Weighted HS GPA: Our school does not do weighed GPA
Class Rank: N/A
ACT/SAT Scores: Test-optional
List your HS coursework
National Curriculum, Extremely competitive.
**Awards
Poster Presenter, International Neuroscience Conference
Speaker, International Global Health Conference
6500$ scholarship for Innovation
3x National Champion in Music
10x National Honor in Music**
Extracurriculars
Researcher — graduate-level lab; leading remote mental-health tech project.
• Published study — coping strategies in a national sample; first-author published paper on depression
• Lead vocalist & music captain — organized and performed in 25+ major school events.
• Top Position in Language Club (Prez, VP, GS) — founded mental-health awareness week; expanded membership and led fundraising.
• Student prefect — campus discipline lead; organized peaceful student reform actions.
• Neuroscience immersion scholar at Stanford(international program) — created music-therapy intervention for adolescents with ADHD.
• Classical vocalist & instrumentalist — advanced training and public performances.
• Columnist (online) — 20+ articles on psychological wellbeing and neuromusicology.
Essays/LORs/Other
Personal Essay is about Navigating my life in a homophobic environment. From shy loner kid to lead the whole school through advocacy and music.
My LoRs are from counselor, who wrote a really strong: using “the best in a decade of teaching career”; English and CS teacher: Same phrases as best in career. Research Supervisor and Music guru recommendation.
Can you explain what you mean by this? Do you have some sort of outside scholarship or are you applying for financial aid from Bowdoin and hoping it is fully covered?
Are you converting scores/marks? What are your actual stats as per your school/national board’s system? @MYOS1634 may be able to gauge your academic strength and rigor.
Being LGBTQIA is not a hook (advantage) for admissions. And FGLI status typically only matters for domestic students.
Are you the top student in your school? In your district/state, etc?
Do you have backup options in your home country?
Which school(s) did you apply to in EA/ED1? What other schools are on your list for RD?
What do you plan to do after completing your bachelor’s in the US (if accepted, and affordable).
I am pretty sure that Bowdoin is need blind for international students, and meets full need for international students. As such this will not impact your chances at all.
To me your ECs look excellent, and your grades as far as I can tell appear to be excellent.
Being international will lower your chances somewhat. You are clearly a very competitive applicant. However, this still leaves acceptance as less likely than rejection. This could go either way but I certainly think that it is worth an application.
We by the way are in Brunswick Maine quite often and are reasonably familiar with the area. Let me know if you have questions about the area.
I think that the only people who care will be people who want to date you. Otherwise I do not think that the large majority of people will care one way or the other.
However, I do not have any personal experience in this area. One daughter did have a friend who was a lesbian, and I do not recall hearing of her having any difficulty.
Graduate programs in the USA will certainly know how strong Bowdoin College is. One daughter is currently studying for a PhD at a very good university in the US. The other students in her program come from a huge range of different colleges and universities (which is typical of graduate programs in the USA), and one of them did get their bachelor’s degree at Bowdoin. Generally speaking admissions to PhD programs is very competitive, but this is something that you can think about multiple years in the future. The fact that you already have some research experience is a good start in this direction.
Thanks for clarifying. You have a great profile. Hopefully, you are aware that while Bowdoin is need blind and meets full need for international students, they determine what your need may be. Have you run the net price calculator for Bowdoin? Did it show they would meet your full need? Please do this before completing an ED application. It would be unfortunate to receive an admission only to find out the aid is not sufficient.
It’s great to hear that you’re a top student. That certainly makes Bowdoin a possibility. Keep in mind, though, that it’s a highly selective school with a single-digit acceptance rate. Best of luck with your application!
You should also expect to return to your home country after your undergraduate or graduate studies. Securing a work visa (sponsorship) in your fields of interest is challenging, and immigration to the US has become much more difficult overall. You may want to keep this in mind.
Thanks for the suggestions. Yeah, I am considering UK for my PhD, as my top priority PhD school is in UK. I do not intend to stay in US after my graduation anyway.