School Type: Public school
Location: Greece
Race/Gender: Greek male
Prospective Major: Liber arts, Economics, International relations, politics, government or public policy
In greece we are graded out of 20. For my Freshman year, my GPA was 19/20. For my sophomore 19.35
American grading system: 4.0 GPA
Class rank: school doesnt rank but im in the top 5%
Havent taken the SAT’S yet but i wont have the chance to sit for any Subject Tests
Extracurricular Info:
3 languages: Greek, English and German
Primary School Parent’s Drama Group (playing Shakespeare this year btw) I am the only teen to be a member.
Photography.
5member Class Council President for all of my secondary school years.
Member of the 15member Student council since 8th grade.
Establisher of my schools Clubs program. ( Most Greek public schools dont have clubs neither do they offer extracurriculars.
But after proposing it to the school board, we established 3 clubs and planning to establish more next year)
Leader and Establisher of the School Film club.
Deputy Teen Parliamentarian.
Running a personal project, lobbying my government for the establishment of the UN Youth Delegate program in my country.
Have met a lot of parliamentarians and at the moment drafting my proposal to the ministry of Foreign Affairs. Will maybe
have the chance to meet the President and the PM of Greece
Volunteering at Hamogelo tou paidiou. and several other NGOs
Unesco’s 17 goals project./ Unesco’s ambassador.
Establisher and leader of school’s Debate (Law) Club, participating in a moot court competition this July.
1 year long Internship in a political party/ Volunteer at a Political Campaign
Establisher and General Secretary of a Greek Political Party Youth
Honours:
Diploma of Merit for my grades since 7th grade. Awarded by the school.
3rd place in the national student short film competition with the School Film Club. (We were the only public school to win)
Music award in the same competition
Award for competing in the national Student short film competition regarding the Holocaust (Interviewed two survivors)
Worked in a family business (Hotel specifically) and in a photography store.
Other:
Applying for Financial Aid?: Yes
Target schools: Yale, Brown, Amherst, Georgetown, Harvard and Princeton
Any feedback would be awesome. Thank you in advance!
Sorry. The way life goes. I got rejected from Amherst, Princeton, and Harvard with a 4.6 GPA, 1600 SAT, 36 ACT, AP Scholar, all the possible national awards you could get, Interned at Ro Khanna’s office, recommendation letter from the principal and vice principal of my 3k+ student school. I am now attending community college. You simply do not have the needed numbers or extracurriculars. Also, Greek acceptance rates are at an all time low. I would know, since my cousin is Greek and researched this stuff.
@jim4321 That doesn’t mean OP’s chances are 0 for these schools. OP, do not be discouraged. You have excellent grades and extracurriculars. I hope your SAT goes well. Update College Confidential when you have taken the SAT, since it is integral to chance you.
Thank you. Forgot to mention that i will submit an extra recommendation letter too, written by a former Prime Minister in whose office i am having an internship. He is an Amherst and Harvard alumni
yeah, SATs are needed, and what kind of classes you took. Also international applicants are typically full-pay and you’re applying for financial aid, so you need to look into costs as well. Good Luck!
@jim4321 really, those scores and you ended up at community college? Was it Ivy or bust for you then? Also, would be really interested in a source for the “Greek acceptance rates” you claim to know.
It’s strange, there’s always someone with great scores that gets turned down. See this on my D’s naviance, the top GPA/perfect ACT scores in one year got turned down from a number of colleges including less selective than Ivy ones like NYU. You gotta think it’s something in the essays when that kind of thing happens, because it’s rare.
Seems to me OP’s bigger problem is needing financial aid, but he does have a couple of international needblind schools on that list. Not having SAT subject tests could be an issue with some of the schools though.
OP, what year are you that there’s no SAT score yet? And if a college recommends Subject tests, you should have them. Are there extenuating circumstances, other than time?
There’s a lot that’s good in your summary. But you need to dig into what the colleges say and show they value and look for. A lot will hang on how you fill out the app and supps, what your ‘self presentation’ shows. That includes in the Personal Statement (which needs to show what they want to see in you/attributes.)
If you are the right candidate, asking for financial aid is not a huge issue. But we have no idea how much you would need. Your chances depend on how many other great candidates apply from Greece- and the surrounding countries. There’s a desire for international diversity that can help or hinder you.