<p>Merry Christmas everyone, or boxing day rather</p>
<p>I am an international student from the UK hoping to apply for University of Chicago and can see that the university has a high IB acceptance rate given its high profile and league table ranking. My SAT score is not so good as I am not used to standardised testing and had to teach myself everything. Having looked at their admissions statistics, I can see that only 1% of admitted students have an SAT score in my range (500-600 for each section). Therefore, I'm seriously considering resitting the SAT in January, the results of which they accept. </p>
<p>However, I am unsure as to how my IB scores would be received by them. I know they require 6s and 7s in higher level subjects to place out certain courses but I am not sure how my overall grade compares to what they admit.</p>
<p>I have 38 points on the IB including all three EE and TOK points .
I got 7,6,5 at Higher level with the 7 being in Physics, the subject I wish to major in</p>
<p>I didn't take Higher Level Math on the IB as my school didn't offer it. Therefore, I had to take a British A-level Maths on top of Maths Studies (obviously got a 7) and everything else on the IB. I got a B grade in A-level Maths and am resitting this June in order to boost my grade to an A or A* and increase my chances of admission to more British universities (such as UCL).</p>
<p>Can anyone direct me to a database that shows what kind of IB scores certain American universities tend to admit students with? I saw somewhere that the average point score for NYU was 38 points, for which I am bang on target. Is Chicago one of those 40+ wonders or does it ever let people in with my kind of score?</p>
<p>I am also applying to UNC Chapel Hill so if anyone could give me an idea of what they accept, that would be great. </p>
<p>Can you lookup what percentage of students in IB programs get 38? That would help you put your score in context. 500 to 600 is going to be a real problem getting into U.Chicago. D has 36 ACT and her chances are about 40 percent. I think completing the IB diploma will reassure a college you are prepared academically but you need very strong test scores for U.Chicago</p>
<p>I have finished the IB Diploma (Upper Sixth) and am in a gap year. That’s how I have my results.
Obviously my SAT scores aren’t good for UNC nor Chicago- that’s why I’m doing it again in January. However, I am leaning more towards applying to John Hopkins rather than Chicago at the moment. I have five extra days to apply, less competition and fewer essays to write. Additionally, John Hopkins is also a very good school</p>
<p>What are you doing in gap year and why the heck have you left fixing your SAT so late? you are already a year over the kids that will be your peers. What are you doing this year?</p>
<p>Actually I’m one the youngest in my year so it really won’t make much of a difference. The oldest in the year below will be a week younger than me. Depending on where the cut off point is in America, I may even be the same age or younger than those in the year (grade) below. I was born on the 23rd of August and in the UK I would probably still be doing the IB if I were born on the 1st of September</p>
<p>I only decided to apply to America after getting my results and took time to gather sufficient information regarding the application process. I live in a remote part of the UK so I had almost no support and had to find out almost everything on my own. Believe me, that took a while</p>
<p>This December was the earliest test date I could do the SAT as I didn’t have enough info before hand. Having not grown up with standardised testing and having needed to teach how to do the exam, I was obviously at a disadvantage. I’ve only known about my SAT results since they came out on the 23rd hence why January is the only chance I have to fix them.</p>
<p>In my gap year, I am working to gather money together to help support myself at university, volunteering at an observatory and quite obviously working on the vast number of university applications and relevant entry exams. I am also applying for German universities so there is another exam I have to do for those.</p>
<p>But you are competing with kids DOING their IB AND ECs AND getting a good SAT from non english speaking countries, not 3rd world rural England LOL. Having a year to polish up your applications may not be a real positive for selective schools. Gap year volunteering for MSF? Sure. Gap year working in M&S with a little light vanity volunteering is going to be less helpful. IB isn’t a hook as and of itself. It is part of a package. Kids all over the USA do it, as well as internationals. </p>
<p>Yes, for Chicago maybe. That’s why I’ve changed my mind about applying there. Besides, I have done plenty of ECs even while studying on the IB. And I am not letting go of any academic work this year- I am retaking a few modules from an A-level to increase my grade (which isn’t even bad), teaching myself further subjects and spending more time on ECs.</p>
<p>Yes, US universities are competitive but I hardly think that I will up against a million people with 40+ points and 2400 SAT scores at every single one I apply to. Maybe for Harvard, yes but that’s why I’m not even going to think about trying for such universities until grad school. As I said, that’s probably why I’m going to avoid Chicago this time. </p>
<p>I never said my IB was a hook- it’s my high score that should help, not the fact that I did it at all.</p>
<p>There are many good aspects to my application so I would be very surprised if an admissions guy at NYU or UNC just threw my application in the bin because I did not satisfy his requirements for a suitable gap year. </p>
<p>Your comments are not actually answering my question. I set up this thread to assess whether my grades are typical for what Chicago admit, not to assess how some seemingly snobby admissions officer would feel about an applicant doing gap year. </p>
<p>You clearly have a very conservative view of what constitutes a decent gap year. I want to do my absolute best to avoid running low on finances and dropping out of college due to no longer being able to support myself. Many people are sensible enough to do that and many of those go to excellent universities. Many of those that don’t also end up screwing up once they get to university. I haven’t got my mind set purely on the US: if it doesn’t work, I’ll study in a different country and apply again at postgraduate. The volunteering that I am doing is not “little light vanity”- it’s directly relevant to my desired future career and important experience that many other people who go into astrophysics lack. </p>
<p>I don’t have a snobby attitude, gap years are great, I think you need to do some more research on what you might come up against though. What UK schools have you got a spot for next year? Imp? Ucl? You are doing retakes this year? How do US schools look at that? </p>
<p>I didn’t say your attitude was snobby- I was referring to how you suggested universities would look at my gap year. I’m not doing the retake because I got a bad grade. I actually got a B in A-level Maths so I am retaking in order to increase that to a higher, A/A* grade. Two of the universities I have applied to need that grade: UCL and Nottingham. I have an unconditional offer (definite place) at Glasgow so if I do stay in the UK, it would be between that and UCL. My grades surpass the minimum entry requirements of the two other universities I have applied to so I am likely to get unconditionals from them too: Exeter and Queen Mary’s London. </p>
<p>In the UK, it’s between Glasgow and UCL for me. </p>
<p>However, as I said, I want to avoid the high tuition fees so if I don’t get the appropriate financial aid for study in the US, I will try for Germany or the Netherlands. </p>
<p>Plus, I don’t think the retake is particularly relevant for the US. My scores, particularly IB are good enough for many universities. For instance, even my B grade in A-level Maths is good enough to place out certain math courses at UNC Chapel Hill. The only thing that might be a problem is my SAT. </p>
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