Reapplying to Ivies?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello. I’m a 17 year old high school senior who applied to Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Brown RD last year. I was rejected but got into some other top universities in the UK, but I think I prefer the US because of the liberal arts approach. I applied to only ivies, which was stupid, but I’m an international and didn’t know any better, and got rejected from all four.

I study in a rigorous qualifications system and have achieved straight As in every exam I’ve ever taken, which puts me in the top 1% of students in my country. I also wrote a really good common app essay last year (a charity helping me apply wrote “WOW” at the top of the page and said it was excellent) and I have pretty good ECs (no sports, but a lot of volunteering and high profile stuff).

However, my ACT was absolutely terrible. I transferred high schools because of homophobic bullying, so in my senior year when I took the ACT, I was settling into a new school where I knew no one and trying to keep up with the work and make new friends all at the same time. Luckily, I’m much happier now, but the move was unsettling for me as I had years of torment and didn’t know how my new school would treat me. I lied to my parents about the academics at my last school in order to get moved, because they didn’t (and still don’t) know I’m gay because they’re conservative Catholics. On top of it all, my new school is way way better than my old one, which made it look as if I had gained my qualifications in an environment where everyone succeeds, rather than in my old school, which was quite rough (the school profile was for my current private school). In addition, my mother is on welfare and my father is a truck driver, so they’ve not really been able to give me any support or guidance in the admissions process, and, coming from abroad, my school doesn’t really know anything about US admissions. Furthermore, since I go to a school with loads of rich kids (on a scholarship), I didn’t want to disclose this info because it’d exclude me socially. My new teachers/counsellors didn’t really know me that well, so weren’t able to give very good recommendations, and they obviously didn’t know about the bullying or my mum being on welfare so didn’t include that either. In fact, one gave me a class rank of 10%, which is absolute bs, as my scores are in the top 1% of my class. I sat the ACT three times, didn’t study once, and got 28, 28 and 29, respectively. However, if I study, I believe I can get at least a 31. My subject test scores were 620 and 670, respectively, which suck as well, because once again, I was too caught up in personal things to revise.

Should I reapply to Harvard EA, and, more widely, to the other Ivies that rejected me? Will they hold it against me? Should I explain my circumstances? I’m so stressed out at the moment because I don’t want to pick a university in England that I don’t really like just for the sake of going to college. If anyone could give me advice I’d much appreciate it. It’s difficult to convey any of this information to my school when I can’t really even tell my parents!

Thanks so much :slight_smile:

2

I definitely think you should apply more widely - as in, not just the other Ivies, but also to other schools that you would be considered a ‘match’ to. That is, schools in which your stats (GPA + ACT) fall in their 50th percentile. You will have to look for less selective schools to do this. If you are intent on studying in the US, you definitely need a safety school. That is a school which you are practically guaranteed being admitted to based on your stats.

Are finances a concern? If so, there are quite a few well-known schools that you may be eligible for automatic full-tuition scholarships for.

As an international student reapplying, I don’t believe even a 31 on the ACT would make you a competetive applicant to the Ivies. Thankfully, there are many, many great schools here that would probably be a better match. Best of luck! :slight_smile:

3

Agree. Those schools habitually reject hundreds of kids with your profile AND a 34, 35 or 36. I don’t want to crush dreams, but it doesn’t seem like you understand your true chances.

With a 31, perhaps you can try a wider group of Top 50 schools. Life is so much more than Harvard et al. Love the schools that will love you back! Not sure what you want to study, but reading your post made me think “Oberlin”.

4

Oh…that’s interesting! I’ve been looking at Oberlin! But I was worried it was too hippie and dreadlock for my liking! :stuck_out_tongue:

So a 31 isn’t enough? I know three current international Harvard students who were accepting with 31s in the ACT, but I suppose as a reapplicant, I would need to improve further.

5

Honestly, to be admitted with a 31, I’d expect they had a great story and other great stats to back it up because it’s just not that likely. Definitely look into the top 50, and if finances are a concern and you’d like to target merit aid, top 100+.

6

I know I probably sound over-confident, but I am a very good writer and did a common app essay which was fantastic (comments by others).

Would you say I have a chance at Middlebury?

7

@UniHopeful Just checked MB’s profile. I definitely do think you could get in (try to bump act score to around 30-33). http://www.middlebury.edu/admissions/start/profile

Good luck :slight_smile:

8

The way to evaluate your chances is to google “[school] common data set”, look at the most recent year under Section C, which deals with First Year Admissions. For example, we see that Middlebury has a 17% admissions rate. In my opinion, no school can be considered a match with an admissions rate that low. Then, we see that 77% of its first year students had an ACT comp in the 30-36 range. I think it is still a reach (or how some say, a ‘low reach’) but I think you have a chance.

I would look into safety schools and match schools so that you have some place to go if your reach schools don’t work out. Will you need financial aid? As an int’l, very few schools meet full need, and those that do are very high reaches. You would need to look for merit aid, but you haven’t yet said whether finances are a concern or not.

9

Finances are a concern, but Middlebury used to be need-blind for internationals, so they’re still very generous with aid. As Oberlin’s range is 28-32, is that a “match” school, or still a reach?

10

If you bring ACT up to 30/31, a medium to high match.

I’m not sure how crunchy Oberlin is. I do know it is diverse and accepting.

11

The terminology isn’t the biggest concern, I’d consider that a match though. What is your GPA? There are schools that would give you an automatic full tuition scholarship with a certain GPA and ACT score, and that would do well as one of your safety schools.

ETA - Just in general, what kind of schools are you looking for? Possible regions/sizes/etc? What do you think you may major in? Would you prefer to have one of your English universities as a safety school instead?

12

I’m not familiar with the term GPA, but I’ve only ever had As in any classes I’ve taken. So is that a 4.0?

13

GPA = grade point average. Does your school assign a numerical value to your grades on any scale based on the letter grades you have received the past few years?

ETA - so yes, that would be approximately a 4.0 but as there’s no official conversion from UK marks to US gpa, I don’t want to imply that as being set in stone. For such automatic scholarships, I would advise you to ask the school directly how they’d like to handle that.

14

Well, I got into St Andrews, so that could be my safety. But otherwise, I’m thinking that liberal arts suits me better so maybe looking for ones in the U.S.

I’d like a liberal, open-minded environment with lots of intellectual discussions and stimulation. Location wise, I’m not too fussed. I want somewhere that’s creative and a supportive place to try new things.

15

No, we sit national qualifications, which are set by the government and externally assessed. So my teachers don’t make up any assessment materials or mark anything for a grade. Everyone in the country sits the same paper and the same syllabus, which is quite different to the U.S., I believe!

16

@undeuxtroiscat is it William and Mary that does the joint program w/St Andrews…2 years each place.

College of WM is in Virginia.

17

Fortunately, I do believe that that’s the norm here when it comes to colleges, save for some outliers.

For example - and this is just one of many, one oft mentioned school here is the [University of Alabama](http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out-of-state.html). With a 31 and your grades, you would be able to automatically receive 2/3 tuition scholarship. With a 32, that gets bumped up to full tuition.

ETA - That’s a great idea. The College of William & Mary is our second-oldest university, and participates in a [url=http://www.wm.edu/as/undergraduate/curriculum/special/standrews/]program[/url] with St. Andrew’s. You would spend two years at each institution, and receive a single diploma from both. Would that be of any interest?

18

The difference in the UK, is that barely anything but your qualifications matter, so the admissions process is very predictable judging by the grades you have.

It is @HRSMom

19

@undeuxtroiscat Thanks, that is so helpful!

I believe you have to apply separately to the joint programme and I just applied to St Andrews. Will definitely look into it though. :slight_smile: