| Realistically, what are my chances as an international student?
Hi
I am an international student from New Zealand. I am Iranian, and hence English is my second language. My school is a lower decile school, but fairly competitive in our city (we gain as many prestigious New Zealand Scholarships as the top private schools)
My statistics
SAT Reasoning Test: 760 Mathematics, 700 Writing, 700 Critical Reading
(Also retaking the SAT in January to boost my scores after doing some study)
SAT Subject Tests: 750 Mathematics I, 760 Mathematics II, 760 Physics
(These scores are so low because I was unfamiliar with some concepts, for example, I was uncertain whether Mass contracts or expands at High Speeds according to relativity)
Classes: Physics, Chemistry, Calculus, Geography, History and Science (These are all the most demanding possible courses because I am taking New Zealand Scholarship in all but History)
Grades/GPA: I have attained NZ Scholarship (Top 3% in the country) in Physics, Calculus, Chemistry and Science (Maybe Geography).
University Courses: Philosophy and Law (A+ and A grades)
Class Rank: 1 out of 190 or Dux/Valedictorian (Originally a class of 400, but many have dropped out through the years because our school caters for the lower socio-economic sector of our city)
Extra Curricular
Head Boy at my school (School President) ('07)
Treasurer for my school council (including budgeting for the school ball/prom and other charity events such as concerts and fund raisers)
Treasurer for the Regional Maori Basketball Championships (I was essentially the accountant and financial planner for the competition which caters to 2000-3000 participants and fans) ('06,'07)
Member of the Local City Council ('05-'07) (Kind of a politician with no power...)
Fund raising for Canteen (I was sponsored to shave my hair for $500 to help raise money for Canteen which helps young adults suffering from cancer, and I also organised the event at my school)
An organiser of the 'Youth Recognyz Awards' which acknowledges young adults dealing with incredible hardships (e.g. we had one student whom takes care of her terminally ill mother, and 4 brothers and sisters while juggling a job and University)
Football (Soccer) - Captain '07 and also participant in '07 Secondary Division II National Competitions (Playing all my life)
3 Time Silver Medal winner in Five a Side competition
Basketball - We placed 8th at the National secondary schools competition '07 ('06,'07)
Athletics - I'm ranked 3rd regionally in 100m and 200m sprints and share a state relay record in the 4x100m ('02-'07)
Altrusa Award recipient recognising Academic Excellence and contribution to the community '06 (only 5 people receive this award in our state each year)
Participant in annual Stage Challenge and School Productions ('05-'07)
Work part time '07: Liaison officer assisting in the organisation of adult education at our school, and also I am the senior marker for our school's junior mathematics classes (worst job ever... :P)
Peer Tutor
And a whole bunch of other stuff that I can't remember or are not noteworthy e.g. Yearbook article writer
Academic Honours (Excluding my school's generic awards):
School Dux (Valedictorian)
Recipient of the Prize for Progress in Physics from the NZ Institute of Physics
Member of the Golden Key Society
High Distinction (Top 5%) and Distinction (Top 25%) awards in the Australian Mathematics Competition (which is a test usually taken by the top 10% of all mathematicians in New Zealand amounting to 3000 out of the 40000 potential candidates) '01-'07
NZ Scholarship (very prestigious)
And I was unable to apply for the International Mathematics Olympiad team because I lost my eligibility by enrolling at university at age 16 for a philosophy course(which really sucked >_<)
Also there is no Physics Olympiad Team in New Zealand (which sucks)
I've also attended a dozen or so mathematics, physics and chemistry competitions for my school, but we have never placed better than 4th in our city
Essays and Recommendations: Don't know what Americans are looking for, but I kind of just talk about some of my experiences (serious hardships) back in Iran. My recommendations are also fairly good.
I am applying to:
MIT
Carnegie Mellon University
Cornell
Duke
UNC Chapel Hill
Boston University
Stanford
Princeton
And outside of the US: Cambridge University and Imperial College London
I'm not too familiar with the US education system, but those are my choices in order. I am not considering Berkeley because I'm international and from what I have read on wikipedia, Caltech is a bit too 'relaxed' for my liking.
What are my chances at these institutions? I don't really care about prestige, I just want the best possible undergraduate Physics program possible so that I can get into research once I finish. Are any of these programs weak (comparatively) or based simply on the school's prestige (e.g. I'm not sure about Princeton and Stanford, but from what online rankings say, they have excellent physics programs).
Also, I'm applying to UNC and Duke through a NZ based scholarship program.
Boston University is my fallback and Cambridge would be a higher choice than MIT.
Any help would be appreciated.
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