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hey ... I am a muslim girl frm pakistan. Eventhough i study in one of the best schools in the sub-continent(KGS), i need to knw wat u think my chances r of getting into my top schools. oh .. i also need lots of financial aid!!!

SAT 1 1530(740V,790M)
SAT 2 800CHEM,790WRITING, 780 2C.
GCE O LEVELS 8A's 2B'S
GCE AS LEVELS 4A'S(MAXIMUM 4 SUBJECTS)
EXPECTED A LEVEL GRADES ... ALL A'S.
rank .. not sure. prb top 5% out of 240.
House Captain( student govt.). Very athletic. School volleyball team, Captain school netball and table tennis team, V.CAP school softball and basketball team. History society, Journalism society, Raquet Society, Member of Rotary Intl.
Various awards and prizes for academics in physics, maths, english and history. Excellent Recs (HOPEFULLY) and pretty decent essays.
colleges: YALE (EA -DEF), HARVARD, PRINCETON, SWARTHMORE, WILLIAMS, POMONA(SISTER'S THERE), TRINITY-CT AND OBERLIN.
Can u plz honestly tell me wat u think my chances are of getting into my colleges??

By Sheri (Sheri) on Wednesday, March 03, 2004 - 10:47 am: Edit

hullooo!!!

By Piglette (Piglette) on Wednesday, March 03, 2004 - 11:08 am: Edit

You are aiming very high. Most of the schools that you list are a crap-shoot for anyone, especially Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Swarthmore, and Williams -- and to nearly as great a degree, Pomona and Oberlin.

On the other hand, your scores are solid. So, I would say that you have a chance -- you will be competitively in the mix, but not at all a sure thing.

What did you write the essays on? Especially the "Why Swarthmore?" essay? And did you indicate an intended major of study anywhere?

Just by way of info: Schools are generally VERY stingy with financial aid for international students. (Very!) But you probably know what you can expect, given that you have a sister at Pomona.

Good luck --

-- Piglette

By 31337 (31337) on Wednesday, March 03, 2004 - 11:52 am: Edit

You're a GIRL ! I would say that you have a decent chance at all universities but I personally felt that you should've applied to MIT or Caltech. They usually accept girls and give them lots of aid. Anyways' keep your fingers crossed. You never know what will come your way.

p.s. I'm from isb...

By Sheri (Sheri) on Thursday, March 04, 2004 - 02:35 am: Edit

yeah. i want to study engineering but at a liberal arts school cause im really into history and stuff and might change my major. My counsellor told me to tell places like harvard tht, since there engineering program isnt all tht poular and theyll want girls. ive told harvard, princeton, swarthmore and oberlin. THts basically wat i wrote in my WHY SWARTHMORE essay. That thy r one of the few liberal arts colleges tht offer a BSE and the imp of a well rounded ed. plus they have a kick ass engineering program. and tht in my country there is no conceot of liberal arts ... stuff like tht. wat about u??

By Researching (Researching) on Thursday, March 04, 2004 - 11:57 am: Edit

Hey sheri...great to see a fellow paki in here! I'm from Lahore, and in fact have stats that are very similar to yours. I've also applied to Harvard and Princeton. I think that you've got a decent chance of getting into most of the colleges, i'm not sure about the LACs though especially if they're not need blind for international students. However, being a girl from Pakistan would definitely help (lesser competition). Did you have an interview for Harvard and what were the academic awards that you mentioned? Also, lemme know about the decisions when they come!

By Sheri (Sheri) on Friday, March 05, 2004 - 08:30 am: Edit

hey researching .... no i dint have an interview. its apparently not available in pakistan. the only inter ive had is frm yale .. it was average. wat bout u?

By Researching (Researching) on Saturday, March 06, 2004 - 06:44 am: Edit

Don't know about Khi, but what my Lhr interviewer told me was that Harvard shortlists a few applicants (around 10 on avg.) and just interviews them, and I got one! The interview itself was pretty lame i'd have to say, just not good at interviews! Also had interviews for MIT and Penn.