UK Student Applying To Yale + Ivies

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I am an American citizen applying to college in the US (white/male).
Rising Senior, from London.

Grades
SAT: 2220 - Math 780, Writing 760, CR 680
Retaking SAT in Oct & taking subject tests
Class rank- Top 10% at a top free school.
GCSE Grades- 7 A* 4 A
AS level grades- 6 A

Planning to major in economics.

-Work experience at an internet security company (2014)
-Work experience at a tutoring company (2015)

Awards
-Silver certificate in British Olympiad (top 200 in the country)
-Certificate of distinction in intermediate maths olympiad (top 250 in country)
-Came 17th out 8800 teams in the Student Investor competition.

Extra-curricular
-Placed first in my borough for the last 3 year at long jump, and won school athletics award.
-I play rugby for the school 2nd team.
-Grade 8 pianist, I have a youtube channel (been playing for 11 years)

Other
-Vice house captain, maths prefect, founder of economics society at my school.

Planning to apply to Yale Early Action, along with:
Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, UPenn, UC schools (Berkeley & UCLA), UChicago

My grades aren’t perfect but pretty solid, and I have a solid amount of extra-curriculars compared to others at my school but it seems like american applicants have a lot more extra-curricular.
Hoping to retake SAT and get 2300+

Mainly interested in my chances at Yale and UPenn.

Any reply at all would be highly appreciated! Thanks in advance :slight_smile:

2

You’re “qualified”.


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90% of qualified students are rejected.

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3

I know people hate to hear this, but this is a “typical” application for the Ivies. Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, and UPenn are all heavy reaches… Just their way of doing things haha. UCLA and UCB are probably low reaches, and UC is a match.

4

@tigerrocks13 is correct…Ivies are a reach for EVERYONE, and while very good, the OP’s stats are just average for those schools. The piano playing is an interesting EC. You have a shot and you should put your heart and soul into an essay for the ONE that you really want to be admitted to (Yale I guess), but it would not be shocking at all if you were flat out denied to ALL of those IVIES and Stanford and UChicago

5

You are a U.S. citizen living in a foreign country, which is different than an international applicant. How long have you lived in the U.K.? Are you applying to UK schools as well?

For U.S. schools, you seem qualified, but you will have to translate your academic and outside accomplishments into a form where they are easily assessed. You are not at a school with an IB program, and A levels aren’t quite as generally accepted. I’m not sure how much of a disadvantage this will create.

I’m also not sure how to translate some of your achievements, such as “grade 8 pianist”. I have no idea what this means. Are you going to submit a music supplement? That might help solidify how accomplished you are. Overall, your ECs seem solid - math, econ/student investing+work experience, piano, rugby and some leadership stuff. I think it’s more a question of presenting yourself well, and continuing in the things you do well, than about adding more ECs.

Your CR score is a bit low, and SAT II’s would help given your background. Your math background seems strong based on Olympiads, and I assume you have had calculus, which is important for Wharton.

The good news is that you will appear a bit different than the majority of U.S. applicants, and you may have some good essay material based on your experiences. The bad news is that you need to make sure your activities translate clearly in order to not be at a competitive disadvantage.

6

Thanks a lot for the replies! @renaissancedad I have lived in UK since age 5 so I’ve been educated here, and yes I’m also applying to uni in the UK but I hope to get into one of the US schools. Grade 8 is the highest grade possible so I’m quite a committed pianist, but I am unsure whether I should submit a supplement because I am sure the standards must be incredible high.
I know the Ivies are very ambitious, particularly Harvard/ Stanford, and I consider my chances for them very low, but I am hoping I have a chance at Yale if I apply Early Action, or UPenn as it is very strong for economics. Aside from those I would be very happy to be admitted to UC Berkeley (where my parents went).

7

@renaissancedad -The ABRSM grade system is quite commonly used in Europe. Grade 8 is really something else: the highest level that can be achieved. I know exactly one person who’s done the grade 8 exam-he’s a professional music teacher and the sort of fellow that plays Chopin études as a warm-up.

@CollegeDropoutt -I would definitely make your piano playing one of the ECs you list prominently on your application.

Unfortunately, with regards to essays, the “third-culture kid” essay is one that a ridiculous number of applicants from overseas write every year. When the time came to start working on essays, the first words out of my school’s admissions counselor’s mouth were “Everyone writes about being a third-culture kid. Don’t do that.”

8

@NotVerySmart, thanks for the clarification. @CollegeDropoutt, where do you study? At the RCM? If you are that developed, you should definitely submit a music supplement, and highlight your piano performance. Anything at that high a level is impressive. I was a serious 'cellist a long time ago (before submitting supplements was commonplace), and studied with top teachers, and music was far and away my main EC. If you are that proficient, then you obviously put a ton of time and effort into piano, so it should be a featured activity.

I think that given that level of piano proficiency, your ECs are fine. It’s really hard to do more than 1-2 things at a very high level, and it sounds like your piano is conservatory level. You have a nice group of economics-related activities that fit together (work at an internet security company, high achievement in a national student investor competition, and founding an economics society at your school), solid math activities, and a clear focus. Math and econ would be a nice combination, and Yale and Penn sound like good fits. Yale has a terrific music department, FWIW. UCB out of state is difficult and expensive, though being a legacy will help.

I wasn’t suggesting the “third-culture kid” theme per se, but presumably you have some exposure that is out of the ordinary from your experiences.

You will probably have to choose between applying ED to Penn or applying SCEA to Yale.

9

Any other opinions? it would be greatly appreciated :slight_smile:

10

Bump