Hi guys,
I want to know my chances for these universities: (all of them RD)
Yale, Duke, Richmond, Tufts, DKU, Fordham. Bucknell (this one is ED2)
GPA: 3.9 UW
class rank: 3rd out of 13 (tiny class size)
Race: white (middle eastern) (international student)
Course levels: all honors for three years (My school doesn’t offer anything else)
applying test optional
ECs:
-School president of the student union
-CO-founder for a TEDx event
-Head of the physics club (started at 10th grade)
-Lab assistant at chemistry (since 11 grade)
-Vice head of HR at a charity organization
-Member at another charity organization (9th grade only)
-The president for the social committee at the student union (10th and 11th grade)
-HR member at IEEE
-CO-founder for an English-speaking club at my school
My personal essay was about the multiple moving outs I had as a child especially that I was born in a country different from my original hometown and how that shaped my perspective.
P.S: I didn’t write one of the optional essays for Duke.
Do you have any financial constraints? Are you okay being full pay at any one of these universities (possibly $350,000 or a bit more for four years)?
Clearly Yale and Duke are reaches, Tufts probably is also. I think your chances are probably good at Fordham but it is expensive. Bucknell also looks like no worse than a match if you can afford it.
Do you have any test scores? I know that getting these is tough right now due to the pandemic. Do you need to submit a TOEFL score or are you already at an English language high school?
No, I actually applied for need-based financial aid for all of these but I don’t think that any of these is need-aware.
and for the TOEFL I asked to waive this requirement for admission because the instructing language at my school is in English.
Fordham says on their web page: “Fordham is need-sensitive in the international application review. Due to limited available funding, the amount of demonstrated need may impact the final admission decision.”
Bucknell says: “… we understand that not every family has sufficient funding to attend Bucknell. We do have some scholarships for international students. These scholarships, however, are limited and competitive.”
It is entirely possible that you might get accepted to some of these schools and find that you cannot afford to attend.
If you are not okay spending $350,000 over four years, then all of these are reaches or high reaches (except that I know nothing at all about DKU).
