<p>Hi. Im an international student from Pakistan.
I am to apply to HYPS, UCLA, UCBerkeley, Vanderbilt, NYU, NYUAD, Cornell, CMU in the 2013 cycle as I plan to take a year off after graduating from high school.
Here are my credentials
I plan to go for a neurology major (I intend to go to med school afterwards)
ACT 36
SAT II Bio 800, Physics 800, Chemistry 790, Literature 660 (won't be sending :P)
Im set to sit for Math I and Math II in November (hoping to get 780+ in both. Consistently getting ~790 in practice tests)
I study in a non US based high school so I thought not to waste my gap year so I'm self studying AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Env Science and AP Psych. hoping for perfect scores in those as these are my top subjects.</p>
<p>Awards
David Ilyas Medal for best student class of 2012 (I am set to receive it on my graduation)</p>
<p>Extracurriculars
I am the COO and Co Founder of a local NGO called ASSET which works to empower women and children. We recently conducted a fundraiser for hunger relief which fed more than 5'000 families in southern Punjab.
I have shadowed the Chief of UNICEF, Nigeria for 3 months. This was during the Polio and Lead Poisoning eradication mission in the summer of 2011.
I Shadowed a general surgeon for almost 3 months
I was the Head Organizer of the GCU Environmental Conference 2012 (ENVIRONMENT</a> PROTECTION SOCIETY GCUEC 2012 - Home)
I play the Sitar, Electric Guitar and Piano.
I can speak Urdu, English, Punjabi, Siraiki and French fluently
I am the assistant secretary of the Environment Protection Society at my school
During my gap year, I plan to volunteer in the UNV program in healthcare related missions</p>
<p>Ive got a very good/unique essay planned out but there a whole year to go so not important as of now.</p>
<p>Ive got great recommendations. (From the Chief of UNICEF, Nigeria and my English Teacher)</p>
<p>HERE'S THE PROBLEM. We don't have class rank or GPA so keep that in mind.
Here's my High School Scores
9th (I wasn't a good student till the 10th grade. My essay is supposed to be about what happened/how I changed) 75% Finals 89% Mid Term
10th 91% Mid Term Final 92.4%
11th Mid term 70% Final 75% (This year my grandfather and best friend died so I was particularly shaken. My english teacher knew about this so she's writing about my comeback and perseverance in her Rec as well.)
12th Mid Term 81% expecting 90+% in finals.</p>
<p>My school is the best school in my state and one of the top 5 in the country.
Now, I fear I could have destroyed my chances anywhere because of my 9th and 11th grade scores.
What do you guys say. :)</p>
<p>Your grades will be a problem, but your ECs and scores are incredibly strong. If you write a good personal statement, schools may overlook it a bit. There’s no point in sitting for both math 1 and 2. For top schools, math 1 is worthless.</p>
<p>Thanks Can you be more specific. Can you tell me which of these colleges I have a better chance in. And can anyone suggest me some good reaches and safeties for a biology oriented major.</p>
<p>To judge your GPA we need to know of the grading system in your country and/or school. Are grades often inflated? How good are your grades compared to your school?</p>
<p>You need some safeties. Your grades and rank just won’t cut it. In harsh truth, you’d be lucky to get one or two acceptances out of your whole list, and it would probably be nyu.</p>
<p>I do not need financial aid. And yes, I get that HYPS are unrealistic. What do you guys think of these.
HYPS (just for the sake of applying)
NYU
U of Florida
George Washington University
Lafayette
U of Miami
Safeties:
U of Vermont
U of Baylor
Case Western Reserve</p>
<p>And do you guys think its worth applying to UCLA, UCB, Vanderbilt, Carnegie Mellon.</p>
<p>^^ Thanks! So to sum it up you guys are saying that my 11th grade scores can be a very big problem especially with ivies but I still have a chance if I have great recommendations and a very unique/good personal statement. And because of the above stated 11th grade issue, I need to have some good safeties in my list as well in addition to Ivies, Vandy, Duke, etc.
Because some of you are like its possible and some are like ‘forget it’ :/</p>
<p>I would say that you DEFINITELY have a chance! Perfect scores self-studied APs will prove that you are very competent academically, and then the 11th grade grades won’t matter (and, in any case, they are justified.)</p>
<p>It’s true that many Asians get rejected nowadays with perfect scores, but that’s because they have nothing special. You have a lot going for you; the NGO stuff is impressive.</p>
Can you be more specific. Can you tell me which of these colleges I have a better chance in. And can anyone suggest me some good reaches and safeties for a biology oriented major.</p>