Need Help! International Student with 1700 Sat

Vasilis26 · May 25, 2012, 4:45am

Greetings,

My name is Vasilis and I am a student of 11th grade in Athens, Greece.

I am not sure yet if I want to go study in the US. It has always been my dream but this way I will have to separate from my friends and family I truly love.

So in my views in order to leave my country and study in the US I will have to be admitted at one of my following seven options :
1)Harvard University
2)Cornell University
3)Williams College
4)Vassar College
5)Stanford University
6)Yale University
7)Boston College

I recently received my sat results and they were not really good(for my goals- will explain later on) 650 Maths- 540 Writing- 510 Critical Reading - 1700 sum. Thanks god I have re-registered for June 2012 Sat. I am planning to sit for two subject test in October.(probably Math 1 and Biology or Spanish).

However, I am rank 1 (out of 52) in my high school, which is considered among top schools in the country.
My GPA is 4.

I was selected back in April to represent Greek students in the European Youth Parliament and more specifically at its foremost event which will take place at Amsterdam, Netherlands in November(my greatest accomplishment of all in my opinion). Only eight students each year have this opportunity and it is of great honor.

I have my own blogs and websites from which I gain some revenue.

I have also coordinated many school dances from which I have earned somee REALLY GOOD money(2000 euro all in all plus), much of which I have donated to a foundation helping young children with mental problems([amimoni.gr](<a href=“http://www.amimoni.gr%5Damimoni.gr%5B/url%5D”>http://www.amimoni.gr)</a>).

I can speak four different languages:
1)Greek- Ancient Greek- Tongue Language
2)English- CPE-ECPE (have acquired both)
3)Spanish- B2
4)French- B1.

I have many computer qualifications.

I have a mathematics award for being distinguished at Kangaroo Maths Contest in March 2012.

I have participated at Youth Entepreneurship Summer Programme, a three week programme offered by the Athens University of Economics and Business.

I have participated at the 9th University Students Conference of the Athens University of Economics and Business.

I have participated at “Ethniki Sindiaskepsi Neolaias” - Greek Students Gathering in English at Larissa, Greece in December(3 days conference).

I have been a volunteer again in Amimoni Foundation.

I have been the coordinator of KONY 2012- The Athens Move and really contributed to the community- I have actually managed to gather more than 200 young people on Athens main square(Sindagma Square).

I have been to an English Summer School twice at Northampton, UK.

I love all sports. I play basketball for the local team and soccer for my school team. I also love tennis, windsurf, swimming, water polo, snowboarding and skiing.

I have participated in the creation of Bayer AC Greece advertisement on the internet- the pharmaceutical company. I helped in the creation of the advertisement and I also answered some questions which are displayed on it. I have many times contributed to my schools drama club(I participate each year at all of its events).

I have done some shadow work on Greece’s most prestigious and prominent facial dentist.

In the near future, I will do some volunteer work and I will participate at MUNIST(Istanbul Model United Nations Conference) and Deutsche Schule Athen Model United Nations (DSAMUN) and I will do some extra shadow work on the same dentist, on a mechanical engineer friend of my dad and on one of the most succesful Greek chairman, currently at Greek National Bank and formerly at Metlife Alico(at a european level).

I am extremely social, ambitious and never back down and paradoxically all of my teachers love me. I have many school awards for top scores etc. So I can get many good recommendations.
All facts and points mentioned above are on papers as well. I have to translate most of them actually I expect to do well on my TOEFL.

All in all do you believe that if I manage to get a 1900 in my next SAT and also a 700 in Math 1 and almost 700 in Biology or Spanish, I will have any chances in getting into the schools I wish to??
(You may find my score in SAT I low but please take into consideration that I am not an American citizen and cannot write and understand the language at such a fast pace as asked to on the Sat Critica Reading and Writing)

Look, my primary goal is to go to Harvard through Early Action or Cornell, Williams or Vassar through Early Decision! Do you think I can make it at any of these FOUR?

Also, my father is currently 65 and is going to retire in a couple of years and at the time we are in the middle of a huge international and domestic financial crisis. So while my father income might be around 120 k (in dollars) and we might possess some property(which we cannot sell at any case- nobody is buying), our expenses are way more than this income so we are constantly trying to reduce them. So getting into college is not easy for me without some proper financial aid.

Therefore please take into account that in order to accept one of the offers from these schools if made I have to be offered a generous financial aid package as well.

SO? Should I continue trying?

Sorry for bombarding you with such a huge text but this is ME and I wanted you to have an as much clear picture of me as possible.

Please respond as soon as possible and as analytically as possible.

King Regards,
Vasilios

Vasilis26 · May 25, 2012, 4:59am

Please also note I am a member of Unicef and of GreenPeace and that on Saturday I am planning to become an official member of the European Youth Parliament.

keliojames955 · May 25, 2012, 5:32am

Oh dear, I am sorry I don’t think you can even get in BU with that grade given that you need aid.

Vasilis26 · May 25, 2012, 5:50am

so if i did not there would be such a big difference? :(

gibby · May 25, 2012, 8:34am

See: [Academic</a> Index Calculator Hernandez College Consulting, Inc. and Ivy League Admission Help](<a href=“http://www.hernandezcollegeconsulting.com/academic-index-calculator/]Academic”>http://www.hernandezcollegeconsulting.com/academic-index-calculator/)

Unfortunately, given your SAT scores, your academic index is too low to be admitted to an Ivy League school. And your SAT scores are also too low for the rest of schools on your list. In addition, Financial aid is not available to international students at BU: [International</a> Students Financial Assistance | Boston University](<a href=“http://www.bu.edu/finaid/apply/international/]International”>http://www.bu.edu/finaid/apply/international/)

Vasilis26 · May 25, 2012, 9:38am

what do you mean by “academic index” ?
I am rank 1 in my school and I also got a 20/20 - perfect score(this is how grades are measured in the greek system)! Isn t it a 4 GPA?

exultationsy · May 25, 2012, 9:48am

Your grades are, of course, very good, but SAT scores are designed to telegraph how your grades will translate into college. People definitely argue over how good a tool for that it is, especially 2000 vs. 2200, but for differences like 1700 to 2300, yes, it means a lot. (The average Harvard student’s SAT score is probably around 2300.) If you can get your SAT scores up, your extracurriculars are very impressive and your grades are good, but right now your SATs indicate that you do not know English well enough to do the work at most or any of the schools on your list. While that says nothing about your native intelligence, you need to really be fluent to perform well in a top-ranked American college. Also, the international pool of applicants is extra-competitive–and Harvard’s total RD acceptance rate was <4%.

placido240 · May 25, 2012, 9:55am

Academic index includes the SAT and your current SAT is way too low for the schools you are seeking, all the more so in as much as you are seeking financial aid (which is very hard to receive if you are an international student). You are in the same international pool competing with the SAT 2400 Chinese and Koreans (with impeccable, although falsified, extracurriculars and recommendations) and SAT 2400 Indians with international math olympiad credentials. Your best hope, I feel, is to re-inforce your unique skills in politics by working with one or more Greek representatives to produce a paper or series of solutions to the Greek Euro/financanial crisis and to get that paper reduced to an article that is published in the Financial Times or some other respected newspaper/magazine. You need to have an intellectual side to all of this activity – that’s what these universities are looking for. They get 1,000s of applicants with “Model UN” experience or who are Presidents of their classes, etc., but few can tie these leadership experiences to an intellectual viewpoint.

fauxmaven · May 25, 2012, 10:01am

Other applicants have all kinds of ECs AND amazing test scores as well as high grades .

Vasilis26 · May 25, 2012, 10:19am

hahahah I totally agree with you placido240! Actually this was my subject in the latest conference I participated in! In fact, Greece’s most prominent business-marketing news magazine wants my view of the story and what I proposed during the European Youth Parliament conference and in general the views of a student at my age concerning such an important issue! This news magazine is called “Scientific Marketing” in Greek of course. I will definitely give them my opinion! hmmm ok so we have all agreed that I need higher test scores this would mean that I have a lot of work to do in front of me…

henryvli · May 25, 2012, 11:39am

I am afraid that it is much more than test scores. It is hard enough for 2300+ American applicants, you need to score high and on top of that do something amazing to win them over.

Harvard accepts very very few applicants, epically in non-English speaking countries. Best of luck.

And yes aid for international plays an very important role in every colleges except Yale Harvard and princeton.

rkanan · May 25, 2012, 12:44pm

Considering that you have to translate everything into English before posting on here, your fluency in English is probably not good enough for any top tier American college.

These colleges have the most rigorous and intense academic courses. Classes are already difficult on their own, and a language barrier can really be a huge problem.

Since you’re an international student requiring financial aid, you’re at quite a disadvantage at most of the places you’re planning to apply to. Harvard in particular draws the attention of so many international applicants, yet they only fill 10% of their class with foreign students.

Unless you can up your SAT score to above 2000 (keep in mind all sections should be above 600) and your TOEFL is at least 105, you don’t have a realistic chance at virtually any of the schools you listed. You have to prove that you are fluent in English enough to take advantages of the opportunities offered at these colleges.

Ana1 · May 28, 2012, 8:27pm

First, with that income, $120k+property, you wont be eligible for financial aid. Second, the students from Greece who are accepted at Harvard and the other ivies and top schools have high scores in the SAT and subject tests, even though English is not their mother tongue either. Many of these Greek have internationally recognized awards like being first in the international math olympiad, etc. Others helped their parents and worked in agriculture fields, dirt poor, while self-studying and getting top scores to get admission at MIT, Caltech, and Harvard. Just being a member of Unicef, or Greenpeace does not mean anything. To be honest, it would have been more impressive if you had volunteered in an organization like the Child’s smile or the SOS village. With your stats you won’t even be able to be admitted to NYU, where most second tier Greek students paying full tuition go. Also, do not forget that there are slots in the top US colleges that go to students from Athens College and Anatolia, where most of the Greek students attending top US schools come from. And these students do have high test scores, except for a few cases like if you are the son of a former very high ranking politician. They have ECs that are comparable to the most competitive US students and other internationals, like participating in debate and forensics, being a newspaper editor, playing in theatrical school productions, and having high GPA and SATs with a minimum of 700 on each section. Just because English is not your mother tongue is not an excuse to accept low test scores, especially when there are so many internationals from other Balkan countries, and Greece that score in the top 1% for SAT.

Ana1 · May 28, 2012, 9:12pm

This is from the Class of 2016 accepted students thread for one of the European students and will give you an idea of their stats:

Guyfromportugal 04-09-2012 04:04 PM
Decision: Accepted

Objective:[ul][] SAT I (breakdown): W790 / R800 / M760[] ACT: Did not take[] SAT II: World History 800/ US History 800 [] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 (?)[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1[] German Abitur: 1.0 (max. credit)[] TOEFL: 119[] Senior Year Course Load: History, Phys Ed, Philosophy, Maths, Portuguese, German, French, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, English, Art/Painting,Drawing & History of Art[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Scholarship from the Robert Bosch Stiftung to pursue a degree in Engineering at the University of Heidelberg (Got this when I was 16)[/ul]Subjective:[ul][] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Student Gov (President & Advisor)
School Board member
Middle School Basketball team (Coach & Captain)
Varsity Volleyball team
Debating Society (Founder & Captain)
Violin (7 years)
Tennis (6 years, qualified 5 times for National Championship)
[] Job/Work Experience: None…Well, I do have some internships in my resume, but I’ve never had a job.[] Volunteer/Community service: Monitor at local Catholic Youth Groups/ Work at Homeless Assistance at Local Parrish[] Summer Activities: Tons of traveling, reading, internships etc.[] Essays: Excellent, I guess.[] Teacher Recommendation: Excellent[] Counselor Rec: Ex.[] Additional Rec: Ambassador of Germany[] Interview:Great
[/ul]Other[ul][] State (if domestic applicant):[] Country (if international applicant): Portugal[] School Type: Private, although controlled and partially funded by the German Federal Gov.[] Ethnicity: Caucasian[] Gender: Male[] Income Bracket: 250 000 - 300 000[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Languages (I speak 7 languages at native level), Bicultural background - Portuguese family & German education…
[/ul]Reflection[list][] Strengths: Leadership Skills, keen to learn, very inquisitive, languages, bicultural background, academic accomplishments, extremely ambitious[] Weaknesses: Don’t have the major awards, that most countries give out…Not a true virtuoso when it comes to music :P[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Essays, Interview, different academic background, scores (although they aren’t the most important factor), languages…[li] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:[/li]
Acc.: Stanford, Oxford, Yale, UChicago, Northwestern, Georgetown
Waitlisted: Princeton

keliojames955 · May 28, 2012, 9:36pm

^ what’s your point?

Ana1 · May 28, 2012, 10:57pm

@keliojames955,
My point is that just because an applicant is an international student, it does not mean that their stats differ from those of the domestic candidates. That 10% of the student body, which is the average percentage of internationals in US colleges, still has equal, if not better stats than US citizens/residents. That’s why I picked the Portuguese student from the Harvard thread as an example since one can consider Portugal similar to Greece. There are stats from other international students and they are all at the same level.

Mitforme · May 29, 2012, 12:15am

I think Ana1 gave you a good response. You’re not a viable candidate at any first or even second tier school in the US. Either improve your grades and English or go to a local greek school.

Need Help! International Student with 1700 Sat

CONNECT WITH US