International Student - Is it even worth it to do the SAT and apply to these colleges?

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Hello, I’m a German student currently living in Spain. I’ve been reading a lot about the Ivys and the top colleges in the US and i’d like to ask you if it’s even worth it for me to do the SAT or the ACT and apply for these.

I know that these posts are quite awful and that there a lot of, but I didn’t find enough information about my context by myself.

My informations (all grades are changed to US grades):

German, white, male, lower middle class, small public high school

The first 11 years of my life I lived in Spain and due to economical reasons we had to move to Germany. There I attended middle school and the first two years of high school (5th to 10th grade). After 10th grade we moved back to Spain. Right now I’m a Junior.

Grades:

GPA: About 3.9 uw (ranked 2/80 in Germany and 3/75 in Spain)

SAT: Not taken yet
ACT: Not taken yet

We don’t have AP’s in both countries but the difficulty is quite similar to IB.

Languages:

Spanish native
Catalan native
German native

Extracurricular activities:

  • Class president for last 6 years, school representative for 1 year and part of the school school council for 2 years.
  • Started a project that raised over 1000€ for UNICEF
  • Created small business in which we resell shoes and clothing with own website
  • Captain of the light and sound club
  • club-level tennis player since I was 11 years old
  • Internship at Stuttgart Airport
  • Helped kid with homework in the afternoon as a volunteer
  • Tutoring of kids and class mates in Math and Physics
  • I code since i was 11 and i've been part of small open sourced projects

Awards:

  • "Sozialpreis", an award given for the most "social" student in that school (the person who made the most projects, volunteering, etc).
  • Award for academic excellence.

Questions:

  • Do you guys think that it's worth taking the necessary tests to enter a US college if I only want to apply to the Ivy's ?
  • Do I have a great disadvantage as an international student from Europe?
  • Can I use my specific situation as a hook?

I know that you can’t tell me if i’d get in or not.
I only want to know if i should even bother taking the SAT/ACT.

I will only go to the US if I can get into one of the Ivys or can get a scholarship. I have many great opportunities here in Europe that I will take if this plan doesn’t work out.

Thank you in advance.

2

About 20% +/- of students at various Ivy League schools are international. Your grades and ECs make for a competitive applicant, so why not try? Sounds like you won’t be crestfallen if it doesn’t happen since you’ve got some good European opportunities. So if you feel like you can do well on the test, and don’t mind the work preparing for it, why not.

Though you shouldn’t just blanket the Ivys, there are some subtle and not so subtle differences between them. Really think about what you want and delve into the respective programs at these schools. European fit trumps US prestige.

Good luck!