<p>Hi everyone, this is my first post here so bear with me if it goes wrong:
I'm a student at a UK secondary school, looking to apply to universities in America, my top choices are: Yale, Brown, Colombia, RISD. I've had a hard time finding information as to what kind of chances UK students have to get into these schools, so if anyone could take a look at my resume and tell me what they think I would be extremely grateful :) ---
Here goes:
8 A<em>s, 3 As and one B at GCSE
AS levels- maths, further maths, art, economics, English language (all predicted A's with top scores) French (already took it, got an A, took A2 this year predicted A</em>)
SAT- 800 in math, 670 in writing, 700 in critical reading (SAT 2's not done yet)
Sports: American Football and Athletics (both at county level)
EC's : Debating society, Made a business when I was 16, Art Club, Théâtre club, Film club
Achievements: went to Africa to build a school and climb kilimanjaro when I was 16</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for your time if you read all that haha, i'd really appreciate any comments/thoughts, positive and negative, Thanks</p>
<p>Well, here we go: </p>
<p>Firstly, do you need financial aid? If you do, your chances are significantly decreased. You can also forget RISD in that case. If not, well that’s a good thing. Except at Yale, which doesn’t consider your ability to pay.</p>
<p>What would you like to study? RISD is not an Ivy, it’s an art school.</p>
<p>Your SAT is OK, maybe take it again and try to increase CR and Writing (although Writing is not that important as the other two). At Ivies, you’ll also need two SAT Subject Tests, or you can take the ACT plus Writing.</p>
<p>If you’d perhaps like to continue football at university, you could get an athletic scholarship at some places, but I don’t really know much about that, to be honest. There is an Athletic Recruits section here on CC, under the Specialty College Admission Topics.</p>
<p>Which subjects do you want to continue at A2? Once in the US, you can get credit in some subjects, but not in others.</p>
<p>Hope this helps. :)</p>
<p>Hi Layra, thanks for your reply, I know RISD isn’t an ivy but i was actually looking to apply for their dual degree course with brown. so does RISD consider your financial need when making a decision on your admission? and i will probably continue all my subjects except economics at A2, thanks alot for your help :)</p>
<p>oh wait i see what you mean about RISD, just found out they dont offer financial aid to internationals :L ahh well, aside from that what do you think my chances are for getting into the schools mentioned?</p>
<p>For the US, first question always is: do you need financial aid? </p>
<p>Second, Yale, Brown & Columbia (NOT Colombia!) are usual wish list unis, but RISD is pretty different- what is that about? </p>
<p>Third, (and this is not as snarky a question as it sounds, nor do you need to answer it here): when Yale looks at your application, what differentiates you from 95% of the other applicants? Put another way, there is nothing in your stats which makes you INeligible for those unis, but the vast majority of applicants will have numbers as impressive as yours, and rather a lot of them will have some pretty compelling hooks. </p>
<p>Hi collegemom, thanks for the reply, and tbh for financial aid it would help but i could get by without it. basically my dream is to go and do the dual degree at brown and risd, so really the aim there would be to get into both so i could do that. and for your third question, without wanting to sound cocky- i think probably my talent as an artist could set me apart? aside from that what are the kind of things that provide the “hooks” you mentioned? thanks for all your help :)</p>
<p>Ah- that makes more sense. You might also look at Tufts, which has a dual degree program with the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston:
<a href=“http://admissions.tufts.edu/academics/special-degree-paths/combined-degree-with-the-schoo/”>http://admissions.tufts.edu/academics/special-degree-paths/combined-degree-with-the-schoo/</a></p>
<p>If art is your “hook” - ie, what set you apart from other candidates with strong marks and no super-strong ECs- look at what ways you have to demonstrate that. The application supplements will offer you opportunities to expand on that aspect. </p>
<p>^^ Great advice!
Brown accepts about 10% and RISD about 25% so even if you’re a wonderful artist, competition is tough. Also, about 15 people get into the dual degree program a year. If you don’t need fin aid that’s a good thing, but remember that it’s a five year program, so it’ll be more expensive than a normal BA program, and RISD even requires you to buy art supplies etc.</p>
<p>Thanks both of you for your replies- really helped my thinking! 
so collegemom should i focus on activites to do with art like competitions etc? and LayraSparks what else can i do to increase my chances of getting accepted to the dual degree? thanks </p>
<p>Eh, I’m not sure really, to be honest. Even if you get accepted to both schools, the dual degree program is not guaranteed. Apart from a stellar application, you’ll need lots of luck. I know this is not the answer you want to hear, but considering all the applications that are good enough, and the places available, it’s all I can say. Sorry. Maybe someone more qualified can give you a better response/more advice. :)</p>
<p>wolves20: My daughter had very similar scores to you in GCSEs, AS results, A level predicted grades and SAT scores and she was accepted (Class of 2018) at two of the three Ivies you mentioned (the other she did not apply to). Have you taken SAT IIs? </p>