Still a chance of attending a top university (MIT, Stanford, etc.) ?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Alright, a bit of an overview

  • International applicant from dubai (Sweden originally)
  • SAT 1560 [not taken subject tests yet]
  • Year 10-11 [IGCSE] essentially all A/A*s
  • Year 12 [junior] currently scoring 39/42 in the IBDP with 4 HL subjects (maths, physics, chemistry, economics)
  • Founder and president of the school's chess club, play chess 20 or so hours a week, school prefect, tutor friends in maths weekly, attending an iOS development course in the coming summer, currently developing a few iOS applications, (trying to find a partner for an upcoming maths competition)

Now, the deal-breaker,
In year 11 (the year we took our final IGCSE exams), I was insanely depressed to the point where I could barely go to school (looking back at it I was a complete moron). Due to this, I sadly ended up scoring a C on my further pure maths (looking back it was the easiest maths ever) exam (I took the regular maths course a year early) and even worse a D on my school report (I don’t know what these are equivalent to in US grades but I read that a C is a B or something like that - this seems insanely optimistic on the other hand). Anyways, would something like this end with my application being thrown out the window immediately considering the competition for international applications or would the fact that I am scoring 7/7 in a much harder maths course currently make up for it?

I know these ‘chance’ threads are very repetitive and all and believe me I tried to stay away from writing one but yet here I am… any thoughts?

2

@oskar8991 I think that as long as you take some of the time in your essay to explain why your pure maths grade is low, then you should perfectly fine. I mean, with the stats that you already have and the fact that you are doing well in even higher maths, colleges such as Stanford and MIT aren’t going to completely dismiss you because of one imperfection. Also, the fact that you are doing well in higher maths shows a progression and improvement; something that colleges like to see. I wish you the best of luck and hope you get into your dream school.

3

Try not to beat yourself up about your depression. Your mental health is not your fault and your stats, etc. are amazing regardless. I don’t know how school in Sweden or Dubai works, so I’m not sure whether or not you’ve already written your college essays, but remember that times of hardship can make for great essays if you can show colleges how you’ve overcome your struggles. Best of luck!!!

4

thanks for the slither chance of hope, don’t you ever wish you just had the chance to go back in time?

5

Oh yeah definitely lol but unfortunately, we can’t, so thinking too much about the past isn’t productive. All you can do is learn from your past and do all you can to set yourself up for success. Remember that you’ll find happiness no matter where you go to college, and once you’re there, nobody will care whether or not you got rejected somewhere else! Promise :slight_smile: