Hi guys! 
so…im an international student who applied to colleges in the US and got waitlisted and rejected by a bunch(including ivies)…the only one i was accepted to was NYU but unfortunately it was definitely too costly…
so i was thinking of taking a gap year and retaking the SAT and finding some work or activities which im really passionate about and reapplying… im really thinking of improving my application, including my SAT scores which were 2040 (took only once) and my essays, which i realise now were terrible for some colleges…
However theres a question i wanted to ask: do colleges keep application files, like will they know that you have already applied and compare the previous application with the recent one?
Well that would be great. Yeah if you want to increase your chances to be accepted by IVY leagues, a 2250+ will be enough. Not sure if they will compare but they do know that you applied last year. NYU is a expensive school but if you have the money to pay for it, then go there. Just try your best!
Did you apply to safety schools?
Yes they dokeep the files and they even ask you if you’ve applied before. Internationals who reapply to the same colleges basically never get in the second time around, unless you won an Olympic medal or an international academic contest in the meanwhile. Anything short of “spectacular on an international scale” means your application won’t stand a chance if you reapply to the same schools.
You can reapply to 1-2, “just to see”, but you need to basically rebuild an entire college list, including colleges with automatic merit scholarships or colleges where the amount you can bring could tip the scales in your favor.
Yep, I agree with you, but he can try. I have a friend who took a GAP year and applied for the same schools again and he didn’t get in. If you want to try and see what’s going to happen, then do so.
Many colleges keep previous years of files. I took a gap year, and when I reapplied to a few colleges, I was surprised to find out that some schools (like Harvard) purged the information from the previous year so I had to resend my SAT/ACT scores while for most of the other colleges I did not have to resend standardized test scores.
So in short, yes many colleges keep your details, and even if they don’t, a Common Application question will ask you whether you have previously applied to this institution.
I think redoing the SAT would be good and they do keep your files.