US citizen living abroad (Taiwan) since age of 5. Dual citizen.
Competitive flagship public high school
No hooks
Intended Major(s)
Molecular Biology/Biochemistry.
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
HS GPA: Uhh it’s a little complicated:
So basically, the whole immigrant situation screwed up my grades beyond resuscitation. I did well in 9th grade because I was enrolled in a bilingual school at the time, but from 10th grade on I ended up in the big ol’ competitive flagship county public school and yeah, things did not work out. My lack of understanding of the Chinese language did not help much, needless to say.
I’m still waiting on the school to send me my translated transcripts but my GPA should be somewhere around a 3.0 or even lower. Even worse: downward trend. In recent semesters I’ve consistently ranked in the back half of the class.
(It’s worth noting that I’m exempt from English coursework and it’s the only subject where I consistently pull As.)
Coursework
Following the Taiwanese curriculum in the science track, biology concentrate (probably not the way that’s supposed to be written, but it’s the best I can describe it).
Awards
None of the usual ones but a bunch of public speaking and writing awards, several at the countywide level. A few engineering competitions too.
Extracurriculars
Model UN Academic Officer/Chair/Head of Press
Student Representative (lead a massive student council debate about exchange programs)
Electric guitar (and a very strong interest in modern music history)
Several years’ worth experience with 3D printing/laser cutting/circuitry/programming
Online presence (starting a 300+ member subreddit and running a 2000+ participant Tumblr tournament)
Volunteering as a youth counselor
Amateur writer (publishing a webnovel with over 20,000 views)
Lab experience and co-authoring a cancer research paper which will be published this year.
Essays/LORs/Other
Still finishing up my essay but it’s a solid one about my struggles with identity as an immigrant. Most of the places I’m applying don’t take LORs but for the ones that do, I have a great one from my English teacher who’s basically taken me under her wing during these three years of high school hell. If necessary, I have two more from my school principal and a university professor I’ve worked with.
Cost Constraints / Budget
Parents haven’t given a clear number yet, but it’s likely a matter of value instead of just cost. Will still be applying for fin aid at all schools.
Schools
I’m really not sure where the schools I have in mind would fall on the safety/likely/match/reach spectrum, due to my situation. But here are the list of schools I’m considering:
UW Seattle (RD)
UW Bothell (EA)
UW Tacoma (EA)
University of Oregon (EA)
CU Boulder (EA)
Seattle U (EA)
University of Puget Sound (EA)
Michigan Tech (EA)
Arizona State University (RD)
If all else fails, my backup plan is to go to Seattle Central College and see if I have a shot at transferring after one year.
(seeking scholarships at all schools.)
Thanks in advance! Any advice or suggestions are welcome, and I will gladly answer any additional questions. Sorry if I’ve misunderstood anything about the application process, there’s a severe lack of related resources at my school and I don’t think I have sufficient knowledge about… anything. Seriously hoping my grades situation doesn’t make me a lost cause!
The net price calculators are currently set up for students starting this fall, 2023. That’s not you. So please use these as an estimate only. Also sometimes income earned overseas can put a kink in how these work. Just an FYI.
Can you explain this to me? Did you move to Taiwan when you were five, but not learn the language? What type of school did you attend before 9th grade?
Two comments for now:
– You need to talk budget with your parents and run net price calculators before moving forward; and
–Apply to ASU early as well - there is no reason to wait for the RD round.
I assume some of the UW campuses will work. U of Arizona will definitely work although I imagine ASU will too.
You might look into W Washington too.
There’s definitely schools for you. You put Puget sound - look at other Oregon / Washington LACs like Willamette, Linfield, Lewis & Clark to see if you might be a match.
With some on your list, you can apply early and have answers early enough to know whether you need to adapt or not for other schools.
Hi, I moved to Taiwan when I was five but attended bilingual schools throughout grades 1 to 9. Although the primary language being taught was Mandarin, I was given plenty of resources to learn in English (and generally given a lot of stretch room when it came to studying methods), so it was a pretty sheltered environment for me.
In high school I ended up going to a regular high school (not bilingual), and a particularly competitive one at that, so I no longer have any of the things that were keeping my grades afloat before that.
Is there some extenuating circumstance that made you have to switch to a school where you didn’t understand the language of instruction? If so, perhaps that will help the adcoms see past this.
It was mostly a deliberate decision on my part. I was always planning on taking myself out of my comfort zone and get brutally challenged at a top school, I just wasn’t aware at the time of how much my GPA would impact college applications.
And you’ll still have wonderful options. Perhaps just not as big as names but some like Arizona (more than ASU) and since you are in Washington how about WASU for a big school or neighboring U Idaho. You can try but can’t imagine UW being an in.
Wyoming is fine, not far from civilization and relatively inexpensive. There’s others in the Midwest and south too depending on your flexibility.
You took a chance. That gutsiness will pay off long term.
Most of the public schools you’ve listed are not that generous with financial aid for OOS students.
So I’d take UW-Seattle, U of Oregon, CU boulder off the list and replace them with other state schools (Idaho, Montana, Utah if you want to stay in the west) or private schools.
But you apply using Junior year grades. You can apply to some schools later with first semester grades - if they have later deadlines and don’t fill up.
I’ve considered that, but those three public schools are the ones my parents are most willing to pay for (according to them), given rank and prestige, so I’d probably still give them a shot just for the miniscule chance that I’ll get in.
Given the major there’s zero pedigree difference between a CU or ASU or Oregon and an Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, WASU, Montana/ Montana State. Just a cost difference.
What is your goal with this degree ? Sciences are typically, not always, under employed or lesser paid in outcomes.
UW is a fine name and take your shot but I can’t see a path in.
Rank sells magazines and gives school a reason to ‘overcharge’ people like your parents but in the job world, especially at that level, it’s pretty meaningless.
And school rank does not equal major rank. Example ASU or Utah or Wyoming might kick UWs butt in certain fields. Don’t know about yours.
But named schools like CU use it to their advantage to get folks to over pay. Ps if you like Colorado, you should add CSU as more realistic.
Arizona is as big a name as Oregon and CU and an easy in for you. Great at STEM. Someone mentioned Utah. Another great name. These are all solid Pac 13 institutions. WASU too. All loaded with smart kids. But there’s lots of great schools. W Washington another to look at and UNM.
Your circumstances are not relevant - your grades are your grades. But your gutsiness will help in life. Maybe you can write your common app essay or a supplemental asking about a challenge - related to your decision and willingness to think outside your comfort zone etc.
And you’ll get info fine schools if you apply. Your parents are not correct (imho) in their assessment.
If you have a 3.0 or 24 act asu is an in (assuming you meet required courses)
Arizona - equal to prestige and a nicer campus in my opinion although I’m an asu mba alum.
Oregon has a high admission rate. So maybe you’ll get lucky. Oregon State might be a fit too. Stem oriented in many ways.
Many schools, even named ones, will want you. You’ll just have to pay more. If your parents are ok with it, then it’s good. But they’d be paying more when equally as good schools exist. I mean u r applying to many ‘lesser names’ from your first list. If you get educated, then whatever they want to spend on that is a fit for you is a winner !!!
So sorry that happened to you. My understanding is that the taiwanese schools are so competitive that one must be in that system for at least a few years before 9th, to adjust and get chinese totally fluent in academic reading and writing.
Usually, high test scores and low gpa mean lazy student,but in your case i see challenged student, due to circumstances. You will probably do fine anywhere you go.
In your case, if you really want UW, the community college, AP, CLEP route with transfer agreement might be best.
If they are applying early action or early decision…or rolling admissions. Otherwise schools look for the senior year mid year grades.
You have some good possibilities with schools like Arizona…which you can apply to pretty soon!
I agree with @parentologist. Please read that post again just above here.
There are many colleges that would welcome you as a student. I think the list you have is pretty varied, but I’m not as familiar with the WA state colleges as others might be. @BunsenBurner do you know?
So I’d take UW-Seattle, U of Oregon, CU boulder off the list and replace them with other state schools (Idaho, Montana, Utah if you want to stay in the west) or private schools.
It’s ok to apply to some more reachy schools, if you want to.