I am an international rising senior and i am planning on apply to Universities in the US. I am from the Dominican Republic and attend an American International school. My SATs and GPA are nothing above average or super impresive (1880, 3.6) but i am looking to apply to competitive schools like Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, UMich, etc. with my dream school being harvard. I know that my scores aren’t impressive enough to get into these colleges but i have a strong curriculm and an unusual hook which i am relying a lot on. This hook is that i am the youngest Dominican citizen to ever summit Mt. Kilimanjaro (tallest mountain on the African continent) at the age of 16. My essay is related to the hook and i am pretty confident about it and about my teacher recs. I would appreciate any opinion or thoughts you guys have. If you would like more info on my student info i would be happy to provide it.
I don’t think those schools are realistic, certainly not Harvard, ND or Michigan.
You have great stats and obviously a lot of drive.
Use that energy on a more realistic group of schools.
Your experience in climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro will make an interesting essay, but is not a “hook”. Your GPA and SAT score is not competitive for the schools you have on your list so far. Like @BatesParents2019 stated, you need to do more research on more realistic choices in schools. Also what you can you and your family afford? As an International applicant, if you are in need of financial aid, this will further limit your school choices. Run the net price calculators for each school of interest and see how much a US education will cost.
You need to climb up your academic mountain in order to get into any of these schools.
I really like that you have climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, that’s something that makes you stand as well being from the Dominican Republic. Unfortunately, I think that all of your schools are a pretty big reach with your scores. I would reccomend retaking the SAT if you can to see if you can raise your score and if you can’t do that and you still have your heart set on these schools I would encourage you to apply to them but also to more realistic schools. There are so many great American universities that would accept a student with your scores and experience, you just have to open your mind to them. That said, with excellent ECs, recs and essays you do have a chance although slight of getting into your chosen schools (well I would definitely count out Harvard, but the other ones)
That said, it would be great if you could provide more info on your extra curriculars, voluntering, etc. to get a better feel for if there is any particular reason you would stand out
Sorry about that mistake i meant to say that my dream school would be Stanford not Harvard, although that doesn’t make it any better