Chances, Languages and Highly Selective Colleges

I was asked to answer the following question on the website, Quora.com

*****************************************************************************************************************

What type of applicant am I to Harvard, Yale, MIT, Princeton, Dartmouth and Amherst?

ABOUT ME -
I currently live in the United Arab Emirates, and previously in Morocco.
I speak French, English, German and Arabic.
I attend a french private high school whose courses are considered as challenging. The high school is well-known and recognized as one of the Top 10 in the country.
I plan on majoring in Engineering with - maybe - a minor in Political Science. 

ACADEMICS-
I've got a GPA of 4.0 ( on a 4.0 scale )
IELTS score of 7.0 ( on a 9.0 scale)

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES-

•Founder of Humans of Abu Dhabi ( inspired by humans of New York, a bit of middle-eastern version )

•Founder of Science-it, which is designed for creative thinkers to share ideas or their childhood desires ( for example flying or space time traveling ) and then people can comment on possible procedures to make it happen and when a not so irrational procedure is suggested, science it contacts sponsors for them. You can find us on www.science-it.mozello.com

•Founder of SalamShalom, which is created in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: SalamShalom urges readers not to take sides in the conflict but to understand both sides. SalamShalom shares both sides' opinion on issues ( takes information feom the Israeli Defense Force webpage and the Free Palestine webpage ). Visitors can also leave their opinion on how we might be able to solve the conflict. You can find us onwww.salamshalom.mozello.com. When I can't find the information I'm searching for on google/books, I used to ask university professors, who kindly provided them to me.

• Won french awards in competitions equivalent to the Math Olympiad, except it's between french high schools around the world.  

• Photographer at the Maths.en.Jeans annual reunion- It's kind of a math organisation where students from all over french middle schools/high schools work together on mathematical research. 

• Online course learner : I gained several online courses certificates from Harvard, Ohio State, Edinburgh, Columbia, San José State.  

• I attend many lectures New York University of Abu Dhabi ( NYUAD ) organize, including the fourth reunion of genomics & systems biology. 


•In September, I'll participate in competition NYUAD hosts for Cyber security awareness week.

•Volunteer at aides-aux-devoirs : I help my classmates study for tests and do their homework

•Worked 2 days as a promoter for English Institute - which is a center that emphazises on learning English.  

SATs-
I haven't taken the SATs yet, planning to take SAT I and SAT subject test ( Math level 2 and Physics ) this october. In the online practice test, I get the following average scores for :
SAT I : Maths: 790 CR 680 Writing 710
SAT II : Physics : 710 Maths : 790 

•What would you advise me of doing to improve my application? What should I highlight/avoid talking about?

********************************************************************************* 

Thus far the consensus on Quora seems to be you face an uphill battle at many of these schools. The stats for acceptance rates of any students and international students in particular support this conclusion. It is harder for international students to get in because schools limit the percentage of international students they accept (they would never call it a quota but they have goals which are de facto quotas). 

What you should do first is add some schools to your list that are great but that have more than a single digit acceptance rate. Some have sort of said this, but it bears repeating; it does not matter which school you go to as long as it is selective for admission and you do well. If you come out at the top of a strong US university you will have more options than if you came out at the top 40% of Cal Tech.  Go to a school in which your stats predict you will be a star. They might give you money or access to an honors program and research, and networks and mentoring programs that will help you get accepted to top graduate schools or to top businesses.

If you are determined to get into some of the schools you have listed, then you might listen to the other writers and “theme’ your application. Find a focus and support it in your essays, recommendations and list of activities. Cut down on the number of things you say you do and focus on the ones you are passionate about.

While this is the advice I also give to some very strong students going for these same schools, you have several things in your favor that most of them don’t. As a female you are going to get a slight push at places like Cal Tech and MIT. If some of your certificates are in things like coding this will help as well as not many females have these skills.

In addition, you are applying with a background that will help you stand out. You need to emphasize that you are fluent in 4 languages and perhaps in as many cultures. The number of people in the world applying to these schools who have fluency in 4 languages is much smaller than the number of people who have perfect SAT scores in math or physics.  My guess would be it would be over 100 to 1. Polyglots are extremely rare in the world; in my many years of experience of reading international applications,  the number of students who ever had true fluency in 4 languages might have been a couple dozen. The number who had perfect scores on sections of the SAT would add up to many, many thousands. Your linguistic ability puts you close to a subset of one in the applicant pool.  You have the ability to theme yourself as a global citizen, as one who cares about issues bigger than math or physics, if helping people from killing each other matters in the moral world.  

In addition, you are not Asian. I say this, as it is much harder for students from Asia to get into these schools than others who are from different continents and cultures. The vast majority of international applicants to these schools come from a small set of countries in Asia. For them to get accepted they have to have academic credentials that are often far better than domestic students or students from other places around the world. Schools want a wide representation of countries so they can hear the voices of others to add to the mix in and out of class. (and to list on their profiles to demonstrate they enroll a diverse class).  For more on this topic go here:Parke Muth, consultant: Who Gets In to Top Colleges? A Geography Lesson

If you are a Moroccan citizen this will help you. (Anyone from Africa stands a better chance of getting in simply because so few apply from this continent.) There are simply not that many people from there (or some of the other places you’ve lived too) who have incredibly high scores. Your scores put you near the very top of the students who are from that part of the world so you will be given more leeway than if you were from, for example, China, Korea, Singapore or India. 

I always tell people I try to help that in an interview you want to come across as a subset of one. You have the ability to pitch yourself as a female speaking 4 languages, concerned about global issues, who has nearly perfect grades and multiple interests. If you do convey well that you are one who speaks 4 languages and cultures fluently you will be the only one they talk to that day and perhaps that year who has that same story. The more you add detail to this  narrative, in an essay or interview, by incorporating specific images and acts, the more they will remember you are far more than a score or grade point average.

To sum up, you can try to see if you can stand out the way most other applicants will at these schools you are applying to do or you can take a risk and try to stand out with the things you have that almost no one else does. I would say that latter is a better approach given that you may not have the same scores and academics as those who have been selected for these qualities instead of the unique ones you do have. Best of luck.

Note: Here is the percentage of international students by region at MIT. The low percentage of students from Africa puts you in the category of applicants who will add geographic diversity within the international pool. In other words, your background will help. 

International Students by  Region        

Asia 50% 

Europe 23% 

Canada 7% 

Latin America and the Caribbean 10% 

Middle East 6% 

Africa 3% 

Oceania 1%

**********************************************************************************

For those who are now applying to the most selective colleges and universities, this entry may serve as a cautionary tale. Virtually every answer posted on Quora expressed doubts about this student's chances of being admitted to MIT and these other top schools too. I think if she had substituted Stanford for Harvard, or a number of other top ranked schools, the answers would have been similar.

Given the information the student has provided, there is little doubt that she would be an exceptional addition to the entering class at any university in the world. And yet, those who answered her question, some of them enrolled at MIT, think she is a long shot for admission.

I don't have enough data  ad information (such as essays and recommendations) to "chance" this student with any degree of certainty. I do worry that there are many people applying to schools that whose credentials are exceptional and who think that they may either have a great chance or no chance of getting in to certain schools. I think it is not in the student's best interest to offer what may seem to be informed opinion without all the important data.

In this case, my feeling is that this student will end up a star at whatever school is lucky enough to enroll her. I hope she, and other very bright students, keep this in mind.