What are my chances? - International student

Student Lounge International Students
1

Hi everyone! What are my chances of getting into Amherst? I’m a Gr. 9 student from the Philippines. I’m also considering Swarthmore, MIT, Bowdoin, Grinnell, Trinity and Hamilton.

1510 SAT (750 math, 760 R n W)
General average: 94.50
Class rank: 17/450
I am part of our honors class (top 40) which may mean I am taking honors classes.

Extracurriculars:
Youth president of my local church (Gr. 8-Present) where I organize church activities and also helped with counseling of drug surrenderees, member of our school’s society for christ, robotics club, and altar servers.
Attended 9 seminars on law, 30+ Coursera certificates (more in the future)
I also have some knowledge of Python and its use on machine learning, neural networks and using sequence models on voice recognition. I am also in the process of creating a simple android game which I plan on publishing next year.
Team captain of Tennis (Gr. 9)
Some volunteer work including tree planting, cleanup drives, and medical missions.

What I’m worried most about is financial aid. My parents and I can only afford to pay up to $3000 a year.

2

Amherst, MIT - need blind and meet full need, so have no fear when applying.
The others are need aware but meet full need also, to my knowledge.

As for your chances, all those schools are extremely selective, and it’s even harder for international students. Your stats are awesome, but so are everyone else’s applying. Best advice is this: present yourself as honestly as possible, and go for it.

Good luck!

3

very competitive schools you have listed. suggest you include other top lacs including Colgate, Williams. you are still in grade 9 and your performance is quite good.

4

Reach for Swarthmore,MIT, Bowdoin, Grinnell. No clue with Trinity and Hamilton.

You really need to expand your college list. Are you in US already?