GPA vs SATs (chances at Harvard, Cornell, Michigan, Tufts)

Applying to College
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<p>ACADEMIC BACKGROUND (GPA) -</p>

<p>I am international student from a third world country, namely Bangladesh. I have studied in a british-patterened (GCE) educational system throughout my life and have received straight A's in my GCE O Levels and straight A's in my GCE AS- Levels, even securing 98% Mark in mathematics, 97% in Physics and 91% in Chemistry. I am currently studying for my A2 Level Examinations and my school has predicted my grades to be straight A*'s (90% +). I have also maintained a GPA of 4.0/4.0 in my school. I have also received a TOEFL score of 110.</p>

<p>EC's
1) Music
I play Lead Guitar for a locally renowned progressive metal band. We are currently working on our EP and have received offers from several different foreign labels. I also play guitar for a locally renowned trash metal cover band and drums for a locally renowned alternative band. I also play instrumental guitar and have submitted one of my compositions to Harvard. </p>

<p>I also currently work for a locally renowned recording studio as a session guitarist, playing guitar in many commercial projects, jingles and soaps.</p>

<p>2) Community Service</p>

<p>I have been actively involved in humanitarian work with Rotary International for quite a while now, and have been inducted as a Rotaractor. I have participated in several social-work projects such as, Free Health Care clinical Services for poor Slum-dwellers, Distribution of donated Sewing-machines for self-employment among selected destitute women, POLIO immunization campaign and Tree-sapling plantation program envisaging sustainable environment protection, among other official activities and events. I have also helped raise funds for the educational expenses of the underprivileged children in Bangladesh by volunteering for “Jaago foundation” [A renowned NPO] in occasion of Universal Children’s Day. </p>

<p>I recently organized a four day event in collaboration with Jaago Foundation to collect Winter Clothes and Monetary Donations from all around the city to provide proper attire and blankets necessary to survive the intense winter cold to those who could not afford it. The event was a success as we raised about 3,000 USD (which is considered a huge amount of money in my country) and a large no. of clothing from local textile industries.</p>

<p>Experiences such as these have taught me responsibility, time management, resource allocation and task prioritization which should prove to be helpful not only in college but throughout my life.</p>

<p>3)Internship as a pre-press editor at a renowned publishing house
I interned at a renowned local publishing house as a pre-press edit, cross checking and co-supervising english translations of some native poetry of the national poet, some novels etc.</p>

<p>4) Miscellaneous
I also play soccer in my high school team and have an underground soccer team with which I enter several underground tournaments and manage to finish in respectable standings, the most notable was being semi finalists in the UFA (underground football association) CHAMPIONS CUP.</p>

<p>Awards:</p>

<p>1) Received the Daily Star Award for outstanding academic achievement
2) Academic Honors Achievement from my previous high-school
3) Awarded the recognition of outstanding academic achievement award by Rotary International
4)Outstanding Academic Achievement award from my current high school.</p>

<p>DRAWBACKS of my portfolio</p>

<p>I have sat for the SAT (excuse the pun) in October 2010 receiving a score of 1800 (560- CR, 610- WR, 630- Math) due to my lack of preparation time (I had only 1 week to prepare as I was down with jaundice). Due to my illness, I also missed a lot of classes in my high school causing me to get only a mere 750 in SAT II Physics and 720 in SAT II Math as I had missed the material covered by school that is tested on SAT II. </p>

<p>I gave the SAT again on December, with only 2 weeks preparation time. I tried to apply the Xiggi Advice and read the Grammatix guide and started to work without time limits section by section. I only got somewhat through the CR section and did not review any material of the writing section.I did not have time to practice with time constraints thus I had time management problems during the exam, causing me to miss a lot of questions. I got a 1780,
(530 -CR , 720- Math, 530- WR), thus my best score being 1890 (CR- 560, WR- 610, M - 720)</p>

<p>Although I flunked the SAT, I still caught up with my high school classes and aced my mid-term exams, receiving almost 90% marks in every subject.</p>

<p>So my question is, although having good GPAs and A-levels, but poor SAT scores, what are my chances of admission into
-Harvard
-Cornell
-Michigan
-Tufts [Applied for aid, I am mentioning this because TUFTS is not need-blind]
-UMass Amherst
-Drexel
-Illinois Institute of Technology</p>

<p>Advice and criticism is more than welcome :)</p>

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<p>Please also suggest some top colleges that I could get into, although most deadlines are already over. PS- I want to study Engineering.</p>

3

<p>you have barely any shot at Harvard or Cornell, and I doubt Tufts. If I were you I would look at schools like Purdue, good w/ engineering and ideal with your stats, you have to be realistic applying as an international makes the process SOOOOO Much harder, its practically impossible for residents to get into those schools without 2250+ SAT.</p>

4

<p>Your overall application seems very strong, so why don’t you look into some good SAT-optional schools, like Wake Forest and Bowdoin?</p>

5

<p>If you applied for financial aid, keep your fingers crossed big time. Don’t be disappointed if you don’t get into any of them. It’s not because of your academics, it’s more because of luck.</p>

<p>If you didn’t apply for financial aid, your chances are roughly the same as domestic students’ (disregard Raichu, that’s only when you’re applying for financial aid). If you pay full tuition, chances at Michigan might go up because of the state’s financial situation. 1890 is probably enough for the non-Ivy schools you listed except Tufts, although that’s not terribly good.</p>

<p>I know Georgia Tech extended their deadline to February 1st or something around that. Why not apply there?</p>

6

<p>Thank You so much everyone. Yeah I know I’m pretty unrealistic, so I applied a few to Canada, although everyone knows the stigma of a Canadian degree LOL!</p>

<p>I can probably pay the full tuition. Georgia Tech would be amazing, but won’t my SATs count as a major flaw in my application? In short, what would be my chances?</p>

7

<p>According to my school’s Naviance data, the mean SAT score of Georgia Tech admits is 1951. I see lots of green dots at or lower than 1890. You have a good chance. Also, you don’t need to submit any official documents until you are accepted. Check if they really extended the deadline though! It was hearsay.</p>

8

<p>No, according to their websites, the deadline was on Jan 21st.
Any other suggestions?</p>

<p>I mean, I made a huge mistake applying to ivies. I just hope I get into Michigan because I don’t really favor going to Drexel or IIT considering they’re just my safeties.</p>

9

<p>bump…</p>

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<p>Dude, I am from the same co-orodiantes as u r…If u r under edexcel, I wud say ur academic scores are quite average considering the applicant pool frm BD. Dont get enraged at me plsss…this is the fact buddy…On the other hand, Ur music thing is very impressive and ur community thing is pretty good as well…
HOWEVER,
No matter what one says, for International students all unis have certain quotas…I can guarantee that Harvard, Cornell an Tufts will never accept more than 2 (max 3) students from BD. If u may know, every year from BD there are at least 20 applicants, most of them with HOLISTICALLY stellar credentials, applying to these unis. Considering this, I cannot help but conclude that u have less than 5% chance at H, C AND T.</p>

<p>[P.S.: I was accepted at Cornell ED. I was even selected as a Jacob Scholar (the most prestigious award from COE Cornell). However they did not give me any financial aid. Hence, I was released from the ED Commitment. My EFC is abt USD 10,000. They declared dt the COE of Cornell gives aid to a max of 6 international engineering applicants, from ED and RD combined.]</p>

<p>Drexel and IIT r ur best bet. However, u must contribute USD >= 25000 per year
Michigan: reach
UMass Amherst: Do not know anyting abt it</p>

<p>btw, which school r u frm??</p>

11

<p>one idea … you could take a gap year … and next year take another crack at the SATs and apply to a better targeted list of schools … this will delay your starting school a year but probably would greatly increase your options. Good luck!</p>

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<p>yeah I understand, but I haven’t seen someone scoring as high as me on physics this term…yet…although there must be lol
and WannabePrince- Congratz on getting into Cornell? How much did you score on the SATs? and what are your thoughts on a gap year?
and yeah I got accepted into michigan a few days back.</p>

<p>Thing with having high marks on my A levels is that I can aim for A*s easily… and at the end of the day isn’t it the grade and not the board that matters? because I did emails some colleges asking them whether they differentiate between boards and they replied that they no board is given more priority and are judged exactly the same way.
Furthermore, I do have a friend who got 4 A’s from edexcel and a 2250 SAT or something and got accepted to MIT…MIT being a sat optional college</p>

<p>I have done CIE for AS-Levels for 4 months and found it very similar,
and funny thing, I tutored some of my CIE friends in some subjects as well after I left scholastica…and another point to be noted is that some of my friends and I used to go the same tutor. The tutor gave them an edexcel paper to solve and they could not attempt some questions…Its the CIE grading thats harsh, but the content is easy once you learn things conceptually…and the CIE grading system has become very lenient recently btw. Almost everyone got an A this session with 90%+. </p>

<p>but thats not the point here…thing is, I really don’t want to go to Drexel, since its my safety college, I’d prefer studying in Canada compared to that…</p>

<p>I REALLY NEED EXTERNAL OPINION WITH THESE THINGS-
let me be more frank
I applied to:
THE US COLLEGES I MENTIONED

  • WATERLOO, U of T (Engineering.Science), UBC, McGill, McMaster
    +NUS, NTU from Singapore
    +HKU and HKUST from Hong Kong</p>

<p>Supposedly I get accepted to all the colleges except for Cornell, NUS and Harvard,
what would be the best choice considering I want to get into a reputed grad school? Which school would give me more opportunities for employability?</p>

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<p>McGill is a fabulous school.</p>

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<p>I know but McGill doesn’t have co-op like its canadian counterparts…
McGill Vs Waterloo?</p>

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