Chance an African [international] student. Be brutally honest [4A,1B A-levels, 1/126 rank, 1570 SAT, need lots of FA, computer science]

So one thing to be aware of is the colleges on your list largely come from what is known as the liberal arts tradition in the US, including in fact MIT and Harvey Mudd.

And one of the common mismatches between the US education system and other educational systems is those colleges are typically looking for students who are at least reasonably strong in both STEM and HASS (humanities, arts, and social sciences), including because they will generally expect even their STEM majors to take a lot of HASS classes. This is very different from A Level-type systems where by university you are expected to be done with such a “general education” and instead focus only on some specific course. So I think a lot of Internationals with very strong STEM credentials are disappointed with their US college results, not understanding from a US perspective that is potentially not enough even if you are intending a STEM major.

One way around this is to apply to public universities that may be a little less picky about HASS credentials–if you are full pay. But they may not give you much if any help financially, so that is not necessarily a great path for you.

Alternatively, you can just build up your HASS credentials and interests in your application, even if they are not reflected in your A Levels. Your 770 in EBRW is a good start, but you might want to think about some other ways of indicating to these colleges you are not just a STEM person, that you are actually looking forward to challenging HASS classes as well.

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