<p>Hi, this september I'll be a junior. So far can you tell me if I've got any chances in Ivy Colleges and other big colleges like Stanford, MIT, Caltech et.c?
I am an international student.</p>
<p>GPA:
9th Grade: 3.93/4
10th Grade: 3.90/4</p>
<p>PSAT: 66 Math (98%), 64 Writing (97%), 62 Reading (96%)
SAT: 800 Math, 560 Reading(ouch!), 640 Writing (9 essay)
(I will sit the SAT again in October)</p>
<p>Extra-Curricular Activities:
-2nd regionally in national math competition (9th grade, 10 grade)
-top 10 national informatics competition(8th - 10 grade)
-14th in Junior Balkan Olympiad in Informatics
-Participation in 3 consecutive selection camps for the national informatcs team (national record :P)
-top 5 in regional impromptu speaking tournament
-Debating club for 4 years
-10 years play the violin. 1st national and regional awards with the school orchestra. 2nd internationally
-volunteerism in a hospital for one year and in a clinic for another year.
-accepted in Stanford's EPGY Summer Program with Scholasrhip</p>
<p>I know that SAT is my weak point :( </p>
<hr>
<p>1)Do you have any other ideas on where to focus? </p>
<h2>2)And most importantly do I have chances for the aforementioned colleges?</h2>
<p>Your PSAT percentiles are definitely messed up. There is no way that 62 is 96%. I got 71 and it was only 96%ile. As for your chances.</p>
<p>You will definitely get denied from Caltech and MIT unless you get all your scores up within the 700's - even 2100 would make you only in the 15%ile of accepted applicants. </p>
<p>Your EC's are mediocre, you're international and have no specific math/science related hook. To be totally honest its mad hard already to get into top schools as an international but coupled with the fact that you are competing with applicants who frequently score in the 2200s and are in the top levels of math competitions, science fairs etc. you need to do a lot of work.</p>
<p>Brutally honest = better chance thread than being optimistically unrealistic.</p>
<p>I got a 62 and was in 96%. When did you sit the test? Also I know people that got in MIT and Caltech with lower scores but this is not the case. I know that my scores are not good and I will ameliorate them. But why do you think that my ECs are mediocre? I know a person that got in Yale with: 800 M, 680 CR, 690 W and no ECs...</p>
<p>Rferns sorry but I don't think you have a complete image since I've seen other people with no paticular ECs and SAT have more chances in other threads. My school has a long-living tradition of "sending" kids to Harvard and Yale and I can compare myself to them. I may not me confident about my SATs, but about my ECs I am. I'm not an IMO medallist, but not just IMO medallists with 2400 SATs get into those schools.</p>
<p>I would like others to give me their opinions, too.</p>
<p>the sats are your weak point?! you're a sophomore man, just have fun. you have 2 more years of SATs ahead of you, just chill out and enjoy high school as much as you can.</p>
<p>Why did you ask people to chance you if you were going to get mad when we told you that some schools were big reaches. You cant just compare yourself to higher level kids because you go to the same school as them, thats like me saying that I should stand out equally to my friend who has a 2390. You have honestly lost sight of the better things in life my friend. Work hard, chill out and have some fun. You will miss it all soon after its over.</p>
<p>BTW, I never suggested that elite college admission was painfully elitist. The problem is that as of now you are stuck in the difficult middle ground between high scorers w/o EC's and low scorers with too much fluff. </p>
<p>The ideal scenario would be high scores with little fluff (almost completely substantive EC's). Right now you dont have really good scores and your EC's are far too typical and not topical enough for high level technical schools. Additionally as I have told many chancers before, leadership and quantity is irrelevant w/o substantive accomplishments. too many of your ECs look like "just for the sake of" activities. </p>
<p>You can get mad at me, but this is only in your best interest.</p>
<p>Yeah you're off, colleges like HYPSM look for focus and not application padding. If you don't believe me go to the Harvard forum and look through all the applicants who have been rejected and accepted. And just because a student got accepted into an ivy league, does not mean he knows the admission process, neither do I, but a lot of people on this forum know it a lot better than most people.</p>
<p>Rferns sorry for getting mad at you. As stephenn said I've got two more years and in the past years I've been collecting experiences (10th Grade is when the high school begins in my country and so I am the small one in every competition I take part). My target now is to do well in October SAT. And I believe I will. But what do you think that it's some kind of "prerequisite" to have more chances? IMO/IOI medals? national olympiad medals? </p>
<p>And Rh. I don't just do stuff for the sake of doing. I have a reason for everything. My answer above may sound naive, but I'm not.</p>
<p>One more thing. What do you think about my GPA? I'm not from US and I don't know these stuff very well.</p>
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Right now you dont have really good scores and your EC's are far too typical and not topical enough for high level technical schools.
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</p>
<p>Uh, how is 14th in the Junior Balkan Olympiad or 10th in the national olympiad for informatics not topical enough for technical schools?</p>
<p>I think you have really good chances, especially with all your Olympiad stuff, but then applying as an international can be really tough, with Olympiad medalists getting rejected a lot of times. Just keep doing what you're doing, and you should be fine. For your GPA and SAT scores, it would probably be best to ask other people who went to your school and applied to colleges in the US, and to try to get comparable or better numbers for those areas.</p>
<p>Can't you guys read that he's an international? I mean the Junior "Balkan" Olympiad should give it away...that would also explain the PSAT percentiles in case you guys didn't realize that...HUGE reaches for all of them srsly...your country doesn't sound very competitive nor do your current scores come close to qualifying you (an international competing with other intls with much higher SATs).</p>