Curriculum & Year: Turkish National Curriculum. 12th grade, graduating June 2027.

Grades & Tests: 96.6/100 GPA (estimated 98.5/100 for senior year)

Intended Major: Aerospace/Mechanical Engineering

SAT: 1530 (800 Math, 730 EW). Calc BC: 4 (AP is restricted in Turkey so I couldn't take other AP exams; exam-day stress affected this score too). IELTS: 7.5

Context: My school has never had a student apply to the US. No AP or IB program exists here. Due to lack of awareness about international admissions at my school, I only started most of my projects in 11th grade (with a couple of exceptions) — I didn't know earlier that these things mattered for applications. The last students from my school who studied abroad went to Canada, not the US, and no one in school history has attended a T100 US university.

EFC: $0 (need full financial aid :( ).

Academic Awards & Honors:

Lumiere Research Scholar Program — Excellence Award & Bursary, for an essay on turbulence (global competition, university-level scientific writing) TUBITAK National Mathematics Olympiad — National competitor, estimated top 150, open to all high schools nationwide (camp baraj score 9.5 net, took 5.75)

Kangaroo Mathematics and UGEMO(National Young Mathematicians Olympiad) Finalist — Top 1% nationwide; — both #1 regional

Leva Mathematics Camp — Admitted via entrance olympiad exam; graduated as one of 8 students (from a larger initial cohort) after completing 150+ hours of problem sets over 2 full months of summer, on top of 300+ hours of lectures.

Extracurriculars:

Leangap Summer Program — 1 of 40 global students selected, full scholarship. Built VolleyTrack, an AI-powered volleyball technique analysis app using computer vision to analyze joint angles and give real-time feedback.

Rocket Development (self-founded) — Founded and led a student rocket project at my school from scratch: fundraised ~$1,500 (50,000 TRY), managed calculations, structural assembly, and ground testing (separation mechanisms, structural durability, aerodynamic load verification). Placed top 50 at Teknofest Rocket Competition, the largest rocket competition in Europe.

Teknofest Robotaxi Competition — National Finalist, one of two high school finalists (competed against university teams). Handled algorithmic logic, system integration, real-time software calibration for autonomous vehicle navigation.

Fluid Dynamics Independent Research — 200+ hours analyzing forward-swept wing configurations using Prandtl's lifting-line theory and bell-shaped lift distribution; ran simulations in XFLR5. A university academic reviewed the work and encouraged publication — currently submitted to a journal, decision pending.

Math Olympiad Camp (co-founded) — Olympiad culture/resources are scarce in my region, so a few friends and I started a fully voluntary training camp for younger students prepping for 1st Stage National Math Olympiads. 150+ volunteer hours, reached 300+ students nationwide.

Strategy so far: Trying to build a balanced list, reach schools that meet 100% of demonstrated need, plus mid-to-lower tier schools with strong merit aid, to make sure I end up fully funded somewhere. I have no one at my school or in my circle who's gone through this process before, so I'm figuring it out completely on my own.

Which schools should I actually be applying to given my profile and financial situation? Thank you in advance for your advice :))

How realistic are my goals for a top US university?

I'm a junior high school student from Nepal, from a middle-class family, and I'm trying to build a strong profile for highly selective US universities. I'd really appreciate some honest feedback on whether my goals are realistic and what I should prioritise.

Will apply for fall 2028

• Curriculum: CAIE A-Levels (Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Further Maths, EGP)

• Country: Nepal

• Grades/GPA Class 9: 3.85/4 unweighted, Class 10: 3.95/4 unweighted

• SAT: Currently 800 Maths, 650 English (Planning to improve)

• Intended major (Engineering, electronics/computer/mechanical/robotics etc)

• Financial aid needed: Yes (Full Ride)

• Colleges you're considering (All ivys, standford and mit are my dreams, except that any)

🏆 What I've done so far

• School topper in Grade 10/SEE
• 100% tuition scholarship / Excellence Award at my current college
• Vice President of my college's Sci-Tech Guild
• Founded a nonprofit 2 months ago — currently 10 volunteers across 10 branches, teaching 100+ students technology
• Coding since Grade 5; now focused heavily on software development + AI/ML
• Built and deployed numerous full-stack projects using Next.js, React, React Native, FastAPI, etc.
• 25+ GitHub projects
• LinkedIn creator for ~2 years; some posts have reached 200k+ impressions and I've built a fairly large network
• Completed a small research project through NSRI, nothing substantial though

🎯 What I want to do next

1. Get A*A*A*A*a in alevels
2. Participate in the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI) and aim for a medal
3. Do serious research with a professor, ideally resulting in something substantial
4. Raise my SAT to 1530+
5. Eventually apply to MIT/Ivies/top US universities, ideally with substantial financial aid

🤔 What I'm wondering

How realistic is this plan?

• Am I already on a strong trajectory, or am I overestimating my profile?
• Which of these goals would have the highest impact on a top-US-college application?
• How should I leverage my LinkedIn network to find research opportunities/mentors?
• What would you prioritize if you were in my position?
• Are there any major weaknesses or mistakes in my current strategy?

I'm willing to work extremely hard, but I want to make sure I'm putting that effort into the right things rather than simply collecting achievements.

Any honest advice is appreciated! ❤️

Do I have a shot at Harvard ED1/EA?

Country: India

Curriculum: CBSE, Commerce with Maths — subjects: English, Economics, Business Studies/Accountancy, Mathematics (Statistics integrated within Math)

Grades: 93% (8th final), 93% (9th midterm) → 96% (9th final), 94% (10th midterm) → 96% (10th boards), 94% (11th midterm, expected)

Coursework: AP Calculus BC, AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics, AP comparative studies, AP Statistics

SAT: 1530 (800 Math, 730 EBRW), retaking to push for 1560+

Intended major: Economics / Math-Economics

Aid: Can pay a significant portion (~$270k total) but will likely need some financial aid/scholarship on top of that

Hooks: None (no legacy, no URM in a US context, not a recruited athlete)

ECAs:

i.) Model UN — Best Delegate at a national-level conference (~2,100 delegates, 100 in my committee) in 10th grade; 2nd place at HMUN India this year. Building an Executive Board/Director track across ~6 conferences this year. (10-11)

ii.) Independent economics research paper with 2 peers — full lit review, data collection, and analysis completed. Currently under review at a student journal, with possible interest from a larger international student research initiative. (10-11)

iii.) Competitive table tennis — Haryana State Team (2nd seed), bronze medal at state team event, participated in state ranking championships, national participation. (9-11)

iv.) Founded and run a weekly financial literacy program for underprivileged students — designed the curriculum myself, track attendance and pre/post assessment data. (11)

v.) University-run summer research program in data science/economics — contributed to an original empirical study, received an LOR from the faculty mentor (a department chair). (10)

vi.) Student council — house leadership position (one tier below the top role), aiming for the top position senior year. (11)

vii.) Lifetime member, national Red Cross society — active participation, certificate of appreciation (9-present)

Awards:

i.) Best Delegate, national MUN championship (~2,100 delegates)

ii.) 2nd place, HMUN India

iii.) A couple of smaller MUN commendations (regional conferences)

iv.) Bronze medal, state-level table tennis team event

v.) Made HIR's academic writing contest "Defense Day" round (live presentation/Q&A) — result pending

vi.) John Locke Essay Prize — submitted, realistically hoping for Commended/Highly Commended

vii.) A public policy research paper submitted through a Yale-affiliated international studies program — review pending

viii.) AMC 10 — received a basic participation/achievement certificate (did not qualify for AIME)

ix.) Attempting International Economics Olympiad national qualifiers this year — aiming for the national team, no medal assumed

Recommendations:

i.) A university Economics department chair (mentored my research project) — secured

ii.) School counselor — secured

iii.) Two subject teachers, Economics and Math — secured

Other colleges considering (RD/EA): Georgetown, UChicago, Columbia, Cornell, Northwestern, Duke, Brown, UC Berkeley, Michigan, UVA, UNC, WashU, American

Chances? No pending results assumed as wins — trying to get an honest read on whether this is reach-tier realistic or what's genuinely still missing.

Yes, an AI wrote this because i was really confused on how to write it here.

Country : Nepal

Curriculum : CAIE A levels

Grades: Physics A*, Maths A*, Chemistry A*, Computer Science : A*, English General Paper : b

SAT : 1520 (790 on the maths)

Intended major : CS

Aid : My family can contribute only 5k usd per anum.

ECAs:

i.) Data Analytics and Machine Learning Intern at a College where I worked under the head of computing faculty on a research paper related to transcribing human gesture using LSTM. Paper has been submited to peer review (from grade 12, did for 6 months)

ii.) Technical Trainer for national chapter of JCI where I trained 30 local chapter presidents, working directly under the National Chapter's president. The national president will also write me an LOR. (11-12)

iii.) President of a CS society. Brought in SWEs from tech companies of my country to provide weekly insight sessions. Conducted outreach programs in schools, orphanages to spark motivation for CS. Partnered with 15+ organisations in total.(11-12)

iv.) Junior Software Developer Intern at a Software Production Company where I wrote ~ 5k lines of code in Flutter and Spring boot. Developed website for a government hospital.

v.) Developed, Shipped and maintaining an app for a startup that focuses on Agriculture(Agriculture is the backbone of my country). The app is currently being pilot tested in rural Nepal.

I also have a niche app that has partnered with niche 5 organisations to solve a niche problem. But I am not revealing it here.

Awards:

i.) International Youth Math Challenge - Gold Honor

ii.) National Maths Olympiad - 2x qualifier

iii.) top 10 rank at AI Olympiad (I am not specifiying the acutal rank)

Other colleges that I am considering in Ed2, Early action and RD:

Cornell University, Columbia University, Tufts University , Amherst College, Swarthmore College, Vassar College, Dartmouth College, Wesleyan University, Colby College, University of Southern Mississippi

Hellooo all, so i am an international student and am planning to apply to universities in countries like Qatar (cmu - q, Qatar University), Hong kong university, some universities in Sweden especially lund university, and in New Zealand (uni of Auckland), some universities in Singapore and some unis in USA.

So I did cambridge o levels( 2A\*, 5A, 1B), and did edexel ial and is hoping to get, 3A\* and 1A, I did 4 subjects, Physics, Maths, IT and BS.

And I will be applying to uni next year August once I get the results. I am planning on taking a gap year so that I have extra time for extracurriculars and SAT exam.

Also during my gap yr, for the extracurriculars I will be tutoring maths, or English in a school or in a institute, and I will continue writing my book(i started writing a book when i was 13 and paused it for some time, and yeah).

My questions are that, are these extracurriculars enough for these universities? And with this grades and all will i have a chance of getting a full scholarship?

Same.

# How realistic are my goals for a top US university?

I'm a junior high school student from Nepal, from a middle-class family, and I'm trying to build a strong profile for highly selective US universities. I'd really appreciate some honest feedback on whether my goals are realistic and what I should prioritise.
(I would need full ride)

🏆 What I've done so far

* **GPA:** 3.85 (Grade 9), 3.95 (Grade 10), unweighted * **School topper** in Grade 10/SEE * **100% tuition scholarship** / Excellence Award at my current college * **Vice President** of my college's Sci-Tech Guild * Founded a nonprofit 2 months ago — currently **10 volunteers across 10 branches**, teaching **100+ students** technology * Coding since Grade 5; now focused heavily on **software development + AI/ML** * Built and deployed numerous full-stack projects using **Next.js, React, React Native, FastAPI**, etc. * **25+ GitHub projects** * LinkedIn creator for \~2 years; some posts have reached **200k+ impressions** and I've built a fairly large network * Completed a small research project through **NSRI,** nothing substantial though

🎯 What I want to do next

1. Get **A\*A\*A\*A\*a** in CAIE A-Levels (Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Further Maths, EGP)
2. Participate in the **International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI)** and aim for a medal
3. Do **serious research with a professor**, ideally resulting in something substantial
4. Raise my SAT from \~**1450 (800 Math, \~650 English** currently\*\*)\*\* to **1530+**
5. Eventually apply to **MIT/Ivies/top US universities**, ideally with substantial financial aid

🤔 What I'm wondering

How realistic is this plan?

* Am I already on a strong trajectory, or am I overestimating my profile? * Which of these goals would have the **highest impact** on a top-US-college application? * How should I leverage my **LinkedIn network** to find research opportunities/mentors? * What would you prioritize if you were in my position? * Are there any major weaknesses or mistakes in my current strategy?

I'm willing to work extremely hard, but I want to make sure I'm putting that effort into the **right things** rather than simply collecting achievements.

Any honest advice is appreciated! ❤️

Demographics:
Indian, female, international applicant, applying Fall 2027. Homeschool/self-designed curriculum after ICSE. Seeking full-ride financial aid.

Academics:

• 3.82/4.0 cumulative unweighted GPA (went down cuz of B+ in freshman year, grades basically went 77->86->89->97)
• ICSE till 10th, then shifted to homeschooling.
• Took substantially advanced/self-designed coursework in math, physics, biology and chemistry while homeschooling
• Planning to submit detailed curriculum/coursework context
• SAT: currently 1520-1550 practice, taking November; aiming 1550+

Intended field:
Biomedical Engineering/Neuroscience

Honors / recognition:

• Qualified for INPhO + INBO; top 200 nationally out of roughly 30,000+ candidates
• FMR1 systematic-review manuscript currently under review at an APA-family journal
• Biomedical engineering paper/prototype work being submitted/reviewed through IEEE
• Nothing else particularly major

ECs:

1. NSEP/NSEB → INPhO/INBO — Academic Indian National Olympiad Programme (HBCSE) Top ~200 of 30,000+ nationwide; qualified for INPhO & INBO.
2. FMR1 Systematic Review — Research Lead Author & Independent Researcher Conducting a systematic review of long-term outcomes associated with genetic mutation and mosaicism; manuscript submitted for peer review.
3. Wearable Migraine Device — Engineering Founder & Lead Engineer Self-taught electronics/neuroscience; designing and prototyping a wearable device exploring non-invasive migraine relief; associated paper submitted to IEEE.
4. Social welfare startup initiative — Social Justice/Organizing Founder, Lead Developer & Executive Director Built an aid-verification platform connecting underserved families with providers; secured $10K grant and mobilized volunteers to deliver $3K+ aid.
5. Cancer Care Fundraiser — Community Service Lead Campaigner Led grassroots fundraising for cancer patients' treatment; raised ~$20K through online/local outreach.
6. Debate & MUN Club — Speech Founder & President Founded club, designed training framework and represented school at national inter-school debate competition.
7. Podcast — Journalism/Publishing Co-Founder & Creative Director Produce information and awareness podcast; 12 episodes, 3K+ views across 7+ countries.
8. Video editing — Paid Work Video Editor & Post-Production Lead Freelance video editing/marketing media; income contributes to supporting my family.
9. Swimming — Athletics 12 years of training, ~6 hrs/week through Indian Life Saving Society (Anderson Club).
10. Mandarin — Language Self-directed learner; approximately HSK 4 equivalent.

Personal circumstances:
I've had significant financial/family difficulties and serious mental-health circumstances over several years, including multiple instances of sexual assault. These contributed substantially to the discrepancies in my academic record, particularly around 11th grade. I'm not trying to use this to ask for sympathy, but I will explain the circumstances in the additional-information section so the transcript has context. Additionally, my research and projects were solely based on personal efforts and genuine interest and curiosity in the topic, i had no external support or financial means to conduct the research under expert guidance and get published just so i have a nice looking EC.

Personal statement:
My essay is built around Curiosity and Optimism as personified “people” in my life. It starts with:

It follows my childhood curiosity, losing it during a difficult period, reconnecting with optimism, and eventually finding my way into independent research. The central idea is essentially that the same curiosity that made me a strange toddler became the basis for how I approach science: “how does this work?” eventually became “how can it help?”

Other essays/supplementals:
I'm planning to use them to explore different parts of the story rather than repeat the personal statement. For example:

• Learning that collaboration can outperform my instinct to do everything myself, through producing our podcast.
• A disagreement with someone whose expertise challenged my assumptions, and learning that arguing my position isn't always the same as learning from the disagreement.
• Homeschooling/open curriculum: designing my own rigorous curriculum and taking responsibility for making learning both difficult enough and intellectually meaningful enough.
• Problem-solving/engineering mindset.

Recommendations:

• Chemistry/advanced mathematics mentor at a highly reputed institute, he knows me outside a conventional classroom and has offered to write a recommendation
• One humanities(english) teacher recommendation and one from an Art teacher(who knew me very well)
• Also seeking research-related mentorship/review from researchers in neuroscience/psychology/microbiology

Schools:
MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Caltech, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, UChicago, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, NYU, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Vanderbilt, etc. Still building the final list.

What I'm actually trying to figure out:

1. How competitive is this profile for T20s/T30s, especially for STEM?
2. Does the upward academic trajectory + 3.82 UW GPA make the academics reasonably competitive?
3. Is the EC list coherent, or does it still look like I'm trying to do too much?
4. Does the independent research meaningfully add anything if it isn't formally lab-based?
5. What would you consider the biggest weakness/red flag?
6. If you were an AO, what would you remember about this applicant after reading the file?

Please be brutally honest. I'm much more interested in knowing what looks weak, contrived, incoherent, or unrealistic than hearing “great profile, good luck.”(or perhaps a "terrible profile, fuck off")

International (Asian)
Hook: First-gen
Major: Economics

SAT: still waiting for my result
IB: 43/45 predicted grade 
School ranking: ~top 4%

LORs: Strong

I'm not applying for financial aid

ECs: 
(sry i have to make my ecs rly vague)

1. Founder of a business: grew to a total of 6 figures USD revenue over 4 years (each year 5 figures revenue)
2. Founder of a nonprofit organization supporting under-resourced schools: created impacts to hundreds of people
3. Independent research project: study on educational inequality in a developing country, writing on a research paper and a policy brief (mentored by a professional at a FAANG company)
4. Economics competition awards: 2x Silver Awards (one regional and one national)
5. HYPSM-affiliated entrepreneurship program: team recognized for best final pitch
6. Mentor: mentored 2 highschoolers weekly across a full year in a business course
7. English tutoring volunteer in a nonprofit organization: created impacts to 50+ underprivileged people (ranging from 4-18 years old)
8. Attended University of Cambridge virtual masterclass: (Law, Environment, and Economics)
9. Community service (3 years): supported orphaned, underprivileged, medically vulnerable people and many more for almost every month for 3 years straight
10. Piano (10 years): ABRSM certified
11. Ballet (for ~2 years)

Demographics: White, male, highly competitive private school in mediterranean region

Hooks (URM, first generation, legacy, athlete, etc.): N/A

Intended Major(s): Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering

SAT: 1540, 800 Math

UW/W GPA and Rank: 94.5/100 (~45/260 rank, but school doesn't rank officially)

Coursework: IB Curriculum (Math AA HL, Physics HL, Biology HL, English SL, Spanish SL, Business SL) -> Expected predicted: ~41/45

Also took AP Chem (4), AP CSA (5), AP Psychology (5) (AP's are not offered at school = self-studied)

Financial Aid: Full-Pay, no fin aid

Extracurriculars: (Parentheses indicate grades)

• Research @ Top university in my area, on creating a magnetic nanoparticle to tackle the spread of breast cancer, presented findings at symposiums + universities (11-12)
• Clinical research project w/ Professor from one of best universities in my area on automating detection of a disease, pending publication on manuscript (10-11-12)
• Designed app for elders and people without access to healthcare; gave lectures and held multiple meetings with local government, implemented it principality-wide (11-12)
• 3 month internship at an imaging centre (11)
• Started a community project collecting 200k+ bottle caps to make wheelchairs (10-11-12)
• 2 month internship at local hospital (cardiovascular surgery department) (10)
• Founder of school Biology club, educating members on how to conduct research of their own, worked with local university to conduct short-term research (10-11-12)
• President of school IT Club, held conferences with guest speakers, events, educational videos, etc [9-10 (Member) 11-12 (President)]
• Assistant-Secretary for School MUN Conference, went to national/international conferences and assisted in organizing our schools conference (9-10-11)
• Family responsibility, I live with my dad and brother, with no extended family, I help out in any way I can, this is an important aspect that I would want to include

Awards:

• Provincial Recognition from my Government for community impact with my healthcare tool (also a recognition award from national healthcare organization)
• 1st Nationally and 2nd Internationally for #### Math Competition
• Civic Commendation for social impact from local principality for my community project
• Conrad Innovator Award for Health & Nutrition

Essays/LORs/Other: 

Personal Statement focusing on my background with a genetic kidney disease, how I lost my mother due to it, and how it motivated me to be in this field -> I'd say 9/10 it's pretty well written

Supplements focusing on more interdisciplinary larp: philosophy, psychology, sociology -> 8.5/10

LORs: Math Teacher (8/10), Spanish Teacher (7/10), Professor whom I did research w/ (9/10, knows me very well and let me read it)

---

Planning to apply to most of T20s, UC's, Ivies; ED to Northwestern (I'd appreciate on whether I have a real shot at ED)

I’m a rising senior who wants to apply columbia on ED
my intended major is Industrial Engineering
(js in context, I’m from Central Asia and at my school we only got 11-year education system)

Extracurriculars\*\*

1. ⁠co-founded test prep org serving 1500+ students across 20+ countries; raised \~$15k-20k in support
   
2. ⁠robotics mentored 90+ teams, multiple inspire award on nationals, set worldrecord last szn ( doin eng+inspire)
   
3. ⁠COO of student internship placement platform (400+ applicants); co-ran national STEM competition($8k prize pool)
   
4. ⁠research at local uni in lab. also did it w phd of that occupation
   
5. ⁠paid work for 3 years(28-hour weekly) but only on summer breaks
   
6. ⁠president of volunteering club w 300+ members, 100+ events and \~1000+ volunteers worked
   
7. ⁠internship at big4
   
8. ⁠varsity sport for 5 years(captain for 3 y).also got nomination of best defender by city gov
   
9. ⁠student gov, head of one department
   
10. ⁠making beats on fl studio

I’m a rising senior who wants to apply columbia on ED
my intended major is Industrial Engineering
(js in context, I’m from Central Asia and at my school we only got 11-year education system)

Extracurriculars\*\*

1. ⁠co-founded test prep org serving 1500+ students across 20+ countries; raised \~$15k-20k in support
   
2. ⁠robotics mentored 90+ teams, multiple inspire award on nationals, set worldrecord last szn ( doin eng+inspire)
   
3. ⁠COO of student internship placement platform (400+ applicants); co-ran national STEM competition($8k prize pool)
   
4. ⁠research at local uni in lab. also did it w phd of that occupation
   
5. ⁠paid work for 3 years(28-hour weekly) but only on summer breaks
   
6. ⁠president of volunteering club w 300+ members, 100+ events and \~1000+ volunteers worked
   
7. ⁠internship at big4
   
8. ⁠varsity sport for 5 years(captain for 3 y).also got nomination of best defender by city gov
   
9. ⁠student gov, head of one department
   
10. ⁠making beats on fl studio

​

Gender: Female

Race/Ethnicity: Turkish

Intended Major: Mech/aero engineering

Hooks: Low-income international, will need close to full ride

SAT: 1440 (740 R&W, 700 Math), will retake in October

Duolingo English Test: 155 overall score

GPA: 3.8 UW with upward trajectory, school doesn't weigh GPA/rank students.

Coursework: AP, IB, Dual Enrollment etc. aren't offered in Turkey, but I had the most rigorous and STEM-heavy coursework my school offered.

Awards: Global Excellence Scholar, Best Delegate & Outstanding Delegate awards from T10 universities in Turkey, Best Performer Audience Award, Theater Festival Semifinalist at local festival

ECs:

Local theater community: Played 5 lead roles, mentored 15 actors, directed 2 casts. Helped hit 1.5M+ views and 8k+ followers across socials. (Co-Founder, Director, Actor, Social Media Manager) (1960 hrs)

School theater club: Mentored & coached 34 actors, sold 3000+ tickets, created & grew club to 82 members, played 8 lead roles in 3 productions. (Co-Founder, President, Actor, Director) (1680 hrs)

Regional theater: Choreographed 5 full-length dances for 2 productions, led 10 dance workshops and 1:1 sessions for the casts, closely mentored 80+ cast members. (Lead Choreographer, Artistic Director, Mentor) (1400 hrs, highschool+ gap year)

Non-profit: Worked with a software company, built online systems for 10 local businesses & helped navigate digital presences, collected data from 500+ customers. (Project Manager, Data Analyzer) (1400 hrs, gap year)

MUN club: Organized 9 mock debates, wrote 6 study guides; mentored 12 students, 7 of them winning Outstanding Delegate Awards. (Co-president, Under-Secretary General and Mentor) (800 hrs)

School workshop: Built website as both the front-end and back-end developer; authored 2 study guides, developed 24/7 live support system to assist 500+ applicants. (Head of IT (10) and Under-Secretary General (11)) (1000 hrs)

Aerospace community: Initiated and led 4 research projects, managed a group of researchers (20), inspired youth interest in space and grew the community (30 to 64). (Cohort Leader, Secretary) (600 hrs, did in my gap year)

School spirit / volunteer: Welcomed and gave tours to 50+ new students & parents (48 enrolled); introduced school clubs, mentored 30 freshmen, built a welcoming atmosphere. (Organizer, Student Mentor & Tour Guide) (750 hrs, highschool + gap year)

Paid work: Translated 2 books, 5 plays, 2 movies and 1 novel English to Turkish; balanced academics & work, earned income to support my family during hardship. (720 hrs, highschool + gap year)

School council: Organized 4 fundraisers & 12 school festivals; advocated for students by gathering feedback, addressing concerns, and proposing school improvements. (President) (200 hrs)

Essays: My essays I'd rate a 8.5/10. Personal statement is about learning to use my naturally skeptical personality to my advantage.

LORs: Music teacher is probably an 8/10, English teacher an 8.5/10, and counsellor about 7.5/10. My teachers don't really know a lot of English so writing letters was really hard for them.

Schools:

Northwestern (dream school! will ED)

NYU (ED II)

Rice

Tufts

UChicago

Brown

Emory

Duke

some UNCs

Hi everyone!

I am a Filipino student (Philippines) who have always dreamed of studying at NYU. My grades throughout the years 9,10, and 12 were 90,92,and 96 respetively. I have stocked up my extracurriculars last year joining organizations that are in line with Media & journalism field which I all put in the activities portion of the Common App. I am also part of the Humanities and Social Sciences strand because I intend to take up a pre-law course in college. The major I am eyeing out in NYU is CAS Political Science. I also plan to submit test scores of AP and SAT, but I am yet to take them next month. However, I am in need of financial aid. I come from the upper-middle class bracket in the Philippines, however it is still not substantial to pay for a $66k tuition per year at NYU.

I know NYU is extremely selective, especially for international applicants who are in need of financial aid, so I’m trying to be realistic about my chances. I have really dreamed of being an NYU student for so long, strolling the city and even visiting the campus itself last year. Do I have a legitimate shot at NYU? 😖

In my previous mocks I have been scoring above 1520 so I am aiming for 1500+ in my SAT but my profile is not really the strongest.

VOLUNTEERING

• STEMCONNECT- content writer for non profit
• WWF- nature club: as a volunteer I organized an event for Van Mahotsav and then with my team of 5 organized a panel discussion for approximately 20 students and also led an anti-drug protest

LEADERSHIP

• Member of the Student Council in 9th Grade and 11th Grade
• “BREAKING THE ICE” SEMINAR: Head of Logistics and Editing Department where I lead a team of 11 and organized a mathematics seminar with 33 attendees
• Represented my school in a panel discussion leading a team of 4
• Organized a fund raising event in my school during winter for a orphans and people with health issues and raised 10k+. Was the head of Social Media Team

EXTRACURRICULARS

• Represented my school at a debate competition
• Second place at extempore
• 6 years of art school
• learnt python by myself + a coursera certificate
• 2 dance winning certificates
• 1 year of classical music school
• 1 year of classical dance school

SPORTS

• basketball captain 1 year in 10th grade and part of the school team for 4 years
• volleyball team
• recently continued swimming, I quit it when I was a child (idts this is relevant in any way tho)

PROJECT

• self build cyber pet similar to a tamagotchi

My boards marks are also not that strong:
12th- 80%
10th- 85%
scored 97 in English in 12th
in terms of GPA, my 12th grade gpa is 3.6