Chances for WashU , Tufts , Emory , Notre Dame , Rice , Brown , Carleton , Colby , Grinnell , Duke .

Chance Me / Match Me
1

R-reach
M-match
S-safety

I apply to :
Harvard ®
Caltech ®
Duke ®
Yale ®
Princeton ®
Brown ®
Rice ®
Washington In St. Louis ®
Notre Dame (M/R)
Emory (M)
Tufts (M)
Colby (S/M)
Carleton (S/M)
Grinnell (S/M)

Correct me if you think some of them are not S but M or not M but R , etc , Or vice versa.

General + exams

White Male , Hispanic (from Romania) , income <22k / year (my family can help me with NO more than 10k per year)
Intended Major : Geophysics or Astrophysics or Planetary Science
GPA ; High school doesn’t have , but I got 9.5/10 as average for 9th,10th and 11th years .
School doesn’t rank , but I’m in the first 5 or 6 from 59 (it is a small but selective high school)
SAT : 1450 (will retake it in december) with 800 on math and 650 on ebrw , and 6/6/6 at essay
SAT II’s : Math II (800) , Physics (800)
No ap’s or honor classes since we do not have such things , but did 2 years of Calculus and physics at level similiar to that of AP pysics 1 and 2
Toefl ibt : 105 /120
My class is very competitive . I have class mates who participate at national olympics at physics , mathematics , literature , and religion .

EC’s :

Not too much volunteering . I have just helped at the construction of a church , a park , and helped at an eldery asylum .
I did swimming for about 2 years , not for competitions .
Participated in two internships in Netherlands .
National olympic at gegraphy for 3 years in a row (hoping for the fourth) . This year I got on the second place . In 2016 and 2017 I have qualifid for the eliminatory phases for the international geography olympiad .
This year I have been admitted in an excellente group for mathematics where I do undergrad level mathematics (diff. equations , multivariable calculus , advanced linear algebra , group and sets theory etc…).
I was in the curch’s orchestra (mandolin).
I am also a member of Mensa International , if it matters .

There are not many opportunities for clubs in my city . I was called by an astronomy club and an athletics club but I do not have enough time for them since I am learning 6-8 hours daily at physics , mathematics , georaphy and geophysics at college level (from books like those of Apostol , Irodov , Feynman etc).

2

Notre Dame is a reach for most everyone
Carleton is a safety for no one
You probably would get into Grinnell and Colby, but you should look to add a true safety to your list.

3

@MagAdrian

Are you Hispanic or Romanian, because Romanian is not Hispanic. This is a fairly large difference.
Also a 1450 is low for all of these schools, except for maybe Colby and Grinnell. So they are all Reaches including Emory and Note Dame. This is especially true if you are international.

4

Oh yes , sorry , I am romanian , I thought that romanians are hispanic because they come from latino (Now you see why I got 650 on english : I am not good at humanitarian subjects , just science/math). Anyway , would a 1500 make some universities from this list to be a match for me ? On the prep sat’s released by collegeboard I usually took 680-700 on reading and I hope that in december I will have a better day and get 1500 .

5

Caltech will like that you are working from Apostol & Feynman. Are you working with a professor or teacher who can write you a recommendation?

Good luck on the 2nd SAT you are taking. The application essays are important, too.

I would avoid mentioning Mensa membership on applications to US colleges. At least unless you have leadership positions in a local group.

6

How are you going to pay for these schools? I believe from your list that Harvard and Princeton are the only ones that promise to meet full need for international students.

7

Tufts and Notre Dame will be reaches for you and schools like Colby and Emory will be match/reaches

8

suzy100 , From what I know , only Harvard and Princeton (from my list) have a need blind policy for international students , but many of the other universitties give 100% financial aid to international students . Even so , I do not plan to take 100% ; 85% or more is perfect for me .

9

What if I manage to increase my SAT score to 1500 (700 ebrw and 800 math)? would I have a decent shot to some of these universities/colleges ?

10

I think your perception of Notre Dame is a little off. It’s right up there with Rice (i.e. right below the Ivy League/Duke/CalTech in terms of competitiveness and selectivity). For any of those reach schools, it would probably be a good idea to retake the SAT to try to get your reading score up at a minimum of 700

11

@Mag Adrian, you really need to closely review each school’s policy with regard to need based aid for international students. Many schools that say they meet 100% need do NOT meet 100% need for international students.

Here is a blog from 2014 (so things may have changed) with a list of colleges that say they meet full need for international students. http://www.thecollegiateblog.org/colleges-that-meet-100-of-demonstrated-need-for-international-students/

12

Hispanic is anywhere from Spanish or Iberian descent… I’m pretty sure Romania is on the Iberian Peninsula.

13

Uh, actually no. The Iberian peninsula consists of Spain and Portugal. Romania is part of the former communist bloc in Eastern Europe. The confusion might be language related. Romanian is one of the Romance languages, of which Italian, Spanish, French, and Portuguese are the others. They are all derived from Latin. Culturally and geographically, Romania is pretty far removed from the others. As far as the question at hand, you really need to do some research and find some academic and financial safeties if you have your heart set on attending university in the US. As many posters have said, most are not need blind for international applicants. I do know that ND has very limited need based aid for international students.

14

I removed ND, Emory, Duke, and Harvard (because, let’s be honest, I would pay 75 $ for nothing). Instead of them I added Columbia and Swarthmore. I know that Swarthmore is more generous when it comes to financial aid.