Hello everyone. I am an international student applying top schools such as Milton, Hotchkiss and Deerfield. I study at an international american school in Singapore. My ssat score is 96% and my toefl score is 110. I have done many community service and have also initiated my own program. My interests are computer science and painting. Sports I do are swimming and tennis. My gpa is about 3.7 but my previous grade transcripts weren’t that great. I am wondering if I have a possibility in getting into any of the top schools? Thank you in advance!
Your bio is a little brief for good feedback. For the highest academically competitive schools a 96% is great but also typical of hundreds and hundreds of their applicants. What was the community service project you initiated? Is your sport level high enough to play at school? Have you contacted the arts department or submitted your work?
Do you have a chance based on what you wrote? Sure. Do you have a better than average chance? More data needed.
Also, writing “top” schools tends to bother CC posters as a great school means different things to different people. Some think TSAO schools are the goal, others will dig for performing arts or outdoor education focuses. So also define what you mean by a top school. What are you looking for?
Hello PrepDad2018, sorry for the lack for the information.
For art, I have prepared an art portfolio. When I went to the US for on-campus interviews, I brought my collection of paintings and showed it to the admission officer that interviewed me. I submitted the portfolio to the different admission portals too. I have also won an art competition but I do not have a certificate because it is a medal.
The community service project I initiated is for helping the environment. It’s basically a project to promote awareness of the enviornment and let more people take action. I am also involved in lots of extracurricular service clubs and I have donated lots of supplies to rural places.
For my sports, I am better at swimming than tennis. I am involved in a team for swimming but not in varsity or anything like that. For tennis, I am still practicing with a trainer but preparing to try out for a team.
I also play the piano and am currently abrsm level 6 and partcipated in lots of concerts. I also love math and am currently in an accelerated math class in my school.
And by “top school”, I am looking for schools with excellent facilties that fits my interests and unique academic courses that could well prepare me for college and also fit my interests so I could get better at a specific subject.
Also, do you think my grades are too low?
ooooh, you’re submitting a portfolio? I am as well. Do you want to trade portfolios? I have a link.
Ya know what, I’ll pm you–
also your EC’s are great, bro. good on you for being so involved.
Hey @spongebob0189 I attend Andover and many of the students here are very strong academically. What I feel is important is finding something that differentiates you from the rest of the applicant pool. What I focused on was my community service - I help out at numerous nursing homes and in the Youth Court program. I also participated in swimming and tennis, but didn’t emphasize that too much on my applications.