Chance me to transfer to Ivy League! International from tiny country

  • Demographics
    • From small country in Europe where probably 3 people get undergraduate degrees from these universities every 10 years
    • need aid
    • College freshman
    • planning to transfer because there is no ballet access for graduated students but the schools I want to transfer to all have ballet companies affiliated with their schools. I also want to be able to double major which is not possible in my current school.

Major: government and economics

  • Grades
    • 9th grade 4.0/4.0 (top of class)
    • 10th grade 4.3/4.0 (top of class at graduation) with As and A*s in IGCSE
    • 11th grade 8.8/10 (new school) top of class
    • 12th grade 5/7 (IB diploma)
    • 13th grade 5.5/7 (IB diploma, and in my country we go to 13th grade in high school)
    • 35/45 IB
    • 1530 SAT
    • No official ranks just confirmed from teachers
    • 9/10 GPA in current university - deans list
    • Very high grades in ballet school
    • Very good LORs
  • ECs
    • Graduated with two degrees - IB diploma and a diploma in classical ballet from top ballet school in the country (National Ballet School)
    • accepted into summer intensive at one of the top ballet schools in the world and was there for two weeks 2022
    • Have been nominated for Stanford International Honours Program
    • Co-founder and social media manager for our school’s sports club
    • National ballet school (30+ hours a week), will be graduating as a professional dancer.
    • Learned on bagpipes from 5th grade up to 7th and continue to self study on bagpipes as lessons are unavailable here
    • Raised nearly 1000 dollars for ballet school by organising guards for a local run
    • tutor for Icelandic
    • Volunteer for big green weekend
    • Worked for 2 summers in a water sports course teaching for children
    • Have attended multiple kayaking courses and therefore teach
    • Went 2 summers to working school
    • Worked at restaurant and hotel for a summer
  • Awards
    • Nominated with ballet school for Iceland national theatre story award
    • Special notice in History class and award for top student
    • Hardest working dancer award
      *prestigious UK ballet school accepted and attended
    • Distinction ballet awards throughout dance career
    • Nomination to Stanford honours program (have yet to decide admission)
      Chance me for these schools and match me for others: Harvard (top choice), Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Cornell, Dartmouth, Upenn.

I understand that it is extremely difficult to transfer to these universities, however I want to know if I stand a chance.

Aside from the fact that the transfer acceptance rate for some of these schools is 1%, you applied to many of these schools last yeF for first-year admissions. If they didn’t accept you then, what has made your application so much stronger to expect a different result?

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The schools that you listed are tough for all applicants. Consider NYU (New York University), Juilliard, Barnard College of Columbia University.

https://tisch.nyu.edu/dance

Indiana University Jacobs School may be another to consider.

https://music.indiana.edu/degrees-programs/areas-of-study/ballet.html

SMU in Dallas, Texas. Offers talent scholarships.

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Hi! I didn’t apply last year, this would be my first time.

Thank you!

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These three are also challenging admissions and especially for international students needing significant need based aid…as transfer students.

Good choice if affordable…and the scholarships are offered to transfer students.

Also consider TCU (Texas Christian University) in Fort Worth, Texas (near Dallas, Texas).

Recently had lunch with a dept. chair (not dance) at this school. Based on our conversation, plenty of money.

University of Utah

https://dance.utah.edu/scholarships

Interesting read regarding goals of the dance major at Northwestern University:

Yeah I didn’t end up applying

How much aid do you need? Some of the colleges suggested are need aware for international students, aware need aware for transfer students, do not meet full need for transfer students.

Your annual budget to attend college here might be the driving point in your search.

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I do not need full need

Some of the colleges on your list cost $80,000 a year…or more.

Just make sure they are affordable for your family. Unfortunately, the Net Price Calculators are not accurate most of the time for international families.

If you think the finances are covered, then you are fine. Please thank your parents for this wonderful gift!

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Consider Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

CMU offers a full scholarship for a bagpipe player.

Has a theatre & music school which includes “movement & dance”.

Is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania which has a professional ballet troupe & theatre. (My neighbors, now retired, were the lead male & female dancers for the Pittsburgh Ballet before moving to Wash D.C. area)

CMU is an outstanding university-mostly tech oriented–with an exceptional school of fine arts/music/drama.

P.S. And if interested in earning an MFA (master’s degree in fine arts), there are fully funded two year long programs for those with a bachelor’s degree.)

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These are all excellent suggestions…but you need to find out acceptance %ages for transfer international students.

As an accomplished ballet dancer with excellent academic credentials, a 1530 SAT score, bagpipe player (very rare in the US), teaching experience, & resident of Iceland, I suspect that your chances for admission are above average. Very interesting background & residency.

Consider: Northwestern University outside of Chicago, Illinois and Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Both are outstanding universities and both love transfer students. Northwestern has a world class music school (admission by audition only) and a world class school of communication (acting & dance are under this umbrella). Very generous with need based financial aid.

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Great suggestions! However, I don’t think either provides financial aid to international transfer students.

OP, why did you decide to not apply to these schools last year as you had originally planned(according to your previous post)?

And this from the CMU website:

An undergraduate, International Student is ineligible to receive any federal or state student financial aid. Additionally, Carnegie Mellon does not award any institutional financial aid funds to undergraduate International Students.

Carnegie Mellon doesn’t offer financial aid to international students. If you’re an international student who plans to enroll at Carnegie Mellon, you and your family must plan to pay the total cost of attendance(https://www.cmu.edu/admission/costs-aid/46).

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Honestly I lost hope because I didn’t think my IB score was strong enough. I also decided that staying in my home country may simply be better financially and that if my GPA is high enough my freshman year of college I should apply then instead.

Also, my first SAT wasn’t strong enough. In my country they only offer the SAT in some months of the year. When I retook it, it was too late to send.

Also, my first SAT wasn’t strong enough. In my country they only offer the SAT in some months of the year. When I retook it, it was too late to send.