How to compare the students like these?

Applying to College
1

<p>I’m just wondering about this all the time, This is international student’s case.
So, please reply this question, if you have any idea about this.</p>

<p>My case: </p>

<p>Korean born,
getting no education from english speaking countries(America, Canada, England, Austrailia, usual international school students, usual foreign school students),
self studying with no curriculum,
attending private high school that sends none to Ivy or great universitys of America, as a matter of fact, I will be the first to go into American university at my school,
get GPA over 3.6( top 10(number); my school is really tough on this),
living in Seoul right now,
SAT over 2250.
No college counselor on my school, because my school is not supposed to send any other student into America.
Good ECs(really unique one that I can not reveal)
Great Essays showing my own dying experience as of scubar diving and revealing I’m just blissful to be alive.</p>

<p>Other case: </p>

<p>General international case,
getting much education from english speaking countries,
With curriculum,
attending schools that send many to top Ivys or great univeristies many years
get GPA 4.0 (within top 5%)
living in any place, though they have general environment helpful for english learning,
SAT over 2300,
Counselors on their school.
General ECs(good)
Great Essays showing their ability on handling the elaboration on the specific situation.</p>

<p>If the college sees these two cases, whom it will choose?
The collges could be Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Duke, Columbia, Williams, Deep Springs and something like that…</p>

<p>So, suppose you are the college admission commitees, what will you choose?</p>

2

<p>I don’t think it’s an either/or question.</p>

3

<p>what do you mean?
you mean you could fail both or could do otherwise?
but, I want to know the extremity of the answer.
I might have used wrong examples, but the point is,
I want to get into those colleges!!! lol…
I wish mine one looks better,=)
Just kidding…</p>

4

<p>Colleges have so many applicants, you can’t put 2 students’ stats down on paper and say “Pick one.” A lot of thought goes into decisions, and no one can say, “Oh this person will get in for sure”.</p>

5

<p>I think that the second person will get in more often than the first person. The problem is first that while the it’s clear the second person has had more opportunities than the first, it’s arguably easier to get into an Ivy from a school that has a history of sending students to Ivies because there is a significant track record there. Not to mention the second’s numbers are simply better (with nothing to compare to, the difficulty of the first’s school is very difficult to gauge).</p>

<p>Second, the recommendations for the first student are likely to not be as strong simply because there is no college counselor to advise teachers as to what to write (which also raises the question who is going to fill out the school report). In effect, the first person’s application file may be more disorganized than the second’s.</p>

<p>Third, there are a couple things working against the first person. The pool of competition from Korea is ridiculous and I’m sure plenty of schools that send students regularly to American schools will have dozens of competing applicants. Also, as an overrepresented minority, any benefits of being a first generation to college or low income background (assuming most favourable circumstances for admission) are somewhat negated.</p>

<p>Also a piece of advice. Watch out for that near death experience essay. Adcoms don’t want essays searching for pity. You have to craft it in a way that’s less about how bad it was and more about how good it was for you (in terms of what you learned).</p>

<p>Good luck though.</p>

6

<p>Oh,thanks for your constructive advice, anyway, I got 2310,no more worrying abou that…</p>

7

<p>Colleges usually don’t compare students one-on-one, and if they do they make sure to compare students that are comparable (e.g. students from the same school or at least the same country with a standardized curriculum).</p>

<p>I am somewhat familiar with your situation (though my school does have a set curriculum). My school sent the first and last kid to America some 20-30 years ago. You will have to take a lot of initiative and tell your teachers what to write and prepare the school report (at least a draft of it) yourself. Best of luck with that!</p>

<p>I am really curious though what you “unique” ECs are. Most ECs are not as unique as one might believe.</p>