heya i just wanted to know if this seems like a realistic college list. my stats are:
american white girl but i live internationally, and go to an international school
full IB diploma with 4 highers (instead of the usually 3) toughest courseload possible. predicted scores. 1 5, 4 6’s, and 1 7
probably 3.75 UW gpa…much higher weighted. school doesnt rank
good school… last year we had students accepted to harvard, dartmouth, duke, rice etc and it’s about about 60 ppl in each class
SAT 2080 (740, 670cr and w). might retake. havent taken SAT II’s yet but they should be decent
pretty good ECs… i’m involved with a few leadership positions. good amount of community service. dont want to bore you all with listing everything.
good recs, hopefully pretty good essay (but wont be stellar)
and the schools i want to apply to…
Huge reaches:
Wash. U St. Louis
Williams
Middlebury (possibly ED)
<p>calz, we are also Americans living overseas. My son is a junior at Williams. Williams is definitely a reach for you -- moreso than WUSTL and Middlebury -- but I can say from experience that they like kids with international experience, especially if your host country is an undeveloped or "unusual" place. </p>
<p>All of the LACs on your list will evaluate candidates holistically -- meaning that grades and scores are balanced with essays, recommendations and ECs. You need to make sure that your essays and recs ARE stellar and that your international experience comes through loud and clear.</p>
<p>^^ ok thanks. but how do i make my "international experience come through loud and clear"??? doesn't it seem kind of cliche or overdone to write my essay about living abroad?</p>
<p>calz, I don't know anything about you or your host country or your essay topic so I can't say whether it's a cliche or not, but as a general statement international experience can make a very compelling essay topic. What you do with it is in your hands.</p>
<p>Sorry, I'm one of those that read but don't post. The problem is, we're in America so we don't know the standard for international students. I do know that you should definitely take the SAT again. Try to break 700 in each area, and your chances will improve dramatically. I'm also not knowledgeable on safety schools; my safeties are Vassar and IU Bloomington, but I don't know if they would work for you.</p>
<p>^^ thanks. but, i'm not really an international student, i'm an american citizen living abroad. so just consider me as a regular applicant because most colleges will</p>
<p>I think it is hard to recommend safeties because they are more of a personal statement about what you want in a college environment.</p>
<p>I think that having WUSTL is reasonable as a reach school particularly with your hook concerning living internationally. You have mainly LAC's, but since you also have WUSTL and AU, I would recommend that you look at Emory and Vanderbilt as being more matches. You might also like Wake Forest or Tulane.</p>
<p>well look for safeties that accept more the 50% of the applicants and where ur present sat score is well above their ranges. You have a fair shot everywhere you applied I think except for maybe Williams , which I hear is quite selective. I think however your predicted scores are quite good and might recompensate for a not so hot SAT. work on getting really good SAT 2 marks . If it helps any my safeties are Marquette and George Mason and some place in Canada</p>
<p>OP said: "thanks. but, i'm not really an international student, i'm an american citizen living abroad. so just consider me as a regular applicant because most colleges will"</p>
<p>Actually, living abroad is a hook for you. The colleges try to create diversity on campus. Anything that makes you stand out from the crowd is a very good thing for you. Faced with five applicants with the same stats, but four of them are from the Northeast and one is living abroad, they will favor the person who is different. </p>
<p>The first thing they care about is difficulty of curriculum, then gpa/rank, and then standardized test scores. After you reach a certain level of academic measures for the college, they won't split hairs on that basis, but they will look for unique applicants who stand out from the crowd. This is done by examining EC's, essays, recs, and anything that is special about the person such as living abroad. Bring this out in your essay.</p>
<p>You should try to bring your SAT's up in the Fall. (But don't take them more than a total of three times.) Also, show interest in the schools that you apply to. The colleges just outside of HYPSM status like applicants who they feel are actually going to attend if accepted. Request info, try to visit if possible, and mention specific things about the college in the application about why you would love to attend that particular college.</p>
<p>Don't apply ED if you also plan to apply for financial aid since you will be giving up your ability to compare FA packages, and they might tell you that they expect you to pay a lot more than you ever imagined.</p>
<p>Clark can be hard for females because it's so unbalanced between the genders. It's already 61% female, but since you're such a strong candidate, it shouldn't affect you too badly.</p>