What universities are a good reach for me?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Dear All,</p>

<p>I would appreciate any feedback possible on my admission possibility. I am from Singapore studying in a high school offering the IB Diploma Program. During my Grade 9 and Grade 10 years, my results were not that good and I was constantly getting marks around 50-75 in the Mathematics and Sciences.</p>

<p>However during my Grade 11 and Grade 12, I took the following subjects:</p>

<p>Mathematics HL Chemistry SL
Economics HL Spanish Ab-Initio SL
History HL English SL</p>

<p>I have been constantly getting 80s and high 70s and around 38-45 points which is considered very good by my school and my predicted IB score is 44 points. I realized that enough is enough in slacking and worked hard in these years.</p>

<p>I wish to do something related to Political Science or International Studies in the university and my SAT scores are pretty high (near perfect), 800, 790 and 800 in Math, Critical Reading and Writing.</p>

<p>I am the Secretary-General of my school's Political Science Society and we have participated and organized many Model United Nations conferences and we have even participated in The Harvard Model United Nations. </p>

<p>I love flying a lot and I got selected by the local defense ministry for a pilot's license program. Over the course of 2 years, I have been pushing myself to the limit by flying 3-4 times a week during the academic year and I finally have a Private Pilot's License. </p>

<p>I have also participated in the World Scholar's Cup, a very famous academic decathalon worldwide and we made it past the national round in Singapore to compete internationally in South Korea, coming in top 5 and representing Singapore. </p>

<p>I am also an active member in an organization called the Young PAP, which is the youth branch of the reigning party in Singapore, called the People's Action Party. What we do is basically volunteer ourselves to help those who dont understand politics too much by introducing them to policies and we also have conferences to discuss different issues concerning the country.</p>

<p>I like languages a lot and I can speak fluently English, Tamil (my native language), French (I have the DELF diploma {equivalent to the TOEFL but for French}) and Spanish (since I took spanish ab-initio). </p>

<p>I am also a member of my school's local newslette team for the past 2 years and we publish a record breaking number of copies each season and we write about many issues concerning the school. </p>

<p>I am also an Executive Committee Member of my school's Indian Cultural Society and I have attended many competitions in that area and we also ourselves host many competitions.</p>

<p>I also volunteer majority of the year in helping students from dysfunctional families by tutoring them in Grade 5 and Grade 6 English, Science and Mathematics for free and many of them have done very well under my guidance. </p>

<p>I also play the Sitar, an Indian classical instrument, which I have been learning for the past 2 years. I can play it pretty well and enjoy it. </p>

<p>This is pretty much my portfolio. What are my chances of admission guys? Thank you so much for your help</p>

2

<p>I guess you have to compare you with mainly other Singaporeans or Asians studying in Asia who are also applying to the US, because I heard that universities like Harvard do look at the situation you are in. For instance, they definitely won’t compare you with an Ethiopian on the same academic scale. Should he earn probably similar score like yours, he would be likely to have much higher chance for admission. right?</p>

<p>In overall, you seem to have a very strong portfolio academically but on the other hand, the environment (Singapore) you are in is supposedly to be very competitive.</p>

<p>Just my opinion…</p>

3

<p>Thanks Jack. You are right, Singapore is extremely competitive. Infact, there is huge competition from many top schools as the education here is one of the best in the world.</p>

<p>Still, keeping in mind these factors, what universities would be a good reach for me?</p>

4

<p>anyone else, please?</p>

5

<p>Well, you haven’t mentioned your SAT subject tests any way.</p>

<p>Secondly, again, it’s better you try to find any one else in your country who’s also applying to Harvard. Then in your college application, try your best to distinguish yourself from other Singaporeans: why does Harvard have to choose you instead of them?</p>

<p>I would say Harvard, Yale, Princeton are good reaches for you. But as you said, Singapore provides such good education. Provided with such opportunity to say, resources and participation to various competitions, you must show something to prove yourself much better than some others who are more disadvantaged than you in your application.</p>

<p>In essence, just apply and do your best.</p>