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(This is a thread recycled from the May archive. Sorry.)

Hello.

Let me please introduce myself. I'm a 16 year old guy from Caracas, Venezuela.

I want to study abroad, and MIT and Caltech are my two [highly inflated] first options. But MIT has always been my dream school.

So, my grades and academic stuff. I am the equivalent to a junior, and my expected graduation date is July 2004.

Here in Venezuela, the equivalent of high school is from 7th grade to 11th grade (middle and high school are fused together) and these are the grades that are taken in account for university admissions here.

My "average" is 19 out of 20.

Over here, the education system is not as flexible as the US education system is. For example, the curriculum is fixed and it only changes for each year. There are no special programs for outstanding students (no Honors, or AP classes, for example), and the opportunities of doing extracurriculars are usually limited to sports.

That, however, doesn't mean I've received a poor education.

I have received so far, for example, 4 years of math (includes algebra, arithmetic, geometry, trigonometry), 2 years of physics, 4 years of biology, 4 years of english, also geography, world history, psychology, spanish and literature (my native language), etc.

I am a gold medallist in my country's national chemistry olympiad. I will participate on July in the 35th International Chemistry Olympiad to be held in Athens, Greece.

I will also participate on October in the Iberoamerican Chemistry Olympiad (most South and Central American countries participate, and Spain and Portugal) to be held in Mexico.

I am also a silver medallist in my country's national mathematics olympiad.

I've participated three times in a Model United Nations (in english all three times).

That's about as far as I go on ECs. Could be much better, but the rigidity of the school system doesn't help, either. I am too lazy to do any sports.

This Saturday I'm taking the SAT IIs on Chemistry and Writing.

I plan on also taking the Mathematics IIc and Physics SAT IIs, and the TOEFL, too.

At the end of my senior year I will have done like 70 hours of community service.

I plan to major in Chemistry. I may decide to double major in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, depending on where I get admitted.

It's important to consider that financial aid is an important factor.

On the ethnicity thing, I am hispanic.

I can get very good recommendations and a solid essay. An interview is available in my city for MIT applicants. Also for Harvard and Princeton applicants.

I'm interested in, like I said before, MIT and Caltech, plus the Ivies (specially Princeton, Harvard, Yale, and probably Columbia or Cornell).

Also, what about UC Berkeley? I wouldn't be able to afford it, and since they don't offer financial aid for int'ls, I think it's pretty much out of the question. But it is the best for Chemistry. So just asking...

I was thinking about having the University of British Columbia as my safety. Is it a good university for what I want to study? What are my chances there?

Well, that's an overview of me. What do you think? What other universities do you recommend for me? Advice and help is greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone.

By Varr_Rdz00 (Varr_Rdz00) on Thursday, June 05, 2003 - 04:41 pm: Edit

hey! I’m from Mexico a freshman but I’m some what in the same situation let me know what u think about mine go to

Hey anyone here that could help a girl out? wont take long :


hey I think you have a good chance u really sound like a leader and dedicated , let me tell you a lil story well this year my older brother got a rejection letter from MIT why? no one really knows he had excellent EC’s , 1520 on his SAT perfect TOFEL ,ranked 2 out of 120 students he had a 3.9gpa , everything seemed just right but well I guess they just thought he wasn’t MIT material , He also applied to Stanford(Wait listed) , Michigan Univ (Wait listed) Kettering Univ (Accepted) actually he’s going there this year.

Look I think you’d be perfect for one of those schools really your stat are awesome!
Best of luck!
pls. go to” Hey anyone here that could help a girl out? wont take long :”
tell me what u think of my stats and what could i do to make them better

By Sarbear (Sarbear) on Thursday, June 05, 2003 - 06:38 pm: Edit

No quiero ofenderte, pero eres latino, por lo tanto tendrás una ventaja grande. creo que tus oportunidades son buenas, y generalmente soy muy crítico. Buena suerte!

By Papalemming (Papalemming) on Thursday, June 05, 2003 - 08:20 pm: Edit

No te preocupes, no lo encuentro de ninguna manera ofensivo.

Muchas gracias por tu ayuda!

Thanks to both for your help.

By Papalemming (Papalemming) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 10:12 am: Edit

*bump*

By Papalemming (Papalemming) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 05:03 pm: Edit

I have another question:

Does getting good scores in both the Chemistry and Physics SAT IIs increase my chances? Or they just take into account the best of the two (considering that they only ask for one science SAT II)?

By Trojan1444 (Trojan1444) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 07:23 pm: Edit

Absolutamente.

By Quakerboy2 (Quakerboy2) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 07:40 pm: Edit

For general advice, I think MIT puts a lot of weight into the interview. I interview pretty well, and mine went fantastically. I talked with my guy for like 2 hours, and I think that's one major thing that got me in.

Also, MIT appears to put a lot of stock into potential, as opposed to performance. Translation: SATs are pretty important, as are any other competitions like the math olympiad. I did well on my SATs (790 math, 780 verbal, 800 Physics and IIC ), and well on the AMC-12 and AIME (130ish combined score). My grades, on the other hand, were not straight A's, nor was I in the top 10% on my graduating class.

From now on, work on your SATs with anything you want to practice for (although I'm guessing chem and math won't be to difficult for you...:-P), and talk it up during your interview. Have fun, ask a lot of questions to the interviewer about both MIT and himself, and be relaxed.

Other than that, good luck!

By Varr_Rdz00 (Varr_Rdz00) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 07:43 pm: Edit

God!!!! i hate it being form mexico lol gosh why do people think they need to talk to me in spanish???
aight its okay i dont really care anymore
but hey anyways good luck!

By Zimmer (Zimmer) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 08:01 pm: Edit

Apply to Stanford. You have a fantastic change there.

Search for posts by this guy from India -- "stanfordmvv"

By Papalemming (Papalemming) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 08:46 pm: Edit

Thanks a lot for your help, Quakerboy2, Varr_Rdz00 and Zimmer.

Stanford would be nice, but it is somewhat discouraging that they don't offer finantial aid for internationals.

That's good that MIT takes into account the interview. I see it as a plus for me.

Thanks again for your advice.

By Papalemming (Papalemming) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 08:59 pm: Edit

Another question: How important/meaningful are my achievements at the olympiads?

That's my only hook. Is it strong enough?

Apart from getting good SAT scores, making a good essay, the interview, keep up with the good job in school, etc... Is there anything else I should work on?

By Chillax (Chillax) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 09:00 pm: Edit

i only got honors in the national us chemistry olympiad and caltech loved it. i recently got rejected from their waitlist..but it was really my only strong poing.

By Papalemming (Papalemming) on Friday, June 06, 2003 - 10:52 pm: Edit

Caltech seems much harder to get into than MIT.

Right?

By Papalemming (Papalemming) on Saturday, June 07, 2003 - 12:05 pm: Edit

Another question: Taking 2 science SAT IIs (Chemistry and Physics) and scoring well in both improves my chances of getting in, or they will just look at the best score of the two?

By Papalemming (Papalemming) on Sunday, June 08, 2003 - 09:53 pm: Edit

*bumpz0r*

By Papalemming (Papalemming) on Monday, June 09, 2003 - 08:08 pm: Edit

*yet another bump*

By Papalemming (Papalemming) on Wednesday, June 11, 2003 - 10:59 am: Edit

No one wants to help me anymore?

By Papalemming (Papalemming) on Saturday, June 14, 2003 - 12:55 pm: Edit

*bump*

The first post is too long? I'll try summarizing it.