I was born in the small village of Morang, Nepal; a city with no communication, public transportation, or paved streets. My family was one of the victims of the Maoists (a communist group in Nepal). My father, an activist, tried to eradicate the wrongdoings of those group, but he got threatened to be killed. So, due to many life endangering factors, my father fled the country, leaving behind my mother, sister, grandmother, and I. My family was living in a constant state of fear, and so we eventually relocated to the capital city of Kathmandu While we lived in Kathmandu, my mother barely compensated for our destitute conditions despite working extremely hard. On April of 2015, all my faith crumbled again. A disastrous 8.1 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, and 10,000 people were killed. Luckily, my family survived, but we had to sleep in the streets for months, with nothing but a canvas cover over our heads as the place where we lived was destroyed. I was very happy when we finally joined my father in the United States in 2016. However, life was not easy for us here either. We were still very poor, and my father waited tables in an Indian restaurant as the only source of income for our family of four. I struggled in the new American school because of my language barrier, and my entry was halfway through the semester.
Now that I am a senior and applying to the colleges, should I even look for elite colleges??
Of Course, I do not have great stats. SAT score: 1450/1600 GPA:3.96(uw) could not take weighted course until senior year
You do have great stats.
Yes, and the reason I say that is you are not using your history as a reason why you had a some type of setback (e.g poor grades one year) but are showing that you excelled despite all of the hardship in your past. When I read your paragraph, I had the feeling of that is someone I would like to meet. That is what you want running through an AO’s head.
I did apply to Harvard as an early applicant, but I was just worried if I was foolhardy. However, my Harvard interview went very well. I created a very good bond with the interviewer in just an hour. That day, he even dropped me home. Harvard is a very good school, but I do not have requirements such as good extracurricular, club etc because there was no culture of these things back in Nepal.
It can help, yes. I would recommend the book “50 Successful Harvard Application Essays” - a number of the essays in there reference how the applicant was able to overcome extreme hardships and develop because of it. Many of the stories are particularly moving.
Admissions officers look for a diverse community in their admitted pool - people who can share interesting, powerful stories with their classmates, stretch them and help each other understand different perspectives and ideas. It certainly seems as though your past is rather unique - if you can portray it well in your essay (and make sure you emphasize how those experiences helped you grow and such rather than simply focus on the hardship itself) then I think that could be very powerful.
Where else are you applying? You need some safeties on your list. Read through the thread about automatic merit aid at the too of the Financial Aid forum. Your GPA and test scores qualify you for significant merit aid (possibly up to a true full ride) at some places in that thread. But you have to move fast. Some scholarship cut-offs are very soon.
I have just applied Harvard and Vanderbilt till now, but I do not think ill get accepted. The only strong part of my application is my essay-which is very simple but powerful. Let’s see how it goes. I will be applying to UCs as my safety colleges, but the only problem with the UCs is that they are very expensive.I do not know what should I do
Do not apply to UCs. They won’t be affordable.
@PawanGhimire don’t be so hard on yourself, you have a very compelling and incredible story unique to yourself. Have you ever seen the video of the homeless girl getting into Harvard because she demonstrated perseverance and hard work in a difficult, unique situation? You have to try, and you have to have faith in yourself because of what you have accomplished. Like others have said, your stats show you are still very bright and hardworking, and you didn’t let these circumstances hold you back.
I agree with happymomof1, don’t just limit yourself to Ivies. Look at schools in your state, etc. that offer you scholarships based on your GPA and SAT. I wish you well!
You have a compelling story and have a good chance. But you really need to have alternate schools lined up in case you don’t get into Harvard or Vanderbilt, or if you don’t get enough merit money. The UCs aren’t affordable for you. If you give us a list of various things, people here can give you some names of schools you should consider applying to. So…
What are you interested in studying?
What size school are you interested in? Does that matter?
Do you care what part of the country?
Does city/rural matter to you?
Do you care if it’s a university verses a liberal arts college?
Does it matter if the school is religious?
What are some things that matter to you that might knock a school off the list?
what state do you live in?
Interested in Computer Science- My first experience with computer was when I was 13 years.Ironic right?lol
or Mathematics
Size: less students
no geographic,cultural, and religious preference
Things that matter: Scholarship, diversity, and must have math club(many do I guess)
Well till now I am thinking to apply to the colleges listed in Quest bridge. i couldn’t completed quest bridge, because I knew about it only 1 week before the deadline date.
California
@PawanGhimire You have a very compelling story and great stats for someone in your situation. Apply to many top colleges which have great financial aid/grant system. I am sure you will get into one of them. Just put your heart and soul into your essays, but don’t tell your story as if you think you deserve some help; just tell your story as a matter of fact and how you never gave up. I am almost certain you will get into one of top colleges. Let us know when you do.
Also, when you do get admitted, try to take advantage of the pre-matriculation summer program for certain admitted students who are from low income background. You have a lot of things going for you if you can present them in a right way.
websensation@ i have applied to harvard and vanderbilt as early applicant…essay should be essence of application, but as i have no excellent english writing skills(i started learning english in eighth grade) i have used fairly simple launguage to express my condition…if u want to look over you can PM me.
Colleges don’t want essays that have all that fancy language—they want an essay that presents your own voice. As long as you use YOUR voice, it doesn’t matter the writing style. I say simple language is better anyway.
I hope so!! UCs are gonna be really expensive. That is what Im thinking now
I’m really hoping others will chime in here too.
There are 2 CC threads you should look at. One is “meet full needs” colleges. If you use the search function at the top of your screen, you’ll find this. Another is “schools with good merit money”.
So some good meets full needs school for you might be California Institute of Technology, Harvey Mudd, Stanford, Cornell, Duke, University of Chicago, Brown, Rice, MIT. Maybe also Washington University at St Louis, John’s Hopkins, Tufts- not too sure about the strength of their CS program.
Carnegie Mellon has a terrific CS program but I don’t know what their FA packages look like. Maybe start a new post asking bout this?
If you are looking for merit aid rather than need based aid, you have to be careful and look to see when their application deadlines are. To qualify for merit aid, some schools require you to apply early.
Sorry about the autocorrect on JH. There’s no apostrophe on Johns.
Thank you…can i apply to need based and merit based both at the same time?