@CollegeDropoutt- I agree with you that a few more points on the CR might not have made any difference. One never knows. And when I mentioned well-roundedness I was referring to ECs, not academics. Your academics definitely pointed to a STEM person.
Since the UK system admits you into your STEM major/concentration right away, not requiring you to take tons of non-STEM courses, you might be much happier at your accepted university! Reading between the lines it sounds as though it is probably Cambridge or Oxford, so congratulations and enjoy!!
The admit rates were between 14% at Cornell to 5.2% at Harvard but if you applied RD, the rates were much lower at 3% to 10% or so.
The expectation that any one person can stand out at those admit rates - requires only all As and a specific SAT score goal is trying to make it a simple process. I am aware of 8 perfect scorers and one with two perfect scores in both SAT and ACT. Some of them made it to some ivies by applying early but those who didn’t make it early, didn’t make in the RD. The double perfect scorer aimed for top tech schools and didn’t make it.
The ones who did make it, had many other things going for them, at national level.
@PurpleTitan Yes, I know, I don’t believe that to be the case at all. My main motivation was that I had heard they are more generous with financial aid. And, in fact, I didn’t apply solely to them- I was also rejected by Stanford and Northwestern and waitlisted by UChicago.
@texaspg Yes, those statistics are frightening. I think at the time of applying I was not aware of the 2300+ SAT threshold to be a competitive applicant, but ultimately they are expecting more than just scores. I thought I had a lot of other activities and achievements but I think I underestimated the quality of the top end of the applicant pool.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and simply observe that I don’t bump into that many British public (state) school graduates when I visit different campuses. We have plenty of prep school graduates right here in NEW England; I wonder if its considered a little like bringing coals to Newcastle?
If UK has as good or better schools at (I assume) much lower cost, maybe UK applicants do have harder time gaining admission in US since they don’t think you’ll end up accepting and attending? Plus as US citizen you don’t have “cachet” of even a Brit for geog diversity. I think you are good where you are: a university degree from a top school in 3 years instead of 4, and then a PhD is attainable in another 3 years versus 4-7 years in US.
@circuitrider, thanks to the way that the Brits like to confuse people, indeed, UK public schools like Eton and Harrow would be considered privates in the States.
@circuitrider@PurpleTitan Yes, I go to a state funded free school, however it is very selective and considered one of the top in the country. The few UK students that seem to have been admitted to US colleges largely seem to have come from private schools.
First, it’s quite possible your school doesn’t know how to present itself and its curriculum.
Second, it’s also possible your teachers don’t know how to write recommendations.
That so few of your applicants get in anywhere in the US is an anomaly - state school students with
lots of A/A typically do well in the US admission process. They have an advantage since they know
English natively and the British education system focuses on more than academic instruction (with
pastoral care, sports teams, etc.)
Second, 2240 or 2300 make no difference.
(It does make a difference that you should have a superscored 700+ in all subjects, since English is your native language.)
Did you have all A’s at GCSE’s with about 8 subjects, AAAB at AS level and predicted A’s/A* at A Level?
That’d be more important, as well as your EC’s.
But all in all, it’s likely something’s wrong in the way your school presents itself and/or in the way teachers write their recommendation.
Finally, even if you have a top choice in your country, it’s always a good idea to apply to
Another big reason international “Ivy gunners” often don’t get into these universities is that they obviously don’t understand “fit” and the universities can tell - universities look for a student who knows them and understand what they’re about. A student who applies to Brown and Columbia, for instance, doesn’t make sense (open curriculum vs. heavy core curriculum), or Brown and Dartmouth (liberal vs. Conservative with big Greek life). The reason why Penn is a great choice may not be the same reasons why another Ivy is a great choice. If financial aid is a big concern, applying to Amherst (need blind, meet 100% need even for internationals) is a better idea than Dartmouth, as well as Williams, Carleton, Wellesley, and Pomona.
@MYOS1634 Yes, that is possible. I’ll speak to my teachers about it. And yes, I had perfect grades, other than a few As instead of A stars at GCSE. I wish I knew what the reason was, because there are just so many factors in this process. If I had more time I could have done more research into what campuses would have been a good fit for me but this was difficult as I wasn’t able to visit them and I had to rely purely on online opinions.
@anonymous26 If this is the case, was I unlucky to be rejected by so many schools (8 ivies + northwestern) and not accepted into any American university? It’s difficult to tell if it’s truly a case of being unlucky or that I was held back by my scores or lack of significant extracurricular achievements.
It’s not luck, but what various American unis look for may be different from what Oxbridge looks for, and there are so many more applicants to the American elites (the US has 5 times the population of the UK) so standing out is more important.
Tell your school to buy “The Fiske Guide”, “Princeton review’s best colleges”, Insider’s Guide to Colleges, and “Colleges that change Lives”, plus perhaps Up your score ACT and Up your score SAT + Red book and blue book + Big book of Sat subject tests?
With the Fiske Guide, PR Review and/or Insider’s Guide, you wouldn’t have needed to guess so much about the universities. Colleges that change lives would have helped you understand the concept of “fit”.
The secret to the Ivies is that if you are a white person you really need mastery in sports that the Ivies love: football, crew, ice hockey (soccer,if a girl) or squash. As you are from the UK, your only hope would have been crew or squash. That was your downfall: the Ivies say they love academics, etc., but they get all that and more from the Asians they take. They love diversity, and they get that from all the hispanics and blacks they take. So, among all the white kids with great stats, how do you make it in? SPORTS!! i know it sounds like we’re talking the University of Alabama here or something, but it is in fact the absolute unrefutable secret to get into the Ivies: be great a a sport they love. Forget about “community service,” as they will if you can row or shoot a hockey puck.