Match an intl student - politics/econ, 4.0, unique life circumstances

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • international student
  • Live in middle east
  • British private school
  • no special factors

Cost Constraints / Budget
no concern

Intended Major(s): Politics, philosophy and economics if available (similar degrees like EPE as well), otherwise politics + econ, otherwise public policy

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: equivalent to 4.0
  • no weighted because it’s british so no APs
  • Class Rank: school doesn’t rank
  • ACT/SAT Scores: i may have to apply for a waiver as currently all testing centres (and schools for that matter) in my country are closed due to the war, i was planning to take it this march
    if i can take it, i have been getting 1530+ on all practice tests - consistently 800 english, maths fluctuates

List your HS coursework

GCSEs: maths, english lang, english lit, history, music, latin, biology, chemistry, physics: all 9s, arabic: 8, HPQ: A*
A levels: maths, politics, economics - currently predicted A* A* A* for the a levels, again may not be able sit the actual AS levels due to the war
EPQ - also predicted A*

Awards

  • 1 of 9 winners in an essay competition with over 10k entries
  • john locke essay competition, placed top 3 in my subject(not saying which subject/place bc of doxxing)
  • certificate of high achievement from my exam board for all the 9s, IF i get to sit my AS levels i expect to get another since (hopefully) i will get all As
  • won politics competition to be published in a legitimate journal attached to a prestigious university
  • 2 scholarships to my school for having best gcse results in my school, and just having good grades in general

Extracurriculars

  • carer: my father is paralyzed and terminally ill so i spend about 2.5 hours a day helping him eat, drink, take medicine, clean himself, etc. - 9, 10, 11, 12
  • online camp: co-host of triannual online writing camp aimed at helping middle schoolers learn about creative writing in a more fun way, create activities, judge writing competition, general leading stuff. avg around 300-400 participants per session now, peak was 1k per session, overall 5k individual people have done this - 9, 10, 11, 12
  • economics research: novel statistical analysis that will be published in a journal for high school research, worked w professor of economics over winter break - 11
  • media internship: started a podcast interviewing different people in legal/financial/political fields about their career, was picked up by a very small media company, also do outreach for them and help host events, increased engagement 1000% - 11, 12
  • creator and leader of online newsletter: 20+ student writers, 100+ subscribed on mailing list, publish legal political and economics updates abt my country, 1000+ weekly visitors currently (had like 200 before the war lol, a lot of people are looking up ‘(my country) news’ right now) - 11, 12
  • student gov lead academic role: have been selected for it but i start it senior year, beat out 60+ applicants. i will be managing around 30 people to give presentations, help students in younger years with academic obligations, etc. i also plan to create a new initiative gathering study resources into one well organised area to help 250+ students - 12
  • tutor: volunteer tutoring within my school of latin and piano, piano: 10+ students aged 10 and below, latin: 4 students aged 14-15, all 1x a week (group lessons if thats not clear) - 11, 12
  • piano: grade 8 abrsm, on school orchestra (practice 2x weekly), invited to perform internationally as a solo performer 1x and in my orchestra 1x, invited on exchange program 1x, represent school in a lot of competitions, do a lot of recitals. i’m not good enough to submit a supplement anywhere so it’s a pretty chill ec but i like it and it takes up lots of my time - 9, 10, 11, 12
  • clubs: basic, did MUN like 5 times, wsc 1x made it to finals got 5th individually and 2nd team in the global round with 3k+ participants, debate club, politics club, nothing serious - 9, 10, 11, 12

Essays/LORs/Other
one LOR will be from my EPQ (which is like a research project) advisor who taught me history for 2 years previously and gave me the best in history award the year i was eligible for it, he really likes me and we talk a lot about politics and stuff, he is the head of our school and only writes one letter per year so it will be really good

idk about the other one yet

essay: should be good, i would say writing is one of my strengths. plan to write about how i was extremely isolated and quiet growing up due to dealing with my father’s situation. i then found community online, started the writing camp i mentioned, and now i lead a lot of activities etc. but i always reach out to other people because i know what it’s like to be scared to put yourself out there and it only takes one person/community/etc. to enable someone else to become a leader themselves.

Schools

i would really like to apply to Yale REA for EPE even if it’s a moonshot - otherwise, match me! are my ECs and awards enough to make up for the fact that i may not get to take the SAT/my AS levels due to online school?

Additional Information

although my school doesn’t rank if you search up my name i am in a few newsletters as receiving the highest gcse grades in my school last year
also if it wasn’t clear throughout this post, our school has shifted to online, it will be continuing this way for minimum a month and maximum until the war ends

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For ideas for your greater college list, this site may be helpful:

Best Colleges for Public Policy

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thank you! will definitely take a look. they all look like very prestigious schools so it would be great if i could get into even one of those

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Best regards to you regarding your father and the war, my friend. Your prospects for attending an excellent college in the U.S. are good. Your topic here will fill out with general suggestions and perhaps some school recommendations as contributors begin to see it.

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You’re a great candidate. I’m not sure how things are going, but I fear your VISA will be harder to obtain than an acceptance.

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Congrats on your accomplishments under very difficult circumstances.

Do you have a budget?

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that may be, i do currently have a tourist visa (received in 2019) which has not been recalled yet, although my country where i am from is currently involved in the war against the USA so i guess we’ll see how it goes…

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i do not have a budget, i am very fortunate that my uncle who passed away was very rich, had no children and left a lot of money specifically for my college funds as he thought i had potential! in dollars it would be about 330,000 dollars so my parents have assured me i can go anywhere, although scholarships would of course be a benefit.

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That’s amazing. The majority of US colleges are need aware for international admissions, so that will help you at the margin when applying. (Yale is one of the few that are need-blind for internationals, though.)

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thank you for the information! i’ve heard it’s really tough for international students on full aid so i am immensely grateful that he saw something in my ten year old self lol. he himself was a college admissions officer working in the USA, so i guess he knew even back then how helpful this would be

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You will need a student visa to attend college here.

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OP- you sound terrific.

Take half an hour to research the difference between a tourist visa and a student visa (start with the official US State Department- don’t bother with Reddit and its ilk). There are many instances of college students in the US who have been detained and deported for “overstaying” a tourist visa, sometimes mid-semester. You don’t want that to be you because then returning legally becomes very, very difficult AND expensive AND time-consuming.

There are a lot of universities in the world which might meet your needs and practical considerations that don’t have as many hurdles for legal residency than the US right now.

And a quick warning- be cautious about what you post online starting today. You will likely have your online profiles examined pretty carefully during the research process of your visa application. This is starting to trip people up. A random post can disqualify you.

Good luck.

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Having basically the full 4-year COA in the bank will help a lot though. OP’s nationality will also factor in though.

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Nationality is not A factor- based on the clues OP has posted it will be THE factor. This is where we are….

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I think it’s more nuanced but yes, will see. It will be over a year before OP has to apply for a student visa so who knows what will have happened by then politics wise..

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i understand! i just meant that as of currently my nationality has not been one that has been affected by visa bans haha

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thank you for the advice! i am very careful about what i post in general, because even the country i live in now has very strict political and social media regulations. i will be applying to universities in other countries as well, like the UK, australia and france

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i really hope that everything goes well. i am lebanese if that helps!

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A few options to consider for filling out a balanced list:

In terms of midsize private research universities (like Yale), the University of Rochester has leaned into International students, and they have a very good PPE program:

Drexel has a central location in Philadelphia, a vibrant city:

If you would be interested in smaller, undergraduate-focused institutions, aka “Liberal Arts and Sciences Colleges” (LACs), then Denison has an excellent PPE program:

As does Rhodes College:

Another interesting possibility would be the University of Pittsburgh, which is state-affiliated but on the smaller side for a public university and in the middle of a very fun city. Their version of a PPE (note although it doesn’t say Economics in the title, it is in fact an integral part of the program) is an Honors major, although you don’t necessarily have to be admitted directly to the Honors College to do the major (but it could be nice):

Ohio State, a more traditional large public university, has a very robust PPE program, with four interesting “concentration” options (you can also design your own):

A couple reachier options, but not maybe quite as reachy as Yale, would include USC:

And then broadly, the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown (SFS) has lots of programs you might find interesting, obviously with a specifically international twist:

But they also have a Political Economy program outside SFS you might consider:

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Yet…

You may not get uncensored news from the U.S. but life here is very difficult right now for anyone that is on a visa, not a citizen, “looks” like they might not be a citizen, is in the process of becoming a citizen, a naturalized citizen, etc. I hate to say it, but I would definitely factor that into my decision.

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