Hello everyone,
Since I predict I will likely be rejected by all of the schools I apply this year, I immediately think about taking a year to boost my profile
Here is my current one, and my plan to improve in 1 year. Hope I will receive some honest opinions and suggestions from you (You can tell me to stop this process bc there’s no hope.)
Country: Vietnam
School: kinda prestigious, 3rd in the region, 10% acceptance rate (according to Wikipedia…)
Specialized class in English…but tbh I didnt achieve any big prize…but I studied French for 2 yrs, this is rare for public schools in VN.
Income bracket: 20k/year. Family contri: max of 7k/year (Ill leave it here bc it is the major reason why I think I will get rejections)
Hook: First generation
GPA: 9,0/10 so far, and hope to remain the consistency
SAT 1: 1420/1600 (superscore) (R+W: 630, M:790) -> will try my best to achieve at least 1500 next year
SAT 2: didnt take -> plan to take 4 subjects: Maths 2, Physics, Chem, Bio/World History (will make up my mind when I have a glance at the materials)
Academics achievement: I dont have even one to write on the list except for 1 regional prize in 9th grade (not really counts)
Essay: I am not a good writer… and yeah I will probably plan to read books and study 3000 new words to improve this and my CR score!!! (dont know if i could make it 
). Btw i didnt really have anyone to read the essays for me so that is kinda a disadvantage.
Recs: 1 is fully written by my counselor (have no idea what he wrote, but I believe it is pretty above average), I have 2 written by my friends then edited by me (in vn, teachers do not write rec for students so we have to make them up ourselves) -> I dont know how to boost this part but maybe ill add some more anecdotes and details.
EC: Pretty OK for a Vietnamese public high schooler
- Project Leader/Tutor for an online tutoring platform, organized 2 public events in 3-4 months. (I put a lot of time and hard work into this, but overall the commitment was only around 5-6 months, since the founder is too busy and she decided to put aside this project…)
- Freelance tutor for 2
- Maths tutor at a shelter for 3 orphans
- Class treasure (3 yrs), class vice secretary (2 years)
- Some school club members (community club and japanese club)
- Volunteer and Organize an event for HIV-infected kids (this makes me proud alot)
- Some other kids-related activities, I keep the event-organizing positions
I spent a great amount of time doing all the work.
Basically, the ECs are so community-related, I wonder will this be considered as Volunteer Work? If yes, I will have no real extracurricular activity that shows my hobby or talent (maybe teaching is a talent?). I dont think Ill be able to found any club bc there are way too many in my area already, and I dont want to add one bc of my application process.
=> The only way I ve come up to strengthen my EC list is to have an internship or a paid job in my gap year, continue to help the kids and teach for a few. I really want to focus on the vocab to increase my SAT scores and essays T.T
Schools applied and will be applying to this year: Sewanee, Dickinson (ED), Connecticut, Trinity - CT, Mount Hol, Soka, Skidmore (maybe ill save this school for next year?)
Schools for next year: since ill try my best to improve the sat score around 1500 or more (hope Ill get 1540), work on every aspect of the profile, I dont even have a match or a safe, only reach: Amherst, Williams, Rice, Bates, Smith, Wesleyan.
Thank you so much for your time. I know its too long to read, but pls help me T.T