Please, Chance a Finnish Kid to Top Schools

Student Lounge International Students
1

<p>Okay, I'm applying from Finland so I'm very very URM.</p>

<p>I will not need Financial aid.</p>

<p>My SAT scores are very low, I know: CR 630, M 680, W 610 (Essay 10)
I'm taking my subject exams in december and I'm pretty sure I will score both French and World History above 700.</p>

<p>TOEFL: 107</p>

<p>I'm among the top 3 students ever attending to my high school. My GPA is 9.8 (4-10). In my Matriculation Examination which is considered very demanding I scored the best grade (Laudatur that is given for top 5%) in these subjects: History, Societies, Religion, English, Literature and Math. I got also the second highest mark (Eximia that is given for top 15%) in French and Swedish. </p>

<p>Please note that only 50% of Finnish Middle School goers enter high school because of the GPA requirements, others go to vocational schools. Therefore getting L is very hard.</p>

<p>My school rank is 1 out of 180 students. </p>

<p>Extracurriculars/work/volunteering:
-11 years in a private Art School (I've received bunch of awards there)
-Founded International's Club at my school (helping our school's exchange students in everything possible and organizing all kinds of cultural event many times per week)
-2 Comenius projects via European Union (trips to Belgium and Russia)
-I founded a ''Homework club'' for immigrants (under the Finnish Red Cross) that has been a great success.
-I was the President of the Art Club in USA (I also worked as an assistant teacher teaching kids color theory, composition, art history and aesthetics)
-I'm a member of EU Youth Organization and Finnish Coalition Party (during the elections I've done campaigning, etc.)
-Volunteering over 300h (with Amnesty International, Finnish Red Cross, etc.)
-I've worked this Fall at my former high school and middle school as an assistant teacher (I was asked by the principal) and per week I teach about 30-35 hours philosophy, math, religion, arts, literature, etc.
-I have 3 private student who I am preparing for the Matriculation Examination</p>

<p>I spent one year on an exchange student program in the USA.</p>

<p>Awards:
-National award in French writing
-Regional competition concerning the economy and social issues
-Bunch of art awards (from USA and Finland)
-School award for: ''Brilliance in the Academics'' and ''Success in the Matriculation Examination''</p>

<p>Letters of Recommendations will be very, very good.</p>

<p>Plus I will send my art portfolio.</p>

<p>I'm applying to:
-Yale
-Brown
-Williams
-Bates
-Reed
-Vassar
-Colby
-Tufts
-Brandeis</p>

<p>I would appreciate a lot for chancing me.</p>

2

<p>Naytaa hyvalta</p>

<p>Sorry, english keyboard so I don’t get the accents :)</p>

<p>Anyway nice to see a fellow Finn applying, I am too but I live in the UK so I don’t know whether I get the benefit of it.</p>

<p>As for your application it looks fantastic, but your SATs are rather low. If you have any way of improving, I highly recommend it. Go for the January tests if you can still make the deadline. And study VERY hard for French, I got full marks on the UK A-Level French examinations and only got a 740 on French SAT II; you have to be 100% familiar with what the test is like (I wasn’t prepared). Make sure you know your grammar inside out and expand your vocabulary; the UK examinations have a big focus on speaking and writing, which they don’t do in the US. I don’t know what the exams for French are like in Finland.</p>

<p>I know how difficult it is to get Laudatur over there from all my friends’ stories, so congratulations. The admissions offices for the big unis at least will recognise this.</p>

<p>Yale and Brown will be a stretch with those SAT scores if they’re not improved, the rest look OK. Since you’re not applying for financial aid, you can apply pretty much anywhere, so perhaps think of some of the California unis, NYU, Columbia, etc. which are need-aware for international applicants.</p>

<p>Oh and you didn’t mention your essays. They’re <em>REALLY</em> important so write them well, take your time and make them perfect.</p>

<p>And I’m applying for Yale and Williams too, so good luck and perhaps I’ll be there with a fellow Finn next year!</p>