Would I have a shot next year ?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Reed College
1

<p>I am an international student applying for financial aid.</p>

<p>Intended major: Biology (or Biochemistry), or Economics+Sociology</p>

<p>9th grade GPA: 8.0/10 </p>

<p>10th grade GPA: 9.2/10</p>

<p>Junior year GPA: 4.0 (unweighted, my school does not have weighted GPA)
No ranking but I think I am in top 5%</p>

<p>Repeated junior year to fulfill graduation requirement at a really rigorous private school (I changed school this year due to visa problem, long story)</p>

<p>Grarde Junior year:
AP Cal BC: B
AP Physics C:Mechanics: B,
Spanish 1: A+,
English 11: A,
Biology: A,
Choir: A,
Wind Ensemble: A.</p>

<p>Senior Schedule:
AP Lit: B
AP Physics C: E&M: B
AP Bio: A
Spanish IIe: A
China/Japan (fall) + Economics (spring): A-
Choir:A
Band: A-</p>

<p>AP Cal AB: 4
AP Cal BC: 5
AP Physics C Mech: 3</p>

<p>SAT: 2000 (CR:630, M:710, WR:660) Will study more over the summer then retake.
Bio M: 700
TOEFL: 109</p>

<p>Extra curricular:
Soccer team of class: 6,7,8,9,10
Soccer Varsity:grade 11, 12
AFCVN soccer club: grade 10 ( cannot continue due to moving to US to study)
News translator for Arsenal Fan Club In Vietnam: grade 8,9,10,11, 12
Tennis ( varsity is super competitive, ranked 7th in the country): grade 11 (JV), grade 12 (varsity)</p>

<p>Choir:grade 10, 11, 12 (All-County Choir, grade 12)
Piano class:8 years
French horn: 3 years</p>

<p>Young leader club:grade 10 ( cannot continue due to moving school)
FIRST Robotics: grade 11 (cannot continue due to moving school)
Community service club: grade 11, 12
Community service trip to Costa Rica: grade 11, grade 12
International Club: grade 12</p>

<p>Awards:
Silver Medalists of National Spanish Exam: Grade 11
Semi-finalist of Cornell Essay contest: Grade 11
Best GPA at school : Grade 10
Best final exams record: Grade 10
First Prize at School's English Olympiad: Grade 10
Victoria scholarship: grade 10
High honor roll: grade 11
Best Physical project in Science Fair:grade 11
Highest honor in Chemistry:grade 11
High honor in Maths:grade 11</p>

<p>Leadership:
Chief Secretary, School’s Youth Union: Grade 10
Chief Secretary, Class’s Youth Union: Grade 10
Class’s Vice President specialized in academic: Grade 10</p>

<p>Work Experience:
Lab Assistant at a lab in the biology department at the University of Rochester: May 2010 to June 2010.
Internship at a bio lab at Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology: July 2010-December 2010.</p>

2

<p>Chance threads are for nubs</p>

3

<p>Sorry for not understanding what are “nubs”. I don’t know if you have realized from my first post that I have my senior year under my belt already. I am a senior who got rejected by all schools that I applied too. Therefore, I use this thread to see what should I improve.</p>

4

<p>Raise your SAT score, raise your TOEFL score (even though it’s not a low score, it’s not sufficient for the big schools), raise your SAT Bio score (a very good score must be over 740-750), take more SAT II’s (!), focus more on your ECs - they seem scattered. I wouldn’t put again on your application the insignificant ones, the ones in which you didn’t invest a lot of time, because they give the impression of a laundry list.
And the big problem must be your application essay. Work on it!
It is even more important to raise your scores and refine your ECs and essay since you’re an Int’l and a Vietnamese (ORM)! Did you apply for financial aid? Not requesting any significantly raises your chances for admission.</p>

5

<p>Wow? You really didn’t get into any schools? WHere did you apply? Maybe you should lower your standards a bit and try for less prestigious schools. I’m sure with your stats any state school would take you. If you insist upon going private try schools that are not so top rank and then transfer to a better one once you’re in the U.S. system. I’m an international myself and instead of attempting to get into any main university I went to a community college first. You save a bunch of money and it’s not too hard to transfer later. Just a thought…</p>

6

<p>

</p>

<p>Oh, that’s funny, because here’s one that you made:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/781635-cornell-2014-ed-ers-12.html#post1063463442[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/781635-cornell-2014-ed-ers-12.html#post1063463442&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>@pisconet_server: Thanks for your comments. To what SAT, TOEFL scores should I raise mine to ? I am taking SAT Bio again this June, hoping a better score after taking AP Bio. With my academic and other credentials, do you think I have a chance at top schools like Reed ? Will my internships help a bit ? Which ECs do you think I should eliminate ?</p>

<p>@nicolles: Thanks for your suggestions. The thing is it is much harder for me to transfer with Financial aid.</p>

8

<p>Raise your SAT score to at least 2250. A 2200-2290 is a good score, but it won’t catch the eyes of the admission officers from the top private school (i.e., Ivy League schools, Duke, etc.), so if you could get a 2300+, that would be phenomenal. You should try to raise your TOEFL score to 112+.
About your ECs: I don’t know which ones you should eliminate, you know best. You know better which activities you devoted much time to and to which you didn’t.</p>

9

<p>The thing is I did not do all those things because I want to have a long list of ECs. For example, the FIRST Robotics thing, I devoted a lot of time for it. Unfortunately, when I switched school, my current school did not have a team.</p>

<p>With good standardized test scores and my current credentials, do you think I have a shot at top schools ?</p>

10

<p>I think that with very good scores and recommendations and a top notch essay you do have a fair chance</p>

11

<p>I think people are missing the point here, and I promise you I don’t want to be mean or dishearten you, but there is something wrong with your application profile. I checked the kind of colleges you got rejected from, and they’re not the “super reaches” or whatever else people use to refer to the colleges where you can’t predict your chances of getting in. Essentially, you can’t predict your chances for any college, but to be rejected by EVERY college is a little hard. You have to figure out where you went wrong-maybe it’s the essays or the recommendations or even your scores, but for you to have a shot at even more “competitive” colleges this year, you’ll have to change your profile quite a bit. Reed’s acceptance rate for international applicants needing Financial Aid looms around 10%, and most of the colleges you’re looking at this year are similarly competitive too, so you need to re-assess your entire profile and whether it fits the colleges you’re applying to.</p>

12

<p>The OP is an international applying for aid. That is the toughest situation to be in for admissions.</p>

13

<p>Thanks for the suggestion. I doubt that there is anything wrong with my rec letters. I don’t do any bad things at school. My teachers told me that they wrote me great rec letters. So it can be either my essays or my scores.</p>

<p>Do you think there is anything wrong with my grades at all ? If you want to check out my essay, I can send it to you too.</p>

<p>@greennblue: I agree with you that I am in the toughest pool of admission. However, it’s the game that I am playing and I guess that I have to yield to the rules, right ?</p>

14

<p>Yes, I’ll read your essay. :slight_smile:
PM it to me.</p>

15

<p>You need a wider range of colleges. Look at some less competitive places. If you’ve been rejected everywhere already, it isn’t prudent to apply to more competitive places than those you’ve been rejected by. Look at places like Lewis and Clark, Denison and Ohio Wesleyan that give out some merit money along with need based awards.</p>

16

<p>Thanks for your suggestions. I will definitely look at those schools. The thing is I am still trying to figure out what is wrong with my application. Is it the grades and ECs and awards ? Or Is it essays ? Or Is it standardized test scores ? If it is the first one, then yeah, I need to lower my standard. If it is either the second or third one, I think I would do my best to improve my standardized test scores and write better essays.</p>

17

<p>It would probably be a good idea for you to research which schools are need-blind for international students.</p>

18

<p>Oh yeah, I do know which schools are need-blind for international students. All of them are top tiers. I am gonna apply to 2 of them next year.</p>