NYU, BU, Columbia, Penn, UPenn, Do I have a shot?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey everyone. I would really appreciate it if you would take the time to chance me, and give a little feedback on how i could improve my chances for the listed schools.</p>

<p>Background : Live in Hong Kong, school follows the British A Level system. School has strong history of sending students to NYU, Cambridge, Brown, Oxford etc.</p>

<ul>
<li>graduating class of 2014</li>
<li>no class ranks/percentiles</li>
</ul>

<p>IGCSEs :
English Language - A
English Literature - A*
Mandarin second language - A*
German second language - A*
Math - A
ICT - A
Physics - A
Biology - A
Geography - A*</p>

<p>AS courses (exams in May) :
Geography
History
Math
German + Sprachdiplom I</p>

<p>SAT (planning to take second time in September/October : 2050 (1st time)</p>

<p>ECs / Charity work / awards :
Yearbook - head of writing department
School Newspaper - feature writer
HKAYP/Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award
SCMP (leading English newspaper in Hong Kong) Young writer
School Horse Riding "A" Team, 3-4 years
Shark Project (school based charity) committee member
School Squash Team
Tutoring Ethnic Minorities (community service) once a week, 2 years
Student leader on a Grade 7 community service trip to rural China
Charity community building trip to rural Thailand (built a school for orphans of drug war)
Have hiked up Mount Kota Kinabalu (20th highest in world I think)</p>

<p>Personal :
- run a successful fashion blog, 30k readers + growing
- half German, half Malaysian-Chinese
- will be first person in extended family to have a shot at reputable university
- parents have a medium-lowish annual income (both lost jobs in recession)
- did a summer abroad to learn German language in Germany (we speak English at home)
- will be doing a variety of work experience this summer</p>

<ul>
<li>my report card hasn't been too great this year and last due to stress from changing economical situation and its effects, mostly Bs and one or two Cs</li>
</ul>

<p>Interested in the following Universities:
Cornell
NYU
Berkely
UPenn
Duke
Northwestern
Boston University
Boston College
Penn State
Georgetown Uni
Northeastern Uni
UCLA
USC
University of Chicago
(I have yet to narrow down)</p>

<p>Dream/High reach, worth a shot I guess :
Columbia (dream)
Stanford (would be amazing, but I know its a far reach for almost everyone)</p>

<p>UK Unis:
Kings College (dream)</p>

<p>Thanks so much for reading all this. Im becoming rather frantic trying to figure out ways to improve my chances. </p>

<p>Im planning on doing Liberal Arts, and Im not sure if I should take any subject tests. Can anyone please give some advice on this too? Thanks so much everyone!</p>

2

<p>You really need to improve your SAT score. Also, if you’re aiming for top schools and Ivies like UPenn or Columbia, you’ll be a fool not taking SAT II or ACT. Your ECs are decent, but I can see that you’re very passionate as well as gifted when it comes to writing. You may have some advantages when writing the personal statement.</p>

3

<p>you have great ec’s, especially with your blog, but b’s and c’s? i guess it depends on your overall gpa, but those grades aren’t going to look too good. at the very least, you should explain how the hard times of the economic situation have affected your life and therefore your grades, but I think getting into top schools is a stretch, as most qualified applicants have straight a’s on top of amazing test scores on top of amazing ec’s.</p>

4

<p>Yeah, ive been particularly worried about those grades.
Not sure if it helps, but it is really hard to get A grades on reports in my school.
Also, we follow the British system and don’t have GPAs, or class percentiles.
Thanks for your reply!</p>

5

<p>Thank you PKMGSoledad!
Im definitely taking the SAT again in September, and subject tests after that; but Im wondering which ones would be best for a liberal arts program, and how many I should take.</p>

6

<p>Please, more opinions and constructive criticism!</p>

7

<p>anyone please?</p>

8

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1495018-chance-u-i-urbana.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1495018-chance-u-i-urbana.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

9

<p>Uhm, not sure what you want here. Little rude to be promoting yourself on my board without adding any advice to my thread though</p>

10

<p>my last bump for tonight</p>

11

<p>Take the SAT, hope for 2200+. Subject Tests take 2; preferably one math and one science (for example Math Level 1 and Chemistry, etc.)Keep up good grades, turn those C’s to B’s. Lastly, continue with community service hours. Good Luck!</p>

12

<p>Thanks for the input! Is it vital I take a science? Sciences are definately not my strong point. I was thinking of doing german and math (not sure what else there is, havent looked into SAT stuff much with A levels coming up so soon)</p>

13

<p>please some more!</p>

14

<p>German would be a good substitute for a science. Colleges like proficiency in foreign language i think.</p>

15

<p>Try for AP art history, either class or self study
Not a difficult thing to do really, just another AP to hard to your arsenal!</p>

16

<p>Thanks for the advice! My school doesnt do AP classes, only regular ones (british system doesnt have APs). Also, does anyone have any advice on the math I and math II. I dont know what the difference is, is one preferred or more prestigious than the other?</p>

17

<p>someone please help!</p>

18

<p>Math I - mostly Algebra and Geometry
Math II - Trig, PreCalculus, Algebra and Geometry</p>

<p>I would recommend SAT Math II since it is said the curve is easier for that test and looks better for selective schools. But since you are planning on Liberal Arts check school websites to see specific req’mts for subject tests.</p>

<p>Add more safeties to your list.</p>

<p>Explain in your essay the loss of employment of your parents and why you had a grade drop. This will help them understand your situation.</p>

19

<p>Low grades late in your secondary program will hurt a lot. No excuse short of cancer is good enough. You must pull those up.</p>

<p>Some of those schools require 3 SAT IIs, and some specify what one (or two) of them must be. Definitely Math level 2 if you can hack it; level 1 impresses no one no matter the score. </p>

<p>Know too little about British system to understand how rigor will be perceived, so can offer nothing on particular colleges.</p>

20

<p>Thank you both very much for your input. Ill definitely be looking into required SAT II tests and as for my grades, there was only 1 C, the rest were all Bs. Thanks again!</p>