I’m an international sophmore planning to apply to Harvard, Yale, and Columbia in 2018. Hoping that my SAT scores are good enough, are my ECs and grades in the right direction? Any advice on what I should do/strive for in the next two years would be greatly appreciated!
A bit about me:
White Female (Middle Eastern)
First-generation to attend university
Currently on a full academic scholarship for HS
Will be applying for FA
Planning to study International Relations/eventually Law
Academics:
96% average (out of 100)
All honours classes
Self-studying AP Psych, AP US Gov and Politics and planning to write the exam this year
ECs:
(Over 300 service hours)
Debate
Nationally and internationally ranked
Captain of the school team (also basically started it from the ground up)
Model UN
Delegated at 5 weekend conferences
Head of the school MUN program
Public Speaking
Competed at various national and international tournaments
Amnesty International
Volunteered over 60 hours at their offices as a youth volunteer
Youth Organizer of Amnesty events at my school
Women’s Rights Activism
President of a large non-profit in my community, responsible for organizing workshops and events to fundraise to provide for schools in India + machines that make sanitary napkins
Have worked closely with UN Women in my country to coordinate initiatives with our organization
Starting an initiative with local universities to get girls involved with STEM
Took part in a play with another women’s rights organization to play the role of a notable women’s rights activist and raise money for a girls’ dormitory in Tanzania
Member of a National Bureau to speak at public events and advocate for women’s rights
Community Work
Volunteered on the (winning) campaign for a local MP
Volunteered at homeless shelters, drama classes, and summer camps
– Ethically, I have always had a bit of a problem with voluntouristy summer trips to developing countries, but I’m planning a trip to go to Lesbos, Greece and volunteer in the effort to help refugees arriving from Turkey (possibly as a translator). Would this be considered a more ‘unique’ experience?
I think there are a ton of great schools in this world so having your heart set on Harvard, Yale or Columbia does not make much sense. I would not do that summer volunteering if you are just doing it to get into college-instead donate a ton of money-maybe all the money you’d have spent traveling in and around Greece in the summer. That would do far more than your volunteering. Volunteering for the sake of looking good to colleges is not a good idea. Only do volunteering that you’d do if you were not going to tell anyone about it. Without scores it is not possible to speculate about whther your credentials are similar to those of students who end up at very competitive schools.
There is no such thing as “the right direction” just do you. Helping others simply because you want to go to a specific college, despite the chance that you probably won’t get in anyways (extremely low acceptance rate) is really pathetic. Who cares if it is a unique experience? if you genuinely want to do it, go and do it. A former MIT admissions officer came to my English III class and told us that they are fully aware that many people go aboard and typically because they think it will look good for college. So no, it doesn’t stand out. Literally every other person on CC has been abroad to save the hungry children of Africa.
@lostaccount@cosmeux oh god no i think you completely got the wrong impression! maybe that’s my fault for the way i phrased it. i absolutely don’t want to volunteer for the sake of looking good for a college, especially since so many ‘volunteer in developing country’ programs are so problematic and end up negatively effecting the areas that they operate in. it’s more of a way to sell it to my parents to let me go, since it’s a cause i’m genuinely passionate about and have been involved with in my hometown. i couldn’t care less about how it would appear for a university, since you’re completely right – it’s a really pathetic way to exploit devastation for personal benefit.
(and my heart is more set on yale/harvard/columbia because of FA as an international, along with specific programs i’m interested in.)
@canelequeen Oh ok sorry for misunderstanding. Being international will make it harder but your GPA is great. In addition, your focused extracurriculars make it very easy to see what you are passionate about (which is very important). You are in the right direction, but SATs and subject tests are extremely important and we don’t have that information.