Hi everyone
Here are my stats:
Female
White
Swiss, grew up and went to school in Switzerland
Green card holder → U.S. Permanent Resident (and eligible for Federal Aid)
Colorado resident
Mother tongue: Swiss German
Fluent in German, English and French
ACT: Composite: 30 (E: 31, M:31, R:25 S:34)
SAT 2’s: I’m taking Math 2 and French on October 3rd, I expect in each 700+
TOEFL iBT: 111/120
(I will retake the ACT on October 24th and I believe I can get my score up to 33/34. (I continuously scored 33,34,35 on my practice tests.) )
To meet the Early Action Deadline, I thought I’d apply with my 30 ACT and immediately send the scores from the later test date.)
I personally believe that my background story stands out and I want to put the emphasis of my whole application on my work experience.
At the age of 15 I started a 3-year banking apprenticeship in a Swiss Private Bank. I worked 3 days a week and went 2 days a week to High School.
I didn’t just copy contracts and make coffee; I worked closely together with senior bankers and professionals in their fields. I also took on a lot of responsibility. I got a great employer reference letter, was offered several jobs at the end of the apprenticeship and got a great letter of recommendation from my most recent immediate supervisor.
(My essays will be about my apprenticeship and how it made me who I am today.)
On the 2 school days (22 lessons a week), I took the most rigorous classes and maintained over all years one of the most highest GPAs in my school’s history. I had subjects like Business, Law, Accounting and Economics. (Besides that: Math, German, French, English, Psychology, Ethnology)
Additionally, I took 30 courses which deepened my Banking knowledge and had a perfect score on my oral and written finals.
I barely had free-time, therefore my ECs aren’t the most outstanding. Moreover, I only had 5 weeks of vacations a year
( I once took 4 weeks of my annual vacations to make language stays (one in France, one in England))
ECs:
- class representative 10,11,12 (acting as ambassador between students and teachers)
- Tutoring classmates and kids in the neighborhood 9,10,11,12
- investing in the stock market 10,11,12
- once collected old clothes in the whole neighborhood to donate them (like a tiny fund-raiser. It was printed in our communal magazine.)
- I took regular hikes in the Swiss mountains (is this something worth mentioning? Some people told me hiking shows that one loves taking challenges, which I absolutely do.)
One of my Letter of Recommendation mentions my lack of free time and that I had to give up Cheerleading and Karate.
Another one mentions my leadership role in my class and how I always went the extra mile.
Final exams are a huge thing in Switzerland and I graduated as valedictorian (My grade was 5.5 out of 6. The average grade for finals is 4.2)
(E.g. on UPenn’s website they state that they may give college credit to grades higher than 4, so I believe schools know the difficulty of the Swiss final exams.)
My application will also include my Final Report.
Special Circumstances:
- At the age of 16, I lived alone for 1.5 years and had to do all household chores and grocery shopping by myself
(maybe sounds stupid, but it took a lot of additional time and energy when working 9 hours a day and having exams and homework also waiting for you)
- I'm currently taking a Gap Year. At the moment, I'm helping my parents to build their business in Colorado and I'm doing community service. I plan to volunteer as tutor in Asia sometime between January and August 2016 and I want to self-study for AP Statistics, AP Calc, AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics to earn college credit.
I will apply for Financial Aid.
Income Bracket: Under 60’000 $
If it has to be, I’m willing to take out loans
(The schools treat me regarding financial aid like a US citizen, because I’m a permanent resident.)
Do you think it’s wise to go for Early Action?
Or will I be better off with Regular Decision?