New here and needing some chancing :)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey guys!
So after reading through this forum, I decided to join and see what my chances for colleges are! Anyway, here goes:</p>

<p>I'm an Asian Male (International) with a Dutch nationality currently applying from China. I am 16 years old, and have a lot of international living and study experience (might work in my favor) I might say one of my great strengths is my ability to converse with and befriend people from all different backgrounds. That's essay material though, so nvm that for the moment.</p>

<p>Here's my stats
IB Diploma Student
GPA: 3.5 UW 3.75 W (one failed math test terribly hurt me here O.o)
Rank: 43/254
SATI: CR: 750 Math: 790 Writing 680
SATII: Math IIC: 800 Physics 800 Literature 750
I have yet to take the IB predicted score tests, so I might update on that.</p>

<p>ECs</p>

<p>8th Grade
Organized a mass (whole school) shoebox donation to children in poverty near the rural areas of beijing.
Vice President of Student Council.
Volunteered for 100 hours at a retirement home.
Won third place in a computer game design competition.
Organized an basketball competition between international schools in Beijing.
Only middle-schooler (starter) on basketball team composed otherwise of juniors and seniors.
Co-organized a charity fair in order to raise money for a local orphanage.</p>

<p>9th Grade (bit weak, mainly cause of new school I guess)
Taught English to children living in my hometown for summer. Also gave a talk about studying and life outside of China.
Sports Department Leader for Student Council.
Won two Middle School Basketball competitions for the whole of Shanghai.
Excellent IT project prize
10th Grade
Class Representative
Volunteered for orphanage and retirement home visits.
President of Basketball Club
President of College Club
Basketball Team captain.
Shot putt gold medal in Annual Sports Meet (with a sprained foot)
Volunteered at an English First center for 50 hours to teach english.
3rd Place in Shanghai Expo English Competition.
11th Grade
99th percentile for PSAT, although not eligible for National Merit since I'm a non-US citizen.
Student Body Department leader for Student Council.
100 hours spent teaching English in a school for migrant children and planning a sanity fair.
Spent 45 hours teaching English to managerial staff of a four-star hotel. (planned lessons and teaching methods by myself)
Planted trees in order to benefit the city.
Champion of High School Basketball Competition for Shanghai
Manager of Ticket Sales for the Arts Charity Extravaganza, an activity that encompasses most international schools in Shanghai which raised 40000 RMB (approximately 6000USD) for orphanage.</p>

<p>I have yet to do any significant ECs in 12th grade</p>

<p>Bit about myself:
I'm a guy who relishes being a leader who also dislikes the idea of working for others, and thus I have a dream of becoming my own boss, a chairman of a successful company, in the future. Therefore, my major would most definitely be business, or perhaps economics. Apart from that, it is evident from my ECs that I have a certain fancy for teaching.
Anyways I'm currently interested in these universities:
Stanford (First choice)
Columbia
Duke
Stern (NYU)
University of Virginia
USC
UCLA
University of Chicago
Babson
University of Michigan
Rice University</p>

<p>I guess I'm aware that Stanford and the Ivies are extremely high reaches, but I'd like to know my chances for the other universities. I'd also like to know if you guys recommend any universities that I might be interested in. Once again, thanks for reading through this incredibly long post, and I hope you all give me some great feedback!</p>

2

<p>Bump! I’m really hoping for some answers at least. Thanks!</p>

3

<p>If you can finance college yourself, your chances are better. Internationals needing aid are in the toughest position.
Is there a good story that explains why one failed math test could wreck your GPA?
UCLA is about as hard to get into as the top ivies from out of state.
It’s hard to say what your chances are, since your profile is so unusual. Your scores are fantastic, you write unusually well, your ECs are interesting.
Some of the colleges may reject you quickly because of your GPA. Raise it as high as possible.
Put your writing skills to work for your University of Chicago application. They’ll appreciate it. Of course, Chicago does not offer an undergraduate business degree.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for replying!
Well, financing college shouldn’t be an issue, as my family’s finances are satisfactory to say the least.
Wow, that’s really useful to hear. I never expected it to be that hard to get into UCLA O.o
Also, about the GPA: my school’s GPA system values math the most, and since a fail is a 0 GPA, it dragged my GPA down by at least 0.4 points. I was sick on test day, but that sounds too generic of an excuse, so I’m a bit worried about that. Also, I take the IB HL math class, which is unusually hard because the teacher likes to push us to the extreme but doesn’t really care about high grades. This of course, ultimately works against me in the applications process. If I chose the SL class, I’m confident to say that my UW GPA would be a 3.8 to 3.9; I guess it’s a mistake on my part. I’ll try my best to work on my math and my GPA, but Chinese schools can be awfully tough.
I honestly don’t consider myself to have good writing ability, but thanks for the praise, and I’ll be sure to work my butt off for the Chicago application essays! (And I can always apply for the economics major, although it is very difficult)
Oh and one question: Do you know which colleges are likely to reject me just by looking at my GPA?</p>

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<p>Big publics have the reputation of doing that. UCLA, Michigan, and UVA.</p>