chance me: international student 3.73 weighted gpa, sat optional, history major
(just made a new account for myself)
My school does our weighted out of 4.8 instead of 5.0. I’m applying for history (south asian specialisation) and I’m going sat optional. I’ve took 7 aps so far (world history, seminar, macro/micro econ, research, lang, comparative government) and I’ve gotten all 4’s. This year I’m taking 3 aps and my gpa is a 4.33 for this quarter. I’m also full pay. I really want to ed to usc or nyu preferably one of the two but i don’t know if I’ll get in
These are the schools I’m looking to apply to:
Columbia - Sciences Po Dual Degree
USC
UCLA
U Chicago
Georgetown
NYU
U Washington Seattle
U Miami
Northeastern
University of Illinois - Urbana
UCSD
Indiana University
George Washington University
Rutgers
American University
Penn State
Syracuse
Fordham University
UC Irvine
These are my ecs (they’re a bit vague here I just want to stay anonymous)
Founder & Director, Student Theater Organization
Founded youth political satire theater; staged sold-out productions, reached 300+ attendees, raised PKR 400K+, and led an 18-member team.
Research Assistant, University Professor
Analyzed rare primary artifacts and cataloged 100+ historical objects for academic archival research.
Author, Children’s Book on Bonded Labor
Published children’s book on bonded labor; directed 100% of net proceeds toward freeing 2 families; reached 5 stores and 6 libraries.
Independent Researcher
Conducted quantitative research using 170 traditional music recordings; published findings on cultural and commercial change.
Writer & Co-Director, Social-Issue Film
Created short film on sanitation workers’ working conditions; secured official screenings at 2 national forums.
Legal Coordinator, Juvenile Justice Initiative
Provided weekly intake and bail support for juvenile detainees; coordinated legal strategy with pro-bono attorneys.
Archival Research Intern, Provincial Archives
Transcribed 40+ fragile historical manuscripts and indexed 120+ government and refugee records.
Oral Historian, Coastal Oral History Project
Conducted 25+ interviews across 3 generations, preserving disappearing folklore, livelihoods, and displacement histories in an archive and zine.
Heritage Fellow, National Archaeology Department
Researched 15+ major Buddhist artifacts and archaeological sites; produced 3 reports for national archival records.
Collector
Collected 7,000+ coins, 2,500+ stamps, and 300+ records since first grade; negotiated with 100+ collectors to expand the collection.
Let me know what schools you think I could get in. I really want a school with a name of course but also with good programs that I could easily get into. And hypothetically how far are my reaches.
You are full pay - so you have a chance. The bigger issue is internationals are down.
I could see Miami, GW, American, Syracuse, and Fordham for sure.
Have you validated all on your list have an Asian history focus. Many will have Asian studies but not necessarily a full on Asian history degree.
You will get into some like Indiana and Penn State as well.
There are many more but what do you seek in a school - many LACs and private colleges would love to have you and lots of publics are less selective if you meet the minimums in required courses taken in HS- like an Arizona/Arizona State, the Oregon schools, WVU, URI, UVM on the East Coast. U Kanasas would be very good in your area i think.
I don’t have my unweighted however in terms of constraints I only had issues with math in freshman and sophomore year in which I had a C but otherwise all A’s
There’s hundreds of schools that would love your full pay. What do you seek in a school? Large, mid, small? Small might be more restrictive in class offerings.
Urban, suburban.
Warm, cold, etc.
You’d get into many schools.
U Rochester is another that comes to mind - they are dying due to lack of internationals.
Also, US universities do expect or require significant high school course work in English, math, science, history and social studies (which you listed), language other than English, and sometimes visual or performing arts. Do you have coverage of all of these subjects in your high school course work?
My unweighted would be a 3.56. I’ve had a bunch of other courses besides my aps that would cover such requirements (my school follows American curriculum)
But you want Asian history. So u should focus on schools with large Asian studies departments.
For example, my daughter majored in intl Studies with an Asian track. She went to College of Charleston. These are history eiectives in the track which I listed below.
You need to do this at every school. I mean Gettysburg is great in Hostory but likely Civil War History.
So you need to dig deeper given your specific desire. You should also check course frequency. Just because it’s listed doesn’t mean they actually offer it.
Don’t do a direct conversion of your marks/grades. Schools abroad use different grading scales, so, for example, while an 87/100 isn’t particularly impressive for a US high school student, the student might be the top student in their school or even their region.
If your school follows the American curriculum, I assume you are not converting some other grading system? If your unweighted GPA is indeed a 3.5-3.6 range and you are test optional, I think a number of your schools are reaches, especially as an international. Can you clarify which country you come from - this might matter to some of the colleges, if they are looking for geographical diversity.
Re Berkeley, I think that would be a big reach with that GPA (as would ucla), but if you’re doing a UC application for the others anyway you might as well tick the box.
Your target list of 20, if you include Berkeley, looks good!
If you are indifferent between USC & NYU, then apply ED or EA to USC & ED2 to NYU, which doesn’t violate either institution’s ED rules.
The Maxwell School at Syracuse University is a supportive place for a new history major as well as for graduate school. I would apply non-restrictive Early Action.
