United World College

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi! I’m a current junior at a public school in New Jersey, USA and I’m really interested in pursuing an education at a UWC School for my senior year and a gap year! I believe that I have the qualities that the program is looking for in a student - I am open-minded, cultured, motivated, aware of current social issues, and willing to initiate change and improvement in any way I can. I know that the process of applying is extremely rigorous and competitive (especially in America), but I don’t see any harm in trying out because I might gain something from the application experience even if I don’t get in. I would like to list some credentials if anyone associated with the program could review them and see if I am an ideal candidate and if it’s worth a shot to apply.

  1. I have an average GPA of 3.559 weighted (I know this is not very good, but I live in an extremely competitive school district where the classes are very challenging). I hope to end my junior year with a 3.7 to 3.8 though. I am probably taking several APs including English, Spanish, Physics 1/2, Calculus AB, Psychology, Comparative Government and Politics, and either Chemistry or Biology in my junior and senior years (I haven’t taken any so far).
  2. I love writing. I enjoy writing essays (weird, right?), writing stories, writing screenplays - and I believe my strong writing skills will benefit me in the application process. I’m also a pretty deep thinker.
  3. My extracurriculars include the cello, which I have played since I was 7, and classical Indian dance (My parents are Indian immigrants who moved to America), which I have done since I was 6. I take 2-3 hours of dance lessons a week at a dance studio, and I play the cello at an elite school orchestra and at a local youth orchestra (the Youth Orchestra of Central Jersey). Additionally, I volunteer at a nearby university hospital during the week and interact with patients on a regular basis. I can speak fluent Tamil (my native language) and somewhat fluent Spanish, which make me a valuable commodity for the hospital which serves primarily Hispanic and Asian crowds. I have about 60 volunteer hours currently, and hope to end with over 100. I also plan on taking up a job that pays me just for the experience, such as in a pharmacy or in an immigration law firm, both of which are options that greatly interest me. Lastly, I am an active member of our school’s Amnesty International club. Although I was not able to secure an official leadership position in the club, I still make sure to contribute in impactful ways. I conducted a club meeting on the Syrian refugee crisis and was able to get every member to sign a petition to bring awareness to the issue. I plan on joining one additional club next year - either Model UN or Biomedical Futures.
  4. I will be taking the SATs in October of 2015, and based on my current preparation I am confident of a full or almost full English score and hopefully a decent math score as well. I may take the ACTs as well. I will be taking three AP exams my junior year (English, Spanish, and Physics 1) along with several subject SATs, probably in two of the following: English, Spanish, Physics I, or Math II.
  5. My hobbies include running, biking, hiking, traveling, photography, creative writing, and generally being active. I have an unhealthy obsession with living a healthy lifestyle (ha…) and I enjoy doing pilates workouts, yoga, running, and making heath foods in my free time. Although I do not participate in a school sport, I make sure that I am active, outdoors, and healthy. My parents encourage this outdoor lifestyle, and we make sure to go hiking, biking, or jogging at least once a week. Through this, I have learned the power of habit and organization. Additionally, I have traveled a lot and gained insight into different cultures, which truly amazes and intrigues me. My parents and I have traveled to Peru where we hiked up Machu Picchu mountain and Wayna Picchu and visited the Uros Tribes, Costa Rica where I studied at an intensive language and cultural program with a week while living with Costa Rican citizens, compulsory visits to India to visit family, Norway (for this summer! I’m so excited ahh), and various states in US where we convened a lot with nature. At each place, I have gained valuable memories and experiences that have shaped me into a cultured person.
  6. I think I am interested in pursuing geriatric care and working with Doctors Without Borders, or pursuing international law. I know these are two very different areas, but both interest me.
  7. I am worried about how easily I am overloaded with work and I am afraid that in a school as demanding as a UWC institution, I will become overwhelmed and stressed by academic work, and in turn will not be able to experience the other things the school will offer.
    Wow if you’ve gotten this far I applaud you! I would love love love it if someone were able to address my credentials, and possible share his or her experience at a UWC School or applying for a UWC School. Thank you so much!!!
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NOTE: My GPA is obviously something that will hold me back, but I had some personal issues and health issues my sophomore year in high school that make my grates drop. The things that I went through in my sophomore year really changed my outlook and affected me, and if I’m given a chance, I would like to write about this somewhere in the application process

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ALSO: when exactly does the committee look at your GPA? By the end of junior year, I expect it to improve vastly.

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(American applicant, accepted to UWC-USA class of 2017 for senior and gap year)

  1. I don’t think it’ll kill you. GPAs among finalists are generally good but with some low individual grades mixed in. It’s not the primary factor. My GPA was quite a bit higher (4.162 when I applied), but my classes weren’t all that rigorous (one AP and several concurrent enrollment, but mostly standard-level due to availability), and I think that was one of the highest. They do seem to be fairly understanding about circumstance, as far as we [finalists] could tell.

They’ll be looking at your GPA as of now, I suspect (as applications close before the end of the first semester this year).

  1. Now that's going to be great. As far as we could determine, the most important component of the written application is the (relatively) long essay (up to 2000 words). Education was a popular topic of course, given the nature of the applicants, but I think that's more correlation than causation.
  2. Better than some, comparable to most. A lot of the finalists had pretty impressive ECs (three small business owners, heaps of community service), but it's not a requirement--I applied with about 30 hours of community service and founding and running programming club, no other ECs.
  3. That'll be too late for the scores to get in. Applications close in October this year, I think (it was much later in previous years). I don't think the scores are all that critical, though.
  4. Yeah, you should be fine there. Makes me look like a couch potato by comparison.
  5. They seem to have pretty solid support in place. I've also heard that the pace isn't all that fast in order to accommodate people with bad English, but that's just a rumor.

As for the experience… I believe you’ve seen my post in the other thread, “UWC Applicants Year 2016”.

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@QuantumPython thank you so much!!! Your answers were insanely helpful.

I guess I’ll give it a shot… The applications just came out!!! Im so excited ahahah

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Hey I’m thinking about applying to UWC too! I actually just opened the application today! What colleges are you most interested in?

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Hi! Same user, different account bc I forgot the password to my old one :wink: … probably USA adriatic pearson or netherlands. WBU?