Chance Me / Match Me [ Int'l student, chem, high need ]

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Demographics
- International

  • Small Country in East Asia
  • Public High School. (Had to take a senior high school entrance exam, the school only takes kids that scored above National PR 98. One of the best public high school in the country.)

Cost Constraints / Budget
- Needs aid. Upper middle class in my country but around lower middle class in the states, can afford around 20K to 30K (which according to the NPCs should be around what we’ll pay if I do get financial aid.)

Intended Major(s)
- Mostly chemistry except Northeastern which I chose Business

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • UW gpa: 3.7/4.0, but my school uses a 100 point system, so this was converted. My original gpa is around 86/100, which is quite high (in the top 15% of my class, according to our school profile) as my school grades very very harshly. I will be reporting the original gpa instead of the 3.7 one.

  • Weighted HS GPA: none. Our school does not offer weighted courses.

  • Class Rank: none. School does not disclose.

  • ACT/SAT Scores: Was gonna take the October one but due to a string of accidents I couldn’t make it to the test. But will take one very soon in November. My mocks on bluebook are around 1550+ and mocks on the Princeton review is around 14XX. I am aiming for 1510+

List your HS coursework

(Indicate advanced level, such as AP, IB, AICE, A-level, or college, courses as well as specifics in each subject)

  • Our curriculum is set, you can only select the track that you are on. I am in the med track which is the hardest and most rigorous. I am taking Mandarin, English, Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Earth Science, Labs, Physical Education, National Defense and Home Economics this year. In addition to that, I also took writing comprehension, civics&government, geography history, data sci, comp sci, engineering through out my high school years.

    I did not take any AP classes, but my all of the classes I’m taking is the hardest available. Our curriculum as my counselor will check on commonapp is “Highly Demanding” (second to the super smart kids that got placed in gifted class)

    My math skill is equivalent to AP Calculus (unsure if it’s AB or BC, but when I graduate it’ll be equivalent to BC, as my friend that graduated said.) and all the AP sciences. But due to financial constraints, I will not be taking any AP tests.

Awards

  1. Model Student of (My City) , selected from 2400+ and then was voted to by those 2400+ kids. [ Regional ]
  2. Debater of the Year, only 2 selected every yr. [ National ]
  3. 5+ Speakers award/Team award at debate tournaments [ International, National, Regional ]
  4. Poster Acceptance in (name of an int’l conference) in clinical chemistry [ International ]
  5. National Brain Science Training Program acceptance (selected top 20) [ National ]

Extracurriculars

  1. Varsity Debate Captain, Team academic director and coach
  2. National representative in NSDA (first non-american team to compete for my country)
  3. Co-founder of an English debate community that empowers voices + deals with inequalities through offering free courses+hosting free workshops and giving open lectures in collaboration with professors from a government debate project.
  4. VP + R&D leader of our school’s ambassador team that only 20 were selected out of almost 200 applicants after two rounds of interviews and test. Hosted various exchanges + two symposiums featuring Nobel Prize Laureate. (w/ one that I personally hosted for the day and his and his wife inspired me to study chem!)
  5. Speaker of the student parliament, representative for all three yrs of high school. Voted to be the speaker out of 60+ representative
  6. chem research that won school science fair (honorable mention + award of practical spirit), researched for a yr, revolved around solving the microplastic pollution in water.
  7. Took a course on medicine at a university for a semester and took a course on semiconductors from an incredibly famous semiconductor company for a semester. Was invited to participate a female scientist trip that was all expense.
  8. Data sci research ( only for a few months as this was more of a side project from my elective class), analyzing mental health and sleep habits through code.
  9. taught free English lessons in partnership with the rotary club to kids from rural elementary schools.
  10. self run an instagram dance account w/ my friend, has over 50k views.

Essays/LORs/Other
personal statement was talking about the creativity and curiosity that stem from building lego, how it shaped the way I react to problems and how I see them.

The why major essays was mostly about how the Nobel Prize Laureate and his wife (another scientist also!) inspired me, had me wanting to become a scientist that was unique (cuz most of my ecs were on communications so I wrote how I want dialogue with experiment etc.)

My current favorite school is UChicago, and both the quirky essay and the why Uchicago essay I think I did quite well. Both were proof read by my parents and friends, and the ones that understood it thought it was really good. The quirky essay was on creating a new idiom and it talked about how I don’t want to be restricted to one definition.

For LoRs,

I have my principal as my counselor, who knows me very well as I’ve been working with him to host the exchange programs and symposiums. I translated his rec letter for him and I think it was quite well! I’d give it a 9/10. (on a side note, he was originally going to be the additional recommender , but my homeroom teacher got into this huge fight with my homeroom and she told my parents she does not think I am a good student (??) so I had to find the principal instead.)

Then I have my English teach who’s also my debate coach, she knows me very well and me and my friends love chatting with her. Lastly, I have my chemistry teacher who was also my research advisor, because her mom (also a teacher at my school) knew me very well, so I was basically her guide to the school (?) and she said she likes me a lot.

Schools
I’m nominated for the Lester B. Pearson Scholarship at UofT. Although I’m 70% certain I’ll be admitted to UofT, I am not confident at all for the scholarship. But this is just for context of where I kind of place in my school. (one school can only nominate one kid for the scholarship and I was selected to be nominated )

Furthermore, I understand that policies and visa situations has make the international admission a lot more unpredictable and uncertain, so I am also studying for my country’s national college entrance exam. I don’t want to disclose the name of the university or my score as you will know my race then, but I am 99% certain that if I stayed I’d be enrolled to the top three university of my country.

Lastly, although my current ED school is UChicago, I’ve been seriously considering ED my second favorites, which are both need-blind unlike Uchicago, Amherst college and Brown. But I am stuck in the deadlock so please give me advice!!!

Reach: UChicago (ED1 for now), Brown, Amherst, Emory (Emory Scholars), Vanderbilt(Will apply for merit scholarships!), Tufts, Duke (Robertsons), Bowdoin, Williams. (this list may get longer but these are for now)
Match: [ EA ]Northeastern, [ EA ]Oberlin, [ EA ]Case Western Reserve, [ EA ]Purdue, UIUC
Safety: [ EA ]Miami U(honors), UMN Twin Cities

The reason why I applied to some of the uni is because they emailed and said it’s free to apply for me. But I do have to say it’s highly likely that I would end up staying in my country if I don’t get into my favorites!

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Why Business at Northeastern ?

UMN won’t hit cost. Great school though.

Not only do you need in but you need the school to agree with need that hits your budget.

I can’t chance you but good luck.

3

Most of the colleges on your list are need aware for international students. This means that your financial need could be considered when your application for admission is reviewed. Even with the amount you indicated your family can pay, you would need more than $50,000 in aid at some of these colleges.

If you used the net price calculators to see if these schools would be affordable, please keep in mind that the NPCs are not always accurate for international students.

IIRC, Purdue doesn’t give need based aid to international students @momofboiler1 ??

In my opinion, you should only ED to a college that is your top choice. It sounds like you are not sure about that.

I think it’s good that you have identified some sure things in your home country and are considering those should a college in the U.S. not work out.

What do you plan to do after you graduate from undergrad? Remaining in the U.S. to work looks like it will be much more unlikely in the future, but that is an unknown right now. You should plan to return to your home country once your student visa here has expired.

You say you are a nominated for a scholarship at UT, but I don’t see that college on your list above. For those wondering, this UT is University of Toronto.

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Your major and ECs appear to target Medical school.

If this is the case, please be aware that US medical schools rarely admit international students. It’s even worse for funding.

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come to think of it, I can’t name a specific reason I chose business at northeastern; but I think it’s mostly cause a) I’m also quite interested in business, but I wanted to try something in STEM during undergrad, so I chose chem in other schools. b) I think northeastern has a quite great ib program!

dream schools all meet 100% demonstrated need and if the net price calculator isn’t too off, I think I’ll be somewhat okay to pay the price! I am also aware that some of the schools on the list does not offer aid, but I’ve had friends who got merit aids and I thought it could be worth a shot!

thank you !:folded_hands:

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I would keep the ED at UChicago, as it is one of the few universities that give an admissions boost to students who ED. Just complete their Net Price Calculator to make sure you know how much aid to expect and are okay with that.

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On ED, I think the problem I’m facing rn is, I’m 100% certain id love to attend UChicago, I’m just unsure if they’ll take me. Given the fact that one of the other school I love— Amherst, has a quite high ED acceptance rate + need-blind, I’ve been thinking about ED there instead.

I’m also aware that (not just Purdue but also some other colleges on my list) does not give need aid, but I see that some gives merit aid and me and my parents thought it’s worth trying!

As for my future, I’m not 100% certain, but I’m honestly open to everything and I am not really thinking much about staying in the US. I’ll probably double major in another domain, and I’m good with going back to my home country! (I’d probably get a graduate degree tho)

For the reason why I didn’t listed UofT, I only wrote schools in the US on the list, so that’s why it isn’t there.

Thank you so much!

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Just to clarify, I’m 100000% certain I won’t go to profession schools (like dental, med or law).

The reason why I’m on the med track is because I love biology, and the only way to take bio is by enrolling in the med track at my school. I used to dream of becoming a doctor too but after taking some courses and talking with my relatives that are doctors, I know that I wouldn’t wanna do it. I’m only doing chem major because I really like chem and I think it’s a great degree that has flexibility to do graduates in various fields.

Thank you for the advice tho!

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That’s the reason why I can’t decide ;; I really like UChicago and I know it’s a huge boost to apply ED, but I’m scared that my financial need will decrease my chance a lot, thus I was thinking abt applying to need-blind colleges instead.

But thank you so much for the reassurance !!(Btw, I did ran the numbers thru the calculator, my family would be comfortable paying that amount)

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Just to clarify the term “need blind”.
When a school is NEED BLIND, they mean that they don’t look at your financial information when making a decision about admission. If you are accepted, you may be accepted without any funding. They are BLIND to whether or not you NEED funding when deciding to admit you.

Also, if a college states that they meet 100% “demonstrated need”, they are saying that they will determine what your need is based on their formulas. Some schools may consider your parents assets as being available to pay for your schooling. They decide what your demonstrated need will be.

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Quite high? Getting acceptance to Amherst is never a given…even ED.

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The ED acceptance rate looks higher because of all the athletes they admit in the early round. If you factor them out, there is no ED boost

Purdue does not offer merit aid to international students.

Is Northeastern one of those schools? They are well known for doing this to get more students to apply. But they do not offer need based aid to international students.

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