Hungarian-American IB student learning Chinese

Colleges & Universities Georgetown University
1

<p>haha… just wanted to catch your attention… but it is true</p>

<p>What are my chances of getting into Georgetown…
I am an IB junior and will take the SAT on January 28th.
female, 1st generation Hungarian, US citizen</p>

<p>PSAT/NMSQT: 97th percentile, 207, probably will get Commended Scholar?
72cr, 62 m, 73 w</p>

<p>freshman year:
All As, pre-IB classes (7 classes total)</p>

<p>sophomore year:
As except 2 Bs in physics and trig (11 classes)
AP European History: 4</p>

<p>last semester:
All As (7 classes) including AP US History and AP English
IB elective: Psychology</p>

<p>senior year: APs in all the other subjects that I haven’t taken APs in yet</p>

<p>GPA: 3.95 uw, 5.14 w (for sophomore year, dont know for last semester yet, should be around 5.50 now)</p>

<p>My school’s ranked in top schools in nation by Newsweek. Public, magnet school.</p>

<p>EC:
freshman-
Law Explorers, by Holland and Knight Firm, best opening statement award
John Knox- retirement home
Relay for Life- raising $ for American Cancer Society</p>

<p>sophomore-
Speech and Debate- 1st place extemp at local, semifinalist international extemp at state
Chinese School- 3rd place Storytelling Festival
John Knox and Relay for Life
Sugar Shak- entertainment for Head Start kids
Student Government - sophomore class secretary</p>

<p>Summer: Volunteered 100 hours at orphanages for the disabled in China
Presidential Volunteer Service Award</p>

<p>Now, I am sponsoring an orphan I met in China.</p>

<p>junior:
Founded Mock Trial Club at my school (sophomore year really).
President of mock trial club
IOC (organizes Sugar Shak) parliamentarian
Student Gov- class historian
John Knox and Relay for Life
Speech and Debate- 3rd place debate at local, best novice international extemp at state
NHS
Chinese school- 3rd place Storytelling Festival</p>

<p>so what are my chances?
Georgetown (SFS) is my first choice, also considering Harvard, other Ivys, UChicago</p>

<p>I want to major in International Relations with a focus on … what else? China</p>

2

<p>207 is nowhere near commended</p>

<p>I got 220 on the joke PSAT and got a nice little letter saying I was commended, but not semi</p>

<p>no worries tho, SAT usually goes up, i got 2310</p>

3

<p>Ha, that’s cool! How hard was it to learn chinese?</p>

<p>I guess it’s pretty good, but some stats are the best… i heard georgetown is getting more and more selective. Any national awards?</p>

4

<p>senior200610:</p>

<p>o… i thought commended was in the 95th percentile or above for the nation. hmmm…</p>

<p>anyways, i know my SAT is my weakest point</p>

5

<p>dxu33:</p>

<p>chinese needs a lot of independent study, it’s hard but once u know the basics it gets easier… i’m ok, but i’ll never be perfect</p>

<p>no national awards but i’m looking at some scholarships and Speech and Debate competitions. For debate, my partner and I were at the cut-off point for getting an award at a national… and we were really disappointed… at least i know i’m close</p>

6

<p>hm, chinese is probably one of the hardest language to learn with so many symbols that have to be memorized. That’s really cool about the orphan! I think gerogetown and uchicago are ok, but it may be quite a reach for harvard and some ivys. try to highlight your unique experience meeting orphans in china.</p>

7

<p>3.95 gpa + 207 PSAT = questionable (grade inflation?)</p>

<p>chill out, dont worry about college until senior year at least!</p>

8

<p>yea gotta bring up my SAT, so does anyone else know more about what Georgetown wants?</p>

9

<p>no, not really, but i heard that they are numbers-driven, may be a myth though…</p>

10

<p>Im picking up Chinese next semester too. Since China is going up and its a huge market- I’m planning to go into business.
I heard that Chinese is hard but theyre trying to Westernized it… or like simplify the characters? But japanese is probably alot harder so shouldnt complain.</p>

11

<p>kindof, chinese pronunciation thing is westernized with letters to help foreigners better pronounce. chinese is harder than japanese, for your info…</p>

12

<p>awesome!
i am chinese and my parents speak chinese. i’ve been taking chinese lessons on weekends on saturdays since I was five and I’m going to get my hs diploma when my senior year ends!
if you want to study chinese, go to china! seriously, i’ve always thought that my chinese was pretty good until I studied at a summer program in Guangzhou. If you want check it out, it’s not expensive compared to all the other summer programs out there.
I’ve also studied Japanese, and its a lot easier because there is an alphabet.
Matilli, don’t stress. Your stats are wonderful! Besides, you’ve got one more year of hs to go. I’d say you’re in for sure.
I also want to major in international relations on a focus on China! But I’m applying to MSB, my stats are too low for SFS. IF (and that’s a major if) I get in, I’ll prob. transfer.</p>

13

<p>omg!!!
that is soooo cool
you are the first person i met who has the same interest…
when i went to china for the orphanage work, i saw my chinese improve, but nowhere near where it needs to be
i hope we’ll both get in, so we’ll meet, and we’ll probably end up being colleagues one day anyway ;)</p>

14

<p>well, i do go to china too but not for that; i speak chinese fluently, but if you really want to got immersed, go to beijing, they have the “authentic” so to speak language, since many parts of the country has another dialect.</p>

15

<p>yea my chinese school teaches beijing accent… but since i went to china this last summer my parents arent going to pay for me to go again this year… even though i really want to… i hope to improve my chinese once i’m in college</p>

16

<p>bump… so you guys think i’m basically set except for little improvement in SAT and maybe national awards?</p>

17

<p>207 will be commended btw, dont know what that guys talking about. and tha would put you in the 50% percentile of georgetown admittances anyway. you have just as good a shot as anyone else</p>

18

<p>I think you are in great shape. Being in IB is really tough and colleges know that it can give you a lower gpa then taking a bunch of goof-off AP courses. My gpa isn’t perfect either but I’m in IB and I got in. I didn’t even have the ec’s you do, either. The SAT thing probably isnt a big deal either, and a 207 on the PSAT is pretty decent. SAT scores go up from it usually- I got 221 and then a 2240 on my SAT and I had the lowest increase of almost anyone I know. But like I said, don’t worry, because looking at your ec’s anyone in their right mind would be incredibly impressed.</p>

19

<p>“goof-off ap classes”??
what are IB classes anyways? how do they differ from ap? my school only offers ap.</p>

20

<p>hafha exactly, AP Phys and AP Calc at my school = hell</p>