<p>So I just entered Senior year and I'm looking to apply to a few good liberal arts colleges like amherst,carleton,swarthmore and a few other high reach univs like UC-B, northwestern, JHU, Duke, UChicago .etc
Any suggestions relating to what i could do over next few months that could add real weight to my application?
Stats in short-
SAT 1. 1970
ACT. giving in June
SAT 2. giving Chem,Physics and Math 1 this month.
9th grade CGPA 9.4/10
10th grade CGPA 9.8/10
11th grade 86%. Top 6% of my class of 160.(taken the most rigorous course load my school offers)
Head Editor of school newspaper
Started peer training in my school.
founder of Physics club's newsletter
Designed the pamphlet for the interact club of my school
Captain of athletics team
4th position in inter-zonal athletics
vice-president debating society
winner of various interschool debates
President interact club
Secretary of the art club
vice-captain of soccer team
3rd position in UN WFP art competition.
3 weeks work experience for organizing soccer training camp for underprivileged kids along with an NGO. (They said they'd provide me with a special award if i volunteer this year as well)
200+ hours of community service at relief association for the handicapped.
winner of various creative writing competitions.</p>
<p>Sit down with whoever it is who is going to help you pay for your education, and be sure that the money is there. Some of the places on your list do not have good aid for international applicants.</p>
<p>Then, please pay a visit to your English instructor and tell that person that students TAKE exams and teachers GIVE exams. I know this can be confusing, because students also can present exams, but in this case present and give cannot be used interchangeably.</p>
<p>These schools are all big reaches for an international with a 1970. You need some matches and safeties. Safeties only if you’re full pay, which I assume because UCB is on your list and they don’t give aid to intnls.</p>
<p>Yours is the classic laundry list of random activities from which no picture of the person and their real interests emerge. And a number of the activities aren’t really worth mentioning (Founder of the Physics Club’s newsletter? Designed pamphlet for the Interact Club?). Others sound improbable - Captain of the Athletics Team? And vice captain of the soccer team? When I see this, I assume that 1) the student goes to a very, very small school or 2) they are resume padding and their credibility drops like a rock. </p>
<p>Do yourself a favor by identifying the 3 to at very most 5 activities that have been important to you over the past 4 years - you can group them - so you at least appear to have some sense of direction. You can do debate, sports, school newspaper, and community service to under-served kids or similar. </p>
<p>I agree with the poster who said you need to get your SAT score up if you are an international in need of financial aid. If you do need aid, you need to either include more schools where you are more likely to get admitted AND have money - or plan to go to college in your home country and come for graduate school. The only exception might be if you are applying from a country that is very under-represented in the applicant pool (an African country, for example.)</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies guys, SAT doesn’t seem to be my thing,so I’ll be TAKING the ACT next month!</p>
<p>IF I manage a decent ACT score, colleges wont get to see my 1970,right? :/</p>