I am a Romanian high school student in a very good class. I would like to know if I have a chance to be at least considered at an Ivy League(or a good University,it doesn’t really matter if it is a Ivy League one)I have good grades and it is very hard in my class to get the best grade.I am not in the top 1% of my class but I do think I will get good SAT scores.Do Univerities look at the context of how I got my grades and how difficult the classes are?
Ivies and other top schools are definitely ‘holistic’. They look at courses taken, rigor, performance, SAT/ACT, subject tests, essays, recommendations, and then, importantly, “other”. This means extracurriculars and other activities. What are you passionate about, and how do you show it?
Thank you! Here in Romania you can’t really choose your classes,you can just chose a profile and you usually have 15-16 calsses.This is a reason I want to study I the US,because I can decide what I want to study.We also do not have clubs in schools this is why I am working on creating a schools-paper.I really like literature and I hope to become a Journalist or lawyer one day.
For the colleges with under a 10% admit rate you typically want to be one of the top 1-5 people in your class, especially as an international student. There are, of course, exceptions, but you would want to have something else that is objectively extraordinary about you. Spend some time figuring out what you want from your college experience.
As you are likely to be going back to Romania/EU you might want to think about what will matter there as well.
A lot of international students apply to colleges like Harvard because people in their home country have heard of it and respect the name. Look further, though, and you may find that there are other colleges that also have a good name at home. For example, I was very surprised in one country to find that Villanova -a very strong college, but not particularly high profile in the US- had high name value in that country. Turns out that a number of high achieving students from that country had been given scholarships to attend, then come back to their home country and been very successful.
Another consideration might be the opportunity to get internships/work experience in your field in a way that is not available to you at home. In that case, look for colleges that are in places that are strong in your field. For example, George Washington University (in DC) is particularly strong in getting students placements in various government and non-government organizations. If you are interested in public health, Harvard may be tops, but Johns Hopkins, the University of Michigan and the University of Washington are right up there as well. Schools like these- which are competitive (and can be expensive) will send you home with extraordinary experience, which will help you get into top-drawer grad schemes or entry jobs.
If you are looking for the ‘liberal arts college’ (LAC) experience- where you live on a self-contained campus as part of a relatively small community (under, say, 5000 students), take a range of classes and get an all-round education, and it doesn’t matter if people have heard of it at home, think about you for a bit. City/suburb/country? very sporty or not so much? can you tolerate/enjoy heat/cold? socialize with big groups of people frequently or more of a quieter/small group kind of socializing? seriously liberal/conservative in your political/social views or live-and-let-live? LACs are all about the community, and (especially for somebody who is very far from home) being in a place that is generally a good fit can make it easier (obviously, there are a range of students at pretty much all colleges- just speaking in generalities).
Finally, if you are in a very good school in Romania, finances are probably not a concern, but make very sure you know what your parents are willing and able to pay for before you go too far down the road. If finances are a concern, then only a tiny number of US universities are need-blind and meet-need. Most are at least need-aware for internationals. For those you want your stats to be in the top 25% of admitted students.
Universities do look at you holistically, provided that they deem you academically competent to succeed at their school based on your GPA and SAT/ACT scores. Being at the top 1% of your class does not matter very much when looking at top schools like the Ivys. Even a great student who has great stats and ranks at the very top of their school are not guaranteed admission. In my experience, admissions there is just unpredictable.
http://admission.stanford.edu/basics/selection/profile.html
I think Stanford answers this question. If you’re in the top 10%, you have a 5% chance. But if you’re outside the top 10%, you have <1% chance.
Thank you a lot! I would like to study Journalism and I also want to study Law in the Us but I know you have to have a degree first.I would like to study at Columbia University because I have a lot of opportunities there and I do need some financial aid…But I know the chances are small, so I am looking at other LAC’s too
Columbia does NOT have an undergraduate Journalism program.
For undergraduate Journalism, look at Syracuse, Northwestern and Missouri.