I have a list of top tier universities that I’m planning to apply to in the US, but I can’t apply to all of them because that’ll be really time consuming since I’m applying to universities in Europe and Canada as well and I want to give focus and hard work to every application.
Berkeley
Harvard
Colombia
Upenn
Yale
Stanford
Princeton
John’s Hopkins
MIT
Caltech
Duke
Uchicago
Cornell
My stats
Weighted gpa (3.75) * expected to be raised within next year
-ACT 34
-SAT 1510
SAT subject ( 700,720)
lots of community service and volunteering work
multiple summer and online courses taken
3 languages spoken
intenational stundent
will be paying the entire cost
intended major poli sci/ IR
**my gpa is very low but everything else is considered good I guess
What 2 or 3 universities should I apply to and actually might have a bit of a chance at getting in?
I actaully prefer a more layed back collaborative student body.
I’m a city person but I’d also like a college where the campus life is existent so a combination of both would be great, and curriculum wise, taking whatever classes intrest me would be more likely what I want but I also don’t mind a structured curriculum.
I’ve considered both goergetown and GW but eliminating them from my options was because I’m planning to apply to a fellowship program and the only uni’s included are the ones I mentioned above.
“I actaully prefer a more layed back collaborative student body.”
None of the universities on your list are known for being particularly laid back. They’re also all reaches, as suggested by the title of this thread. You may wish to expand your search. A few options below. These are still very selective:
Vanderbilt
Dartmouth
Tufts
Brown
Washington University in St Louis
Rice
If you warm up to the very American model of a liberal arts college and are willing to be farther from a city, you could also consider:
Unfortunately most of the schools are a reach for us students with your stats. High reach international. It could work out. It’s not a perfect science. But co val at my daughters school with her is Pakistani born 1590 sat published research and 4.0 U .W. and ap scholar. Personalable too. Waitlisted at every school you listed except Johns Hopkins I would cast a wider net
In this case, can anyone help me try an eliminate universities from the one’s I listed until I reach 2 or 3 to apply to.
I’m very confused and would very much appreciate the help.
Also, does any have information about university of Toronto’s application and chances for my stats
You should eliminate Caltech from consideration. While there is a political science major, it is only designed to be a second major taken along with a STEM major. The Core requirements will still include proof-based Calc 1+2, Multivariable, Linear Alg, Calc-based probability and statistics, 3 quarters of physics, 2 quarters of chemistry, 1 quarter of biology, 2 science labs, and probably more.
And, there is no coursework in IR at Caltech (or really much sustained interest in it among the students as far as I know). Most of the political science is related to game theory and other mathematical topics.
I don’t think there’s a university where everyone is laid back and chill, there’s competition everywhere nowadays, but some universities are known for the competitiveness of their communities (Harvard) and others are known for a more collaborative community (Stanford) but in the end both characteristics are existent all around.
For myself, I find Harvard’s community too competitive and would never fit it in a place like that.
As an international applicant, if your 3.75 weighted gpa reflects an unweighted ~3.25 or so, you have virtually no chance at schools on your list like
Harvard
Colombia
Upenn
Yale
Stanford
Princeton
MIT
UChicago
Being full pay, you probably have a pretty decent shot at somewhere like NYU, the go to choice school for international full pay students with stats like yours.
@tdy123 is right… except that I think you said somewhere that your 3.75 weighted GPA is out of 5
If I’m reading that correctly, then your unweighted GPA on the typical four point scale is likely under 3.0. Unless I’m misunderstanding, the schools discussed in your other thread are the realistic targets. I don’t mean to be harsh, but “reach” schools are going to see the contrast between your test scores and your grades as a trend of underperforming relative to your potential, and elite universities are not going to take a chance on an international applicant with that profile. You need to be looking at schools outside of the massive-endowment range, who favor full-pay international applicants because they improve both their student diversity and their bottom line, both of which goals they have difficulty meeting with US applicants alone.
“Might have a shot at NYU. “. Sorry to pour water on this for you but it’s just not likely to with a 3.25 as an international student. There are lots and lots of places that would love to have you. But the top 40 US are all reaches for the majority of highly competitive us students. International times 10x
That’s 30% with GPA below 3.50. Taking into account that NYU is NOT need blind on admissions for international applicants, it isn’t unreasonable to consider the possibility that NYU might be a good place for financially comfortable international applicant with high SAT/low GPA stats to apply.
I agree with you about the “International times 10x” but mainly at the few top schools like Harvard, Yale, etc., that are need blind AND full need met for international students. NYU isn’t in that category.
Gotcha. 3.5 is one thing. But I believe he is 3.25 or below if you take in urm students that leaves me to believe that the percentage of the 12% left for full pay internationals makes it a high reach
Would you be interested in any of the big schools in California? USC, UCLA, and UC Berkley are all excellent schools with diverse and well-rounded student bodies. All three have a decently large international student populations as well.
I’ve always been fond of UCLA’s reputation, and I really love everything about the school so I’m definitely applying.
Does berkely have a lot of international students enrolled?
USC, I know that it is the most diverse school in the US after NYU so that’s really drawing me to it but I don’t know much about it’s academics so I’ll have to research.
@deemmz That’s great to hear! About 13-14% of Berkley is international, which means there are about 5000-6000 international students at Berkley. USC and Berkley differ a bit in their environments, since Berkley is quite liberal while USC is more moderate.