Would I have a shot ?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Grinnell 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>

2

<p>Any comment for me ?</p>

3

<p>You should know by now…letters were sent days ago. Based on my daughter experience, international too you would be accepted.</p>

4

<p>Oh I am actually asking for next year. I did not get into any college so I have to reapply next year.</p>

<p>So what is your opinion on my shot ?</p>

5

<p>Any suggestion for me ?</p>

6

<p>I think it’s a good idea to study for and retake SAT or maybe try the ACT. Lots of people find the reading part of the ACT is more straightforward than on the SAT. Grinnell will accept either. If you do take the ACT, study for it, especially the Science part that mostly involves answering questions based on tables. My son hadn’t studied and got bogged down time-wise on that section. Your TOEFL score is good. I noticed the cut-off for Grinnell is 80. What are you planning to do for your gap year? Another college you might want to consider is Macalester. I do think you could have a shot. Use your gap year productively.</p>

7

<p>Thanks for your suggestion. What do you think is a competitive ACT score or SAT score ? Should I retake TOEFL as well ?</p>

<p>I will start my one-month internship at a biology lab at University of Rochester in 3 weeks. Then from july, I will start another internship at Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology. This internship is the my main activity during my gap year, at least till December. I will try to do some volunteer stuffs also.</p>

<p>Any other suggestion ?</p>

8

<p>According to the Common Data Set for students accepted to Grinnell last year, the middle 50% scored between 600 and 730 on SAT-CR and between 620 and 730 on SAT-M, so your current scores put you in that middle 50%. For the ACT composite, the middle 50% scored between 28 and 32. Have you spent the past year in the US?</p>

9

<p>Yeah, I am graduating from an US private school this June and it’s my 3rd year in the States.</p>

10

<p>Your test scores are “good enough” to put you in the running, but if you want to try to improve your chances, I’d suggest studying for the ACT and taking that. Grinnell doesn’t consider the writing score, so you don’t need to take that section, unless you want that for other college applications. Your TOEFL well exceeds Grinnell’s requirement already. Where else are you thinking of applying?</p>

11

<p>Thanks for your suggestion. I have not tried ACT yet but I think I will try it to see if I do better on ACT than on SAT.</p>

<p>I am currently looking at a lot of LACs like Bowdoin, Bates, Carleton, Colby, Colgate, Davidson, Macalester, Haverford, Wesleyan, Earlham, Brandeis, Connecticut College, and NUs like Brandeis, WashU, Duke, Brown, and Dartmouth. I am interested in schools that have a strong biology program. If you know any other ones, do you mind suggesting them to me ?</p>

12

<p>How about Reed or Kalamazoo?</p>

13

<p>Reed is a really good school but I have heard that you have to be very crazy and weird in order to get in. I am not sure if this is true.</p>

14

<p>nns91, </p>

<p>It’s not true. What you <em>do</em> have to be is smart, passionate about your intellectual life, and creative.</p>

15

<p>The first part, smart, I am not sure if I have it or not. The second part, passion, I think I do have it. The third part, creativity, is what I lack I think. To what extend creativity in this situation means ?</p>

16

<p>You certainly are smart and I think your choice of possible colleges is creative. It means you want to be in creative places.</p>

17

<p>That’s pretty interesting though. I have never considered myself as creative. I don’t do well in arts at all. The only means of arts that I can do decently in is photography. Other than that, I can’t even draw.</p>

<p>How do you measure creativity.</p>