Hi there! I’m sorry if this question was already asked by someone else I’m not really good at using forums. As a current sophomore in High school I wanted to ask you about my “dream school” (Yale University)
Before anyone starts to judge me that I’m unrealistic I’ll tell you more about me so I hope that it will help
I’m from Serbia and currently I’m sophomore year at the International school of Belgrade (highly competitive college prep school. I got merit based scholarship as a gifted student) I am doing IB program I am also taking a lot of AP classes:
• American politics and government
•European History
•Econ
•Calculus
•Psychology
I am class representative and tutor of Literature subjects to lower grades as well as part of UN club of my school and founder of journalism club and editor of school paper.
Besides schoolwork I am actively volunteering at Cancer Society and UN organization as well as contributing to online magazine published by the UN initiative for drugs and crime as well as represent of my contury to EYP.
Can someone please tell me what to improve before application period at senior year?
This question seems to be asked fairly often on this board, but that doesn’t matter. You’re a unique person and you deserve a unique answer.
The advice I’ve seen people give to gifted high school students who want to increase their chances is to focus on your current school situation and activities and be excellent. It sounds like you are taking challenging courses and pursuing extracurricular activities that truly interest you and that keep you involved with the school as a community. That is what you need to be doing.
Next year’s teachers are the ones who will be writing your letters of recommendation. As the year goes on, take notes of times in class where you think you were particularly helpful, or diligent, or insightful. When you ask your teachers for letters they will be happy to have reminders and hints, and it will make it easier to create a picture of yourself in your total application.
To get into any highly selective school like Yale, you somehow need to make your application standout among the tens of thousands already submitted. International students generally have an even more difficult road than US applicants because so few spots are given to internationals ±10%. The first threshold you will have to meet is an outstanding high school record. Will you be top of your class taking the most challenging courses? My general rule of thumb is you need to be at least in the top 10%, if not top 5% or higher. Will you be able to submit very high standardized test scores, scores approaching or exceeding 1500 on the SAT? You may also have a TOEFL requirement. I agree with @ninakatarina that letters of recommendation will be very important. You will a have chance to demonstrate your interests in politics and journalism in your application through the essays, extracurricular listings and letters of recommendations. It will be important to demonstrate commitment and achievement in these areas, not that just that you have an interest and are a participant.
To get into any highly selective school like Yale, you somehow need to make your application standout among the tens of thousands submitted. International students generally have an even more difficult road than US applicants because so few spots are given to internationals ±10%. The first threshold you will have to meet is an outstanding high school record. Will you be top of your class taking the most challenging courses? My general rule of thumb is you need to be at least in the top 10%, if not top 5% or higher. Will you be able to submit very high standardized test scores, scores approaching or exceeding 1500 on the SAT? You may also have a TOEFL requirement. I agree with @ninakatarina that letters of recommendation will be very important. You will a have chance to demonstrate your interests in politics and journalism in your application through the essays, extracurricular listings and letters of recommendations. It will be important to demonstrate commitment and achievement in these areas, not that just that you have an interest and are a participant.
Yale is NOT as forthcoming as Harvard, but if go to: http://www.hio.harvard.edu/statistics and select STUDENTS, HARVARD COLLEGE (the undergraduate school) and SERBIA, you will see there are two (2) students enrolled at Harvard who are either freshman, sophomores, juniors or seniors. That means that Harvard accepts, on average, about **one (1) student from your country every OTHER year. ** My guess is that Yale does as well.
To be admitted as an international student, you have to demonstrate that you are the best-of-the-best from your country. Is that you? I have no idea, but THAT is how competitive the applications process is for an international student from your country. To improve your chances, you have to be BETTER than anyone else who is applying from Serbia! Your letters of recommendation can certainly attest to that fact. Best of luck to you!
Second to what has been said above. To add my take, I think you should find ways to make your application stand out from the rest of the pool. There are countless high school MUNers worldwide, not to mention school newspaper editors. Unless you have a unique philosophy or a motivation behind your EC activities, these so-called “titles” are highly unlikely to get your application to the admit pile. Use your time at school to explore your interests and passions, and try to find ways to genuinely show them through your application. Best of luck!