<p>Hi people, so this is my first college confidential post,</p>
<p>I’m an Indian, my dad works in Indian Foreign Affairs so we got posted to different places a lot. I did my 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th in Lincoln (in Buenos Aires, Argentina), an American International School. Then, when we came back to India, I totally bombed my 11th and 12th. By that I mean I got a 62% average (which isn’t toooooo bad, considering 33% is a fail in the Indian system). So then, when my dad got posted again to another place, I decided to repeat 11th and 12th with straight A’s (and 2 b’s), lots of AP courses (since here I’m in the American system again), and extracarriculars. I’m in my senior year now. I got 2180 on my SAT’s. </p>
<p>What I’m wondering is if I wrote a great essay that somehow convinced the admission officers that repeating two years is a strength instead of a weakness, could I potentially get into a place like Amherst, Tufts, Fordham (those types of schools)?</p>
<p>Oh and I need financial aid too lol</p>
<p>and if anyone wants/needs more info, just ask!!</p>
<p>Generally speaking, an entire essay should not take up a weakness or an attempt to explain. You messed up. Lots of kids do. You made up for it. Lots of kids don’t. You’re a good student and a candidate for these schools, but no one can tell you if an essay you haven’t written yet could possibly be good enough to get you into them. Fordham is nowhere near the quality of Tufts, and Amherst is a different and maybe better school than Tufts.</p>
<p>Have a life you want to lead (and definitely not a college that will put you in large debt). Work to make that happen. You can get into a good school where you will find lots of opps and resources. What more could you want? Prestige won’t matter a twit to anyone but you and your parents–and especially not to any professional or grad schools, who will care only about gpa, standardized post-grad tests, interviews, recs, etc. </p>
<p>I encourage you to apply to all the schools you want, but I wouldn’t count on getting into Amherst, Tufts, or Fordham.</p>
<p>The “% int’l getting FA” is a red herring, bcs at these schools the int’l admit rate is so low and GPA counts as much, or possibly more, than test scores.</p>
<p>hey jkeil, thanks for replying, you think you could look over my portfolio real quick (or anyone reading this for that matter)? Just want any sort of advice/comment on whether going to a college like tufts is even plausible.</p>
<p>4.2 weighted gpa, 3.8 unweighted,
lead tenor singer in school choir,
lead tenor singer in a local choir (we won a national tournament, it was on tv, so yeah theres that),
120-ish hours of community service (visits to orphanages and beach cleanups)
school president for junior and senior year (of my second attempt, obviously),
Key club member,
pianist for the girls choir,
Guitar club (lil club i started to teach elementary kids how to play guitar)
school soccer team captain (i also play in a local club),
and i redesigned my school website.
i also did theater and was a lead in two school productions.</p>
<p>the ap’s i took over the last two years:
ap music theory (got an a and a 4)
ap econ (got a b and a 4)
ap spanish (got an a-)
ap physics (got a b and a 4)
ap calc bc (so far have an a)
ap english (so far an a)
ap computer science (so far an a+, love this)
ap environmental science (so far an a)</p>
<p>obviously these are from the last year and a half (when i decided to repeat); before that was india (which was a disaster) and argentina for my 9th and 10th, which was mainly a’s and b’s.</p>
<p>and AnnieBeats, if i focus on my diversity (i really think that that’s one of my main strengths), and explain how the change in the system was too much of a burden, why do you say that I should count Tufts, Amherst etc. out?</p>
<p>thanks again!!</p>
<p>Well if I’m not mistaken, you a GPA is what will hurt you. If I’m not mistaken, colleges will see all of your transcripts from all schools whether you succeeded or not.</p>
<p>@GMTplus7, hunh?</p>
<p>OP, chill the bump. goldang kids, these days.</p>
<p>I think your diversity is interesting, too, and you can bring a lot to any campus in terms of your experiences as the child of a diplomat on the rise. I always think that having students with a variety of experiences and ages is good for the classroom and will be important to AOs. Of course, I’ve been wrong about the importance of diversity, too. You seem to provide some help with this possibility, tho, with your ECs and your interests in leadership, music, and theater. I’d sure want you in my classroom based on what I have here, and I’d think you’d survive Tufts’ if not Amherst’s intensity (AOs don’t want to bring in students who will be overmatched). I think @AnnieBeats is mistaken about Fordham. The Jesuits will want you, I think.</p>
<p>What about GW match, Georgetown reach, American match, Johns Hopkins reach, UVA reach, Northeastern, BU, UMD, Syracuse?</p>
<p>What does the guidance or college counselor at your current high school say? That would be a good place to start. </p>
<p>You also need to find out how much your parents can pay for your education. That way you will know just how much financial aid you have to chase. Remember, the colleges use their own formulas to decide who gets how much aid, and so may think your parents can afford a lot more money than your parents think that they can pay.</p>