Do you think I could get to Stanford, Harvard or Princeton?

Question

Hello, I am a fourteen year old student from Dubai, United Arab Emirates(In Middle East of Asia). I go to a school called "Abu Dhabi Grammar School," which uses a Nova Scotia, Canada curriculum. I am in high school and exceeding successfuly in my subjects. My overall, average percentage is 82%. I am currently taking Science, English and Math this semester and intending to take harder subjects like biology and chemistry next semester. Do you think I will be able to make it in one of those universities eligible for a scholarship program?

Thank you,

Your Friend

Please give me exact answers and help, thanks!

can you please also convert 82% in the 4 point scale for me in harvard university, princeton or stanford?

Answer 1

Dear Friend,

It will be difficult for most of us to tell you whether you could get in to any of these schools, because you still have a number of years to go in high school, and because you give your grades as a percentage, whereas in the U.S., we tend to look at grades on a 4-point scale. For us, an 82% would only be a moderately successful program, but you say that you have been exceedingly successful, and I believe you. If you should apply to these schools, they will send your transcripts to a service which will tell them how your scores would translate into a 4-point system.

It does sound promising that you are taking a difficult curriculum; one of the preferences of elite schools such as those you mention is that you take the most challenging curriculum available.

In order to be eligible for a scholarship, you do need to know that you must be one of the best applicants to these programs, and that the pool of applicants will be extremely competitive. Only about 2% of students are in the universities in the United States on academic scholarships (I'm not counting those who receive $1,000 or so and have to pay the rest themselves), and while the percentage is undoubtedly higher at the specific schools you mention, the competition for those scholarships can be very tough. For some, American students will have an advantage over international students (and American students may also receive other forms of financial aid, such as loans and government grants, for which international students are not eligible). You will have to be the best of the best in order to get the scholarships which exist.

Answer 2

That's a lot to consider when going to study abroad, specially in United States. As I can see, at your side being on a school which adopts a Canadian system will provide you some advantage when sending your curricula for admission process. As you have heard, the selection is highly selective. From the reality I know, from Brazil I've known that 2-3 people got granted access to study at Harvard Law School. I don't know the situation for other fields of study in terms of admission process. To me appears you are just starting looking for information on studying in USA, right? First of all, you'll need to check if the university that you intend to study is good on your intended field of study. You can check this on rankings. One of the most famous is the US News Best Colleges (http://www.usnews.com/sections/rankings).

The process in American system consists on various steps:
- Analysis of your curricula: You need to prove that you've got at least 12 years of basic education (or equivalent, i.e. in Brazil only 3 years ago that the 12-year system was implemented, before that people here got some problems on curricula acceptance). You have to be one of the best of your class and if possible, you should send your ranking position (if there's one at your school). They're going to see if you are a good and stable student (good grades during coursework, best if without drastic ups and downs). It's important to mention any kind of intellectual or sport award you received through high school.
The conversion of your grades is simple. There's a grade measure unit called GPA (grade point average) that ranges from 0 through 5. Because I don't know how your grades are measured, I can't predict how would it be the conversion.
- Tests: there's a test called SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) which you need to take (see http://www.collegeboard.com for mor information), according to the University's requirements. For example, for law you need to take English, Math and 2 more subjects. You can ask for paper materials in almost every American top university.
- Letter of recommendation: you'll need to take from good teachers (obviously the ones you sympathize more) that emphasize your student qualities and achievents. Usually 2-3 letters.
- English ability: You'll need to take a English test like TOEFL (unless English is your primary language) and will need to achieve a certain score, which varies depending on university. As for high school grades: the higher, the better.
- Interview: depending on university and your location, there's some people who represents that university in your country. In Brazil, there's some people that interview prospective students on Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

On Harvard, paying the course is expensive. About U$60.000 per semester, if I am not mistaken. On tuition scholarship, most of colleges and financial assistance requires that you get admitted to the university first. On internet there's also websites (I can't remember now of any good) that can help you finding a scholarship for you. Here in Brazil the embassy has a fund for helping people, the IBEU (Brazil-United States institute), there's the Fundação Educar (Learning foundation), the Fullbright fund (for post-graduation courses), among others. Probably there's some kind of help in your country.

I suggest, if possible, that you make a visit to the nearest American embassy for asking for information about how to study in USA based on UAE perspective. If there's a binational center, I suggest a visit too.

Answer 3

yes