Here’s my profile:
• International student
• Need financial aid.
• Want to major in physics.
• SAT: 1500+*
• SAT Subject Test in Math II and Physics around 800*
• GPA: 3.90
• Rank: 2nd in my class.
• IB student.
• Bronze medal at National Mexican Physics Olympiad and participated in training camp as a junior (Both junior and senior years won 1st place at state level and expecting to get a gold or silver medal this November).
• Gold medal at iGEM 2015, as the first High school team from my school.
• Founder and president of an ecology group.
• 3rd place at math Olympiad state level.
• Founder and vice president of a STEM projects developer.
• Tutoring elementary school kids in math with low resources.
• Tutoring physics in HS, both for my fellow classmates and the next generation.
• Give physics Olympiad lessons (this year one of my students won 3rd place at state Olympiad).
• Part of a quantum mechanics investigation group for college students.
Hobbies (I don’t know if they matter): Playing piano and guitar, although not professionally, and reading literature and history, learning languages (French and Italian).
*That’s what I’m expecting based on several mock exams I’ve done.
Excellent ecs, great rank and gpa, solid test scores, challenging classes, excellent awards. You have a great chance.
Chance me for for the ross school of business on my thread
Two things ding you from the start: an international who also needs aid? What gives international students some kind of appeal is that most of the time they can pay full freight with no issues, making it easier on the institution. Not to mention you do not have concrete test scores which means nobody can give you a real judgement. We can predict all day what we’ll score but it’s ultimately a “what if” until the scores are concrete. Plus I don’t see anything extra curricular wise that sets you apart from the crowd. I strongly suggest that if you truly want to study in the U.S., take a look at the vast amount of other stellar colleges across the country besides the highly coveted ivy league and top 20.
CiteYourSources, thanks for you answer. Which other stellar colleges do you mean? Thanks in advance.
You have not taken the SAT or SAT subject tests yet (predicted scores are never reliable), so it is still difficult to predict anything. Like @CiteYourSources said, needing financial aid as an int’l will be a negative.
That said, I think you still have a chance at a top school. Apply to more than just the top 10 though.