Match Me Please! Int'l student, 3.95 UW, 1550 SAT, Sociology major aiming for top 30 national colleges

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics
International Student
Hong Kong

Intended Major(s)
Sociology, Minor in Gender Studies

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.95
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1550 SAT

List your HS coursework (listed chronologically by year)

  • English: Normal English G9-10 , AP Language and Composition, AP English Literature
  • Math: Geometry, Honors Advanced Algebra, Precalculus, AP Calculus AB
  • Science: Honors Biology, Honors Chemistry, AP Chemistry, Physics
  • History and social studies: AP Human Geography (G10) , AP World History (G12)
  • Language other than English: Chinese from G9-12
  • Visual or performing arts: drawing and painting, fashion and textiles, architecture
  • Other academic courses: AP Macro and Microeconomics (combined course in G11), AP Psychology (G12)

Recieved all 5s for the APs I’ve taken: AP Human Geography, AP Chemistry, AP English Language and Composition, AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics

**College Coursework
Harvard Global Gender Justice Course - Grade: A
Wrote a research paper on gender

Awards
International Economics competition - overall bronze award, top 15 teams in microeconomics
Distinction in Chem 13 News and Avogadro exam (international Chemistry Competitions)
International Distinction Award, National gold award for youth performing arts piano festival
Honor Roll (G9 and G10)
:black_small_square: 3.5 to 3.99 GPA across all courses
Head of School Commendation (G11)
:black_small_square: 4.0 GPA across all courses in 2023-2024
AP International Diploma
AP Scholar with Distinction Award
Gold award for 2 international art competitions

Extracurriculars

Club leader of school menstrual poverty service club

  • raised over 6000 USD for menstrual products and education for underprivileged communities
  • conducts weekly meetings for 25 members planning fundraisers and learning more about menstrual poverty

School leader of School Bilingual Magazine club

  • conducts publication collaboration with 20+clubs at school, and with international schools
  • lead graphic design and marketing sector of club

Executive board member of student board raising awareness for women’s rights and human trafficking issues

  • manage bi-weekly meetings and social media publications

Founded English program in a rural school

  • conducts self-taught weekly english lessons for 45+ students

founded online business to provide additional economic support to the rural school students - earned and donated 1000+ USD of products

Founder of online platform providing free educational videos for a variety of courses

  • manage and edit biweekly videos (long and short form)

volunteered at robotics programs, English lessons, and girls in STEM competitions

member of school economics club

Other passions and hobbies in art and piano (maybe a portfolio)

Essays/LORs/Other
Mid-strong, common topic, but slightly unique approach and coherent language and narration.

Schools
I’m not sure where I should aim, especially for ED and reach schools. I don’t want to be too risky, but I still want to aim for the top 30 colleges. Currently, I plan to apply to Northwestern for ED, any recommendations or comments?

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP! ANY COMMENTS OR SUGGESTIONS WOULD HELP A LOT!

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You have a strong profile and great accomplishments. Congratulations!

Two questions:

  • what is your budget?
  • what is your back-up plan if you don’t get accepted to any US college?
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Hello! Thank you for replying. I don’t have a budget, but will be applying for a few outside scholarships. I’ll also be applying to UK colleges, which I think is more predictable and safe in case I don’t get accepted by US colleges.

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You might be interested in checking out this list of the top feeders to PhD programs in Sociology. The left side is just in total, so tends to favors larger research universities. The right side is per capita, and you will see many smaller colleges:

Obviously you may or may not be interested in going on to graduate work in Sociology, but I think this is still useful information because it really demonstrates how strong departments in Sociology that can do a good job supporting their top undergraduates are not somehow limited to just some generically-ranked top 30 colleges or universities.

Like, most of what I think of as the core Big 10 universities have strong Sociology departments–Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio State, Michigan State, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and so on. Some of these also offer relatively modest OOS costs and/or attainable merit for high numbers applicants. And they can also be fantastically fun places to go to college.

And then there are many small colleges with strong departments. Like, I don’t see you identifying your gender, but if you did identify as a woman then there are many women’s colleges high on the per capita list–like Bryn Mawr, Wellesley, Smith, Spelman, Scripps, Mount Holyoke, Barnard, and Saint Mary’s–and again some of them offer good need+merit to some high numbers applicants. But there are many great options for non-women too (in fact at some you might have a bit of a competitive advantage as a male applicant).

So my advice is to think broadly about the possibilities.

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Does that mean you don’t yet know what your budget is, or that you can afford any US college (that could mean over US$380,000)? I’m asking because your budget limit will dictate where it makes sense for you to apply, especially as an international student.

Sounds good. As long as you have a college that’s safe and affordable, you can take your shot at the top ranked US schools.

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Please clarify. Does this mean your family can fully fund $90,000 a year for college…or what?

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Indeed, “no budget” is completely uninformative.
Can you full-pay for Northwestern?

Also, even if you’re limiting your search to “top 30” colleges and universities (and really, a hard cutoff at 30 makes no sense, as there are plenty of schools below that line that have been above it quite recently, and vice versa; and there’s no meaningful difference between the schools that have moved up and the ones that have moved down)… that’s 60 schools. What puts Northwestern at the top of that heap for you? If you explain what you like about it, that will help us to understand what you’re looking for.

Agree that women’s colleges could be excellent choices if you qualify to apply.

There are so many great places to study sociology and gender studies. What would make a program a particularly good fit for you? If I were to guess from what you’ve said, I would think that schools that have specific programs, emphases, or initiatives relative to Global Gender/Women’s Studies might be ideal. Have you looked for that in particular?

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In terms of admissions, the best reference will be your school’s previous admissions records.

If you have a dream school, apply there ED. You could really consider UChicago. Higher ED admissions rate, one of the best social science programs, especially for socio…

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