hii intl student here, currently G9 but already freaking out
grateful if people can help look at my profile and give some advice demographic
Chinese mainland, Asian, lives in Beijing
might identify as les or bis, pronouns she and her academics
current rank 60/720 in grade, about top 800 in my district (20000 students approximately)
we don’t have gpa but my average score is a/95%
TOEFL 115/120 ECs (ranked according to importance)
Tsinghua University high resolution confocal microscopy study on tumor cells, paper not published, G8, with recommendation letter
MIT Model United Nations Conference, 2022, attendance
International Junior Science Olympics, High school level, second prize
World Scholars Cup global qualifier, national team no.55, Beijing no.6, beijing regional science champion
AMC8 high distinction, honor roll primary planning for high school
elite public high school international section IB (Brooklyn Tech level school) or IB in Europe or HongKong, considering A-levels in UK
(IB intended courses: HL-Econ, English Lang Lit, Math AA; SL-French, History, Chemistry
A-level intended courses-Econ, Politics, Chemistry, English, Advanced Math)
self-taught russian to B2
self-taught Latin, AP test if possible
AMC 10 (if possible make it to AIME), i am somewhat talented in math, getting 98% without listening or revising, in China
International Economics Olympics
MUN
More research!!!
intended college major PPE/politics and history/econ, dream schools Yale, LSE, Oxford, Columbia
thx in advance for any advice given on high school planning
It’s a bit too early in your journey but you seem to be on the right track. You have very good academic stats and impressive ECs. So keep that up, and do well in your SAT/ACT.
The big question is going to be the cost of attendance. Most schools are not need-blind for international students and some that are (like Yale and Columbia) are very, very competitive. So, what can your family afford? Would you be able to pay full price for 4 years? At Columbia, for example that equals $320,000 at current rates. So figuring out what you can afford is important.
My other pieces of advice:
You have only listed elite colleges that are hard for anyone to get into. What about these colleges attracts you (other than the brand)? Find other colleges that are also a good fit, easier to get into, and that you can afford or that can meet your financial need.
Have a plan B - safety schools in your own country that you’ll be happy going to if your plans to study abroad don’t materialize.
Are you currently attending an international school living in Beijing? If not, aren’t you studying for the Zhongkao for senior secondary in June? If you can attend an elite senior hs, don’t
you have to start studying for the Gaokao? Are you planning
to go one of the C9 league schools, I assume peking or tsinghua
which you have an advantage being in Beijing? You are also
competing against Indians, Koreans, Japanese, and everyone
else in Asia and the world for these international spots.
Also, you are thinking linear in your academics. There are many US citizens with equal or better stats who regularly get denied to the top schools.
If international hs school is your pathway and money isn’t a problem, then go for it. But if not, it will be very difficult to balance Chinese colleges vs international. Good luck.
For these interests, you may want to consider colleges with an available major in public policy, which relies on the fields of political science, economics and philosophy for its foundation. This site might help you focus your search:
Your budget is the all-important piece of information here.
If you are able to pay full price for a US private university, you will have many great options. If you’re able to full-pay the cost of a US public university, you will still have good choices, both among publics, and among privates that will give you enough of a merit discount to match public prices.
If you’re one of the many international students posting here, who hope to obtain full-ride (or close to full-ride) financial aid funding in the US, then the competition for those fully-funded international spots is fierce and getting accepted with the aid needed cannot be counted upon, even with a strong record.
So basically, nobody can give useful advice without more info about your financial profile.
thx for the advice! I’ll keep working toward my intended majors and be as academically successful as I can achieve
Yes money is a HUGE problem for me and my family because we are middle-income so I might be getting tutoring jobs to save up and I’ll be adding safety schools (if you are hard-working enough you can still learn as long as you are in a university, and taking tutoring jobs maybe i can save up for a good grad school. that’s my plan if i can’t get a scholarship), at the same time i’m going to be as well-rounded as i can be in hopes of getting financial aid.
as for why these colleges attract me–i’ve done research on the programs and future employment and school life and the overall academic atmosphere seems extremely attractive to me
as for schools in china, i know the top schools are looking for foreign language talents so i’ll keep track of those programs.
thx for your advices! really helpful!
elite senior high schools have international sections that require the mandatory chinese hs courses (which i’ve already started on my own, and find challenging but not impossible) as well as international course, i’m planning to get into one of those. my current zhongkao scores are within the selection range so i have a high chance (not to mention i have toefl and ecs that most students do not have)
plus i’m only grade 9 so i do have a lot of space for improvement on academics and i have loads of time for that
also plus i’ll be doing a lot more competitions and activities in hs so my ECs will ultimately grow longer and hopefully more impressive
yes i’m relatively poor but i can always work toward financial aid, as long as i beat the majority on academics. it will be hard but there’s always a chance, although a very slim chance
yes i totally forgot the financial part. my family is middle-income and there’s no chance of us affording the school fees in full, public or private, so i’ll have to work extremely hard. i get that. i understand that not everyone is born into a rich family and that life isn’t always fair. i’m actually making plans to do tutoring after my graduation from chinese junior high (thank you to the chinese government for banning out-of-school academic classes, they gave me new hope on entering the education world) and i’m already saving up for college. my family earns about 200000RMB per year, so i guess that put me behind the majority of the applicants…but hope is always there
You’ve achieved a great deal at a young age and I admire your attitude, dedication and energy. Just be careful not to burn out and be mindful of your physical and mental health.
As you probably know, UK universities care less about ECs (except those that are related to your intended course of study) so that might be a less exhausting path. The downside is that scholarships for international students are scarce.
I wish you good luck on your zhongkao test and hope you make it to one of the elite senior hs. Preparing for the gaokao and doing IB? Wow. Work hard and dream big. Good luck!
thx!!! actually elite hs international sections don’t require you to do the gaokao. you just have to take the mandatory part and you automatically get a diploma for hs graduation in china (which makes you eligible for attending gaokao but you don’t have to)
If you enter the US on a student visa, you will be able to work only a minimal number of hours. I think its 20 hours per week. If you work outside of these restrictions, you could be in jeopardy of losing your visa.
Financial aid will be a big issue for you. Mainly because most colleges are need-aware for internationals. Not need blind. That means they take finances into account when deciding who to admit. So that means the internationals they do accept are wealthy enough to pay for 4 years without aid.
There are only a handful of US colleges which are need blind for internationals: MIT, Harvard, Dartmouth, Amherst and a few others. These are also the most competitive.
Dozens of colleges with need-aware policies for international applicants admit international students who require, and will be offered, substantial financial assistance. The OP can seek colleges that meet the full demonstrated financial need of all accepted students, irrespective of national origin. This list will include a sufficient number of academically suitable options for her to explore. Nonetheless, she will be likely to encounter a highly selective admissions process. However, this represents the case for domestic applicants as well at most of the U.S. colleges that may be of interest to the OP.
Based on the experience of some of our interns and recent hires that are/were international students…
Yes, you can work up to 20 hours on campus. The majority of these are minimum wage jobs in the cafeteria, library, etc. There are a few very select jobs (in the administrative office, tech help, etc) that will pay higher but these are extremely competitive and can’t be counted upon. In either case, a side job as a student can provide supplemental income but definitely not enough by itself to fund your undergraduate education.
Yes, you cannot legally work outside the campus except during your summer/winter breaks under what’s termed “practical training” - i.e. an internship related to your major. If you’re in a STEM major this isn’t all that hard, but I’m not familiar with whetehr students in other majors get similar opportunities. The internship (depending on where you land) can be a good chunk of money but not enough to pay for 4 years of college.
Needing a lot of aid will make it tougher, but you have strong qualifications so it’s worth a try.
You might take a look at the Claremont Colleges in Southern California. Claremont McKenna is particularly known for its PPE, Government, and Econ programs, and the course offerings in History across the consortium are phenomenal. Scripps, the women’s college of the consortium, also offers the PPE major as well as poli sci, econ, and history. Pomona as well, although it’s even more competitive than CMC. Students can cross-register for classes across all five colleges, so it’s like a mid-sized university in terms of course offerings and opportunities. CMC has a substantially higher rate of admission for Early Decision applicants vs. regular decision (35% vs. 10% per College Transitions, although recruited athletes account for a significant share of that differential) They are need-aware for internationals but meet full need if they do accept you, so this could be a place to consider applying ED to improve your chances, if the Net Price Calculator shows the projected financial aid to be sufficient.