Lehigh. These are liberal arts colleges that offer an engineering degree and meet 100% of demonstrated need.
If you let us see your current list of schools we could tell you which ones to add and remove.
Harvard may have 1 undergrad from Ghana, but has a larger number throughout the university.
Your extracurriclulars are only sports and physical fitness? You need to read up on what the tippy top colleges expect. It’s not just a matter of other applicants from Ghana, but adjacent countries, as well. And though your academics are strong, you can’t know that competition. That will include kids who have deeper and broader ECs. For CS and EE, more than sports and one language learned online.
When you look at other colleges, be sure to check their info on financial aid to internationals and whether they are need aware for admissions. Also, “meet 100% of need” usually means you still have a contribution to make. Be as informed as you can be.
@goatking That is a verrry short list. Most internationals do what is called “shotgunning” which is applying to a large number of schools; this means the number of schools can go up to thirty. Common App limits you to 20 schools, but the Coalition App can let you go up to 30. So you can combine both; use Coalition where possible, Common otherwise.
For your early applications, you can choose to apply Early Action to schools that offer it. You can choose to apply Early Decision to one school along with the Early Action schools. Or you can choose to apply Restrictive/Single Choice Early Action to a school that offers it (Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Stanford) and no Early Action or Early Decision school.
Building your list (you need to apply to schools that meet 100% of demonstrated need and schools that offer full merit aid scholarships).
Like MYOS asked, are you recruitable in any sport? As in good enough to play for the university?
@gigichuck i can’t tell if i’m good enough to play at university level but for my high school I would say i am one of the top players in the volleyball team that we have but here the training facilities are poor and the school population is low that we have to divide out attention to many different sports.
OP, the ECs are weak for HYPS. Not competitive for CS or EE, where they expect relevant preparation and experience and the competition will have it.
I think you haven’t properly researched what tippy tops look for or you would have made adjustments before now. You can’t even make your best presentation in the app and supps, if you don’t know what matters.
It’s not just about stats. But the 700 is low for HYPS and the 740 may be.
Learn what holistic is about. Learn other college options.
@goatking It wouldn’t hurt to contact the coaches at schools you’re interested in and tell them you’re interested in playing volleyball. They’d probably ask for video footage and experience and then decide if they’re interested or not. Wouldn’t hurt to try.
The link to the US News website is a good place to start to build your list.
There is no perfect applicant. The strength of your ECs is simply a matter of the opportunities you’ve had and what you’ve done with them.
Now for your list, leave HYPS on your list. Have you checked out the ones I listed above, because I think you have a shot at them. Throw in Amherst and MIT as well (MIT has its own application by the way) because that “need-blind” factor is very important. Have you heard of Minerva Schools at KGI? Check them out and if you like them, apply there as well.
Vanderbilt and Duke have competitive merit aid scholarships in addition to meeting full need. Check them out.
Williams, Swarthmore, Pomona, Wesleyan, Haverford are some top liberal arts colleges you should also look at. Some of the other Ivies too should be on your list.
Then the schools with at least a double digit acceptance rate - Connecticut College, Macalester, Kenyon, Bates etc.
Are international students admitted based on where they live or on the countries of which they are citizens? In other words, will OP be compared against other candidates from sub-saharan Africa or against the huge pool of top-stat applicants from India?
