The Chances of an International Student

<p>Myself</p>

<p>I’m an international student from Jordan who lived most of his life in the United Arab Emirates, currently living in the city of Dubai. I am a soon-to-be senior in Repton School Dubai aiming to study and major in Computer Science and minor in Film/Cinematography Production in the United States of America. I am a fluent speaker in English and Arabic with a limited working proficiency in French.</p>

<p>I am currently aiming for Stanford University as my top choice, though it is a far reach, and I would love to study in California. I plan on applying to the ‘University of California’ schools, with the aim of getting admitted into UC Los Angeles and/or UC Berkley, and Caltech. I do plan on applying to schools outside of California; however, I’ve yet to finalize my list. Some of the universities that I’ve been looking into include New York University, Georgia Tech, University of Pennsylvania, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Princeton University.</p>

<p>Academics</p>

<p>GPA (unweighted): 3.94</p>

<p>SAT (retaking in October): 1800/2400
• Math: 630/800
• Writing: 590/800
• Critical Reading: 580/800</p>

<p>IGCSE Grades:
• Math: A*
• Physics: A*
• Chemistry: A*
• Biology: A*
• ICT: A*
• Arabic B: A*
• English Language: A
• History: A
• English Literature: B
• Drama: B</p>

<p>IB Predicted Grade: Unknown</p>

<p>IB1 Final Grade: 35/42
• ITGS HL: Level 7
• Physics HL: Level 6
• Math HL: Level 5
• Chemistry SL: Level 6
• English SL: Level 6
• Arabic B: Level 6</p>

<p>Activities</p>

<p>School
• House* photographer at my school
• Deputy Head of House* at my school</p>

<p>*Our student body is separated into 8 different "houses" that compete against each other all year round for house points (similar to that of Hogwarts as seen in the "Harry Potter" movies)</p>

<p>Hobbies
• Self-taught graphic designer [5 years of graphic design]
• Self-taught video editor [5 years of video editing]</p>

<p>Programs
• Duke of Edinburgh: Gold Award [Under Progress]
o Expedition [Completed]
o Residential [Completed]
o Skill [Estimated Completion: February]
o Service [Estimated Completion: December]
o Sport [Estimated Completion: January]</p>

<p>• ID Tech Camp at Stanford University [2011]
o Video Editing & Effects
o 3D Modeling and Animation</p>

<p>• Stanford University: High School Summer College [2013]
o CS106A: Programming Methodology [Credit awarded]
o Math19: Calculus [Credit awarded]
o Athletics131: Swimming Intermediate [Credit awarded]</p>

<p>Extra-Curricular Activities
• Karate [Orange Belt | Noncompetitive]
• Swimming [Noncompetitive]</p>

<p>Community Service
• Part of an environmental youth group known as SynergY – one of the head executives.
• Self-launched campaigns in an attempt of raising awareness about “Peace Day” that occurs on the 21st of September
• Assisted in a campaign to raise awareness for diabetes that was endorsed by SweetKidz foundation and run by Abbott Diabetes Care
• Designed posters to advertise for ‘Charity Day’ that is held annually in my school
• Helped out in planning and managing stalls on ‘Charity Day’
• Trip to Nepal to assist in building/improving a school</p>

<p>My bad, under the IB1 Grades, English SL should be a “5” not a “6”.</p>

<p>Sorry~</p>

<p>Sorry to tell you, but those test scores are not up to par with other international applicants. Stanford takes in about 170 international students a year; all these students have 2200+ SAT Is and 750+ SAT IIs. You MUST raise those scores, or you would not have a competitive chance.</p>

<p>I assume that you’re full pay, right?
You’re good for UCB and UCLA, Georgia Tech, all the big public universities.
You should look into UMichigan.
Penn and Princeton are reaches for everyone but you’ve got a decent shot.
RPI is your safety, I assume? I’d pick another UC or another big school (Penn State, NCSU, etc) as a safety rather than RPI, since you seem mostly interested in large schools.</p>

<p>UPenn: Reach
Princeton: High reach
Stanford: High reach
Berkeley: Reach
UCLA: Reach
Caltech: High reach
NYU: Reach
GA Tech: Reach
RPI: Match</p>

<p>Try UMass Amherst…</p>