Chance Me: Overoptimistic American studying abroad applying to Ivies! [4.0 UW, test optional for Econ, Finance, Industrial Eng]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics: Male, Peninsular Arab, Kuwait, Private School, Studying in a foreign country but a US Citizen so technically a domestic applicant, Hooks: No need for financial aid + No one from my country got into Harvard and a few other ivies in the last 12 years so idk if this is a bonus lol

Intended Major(s): Econ / Industrial Engineering / Finance

ACT/SAT/SAT II: Test Optional…

UW/W GPA and Rank: 4.0/4.21

Coursework: AP English Language (5), AP English Literature (Current), AP Physics 1 (Current), AP Computer Science Principles (Current), AP Environmental Science (Current), AP Comparative Government and Politics (4), AP Human Geography (5)
School doesn’t offer APs in 9th and 10th grade

Awards: 1 National Engineering Award for a Drone Project - 2 National Master Chef Cooking Awards - AP Scholar - 3 School Math Competition Finalist Awards - 4 School English Essay Competition Finalist Awards
Extracurriculars:

Nonprofit President + committee chair raised 17k for charity 4yrs

Food Bank Lead Organizer 3 yrs -

Robotics Team Captain 4yrs -

Investment Internship Research (not published)

Cofounder of speech and debate 3yrs

Cofounder of animal shelter 3yrs

Stock analysis internship (2-3 months)

Marketing internship (Marketing manager for a popup event - 2weeks)

MUN 3yrs

Essays/LORs/Other:
Commonapp essay about how my country is a racist bubble and so much discrimination and how I fought against it and advocated for others and myself, supplemental were killer essays about Islamophobia and accepting my identity, etc.
Fire counselor LOR - Good AP English LOR - Fire Calc LOR - Okay Physics LOR (gave my pros and cons but ultimately positive and recommends)

Schools I applied to:
Ivies: Harvard - Yale - UPenn (M&E - Wharton backup) - Princeton - Cornell - Columbia
UCs: UCLA - UC Berkeley - UC Irvine
Other T20s: Stanford - NYU - UIUC (EA accepted)- Northeastern (EA Defer) - USC (EA Defer) - BC - BU - Tufts - Bentley - GW - Babson (EA Defer)
Give me honest thoughts and opinions, I appreciate any feedback! :smiley:

ps. my goal is getting into ivies tbh so chancme more so for them, feel free to be brutally honest!

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It is impossible to rationally chance for the elite schools as most have acceptance rates well under 10%. There are simply more well qualified applicants than spots available. At this point your applications are in so all you can do is wait and see.

Great that you have the UIUC acceptance in hand – hopefully that takes some pressure off.

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My first reaction is that UIUC is a very good university. I don’t think that anything can be “safer” compared to “already admitted and it is affordable for us” (understanding that “affordable” can be “full pay” in your case).

The Ivy League schools are reaches. You are a very competitive applicant, but so are probably something like 80% of applicants and you know the acceptance rate. The same is true for Stanford, and probably UCLA and UC Berkeley for out of state students. Whether you will get one or two admissions, zero admissions, or several admissions among these reach schools is unpredictable.

I think that you most likely have some more acceptances (plural) coming from among the remaining schools that you applied to.

You might have a tough decision coming up that you will need to make in March and April (whether because you got into zero from “Ivies plus Stanford” and need to decide from your other admissions, or you get into two or more from “Ivies plus Stanford” and need to choose from them). Regardless, you are already in at a very good university, and to me it looks likely you are likely to do very well regardless of where you end up in September.

And based on this list, I cannot predict what type of winter coat you are going to need.

Best wishes. Once again, it looks to me like you are likely to do well whether you do this as UIUC or somewhere else.

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That’s not a hook. It may help you at NEU and the UCs, but not by much. The Ivies are all need blind in admissions so won’t care that you can pay in full.

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The UCs expect ALL OOS students to be full pay, don’t they?

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Why test optional?

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Test optional will be a hindrance.

Your research - not published - don’t use.

Harvard, for example, was 83%. If you take out athletes and first gen, etc. higher. Doesn’t mean you can’t get in - but many schools are like this.

You got into UIUC - so you already won.

Bentley can happen. GW if full pay.

I don’t suspect the Ivies will - but only they can answer. If it’s all you wanted, why apply to the others ?

Best of luck.

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I don’t see the Ivies happening. I don’t think they’ll think you’re the most standout applicant from your region, but applying to M&E was smart because it matches your profile well so I’d say that’s where your odds are best.
GWU and Bentley you definitely have a good shot at; probably one from NEU, NYU, BC but hard to predoct which one.
UCs, not sure - if 4.2 is your UCGPA it’s low.
Congratulations on UIUC in any case, it’s a terrific university, not an easy admission.

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Thank you so much for your very thorough analysis. I’m happy about UIUC but will honestly pass on it since I really am aiming for Ivies and UCs.

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I totally understand that my GPA is low however I explained in the additional comments section that my school only allows AP courses in 11th and 12th and we have mandatory 2 mandatory religion classes, 1 mandatory Arabic class, and 1 mandatory Arabic history class so that in itself takes up half of my schedule.

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I needed some safeties so I figured I’d apply to others and yes our government covers full tuition to any US university that is a top 200-300.

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I scored average on the SAT so I thought going test-optional would be a better option.

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Agreed! Although not many from my country go to UIUC. I probably would not commit there because of homesickness etc.

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So then why an Ivy. A thousand miles closer does not alleviate homesickness. You are all over the place.

If UIUC is free to you and it’s ranked in the 30s - then from that POV it’s a no brainer - especially if you want finance which most Ivies don’t have.

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Why? It’s a really good university (better than Ivies in some fields, notably CS and CS+X). Gies is good, too. And you’d be equally homesick there and at Ivies so try to strengthen yourself if that’s a lefitimate worry.

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I went with engineering for UIUC however chose Economics for Ivies. My case is quite weird because my country heavily depends on popularity and prestige and not true merit and statistics. They would hire a GW student over a UIUC student because UIUC is not known here whatsoever.

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US companies will know what Uiuc Engineering means and you’ll have no trouble finding internships. That should help you build a solid CV and get OPT before you return to your country or another company in the region will know what you’ve achieved.

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From your original post:

You are a US citizen. You have the ability to work in the US after graduation. As @MYOS1634 said, employers in the US know how strong UIUC is. You will be able to gain good experience in the US regardless of whether you then subsequently decide to return to your current country or remain in the US.

What other universities you will get into is difficult to predict. The Ivy League schools and Stanford, as well as UCLA and UC Berkeley are very difficult for admissions and very difficult to predict. Rejection from all of them is entirely possible, even for an exceptionally strong student.

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This is true unfortunately, it is hard to predict admissions to Ivy Leagues. To the point of work experience, I will return to my homeland immediately after finishing my degree, which is why the university’s name, popularity, and prestige matter a lot.

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If you’re a US citizen, you can work freely in the US after college.
UIUC Engineering is very prestigious (and Gies is no slouch either in the Midwest) and will yield good internships AND job offers.
If your current country of residence makes it a condition you return for you to get the scholarship, surely education+experience in US companies will be considered more valuable than just education?

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