Chances @ Cornell, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, U of Minnesota

someone_special · 11-01-2005, 05:08 PM

I'm a Year 12 Chinese girl currently studying in England. The following are my stats... Dunno if they're helpful because they're under the British system. Also included some of my past history in Hong Kong before I came to England in Year 9.

Basically -
In Year 7-8 I studied in Hong Kong;
In Year 9-12 (now) I study in the UK.

I'm looking into entering schools of the Ivy League (if possible) to do Physical Chemistry-related subjects, possibly Chemical Engineering.

Cornell and U of Minnesota seem to be my top choices at the moment, but it'd be great if there're chances at the other three Ivy League universities.

SAT scores:
(1st time)
Verbal: 610
Math: 700
Writing: 650 (Essay: 9)

a little disappointed with the Math really, because I was careless!! registering for the January SAT I, hope my luck improves... Will do SAT IIs next year, taking Phyics, Chemistry and Maths IIc.

GCSE grades:
Maths, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, German, Geography, Economics, Chinese, RS: A* (the grade above A)
English language, English literature: A

A Level grades:
AS: Music - A
AL: Chinese - A

Expected A Level grades:
Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Music - A

Achievements:

1. Academic: Year Prize in Year 9, 10, 11; PTA Scholarship offered by Secondary School in Year 7

2. Music: ABRSM Exams – Piano (Grade 8 distinction), Flute (Grade 8 distinction), Singing (Grade 6 distinction), Theory (Grade 5 distinction); Guildhall Exams - Drumkit Grade 4; 6th Form Music Scholarship offered by school. Will probably do the ABRSM diploma in Flute and also Grade 8 for Orchestral Percussion and Singing before I leave school.

3. Duke of Edinburgh Awards (consists of Community Service, Sports, Skill and Expedition sections): Bronze Level, doing Gold Level at the moment

4. Speech & Drama: LAMDA Exams – Acting (Grade 5), Prose & Verse (Grade 4), Spoken English (Grade 4)

5. Life Saving: Bronze Medallion, Life Support Certificate

6. UKSMT Mathematics Challenge:
Intermediate – 2003, 2004,2005 Gold
Intermediate Olympiad – 2003 Distinction, 2005 Merit
Senior – 2004 Silver

7. Responsibilities: Deputy Head of House 2004 – 2005

Extra Curriculars:

1. Music: member of College orchestra, College choir, flute ensemble, madrigal at school

2. Outdoor Pursuits: Besides the Duke of Edinburgh expeditions, I joined Outward Bound in Hong Kong in Summer 2003.

3. Girl Guides: Member of Hong Kong WK 2 Coy, 2000 – 2002

4. Sports: Kung Fu, Member of School Fencing Team, 2000 – 2002

5. Young Enterprise (it's a scheme guiding you to set up your own company): IT Director

6. Camps: Programmes for the Gifted and Talented and JSITC (a summer IT camp) organised by the Chinese University Hong Kong

Work Experience:

UK: Worked for a week in a biochemical company
Hong Kong: Worked for a month in a chemical company

Community Service:

Taking care of senior citizens every weekend, worked in a charity shop in town, performed regularly at school charity concerts

That's about it... I don't know if you understand these stats... I'm just feeling a bit disappointed with my SAT scores and I don't know if they'll be a let down? Also, I don't have GPA (obviously) and class ranks at my school, so would that affect my chances?

Thanks a lot!

HarvardClassof2011 · 11-01-2005, 05:43 PM

Chances are almost 100% that you will get into U of Minn, they are always looking for more unusual students, international and such. Not sure about Cornell, often times it is just a crapshoot and I can't give you a realistic view. But, you should feel pretty sure about getting in Minnesota.

Joethemole · 11-01-2005, 07:06 PM

u shouldn't put down the job experience where you worked a week or even a month. they'll probably think u got fired or something

someone_special · 11-01-2005, 08:26 PM

seriously? i thought work experience helps a bit, lol...
should i specify them as a summer experience? cuz, well, that's what they are...

do u think the schools value my grades in UK much? cuz that's about the only thing i can prove my academic achievements to the universities here... im really not sure about my SAT scores, even if im going to do them for a second time.

oh and i wanna use UC Berkeley to the list too... any chances there?

i think i'll get a couple of good recommendations from teachers and also, er, i'll try hard on my essays.

ophiolite · 11-01-2005, 08:29 PM

I disagree, put any work experience down that is relative to what you want to do for your career. High school students holding jobs for a month or two suggests it was a summer position, not that you got fired.

Joethemole · 11-01-2005, 08:44 PM

ya but honestly, how serious is a job that lasted for 1 week?

sunkist16 · 11-01-2005, 08:52 PM

i dont know how schools will view your international scores, i'm sure there are admissions officers that are familiar with grading systems out of the US and they'll see if your grades really mean that you mean business.. i wouldnt worry about the grades

but to successfully match up with other competing students in the United States, you must take the SAT's and subject tests. you're going to be a prospective undergrad at these schools, taking on kids from all over america, and those SAT scores are important in seeing how you can match up with those

in light of that, no offense, but those SAT scores are not going to cut it for ivy league schools. i dont know about u minn, but when you're looking at stanford/ivy league schools, even a 2100 is on the lower side of things. take this into consideration: at stanford, 60% of the students who submitted perfect scores.. were rejected. so you can imagine what it takes to get into these schools. your ec's and activity outside of school look solid, but those SAT scores are important if you want to be competitive.

as for berkeley, they're no ivy league school, but it's not a far cry from it. a 2100 would make you very competitive for berkeley, any higher can increase your chances greatly. for berkeley, i would say aim for 2000 +

good luck

someone_special · 11-01-2005, 08:59 PM

thanks for your reply!

Joethemole, I understand what you mean... The job for a week was actually part of the Work Experience week here... all the students in our school did it just to get the feel of the job we're interested in that's all.

sunkist i wasn't very positive about the top ivy league schools either... is there a small chance of getting into cornell too? cuz it requires slightly lower scores i heard?

Globber · 11-01-2005, 09:08 PM

Firstly, why Minnesota of all places? And are you applying to European schools, or are you set on an American education? As you probably know, your chances are much better at even Oxford or Cambridge than as an international to the Ivy League

someone_special · 11-02-2005, 05:13 AM

Globber thx for ur reply. From my research U Minn is ranked quite high in the field of Chemical Engineering. I'm quite sure it's in the top 5... Although I'm not completely sure of what I'm going to do, I think something to do with physics / chemistry would be nice as a start off.

And i understand what you mean by having higher chances at Oxbridge. In fact quite a lot of ppl mentioned the same thing to me! but the thing is in American universities you specialize later, i.e. u study a broader range of subjects in your first and second years. As I'm still not sure what I can go into I think the American system might suit me more.

someone_special · 11-02-2005, 11:13 AM

ok perhaps i should drop the Ivies for the moment... any chances at UCB? just wanna hear advice from a couple more ppl... but of course sunkist's already been very helpful!

someone_special · 11-02-2005, 05:13 PM

bump!

anyone please? chances at UCB?

glucose101 · 11-02-2005, 07:30 PM

Not that great...to be honest.

someone_special · 11-03-2005, 08:27 AM

^^"
thx anyway

lixuelai · 11-03-2005, 03:25 PM

depends on whether you can pay the entire tuition.