Chance Me/Reverse Chance Me [international, need FA, astrophysics/ astronomy]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

International student

Type of high school: Local public school in Bangladesh

Other special factors: N/A

Cost Constraints / Budget

Need significant financial aid to attend U.S. universities

Intended Major(s)

Astrophysics, Astronomy

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

Unweighted HS GPA: 9th-5/5,10th-5/5,11th-2/5,12th-4.42/5

Weighted HS GPA: N/A

Class Rank: Not officially ranked

SAT Scores: 1540 (aiming for 1600 on next try)

List your HS coursework

English: Standard curriculum, strong writing background due to essay competitions

Math: Completed standard courses including calculus

Science: Physics, chemistry, biology (standard curriculum)

History and social studies: Standard curriculum

Language other than English: Fluent in Bangla,Hindi, Urdu, and Odia (spoken); Arabic (reading)

Visual or performing arts: N/A

Other academic courses: N/A

Awards

Gold Award, Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition 2024

Selected for Bangladesh Generation Parliament 2020

Club Representative, Bangladesh Olympiad of Astronomy and Astrophysics 2024

Citizen scientist at NASA with preliminary asteroid discovery 2024

Extracurriculars

Founder of an online astronomy club

YouTube channel creator focused on astronomy videos

Co-coordinator of book club district branch

Organizing astronomy-related events and talks

Actively developing a fantasy book (unpublished, currently writing)

Actively Involved in the Student Protest in Bangladesh.

Run a Newsletter About Astronomy.

Currenrly working on Opening Another Newsletter about Writing Short Stories.

Essays/LORs/Other

Essays: Strong writing ability, having won a major international essay competition with countless Local ones.I believe it’s my biggest strength yet.I’m working on essays that will showcase my passion for astronomy and writing.

LORs: Strong relationships with teachers who can highlight my leadership in writing and astronomy.

Schools

Assured (100% chance of admission and affordability):

N/A (need-based aid required for all U.S. schools)

Extremely Likely:

N/A

Likely:

University of Rochester

Case Western Reserve University

Toss-up:

University of Chicago (RD)

University of Michigan (RD)

University of California, Berkeley (RD)

Lower Probability:

Brown University (RD)

Cornell University (RD)

Low Probability:

Princeton University (RD)

Harvard University (RD)

Yale University (RD)

Also kindly Recommend universities which you think perfect for my profile

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This will cost around $75,000/year and there is no need based aid for international students, so this one can come off your list. I do not know about the others, but you really need to check about costs and whether or not international students are eligible for aid.

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Thank you for pointing that out.I will keep that in mind

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What happened with junior year GPA? It’s a pretty stark contrast to the others and wonder if there is an explanation. Not that you have to share it here.

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As a general consideration, physics tends to represent the more comprehensive and respected major for an undergraduate interested in astronomy/astrophysics. Choosing electives that would lead to an astronomy minor would balance this approach. If you might be interested in planetary science, you would benefit from geosciences courses as well.

As an opinion on selecting schools, consider giving additional attention to colleges with relatively dark and natural night skies and accessible observatories, such as, to varying degrees, Williams, Haverford , Hamilton , Amherst, Wesleyan and Vassar.

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Regarding the categories in which you estimated your likelihood of admission, note this site ranks UChicago as the 4th most selective school in the U.S.:

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