No SCEA/EA/ED - hurt my chances?

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Hi, I am a rising senior in Canada and i dunno whether i should apply to any schools EA/ED (due to my SAT scores). Grades/preparation-wise, i think time isn't a problem but i am realli worried about sat scores.</p>

<p>Because EA/ED scores must be in by the November test date and i haven't taken any SAT IIs yet, i am not sure if i can make it. I am planning to retake the new SAT in Oct and the 3 SAT II's (probably math IIC/bio/phys) in Nov. I also noticed that the Chinese SAT II would be in Nov as well. Would colleges disregard the chinese sat score if i am a native speaker? </p>

<p>I am lookin @ ivies... I wanted to apply Harvard EA but lookin at my stats, i think it might hurt my chances if i apply EA because of the greater competition among EA applicants. I thought about applying to the "lower" ivies - (brown/dartmouth/cornell/columbia) ED but i am not sure if i will be able to make it. If i was lucky enough to get in lesser ivies ED, and some deities helped me into harvard/yale/or princeton RD...then i would have to decline the offer from my big threes...so stressed</p>

<p>Could u help me by assessing my chances (EA/ED/RD) at these american universities? It would realli help me when i apply to them this coming fall. =)</p>

<p>SAT : 2070 (730 V 690 M 650 W essay: 10) - i was expecting 2250 + since i prepped hard and was expecting 800 M so i didn't practice the math parts on prac tests XD. retaking in oct of sure - ~ 2250?</p>

<p>SAT II: my school doesn't have single-yr courses so i couldn't take the sat ii's sonner. I am studying for these in the summer and possibly taking them in Nov. </p>

<p>HS n stuff:</p>

<p>IB Diploma (5 HL, 2 SL) Predicted Grades
English A1 - 6/7 HL
French B - 6/7 SL
History - 5/6 HL
Bio - 6/7 HL
Math -5/6 HL
Physics -6 SL
extra certificate - Chem-4/5 HL (ouch)</p>

<p>Total (+2/3 Bonus) - 36 ~ 42/45 predicted </p>

<p>Grades- i dunno my exact GPA and our school doesn't rank. but i have approx 6 A's and 2 B's (the occasional 5 A 3 B argh)</p>

<p>ECs-</p>

<p>Violin (gr.8 certificate RCM); various awards at kiwanis festivals (local though)</p>

<p>School involvement - Science newspaper (editor); school languages newspaper (vice EIC); student ambassador; world vision committee; ib leader; peer tutor in all subjects; reading program at elementary schools; top english gr.10; top math/science gr. 10/9 </p>

<p>Community involvement - comm.centre youth council (VP); Gold musical service award in province (highest award in category); 950+ hrs of comm service from gr.10 on ("+" bec i always forget to record the extra hrs..)</p>

<p>Science/Math - science fairs (regional gold/bronze, in respective yrs) BC provincial ingenuity award (1/per region) Scientific research in University (applied on own, we do not have internships etc..i contacted profs) ; published article (my research) in national science journal.</p>

<p>also, i was gonna apply to stanford but i saw on their website that international students are not offered need-blind admissions. i checked the ivy leagues' websites and all of them offered need-blind and need-based aid for canadian students. Does stanford offer the need-blind for canadians? i probs won't apply if only merit aid is offered...( bec i dun think i am that great to get merit aid..haha) </p>

<p>that's about what i can remember for my info...i'll add if i find anymore info..thanks for helping me out! =)</p>

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<p>Great chance.</p>

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<p>.....................uh................</p>

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<p>Your odds of getting into Harvard - either EA or RD - are less than 20 to 1. Doesn't have much to do with you. You don't have a strong hook, a legacy, you're not a URM or a "developmental admit", or a major athlete, or come from a traditional Ivy feeder school. In addition, you are an international, and you require financial aid. If your SATs were 100-200 points higher, your odds would still be less than 20 to 1 (and wouldn't change much) Your odds will be about the same at YP, and a little better at some of the other Ivies,</p>

<p>You sound like a wonderful person. What's the Ivy fixation about?</p>

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<p>lol, i am applying to canadian universities too, i wanted to apply to Duke bec my dad got a job offer there but i was worried about fin aid (since duke doesn't offer need-blind to canadians and only merit aid-which i am not sure if i am qualified/competitive enough to get). Ivies r the only ones i am applying to in the States bec of financial aid issues...the need-blind policy is godly...XD</p>

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<p>You clearly don't understand need-blind. Most prestige schools that are not need-blind accept about 90-95% of the class without overt regard to need, then total up what they've allocated, and decide whether they need to take need into account in the last 5-10% of admits. </p>

<p>Secondly, very, very few schools are need-blind to internationals, but it doesn't matter, because they are not blind to international status, and they accept internationals at far lower rates than U.S. students. Williams, for example, is so-called need-blind for internationals, but accepted only 7% of applicants, or a rate only one third that of U.S. students. It is the same at the Ivies, only worse.</p>

<p>Thirdly - they aren't REALLY need-blind. All of Ivies accept far higher percentages of those who apply without requiring aid than those who do, but manage to do so without regard to any individual's need status. Every year they accept 50% or more of attending students whose families have incomes a minimum of $150k a year (most higher), and who don't require any aid. The percentage is stable, year after year after year. The chances of this occurring haphazardly are infinitesmal. </p>

<p>That's said, you MIGHT get in, but the odds are heavily against it at all of the institutions you named - again, it has nothing to do with you (other than the lack of hook, non-URM, non-major athlete, non-legacy, non-developmental status), and everything to do with the odds.</p>

<p>So why the Ivy fixation?</p>

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<p>I don't know about this need-blind issue or about international students...all I can say is that your ECs look really impressive, especially how you've published a research paper already!</p>

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<p>thanx for the info mini! Now my chances are even lowered bec of my international + fin.aid status...oh great...I want to attend the ivies for several reasons (some really long to explain) but here are some: my family have been through lots of difficulties and i am not like some wealthy kids on this board (my grandparents were peasants, illiterate etc.. and my dad grew up in very difficult conditions. ie. food was scarce XD, but my dad has given me inspiration bec though he was that poor and he didn't even have money to attend school, he took the national chinese exam or whatever and even managed to come overseas. His parents never even dreamed about this: just imagine, a poor peasant kid (in village < few thousand ppl, trust me, in china, this is considered very very unpopulated) going to the States! Now, i start at the level of a canadian student, with all the facilities and services offered to me, my parents gave me all the opportunities they could and i dun wanna let them down. I want to get in the ivies bec of the excellent educational opportunities. I want my g.parents and parents to be proud and just think: a poor peasant's grand daughter going to harvard (they wouldnt know harvard but...my g.parents on my mother's side will, haha)! and when i come out of university, i am going to go back to china and help them out... My mom works as a waitress to give me money for private violin lessons, every hr of violin requires her to work an entire night..while all my friends' parents r businessppl. Now, i start at the same line as my wealthy friends and i will not let my parents down. When i lived in a rural area (in a sub-par school), i volunteered and took hardest courses. But as soon as my dad was offered a job here in BC, i searched for a good HS and challenged the IB program. Even though no internships are offered in nearby universities, i contacted numerous professors (using resume etc, lol) and finally got my research and even published. It's difficult for my parents and i will do my part- study hard, strive for the best and take advantage of all the opportunities offered to me. That's my spirit and i believe the ivies can offer to me what i need. I hope i can express myself clearly in my essay and i believe if HYPS or others know me as a person, they would accept me. However, a paper application and 1 or 2 essays may not do the job...><</p>

<p>ps. thanks for advice and i hope more ppl respond! =)</p>

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<p>What was the topic of your research paper? My cousin won the Canada-Wide Best-in-Fair some years ago and is currently pursuing her Masters at Harvard. She works part-time in the admissions office during the school year and has a good idea of the caliber of the research papers that Harvard prospective students write and mention in their applications. If you want to, you can scan your research paper to me and I'll have my cousin take a look at it and give you some comments as to how you rank with the other applicants that she's come across.</p>