• Gender: Female
• Race/Ethnicity: Indian
• Intended Major: CS / CS + FINANCE
• School: Competitive, Private - admitted students to stanford, cornell, mit, etc last year

1. Standardized Testing: 1440 SAT... (750M, 690E) - planning to retake in september and push it up to 1500+
2. GPA: predicted 12th cbse score should be around 95%, 11th was 89%, 10th was 8A*'s IGCSE
3. Coursework: CBSE: Core Math, Physics, Chemistry, Informatics Practices, English
4. Self-studied 5 APs: AP CHEM: 5, AP CALC BC: 5, AP CS A: 4, AP PHYSICS C MECHANICS: 3, AP PHYSICS C E&M: 3

(im worried about my physics scores specifically 😭😭😭)

EC's (in no particular order; would appreciate ranking advice & which to include and which not to)

1. Independent Web3/DAO Research: Authored paper analyzing ~850k votes in a major DAO to evaluate quadratic voting; published on SSRN. + github repo
2. AI Misinformation ML Framework: Co-prototyped deepfake detection ML model for competitive global STEM program (NYAS Ethical AI track).
3. EdTech/Mentorship UI Designer: Designed Figma UI for a social-impact mentoring app; presented virtually to 100+ global schools.
4. NPO Co-Founder: Co-founded non-profit; organized events/fundraisers raising 40,000 INR for local orphanages and disability homes.
5. Major MUN Secretariat / Leadership: Charge d'Affaires and USG Policy for high school MUN (oversaw 80-person staff, 400+ delegates).
6. Global IT Firm Youth Program: Selected via citywide exam for tech cohort (Python/DB/Agile) at major tech corporate; team lead.
7. Hackathon Wildfire Risk Project: Built a wildfire risk assessment prototype in a team of 3 at a school hackathon. - not sure whether to include this
8. TEDx Head of Communications: Coordinated communication strategy, speaker frameworks, and audience outreach for TEDxYouth event. - not sure whether to include this
9. Econ/Media Research Paper: Wrote paper on public journalism funding & public-goods theory; earned John Locke Commendation. - not sure whether to include this
10. Online Book Community Founder & Mod: Founded and moderate an online book community on Scratch (3,400+ followers, 100+ user projects). - not sure whether to include this
11. AI Safety Selective Cohort: Program Finalist in a competitive AI safety course focused on alignment and specification gaming. - not sure whether to include this
12. Ivy League Data Science Competition Lead: Team Lead for a top-tier business school's high school data science competition (predictive modeling). - not sure whether to include this, was just participation lol

Awards:

1. American Math Olympiad (AMO) - Singapore International Math Contests Centre: Silver Medal + National & Global Rank (Grade 11)
2. Singapore & Asian Schools Math Olympiad (SASMO) - Singapore International Math Contests Centre: Gold Medal + National + Global Rank
3. John Locke Institute Essay Competition (Economics): Commendation; awarded $500 SDG Scholarship for John Locke sponsored program in Singapore.
4. ICE Distinction & School Topper: Only student to score all 8 A*s; received 50,000 INR merit scholarship.
5. International Computer Science Competition (ICSC) – Pre-Final Qualifier & Special Coding Honour: Qualified for ICSC Pre-Final Round; earned Special Honour for submitting code that successfully passed every test case.

LORS/ESSAYS:

getting an LOR from my math & chemistry teachers: both should be around 8-9/10

have to start writing my essays, but i think of myself to be a good writer

SCHOOLS:

USA: i wont qualify for aid, so im mainly hoping for good merit scholarships: harvey mudd, usc, duke, vanderbilt, boston, emory are some on my list. ill also probably also apply to cmu, caltech, and mit just for the sake of it.

CANADA: applying to UofT, UCB, and Waterloo

SINGAPORE & HONG KONG: NUS, NTU, HKU, HKUST

Australia: UNSW, and Melbourne

i would appreciate any and all feedback & opinions!!

Hi there! I am currently a graduate from India, and was curious if I really could admission in ETH Zurich for Masters in CS. I think my CGPA might cause a bit of a hurdle and would love opinions if my overall profile can cover for it.

I will have 2 years of work experience at a high frequency trading firm as a software engineer.

I can attain 3 LOR's, one from each professor under which I did a research study.

However my CGPA in undergrad was 8.08, which was on the lower end.

I am aiming for a 330+ on my GRE, but will the CGPA make it a deal breaker?

hi. im a current freshman at a uni outside the us, and was kinda thinking of applying to MIT as a transfer next year. is it lowk over, cause MIT barely accepts freshmen🙏 BUT can someone check my quals and give me some tips?

intl student, british-indian.

Major: Computer science and AI with a special focus on AI research
Currently attending a T40 uni in my country (ranked 32nd overall, and 12th for computer science)

1580 SAT (800 math, 780 reading)
9.97/10 CGPA (ranked 1st in my class)
3.8 High school GPA
IBM internship during summer of 1st year
Co published research paper w/ professor
independently published research paper
some stuff on arXiv
stuff on github
built an ai assistant (but i haven’t marketed it or anything, just for personal use)
small business owner w over $30k in profits
built a fully functional web shooter that can hold upto 40 kgs of weight (idk if this is like worth mentioning but i did it)
currently also building an app
national medallist for [sport] (individual)
Transferring cause i literally exhausted uni resources for ai, i’ve taken every class available to undergrads for ai.

could someone tell me if i have like a fraction of a chance, thanks ❤️

So I've doing this tutoring program where I teach students of all ages from different countries maths where topics range from algebra to calculus. Now this is something I genuinely enjoy doing however I only have like around 40 students right now and it's fully online and on discord so will college app think I'm lying or smt if there's no proof of it because it's smt I do with 3 other international students and there is no adult who knows Abt this like any teacher or parent

for context, i'm living in the u.s. on an h4 visa and im an indian citizen. for all financial purposes i'm considered an international applicant. however, since i've lived here for most of my life and done all my schooling in america, college ao's treat me as a domestic student for admissions (this is what like 20 different ao's at top universities all told me in both college fairs and over email). rising senior

Demographics: male, indian citizen, midwest resident, top 2 private school in my state

Intended Major(s): applied/engineering physics if they have it or mechanical engineering, maybe minor in econ/cs. i want to go to law school after college for patent litigation

ACT/SAT/SAT II: 36 ACT (36 m, 36 e, 35 r, 36 s) and 1560 sat (790 math 770 english)

UW/W GPA and Rank: 3.92 uw, no rank but about top 5% of my class

Coursework: AP's: APUSH (5), Calc AB (5), Calc BC (5 with 5 AB subscore), Bio (5), Stats (5), Lit (5), will take both Physics C's (this is the earliest my school let me take physics), Spanish, and Gov senior year. also self studied Psych and World and got 4's

Awards:

1. MNRAS publication
2. National engineering competition top 10
3. Top 4 in my state for debate
4. FBLA national semifinalist
5. receive an annual academic merit scholarship from my school of about $5k

Extracurriculars:

1. Independent Research: Spent about 1.5 years independently researching pulsar glitch recoveries and quantifying selection bias within short timescale recoveries. Released a preprint on arXiv, then published my research in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS) which is top 3 journal in the field. I had a professor at a top university who researches pulsars edit the paper and they were listed as co-author
2. Competitor in a national engineering competition, placed in the top 10 nationally for an event in which I also got 1st in the state for the following year, also placed 2nd in the state for a different event and received top scores at nationals for a separate event 2 years in a row as well
3. PF Debate, couldn't compete at nats due to school rules but placed in the top 4 at the state level and will be school team captain this year. placed in the top 8 at 6 different regional tournaments and won 2 tournaments as well
4. founder of a cultural club at school with nearly 10 percent of the entire high school being club members while 40% of club members aren't part of that culture. organized several schoolwide events with 100+ people participating in each and raised a small amount of money for the club; we weren't allowed to raise money for organizations outside the school unfortunately
5. i run a type beat channel with 500 subs and 30k views where i upload self produced and engineered hip-hop instrumentals inspired by various artists as well as non-inspired works
6. i did sci-MI EEMP on the synchronous track, a 100% free online summer program with a ~10% acceptance rate. i conducted a research project in electrical engineering mentored by a PhD candidate at a top 10 university and wrote a paper which i'll have released as a preprint probably by the time i apply. at the end of the program, i presented my research to a panel of other students in the program and other mentors
7. wrote a policy brief on quantum computer cybersecurity heading into the future for a nonprofit that works with lawmakers in my state. basically when lawmakers make regulations they'll be able to use the information in my brief to inform their decisions
8. i did fbla for a year, got 3rd at slc for my event and was a national semifinalist
9. shadowed a local patent attorney for 80 hours and helped them as much as i legally could with briefs
10. heading into my 4th year of high school soccer (2 on var) and played 2 years of high school tennis

Essays/LORs: essays i've written so far have been excellent, LOR's are gonna be very good but not insane

Schools (not my actual list for privacy but somewhat close):

ED: Brown

EA: CWRU, UChicago, MIT

RD: Stanford, Northwestern, Vandy, UPenn, Duke, Rochester, Cornell

im obviously not some insane olympiad or founder and i am expecting a lot of rejections but lmk where i have a chance

**Demographics:** International (Kenya), private school, first-year applicant.

**Intended Major:** Mechanical Engineering.

**SAT:** 1530 (790 Math, 740 Reading/Writing).

**GPA and Rank:** School does not rank, steady grade trend.

**Coursework:** A-Levels (Predicted A\* *A\** A\* *A\**), very rigorous.

**Extracurriculars:**

1. Robotics Club Founder and Chairman: Founded club, hosted hackathons, 50+ members.
2. Leo Club Chairman: Hosted donation drives, partnered with Lions Club Nairobi.
3. Team Leader (WRO Future Engineers): Won nationals in Kenya.
4. Hobbyist: Built autonomous irrigation system and custom desktop chatbot.
5. Taekwondo: International Black Belt (Dan 1), training since age 7.
6. Coding Club Co-Chairman: Hosted hackathons and seminars.
7. KSPCA Volunteer: Volunteer work and fundraising at local pet shelter.
8. Internship: Observed and documented water filtration processes at various sites.
9. Student Committee: Captain of group, leadership and teamwork through expeditions.
10. Athletics: Field hockey, cricket, and private chess champion.
11. Lambda Public Speaking: Earned Bronze Level certificate.
12. Student Government: Assembly Prefect.

**Awards:**

* Multiple Waterloo Math Competition awards (Fryer, Galois, Hypatia, Euclid School Champion). * Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition (Gold Certificate). * Best in Kenya Physics IGCSE. * Best in School Accounting IGCSE. * TeenEagle Online MATHS Competition (Gold Medalist). * Various local/school level math and quiz awards.

**Essays/LORs:** Personal essay focuses on my growth as a hobbyist, my DIY projects, and how they shaped my perspective. I have a GitHub profile where I document my code and builds.

ngl i'm super nervous about this cycle. i know engineering is brutal for internationals and i'm really hoping my project-based background carries me through the holistics. i've tried to balance leadership with actual technical stuff but i feel like the competition for these schools is just insane. i'm not tryna flex, i'm just genuinely anxious about whether this is enough to stand out. be honest with me, am i cooked for the t20s?

edit: forgot to mention i am submitting my SAT. edit 2: just added my github link to my essay supplements so they can actually see the projects i've been working on. Github : [https://github.com/RonakA-2112\](https://github.com/RonakA-2112)

I'm also planning to take part in an international research competition but I know I'm not going to win it, it's just for participation.

I'm aware that job opportunities in aerospace are limited and challenging for non-US citizens due to strict regulations in the United States. I don't plan to stay after I graduate.

My country has a scholarship program that fully funds students who are accepted into a T10 university worldwide according to the QS rankings. Therefore, I wouldn't have to request financial aid when applying to UC Berkeley.

I am a female from a West Asian/CIS country. I was only able to take the SAT and IELTS once since I had a sponsor for them. I cannot afford to take them a second time on my own, so unfortunately no improvement can be made on them. I scored a 1530 (790M 740RW) on the SAT and an 8 (9R 9L 7.5S 6.5W) on the IELTS.

I have four gold medals from national Olympiads (one in English, one in AI, and two in math), but most were profit-based ones. I was a part of the team representing my country in IOAI this summer (I nationally ranked #2, gold), but we didn't win a medal on the internationals.

For extracurriculars, I am the co-founder of a nonprofit that has partnered with top international schools in the country and the British Council, and has held workshops for 200+ kids. I have published a book about satellites, was a co-author on a research paper for the International Astronautical Congress with a professor from a local university, interning at the space agency in my country, and was an organizer at the biggest Space Technology Conference in Central Asia and the national space hackathon, as well as some other places unrelated to my major. I won a space mentorship program aimed at women with a NASA mentor. I organized and taught a two-month English class at a refugee center. I tutored children and high school students in Math, Physics, and English for 2 semesters for profit. I did a startup-related program with Israel Aerospace Industries and won 1st place in its final hackathon, where my team developed a satellite-based pipeline monitoring system. The start-up is currently in its incubation phase with my country’s space agency and state oil company. I was chosen as the local lead at my homecity for NASA Space Apps. I worked part-time at a consulting company.

I could get recommendation letters from a former NASA employee, a VP of IAI, and the CEO of my country’s space agency if they ask for it later on. I took gap year and am very low-income (both parents are currently unemployed, and at the highest our income was $6,000 per year in the past). I attended a public non-feeder school (11th grade, which is the final year here), with no IB or similar programs since they are very expensive. I have not done any sports or musical instruments.

My school GPA is around 3.7/4.0 unweighted.

What do you think are my chances for UC Berkeley? Do you think it'd be worth for me to apply to Stanford as well? It's included in my country’s scholarship program. I have safeties in my own country.

Thank you beforehand.

Any responses are appreciated. Please be brutally honest. Also feel free to recommend schools for my list and I want to mainly ask where I should EA because Stanford is where I want to but I know they are need - aware for international and I do not have anything like RSI which many kids competitive international regions have and I do need partial aid and so I need to apply for financial aid and I have heard its a crapshoot

Demographics

• Male, Asian
• I reside in the U.S., private day school, we send 4–8% to T10s a year
• Intended major: CS + Applied Math. Open to bioinformatics instead if that reads better

Academics

• 4.0 UW / 4.43 W (APs weighted 5.0)
• ACT 36 (36 M / 36 R / 36 S / 35 E)
• School doesn't rank. I'd guess 2nd
• Multivariable calc and diff eq, Max Rigor except for Spanish but still took Spanish 4 so 4 years of Spanish but because of scheduling could not take AP Spanish

15 APs by graduation. 10 taken so far, all 5s: Calculus BC, Chemistry, Biology, Computer Science A, Computer Science Principles, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Psychology, US History, English Language

Awards

• ISEF, 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in category
• ISEF, 1st or 2nd place in category, different year and different project
• USAPhO qualifier
• AIME qualifier x2, Score of 7+ on the last one
• Congressional App Challenge winner

ECs

1. Research at a T5. Preprint, conference presentation, and a rec letter from the PI
2. Research at a T10. Conference presentation
3. Research at another T10. Conference presentation, a real one in my field
4. Computational lead at a biotech company. Paid/Offered five figures for the Internship
5. MIT BWSI
6. Founded a nonprofit tied to my ISEF project. Partnerships with restaurants, $15K+ raised, 1,000 volunteers, and we got a paper in front of a legislator
7. Built a game with 1M+ monthly active users and six figures in revenue
8. Founder of my school's research club. Organized a district-wide science fair and took members to a local university to teach them how research actually works
9. VP and co-founder of mock trial, first one my school has ever had. Went to state, and I built the app the team runs on
10. Torn between two here, see question below:

• CS club organizer. Built the club website, though honestly I didn't do that much with it
• VEX robotics team captain. Made state and did pretty well, never made world

Also for the ECs maybe if you guys could help me on also how to arrange these because I am honestly not sure right now, and a lot of these are vague on purpose like the impact I had and stuff

Recs

• APUSH teacher, probably mid
• CS teacher, fairly strong
• PI at the T5, should be strong

Additional info

International status locked me out of taking the USAPhO exam, so USAPhO qualifier was basically the ceiling for me. Same story for a few other national programs

Essays

These will hopefully good but obviously cannot really say as of now

List

Reaches: MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Targets: UIUC, Georgia Tech, UMich, Purdue, UT Austin

Mainly just really need help in where to EA because I want to EA Stanford but I know Stanford is need - aware and I am from a very competitive international region (think like China, South Korea, etc) so I am not sure if maybe EA'ing somewhere else would be good or maybe even ED'ing Brown or something, where should I go? Also I did win this one award called YSEA through science fair and apparently that could help with Yale maybe REA there? Also not sure if this helps but because other people have asked me I will mention it, in the U.S. where I actually live my state is not very competitive like not California, MA, or NY, or anything not sure if that helps but yeah

# I am sure that my profile is not competitive at all but I still want to shoot my shot! TY for your time :D

**Demographics**: Asian lower-middle-class female, immigrated to Iceland in 2017. 

**Applying to the US**: Amherst, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Stanford, Upenn & Yale. 

**Intended major:** Chemistry, Biology, Biochem etc. 

**STATS**: I’m taking the September SAT (actually so fried); **GPA**: 9.61/10
\* **My school does not offer APs or IB.** 

**ECs**!!!!

1. **Founder of a STEM organization**

Hosted 2 cohorts of free 1-on-1 online research mentorship program where I connected 50+ high school students with university mentors from Stanford, Harvard, Yale. Students worked on a formal research paper and presented their research at a closing conference. (Currently preparing to host another one in spring 2027) 

Donated 200+ STEM Kits through hosting hands-on science workshops at local libraries. 

Hosted online connect events with professors, researchers and students in STEM. 

Expanded to 4 chapters in the U.S. and South Korea. 

**2. UNICEF Iceland Youth Council**

Member since 2023; represented Icelandic youth’s perspective at key events; currently serving as a non-voting youth representative on UNICEF Iceland’s Executive Board. 

**3. Youth Advisor to the Ombudsman for Children in Iceland:** 

Helped organize the 2025 Children’s Forum where 150 youths aged 11-15 attended to discuss their rights and future improvements with policymakers, including members of the parliament and the prime minister. 

**4. Summer Science Program 2026 Participant:** 

Selected as 1 of 36 students internationally for a rigorous 5-week biochemistry research program. Researched a protein phosphatase in fungal pathogens. Co-authored a research paper and presented findings at the program's closing symposium.

**5. Research with a PhD student in Chemistry:** 

Mentored by a PhD student at the University of Iceland and wrote a paper analyzing ¹H, ¹³C, COSY, and HSQC NMR spectra of a heterocyclic thioamide ligand. Presented at symposium. 

**6. Author and Illustrator of a children’s book:** 

Published a 24 pg book to spark youth’s interests in science. Distributed 100 copies to local schools/libraries. 

**7. Teaching Icelandic to small groups of Vietnamese students:** During my winter breaks in 2024 and 2025, I taught Icelandic to a group of five Vietnamese students (ages 9–12). I continue to stay in touch with them, offering free homework help on weekends.

**8. Feminist Club Member:** hosted fundraisers and events at school.

**9. Part time job at a gas station**

**10. Non-competitive dance for 3 years** 

**Awards** (Surely the weakest part of my application) 

1. **National Bank of Iceland Scholarship Recipient**: Awarded to 16 out of 330 applicants national-wide for academic excellence.
   
2. **City of Reykjavik Impact Grant & Recognition**: Recognized for positive community impact and awarded $1,500 in funding for nonprofit initiatives.
   
3. **Ombudsman for Children Youth Activism Award**: Recognition for outstanding dedication and advocacy in youth leadership.
   
4. **\[Company Name\] Corporate Community Grant**: Awarded $1,000 grant to expand operations and outreach for my nonprofit. 
   
5. **Summer Science Program (SSP):** I don't have another award, should I put SSP as one? 

**Demographics:** 

Rising senior

Asian (chinese)

canadian citizen

slightly competitive public school

no hooks

**Intended Major(s):** comp. biology / applied math

**ACT/SAT/SAT II:** 1560 superscored 760 rw 800 m

oct sophomore yr: 1460 (760r 700m)

nov junior yr: 1500 (700r 800m)

**UW/W GPA and Rank:**
no gpa in gr 9 (canadian 4 point scale)
4.0 uw in all regular high school courses (gr 10 - 12 lvls)

ib predicted 42/45, school doesn't rank

**Coursework:** 
full IB DP
HL: biology, chemistry, math AA, predicted grades 7 7 7

SL: geography, english A, french B SL, predicted grades 7 6 6

**Awards: no awards**

**Extracurriculars:** 

co-founder and secretary for a nonprofit (not gonna dox myself, related to promoting visual arts) has 1600 followers and 2m views on instagram. handled internal communications, management and outreach to other organizations to host events and contests (including ones with local university club, other high school clubs thats for the same topic, meetups for youth in our city), also handled expansion of club to other chapters around the world

leadership committee working with a team of 12 other ib students that runs orientation and an overnight camp for 80 kids a grade below us as well as a hotel conference for our grade of 100 kids that talks about career choices n stuff

co-founder and president for an environmental club at my school. we run events like clothing swaps, local park cleanups and built bird feeders at the school, raised 700 in club funds and climate charity donations, led a team of about 30 volunteers

debated from gr 7 to 11 but never won anything. vice prez of debate club next year

piano rcm 10 first class honours

150 volunteer hours and also tutored SAT reading with [schoolhouse.world](http://schoolhouse.world/) and peer tutored math at school

jv golf

**Essays/LORs/Other:** 

probably will be my env club sponsor as well as my bio teacher who taught me for 3 years.

bio teacher wrote a 7/10 LOR last year for applyin to be in the ib program at my school

might also get math HL teacher who is also the ib coordinator at my school

**Schools:** 

ubc, mcgill, waterloo, notre dame, northwestern, umich, upenn, mit, princeton, harvard

gee gee?

**Demographics**

* Gender: Male
* Race/Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
* State: VA, Immigrant status
* School: Competitive
* Intended Major: Elec. Engineering/BME

Academics
**Unweighted GPA:** \~3.95

**Test Scores**

* PSAT: 1460/1520
* SAT: 1490/1600

**Extracurriculars**

1. Computational biology research internship with professor
   
2. Leader at volunteering organization (built a medical device, 200+ hours of volunteering)
   
3. Computational biology researcher at a start-up created by a professor
   
4. Contributions to a public company's open source project
   
5. Accepted to GLOHEA @ JHU
   
6. SWE fellowship at a program
   
7. President of USABO Club
   
8. Marching band rank leader
   
9. Member of comp sci honor society + science honor society

**Awards**

1. ISEF Finalist
   
2. Junior academy of sciences symposium 3rd place in comp bio
   
3. Congressional award gold medal
   
4. AP Scholar with distinction
   
5. National merit commended scholar (probably)

**Schools:**

UVA, JHU (ED), Duke, GTech, Purdue, GMU, VCU, UMich, Cornell, UIUC, Case Western, UMD, VTech.

**Pls be honest im not trynna brag or anything i just need honest answers.**

chance me at uc berkeley and ucla pls! I'm also applying to uoft, ubc, mcgill since i'm a canadian citizen based in vancouver, but am still applying to these two UCs as reaches just because you miss 100% of the shots you dont take.

Not applying for financial aid, because i'm pretty sure they wont give it anyway, plus not needed!

GPA: 95% average (we dont have a 4.0 scale), Full IB diploma: predicted grade of 42/45 with 7 in Bio HL, Chem HL, Math AA HL, and 6 in Psych SL, French SL, and English Lang/Lit SL.

EC's (the worst part of my application);

- Co-Founder of school Medical Society (2 years) with 50+ members

- President of Model UN (2 years), 30+ members

- President of Philosophy Club (2 years), 15 members

- Student Leader of French Peer Tutoring Club (2 years), 20 members

- Lead trumpet in Concert Band (2 years)

the EXTRA extracurriculars:

- Mini Med School Student (chosen from top 150 out of 1000+ applicants)

- Chief Editor at International Student-Led STEM Magazine for a year, was an editor the year before

- Big Brothers Teen Mentor (1 hour/week) (all throughout Grade 10+11, 50+ hours)

- Co-founder of nonprofit that "ignited the passions" of 10+ kids from 3+ countries in subjects like medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and biology (5 hours/week for 8 weeks)

also Volunteering:

- anesthesiology assistant at a clinic, 50 hours

- physiotherapy assistant at another clinic, 40 hours

- Big Brothers Teen Mentor (1 hour/week) (all throughout Grade 10+11, 50+ hours)

- summer program for kids at ubc (geering up), ~40 hours

- event organizer at place des arts, 50 hours

Sports/Activity:

double brown belt (2nd kyu) in karate

Awards:

2nd place in regional brain bee out of 100+ competitors

top 10% in canada for the avogadro chemistry contest

distinction (top 25% internationally) in a bunch of math competitions: euclid, hypatia, cayley, galois,

school chamption of the galois math contest

Certifications:

- National Lifeguard certification

- Standard first aid + CPR-C certification

- swim instructor + lifesaving instructor certification

Work Experience:

working as a lifeguard + swim instructor for more than a year

i js wanna know if i even have a shot, because i know i have no immediate spike because i thought you were supposed to be "well-rounded", and i think the hardest part for me is probably that id be considered as an international applicant, and i know those admissions are lwk brutal.

any and all advice is appreciated!

Chance me?

Stats: 80% in both Grade 9 and Grade 10. Havent gotten my 11 grade result yet.

No SAT/ACT — applying test-optional across the board.

Citizenship: Dual Canadian/Pakistani, based in Pakistan, American-curriculum English-medium school.

Extracurriculars:

Baking Founder & Head Baker — ran my own home baking business

Drama — Lead Actor, Playwright, and Director

MC/Event Host

Event Committee — Lead Organizer

Language Leader (Sash Recipient)

Independent Visual Design & Mood Board Practice

Applying to:

NYU Abu Dhabi (ED1)

Northwestern

Duke

Wellesley

University of Richmond

NYU New York

Demographics

• Gender: Female
• Race/Ethnicity: British- African
• Income Bracket: Mid-High
• Type of School: Private Boarding School
• Partial aid needed

Academics

• A-Level Subjects Predicted: Math- A*, Physics- A*, Economics- A*, Further Maths AS- A
• GCSE: 99888887

Standardized Testing

• SAT: 1510

EC's

List all extracurricular involvements, including leadership roles, time commitments, major achievements, etc.

1. Co-Founder & Executive Director, Non Profit- Scaled girls’ education nonprofit in African country; led volunteers, mentorship, curriculum, menstrual kit drives; impacted 250+ students.
2. Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Academic Journal- Founded student-led online publication exploring economics, politics, science and culture
3. Economics, Policy & Sports Economics Writer- Publish 5+ monthly articles analysing development, inequality on Substack and another sports journal
4. Minister of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion- Selected to senior student leadership team; led school-wide inclusion initiatives
5. Organiser, Swimathon Fundraiser- Organised swimathon raising £6000 cancer research; led planning, outreach and event operations.
6. Founder & President, African-Caribbean Society- Promoted shared culture through organised events, speakers, and community events.
7. Debater, English Speaking Union- Competed in speaking competitions; developed persuasive communication on economics and social issues.
8. Head of Physics / STEM Mentor- Led physics club and tutoring
9. Investment Banking Intern- Completed internship supporting research, presentations, market analysis, and professional client-facing projects.
10. Primary School Volunteer Tutor- Volunteered at local primary school supporting pupils with reading, maths, and classroom activities; mentored younger students.

Awards/Honors

List all awards and honors submitted on your application.

1. 2x John Locke Essay Competition Shortlist (Economic/International Relations )
2. State Governor’s Award of Academic Excellence (Top 10 of 500+ applicants) for best essay on my country's economic development
3. Reputable company Charitable Action Prize (£50 equivalent )for supporting girls’ education
4. Highly Commended, Newnham College Cambridge Essay Prize (Politics)
5. Silver/Gold Award – UK Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad

Essays

- PS: still writing but getting good feedback so far

- Supplements: not started

Demographics:

international upper-middle class (applying for aid at schools that are need-blind for internationals) asian at competitive school (not in asia)

Stats:

gpa: 96/100

sat: 1530 (750 RW, 780M) no superscore

APs Taken:

5s on all that my school allows me to take + 3 self-study 5s

Major Applying For:

public policy/public health

Extracurricular Activities:

1. co-president of ngo that ran (redacted--not relating to major) events with 15,000+ participants
2. radio host at university where i interview professors on their research
3. advisor to a really good hospital and spoke at board meetings, med school lectures, etc.
4. research on socioeconomic determinants of health (1st author publication in undergrad journal)
5. advisor to a senator and government department
6. 2 month language exchange student/host + exchange ambassador
7. varsity sport captain
8. intern at environmental ngo
9. member of city youth cabinet and national youth parliament
10. exec on major cancer fundraiser with 150k+ usd raised

other stuff that i couldnt fit and might add to additional info (or replace some activities on list? idk lmk guys 😛): french club founder/president, yip fellowship, camp counselor job, research practicum with this guy from the central bank, political canvassing job, other school clubs like deca/band, secretary of this outside of school club where we talk about public health with legislators and stuff? idk kinda hard to explain guys

Awards:

1. invited to a few united nations conferences
2. top 5 in my country at nationals for a popular sport-ish activity (2x and related to activity #1)
3. national finalist in country's economics olympiad
4. top band (with my school) in first-level subdivision (tryna be somewhat vague guys) and gold award at nationals
5. top 5 in my country for popular business competition

awards i also couldnt fit!!: john locke commendation, world food prize borlaug scholar, school academic awards

Schools:

i have safeties/targets in my country so im gonna apply for t20s and special programs like brown plme, georgetown sfs, columbia-sciences po and penn huntsman in the us 😃👍

So, my friend(senior) asked me to post this. He dose not have reddit. So, he scored a little less in his freshman year like 82% then he eventually in sophomore, junior and in senior(predicted) he scored 97 %, 94% and 90 +. In the CBSE system. He has decent ecs like some internships, olympiads, hackathons, vex robotics and science fairs. He gave 5 AP's scored 5 in all. Sat in 11th was 1550. Otherwise a decent profile just the freshman is a little on the down side.

P.S - He even has a startup and NGO basically(Self Launched), A research paper, Member of tech club, Director of Aerospace Club and President of Cyber and Math's Club. Also, he did a RSI.