My chances as an international student?

Student Lounge International Students
1

Hey! Sorry to bother you guys I’m an international student from Nepal (under represented nationality?) and intend to apply to Yale, Princeton, Cornell, MIT, Columbia, Amherst, Swarthmore, Williams, Duke. Safety colleges- Vassar, Hamilton (maybe SCEA). What are my chances of getting in? My stats are here below:

SAT I: 2250 breakdown (CR-700, M-800, W-750)
SAT II: Biology E/M 780, Math I- 800
GPA: 82% which is a really good score in my school.
Rank: school doesn’t rank but probably top 10%-ish
No AP courses or whatsoever cause they’re not available in any school in Nepal

Subjects and predicted results: A level- Physics(A), Chemistry(A), Math(A*), Biology(A) and General paper (A)
The minimum credits required to graduate is 7. I hold 9 credits.

EC activities: president and founder of debate club (2yrs), numerous debate and public speaking awards (inter-school and regional), Honorable mention award in Nepal’s first and really big International MUN conference, Vice chair of a committee in another big international MUN conference (~500 students), attended other international MUN conferences in India and Nepal (passionate about debating)
Class representative (grade 10), 250+ hours of community service (which includes 80 hours volunteering in a hospital), took the initiative of building a library at a remote village in Nepal, Executive member of school’s Interact club (1year) promoted to Secretary in my senior year, have been playing badminton for 4 years- school team captain, represented school in an inter-school badminton tournament, interned at a bank for 3 weeks during winter break, attended several writing and debate workshops, writer at school magazine, recently i’ve joined a music institution where I’m learning guitar, also I tutor 2 8th graders (3hrs/week), member of numerous other clubs (poetry club, math club, theatre club etc)

(There are rarely any research opportunities available in my country for high school students)

Intended major- Biology (looking forward to a premed track, aspire to become a doctor after working at a hospital, also because of my already existent interest in sciences)
Teacher recommendations: 9/10, 9/10 maybe
Counsellor recommendation- 10/10 (knows me really well )
Common App Essay: 9/10? (Wrote about how my aunt is an inspiration to me and how she’s been able to carve a niche in my personality, taught me not to despair during difficult times)

Applying for financial aid but that doesn’t matter at Ivy leagues.

Thanks :slight_smile:

2

You look pretty good on paper, but as with all elite school admissions it’s hard to say whether you will get in, and whether you will get enough aid to attend. Much of it depends on who else applies from your country. Compare your stats to students who applied early in the Colleges and Universities and Ivy League threads (listed on the left) on this site. That will give you some insight. Good luck! And give us an update when you have your results!

3

Hey @vassan777 ! I’m from Nepal too.

First thing–your “safety” colleges–Vassar and Hamilton–are by no means safeties. Safeties should be guaranteed acceptances. And unfortunately, colleges like Vassar and Hamilton do not fulfill that criteria, especially for international students like us. I’m not trying to be pessimistic; I’m just advising you to be careful. I speak from experience.

Your numbers and activities are great though! And I’m sure you’ll get into an awesome school. However, your current list is almost exclusively high-profile, so I suggest you to try to expand it a little. Research the schools you are applying to and make sure you fit their mold. Early admission plans are your best bets, so make sure you make full use of them. And lastly, write some kick-ass essays.

You have pretty good chances. Good luck!

4

First of all,Students from Nepal is NOT an URM in USA by any means, there is a special Nepal forum here at CC. READ it.

Secondly, Ivies are not in your pocket right now with your stats. You are competing with SAT 2400 students from South East Asia mostly from India and Pakistan, Nepal as well.

Third, your other "safeties: are not safeties at all, because they are need aware schools and they will compare.

Better off also apply to those automatic international full ride scholarship schools Starting with U. Alabama and Howard. also you should apply Berea, they take 5% internationals as free ride.

5

U of Alabama scholarship deadline has passed. I doubt Howard University still gives scholarship at this point, since that one is a first-served.(doesn’t hurt to apply though to second one)

OP, your stats are not really bad, but as a whole you will face a huge, huge competition. Also, you need some REAL safeties. Vassar is one of the top 20 or 30 liberal arts school, and Vassar isn’t a safety for anyone.

Did you even do researches for all these schools?? Hamilton does NOT have SCEA. It has ED whose deadline has passed long long time ago. All of your schools’ early admissions are past due date(ED, EA, SCEA)

6

I’m applying for the class of 2020. I still have 7-8 more months to boost the quality of my stats.

7

How? Will you win an international debate award? I am a sincerr question

8

Yes my school will be funding my travel to Indonesia for a major international debate competition. Maybe I have a chance? And on June 2015, Nepal will have another International MUN conference. I stand a chance of winning in both the competitions.

9

Are you a senior?

10

Nope. Junior

11

In that case you have a lot of time to research other schools - you should change your list to include less selective universities that where competition for scholarships/financial aid is less intense.