Please help to find my perfect matches

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm having rather a hard time determinig which college could be my match... I'm sure you can help me a bit :)</p>

<p>SAT I: for the 1st time i had 1800(no studying), my goal(realistic) is about 2100-2150
SAT II: will take Maths, Latin and World History, i hope for about 650 each
Unweighted GPA : 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3/227 – best 2%
Senior Year Course Load: Latin, English HighLevel, Polish HL, Social Studies HL, History HL, Mathematics, PE, Religion Studies, Geography
Major Awards: National Polish Language Competition Finalists, this year I'm taking part in Human Rights, English and Latin National Competitions, hoping for a title of finalist</p>

<p>Extracurriculars Portuguese Classes, School Government (1yr v-president of school, 1yr president of class), Few Historic Conferentions, 3x Israel Student Exchange, Amnesty International Volunteer, Human Rights Coach (200h+), European Capital of Culture Contest Volunteer, Volunteer Amnesty at Several National Festivals, 2x workcamp</p>

<p>I'm an international student from central/eastern Europe and English isn't my first language...can it make for weak SATs?</p>

<p>My reaches are: HYP, Dartmouth (ED), Brown, Columbia
I'm considering also Amherst, Williams, Duke, Rice, Johns Hopkins...are they're reaches?</p>

<p>No idea about my match............</p>

2

<p>Are you looking for financial aid? If so, all of these are major reaches, even with your best expected test score (2150). If not, they are still significant reaches. Pick a few of these schools (3-4) and then look for schools that are matches. (Google the Common Data Set for each of these schools to see how you compare to their admitted student populations.)</p>

<p>For low reach and matches, and assuming you can pay, take a look at the midwestern LACs (Carleton, Grinnell, Oberlin, Macelester, Colorado College), or the southern LACs (Davidson, Rhodes, Hendrix, for example). </p>

<p>If you want schools like Amherst and Dartmouth but more match or lower reach, try Bowdoin (reach), Bates (match) and Colby (match) in Maine. Still reachy, but not impossible - Vassar (match if you are male, reach if female) and Middlebury (reach).</p>

3

<p>Thank you M’s Mom very much! That’s exactly what I needed.</p>

<p>Unfortunately i will need FA, that’s why I chose to apply to almost all need-blind colleges, even though I know it will be harsh.</p>

<p>All other suggestion very welcomed :)</p>

4

<p>You could probably get into USC, how about UC Santa Cruz, and Santa Clara University</p>

5

<p>Since you need financial aid, and your scores (at 2150) would be low, you probably need to look at a less selective tier of schools than those mentioned above - schools where your grades and test scores put you in the top 25% of the admitted class. To find this information, google the name of the school and “Common Data Set.” The Common Data Set for every school will give you the grades, test scores and class rank for the admitted students. Those admitted with generous scholarships are either URMs, athletic recruits or in the top 25% of the class academically. </p>

<p>Take a look at Grinnell, Hendrix and Rhodes as examples. These are well regarded liberal arts colleges. (Grinnell is generally a reach for internationals, but they don’t consider your writing score, so if that is what is dragging down your overall test score, you might be in good shape there.) It also helps that you are not applying from India, China or Korea which is where most internationals are applying from.</p>

6

<p>USC, I really liked it; I think I’l give it a try, thank you!
Santa Cruz and Santa Clara doesn’t offer any FA, so even though they seem pretty good schools, not for me, unfortunately</p>

<p>M’s Mom, is my SAT score really so crucial in admission? I hoped it wouldn’t be deciding since my transcript will look really good…</p>

7

<p>I’d say you need to look lower than USC. That’s even assuming you pull a 2150.</p>

8

<p>Most of the schools you are looking at do a ‘holistic review’ of the applicant - meaning they won’t rule you out just because you have a low score on one part of the SAT relative to their admitted class, but:</p>

<p>1) check the common data set for each school (google it) to see how you compare academically to the students who are admitted. If you are in the lower 25% on grades, tests scores or class rank, consider it a high reach (as in ‘unlikely’) unless you have:</p>

<p>2) some amazing, off-setting talent, are a URM, have an exceptional life story, or can explain the weakness on the basis of an exceptional situation (a parent died, for example)</p>

<p>If you need a lot of financial aid, you have to prove to the school that you are adding something that they can’t get from a student who could pay. Many international students who want FA come with high test scores and grades - and many still don’t get admitted.</p>

<p>That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply to a few reaches - it could still happen - but be realistic by putting most of your focus on schools where you have a better change.</p>