HEY! So these are the ivies that I will be applying too, I have non ivy colleges on my list.
I’m entering my junior year, but I like having a focus and goal because it makes me work harder. I think it’s beneficial to create a list now and sort of keep me thinking of what’s to come.
Female
I’m African (Nigerian), first generation immigrant and I live in the USA
Sophomore
IB Program
I want to study neuroscience
GPA : weighted (4.1) unweighted (3.7)
By the end of junior year my GPA will rise to a 4.3
I’m in the Christian Athletes Leadership committee, I’m lector (3 years) , mass servant (7+ years), and I teach kindergarten students every Sunday about Catholicism.
I started my own tutoring business for students my freshman year and I’m resuming this year.
I plan on starting an non-profit organization (I can’t really get into it)
I plan on using khan academy so I can get a really good SAT score.
I’ve taken two AP classes and in my junior year im taking all IB classes including orchestra
I’ve played the viola for 7 years and participated in all county orchestra (once)
I’m currently in Spanish Honor Society, Social studies honor society, music honor society and art honor society. I haven’t OFFICIALLY entered junior year so I can’t apply for NHS yet.
I’ve been a video editor since 3rd grade. Film and Photographry are a huge passion of mine. Editing has been a huge part of my life. I post YouTube videos occasionally of my videos that I make for fun (purely for keeping memories).
I’m starting a school newspaper and co founder of an art students club. I’ve been in SGA for 2 years.
I’ve done mock trial for 2 years, cross country 1 year, track for 1 year and tennis for 1 year, and I’m going back to track for junior year. I’ve also participated in Science Olympiad for 2 years.
I also forgot to add im in the top 10% of my class
Your extracurriculars are good, but maybe try to add some STEM ecs, because if you want to go to STEM it’s best if you also have involvement in STEM extracurriculars. I would also suggest raising that GPA because a 3.7 is a bit on the low side. Overall though with some tweaks, your chances would improve.
(Also, Princeton doesn’t have ED they just have SCEA)
Your ECs look above average, but based on your GPA, I wouldn’t be overly confident or dependent on getting into HYPSM or Ivies. I agree with @collegeready33 that you should add more STEM ECs to your portfolio. However, it is difficult to truly chance you until the final GPA and standardized test scores come in. Make sure you take SAT II tests as well, as many of the top universities recommend 2.
I’ll go in depth about your ECs.
I wouldn’t really consider the honor societies to be a huge part of your application. When looking at ECs, you should ask yourself, “What does this say about me?” To me, the honor societies just say you’re proficient academically, which most applicants to Ivies are.
Likewise, the sports don’t really add much to the ECs unless you’re being recruited for them or place conference wise or statewide.
Mock Trial and Science Olympiad, while good, are ECs many students, especially STEM applicants, will list, which won’t help you stand out.
Your best three ECs are the Christian committee, the non-profit and the tutoring business. The Christian committee shows a willingness to give back to the community, and a connection with it. The business is good, but to Ivies, many students list making a business. It would be much, MUCH more significant if your business was to be given an award or if you were to win an award based on your business. Same goes for the non-profit, but to me that shows more of a STEM mentality.
You need to add more STEM ECs. While you have a good, diverse group of ECs, colleges like to see an interest in the field of intended study, which could be accomplished through ECs.
Again, it’s difficult to chance based on freshman and sophomore year stats alone, but I would say you have somewhat of a shot to get in, based on your grades so far and your URM status. Work on your ECs a little, make sure you do well on your SATs and SAT IIs, and get your grades up as high as you can. If you can do all of those, I would say you could have a decent shot to get in. I hope it works out for you! GL!
Thank you for replying !! Although I want to be in a STEM field (I can’t imagibe myself doing anything else) my passions remain in music and art. I find a lot of enjoyment with this, and it makes me who I am. There aren’t many STEM opportunities, (esp. when you’re broke lol). Will these schools just IMMEDIATELY disregard me if I don’t participate in STEM ECs. I sort of believe that my passions in other fields make me stand out as an individual.
I think there’s a misunderstanding about standing out. The colleges will look for various ways you pursue what you say is your possible college major, what experiences, , how you collaborate with others (especially for stem, this means math-sci ECs,) and what you do in your community that matters, not just hit and run.
The Mock and Sci Olympiad are good, no matter that many others do this (of course they do, these are worthy, organized pursuits. Don’t underestimate them based on a hs opinion.) The non-profit is just an idea, at this point and lots of kids would be better off joining an existing non-profit, learning from adults, taking on a role, growing, rather than trying to invent one on their own. And tutoring, while noble, is not a tip.
Video, like hobbies, is better when you can point to how you use it, something that has some impact, not just that you do it (and post it online.)
You’re a rising soph or finishing soph year? What’s your community service?
I think my analyses of Mock Trial and SciOly were a little misunderstood. They are great to have on record and definitely bolster your application, but still not as great as working in an engineering lab with a college professor, persay. If you have passion in art and music, I would find a way to attempt to tie that into STEM possibly. For example, maybe you create a new computer program that helps you curate songs (a la Garageband). I wouldn’t consider it to be an immediate disregard of your application should you not show STEM activities; however, it would raise a red flag to me atleast. In terms of “standing out”, there are multiple ways you can do this - the two I’ve heard the most are focusing and excelling in a few ECs centered around a specific interest (depth) and participating and excelling in a bunch of ECs across different interests (breadth). As @lookingforward put it, colleges will see how you pursued your interests through high school. Even if your passion is art and music, you can still tie that into STEM somehow and colleges will look favorably upon that. Ivies have a holistic application approach, which means that they won’t necessarily reject everyone who doesn’t have ECs relating to their field of intended study, but they’ll look at it on a case-by-case basis. So, while they wouldn’t immediately eliminate you for a lack of STEM ECs, finding a way to tie that into your passion for art/music could be a way to go. Don’t give up on doing Mock Trial or SciOly; those are great programs that show an interest to participate in academic pursuits outside of the classroom, which is also important to colleges. GL!
You stand out by the overall quality, not the unusualness and not even the depth. (Most top colleges don’t want to see unilateral.) It’s more the quality of the thinking that shows, in both the mix of ECs and the writing, and the ways you stretch. Sci Oly does qulaify as a math-sci activity…and not all kids can get an internship. OP doesn’t need to convert art into science, it’s fine to have diversity of interests.
And neurosci is a bit different, as a hybrid of several fields, not pure stem.
I advocate this, three prongs. Bear in mind, the more competitive the college, the more you need to think through the choices. This is meant to start you thinking about balance.
- what you do for yourself, your own interests, now and the future goals- the art and music, other hobbies, etc. Sports, yes. It's also how you pursue the neuro interest, what you do besides hs classes or reading. For some, it's outside work, hosp vol, some organization, whatever you can get. The idea is, if you're interested in people, how we operate, what are you doing toward that?
- what you do with and for peers and groups you belong to- that's hs clubs, maybe orchestra again, maybe accompany at school. The newspaper counts. As DJ said, not so much honor societies. But your church is also a group. So are any Nigerian identity or cultural activities via those groups.
Last, what you do for your community, because you can see the needs and commit to help. It may not be just tutoring or helping at church. It could be your church’s outreach. It’s community service.
There’s overlap, but this shows a widening circle: you, your groups, your community.
You don’t need to tie in your art/music interests to STEM, but it’s an option for an EC of sorts if you want to pursue that. I agree with what @lookingforward said in post #7, however.
Without standardized test scores, the answers you’ll receive will be even less helpful than the typical what are my chances thread. Keep in mind that the odds for any international applicant at the schools you mentioned will be significantly worse than the published data you see for overall results, as the schools typically limit international enrollment to ~ 12% or so.
@tdy123 OP isn’t an international student though; she stated she’s a first generation immigrant from another country, but lives in the US.
@tdy123 I live in the United States