could smone help me select universities to apply to? (I'm a junior)
For starters, I am an international student enrolled in a french education system and is planning to major in psychology. Since french schools grades are out of 20, I am still not quite sure what it is converted to the US' (i have around a 16 average). Additionally, I am in the bfi, which is a program for students who want to go to english speaking countries, at the end of the program, we could obtain a diploma which is similar to a US high school diploma alongside our french high school diploma. To be able to go to US universities, I must obtain a scholarship. However, my ecs are quite mid: I am research assistant on a published eating disorder paper, I'm in some clubs, I have an editing acc on tiktok that has earned some numbers (though I am not so sure if I should put it in my app), i am currently doing some maths research, i did some charity and volunteering work. Plus, i have no awards since I've only made it to the finals of some competitions. Could you pls give tips on how to improve my app and suggest some schools? tysm!
To be honest Northwestern seems like hard target for you which you should definitely go for, Stanford and UMich Ann Arbor as well. Use a site like U.S. News or Niche which is my favorite, to find schools that'll fit your safety, target, and reach categories. Also read reviews to see if you want to go there. Good searching!
really?! thank you so much for the reply! I really want to apply to umich, it's one of my dream schools though I've heard that they don't give out a lot of scholarships... :(
Also in the common app portal (for college application),there is an honors and awards section...meaning that being a finalist at a conpetition is still an honor. In fact it is a bigger honor than many student have actually.
Your French average of 16/20 is equivalent to an A- or a 3.7 GPA in the US system, and it is a very strong academic qualification. Also, your extracurriculars are not "mid" and feature impressive depth in psychology-related areas, which is highly valued by US universities. The key is to frame your experiences strategically to demonstrate sustained passion and impact.
Ohhhh thank you for this reply ! It is so helpful and insightful! If my gpa is around 3.7 as you said, is it still a good gpa? Since there's been grade inflation and all so everyone's gpa in the US is rather high, should I aim for lower rank colleges? Could you explain more on how to "frame my experiences to demonstrate passion and impact"? I felt my ecs were weak because I'm scared they didn't show as much impact as those nonprofits high achieving students have :(
Your GPA is absolutely above average, and is enough to go to top 50 universities if you have an average amount of EC and 5 or more AP classes and top 10% SAT score. (Took 22 days to evaluate my answer or something..?)
thank youuu (sorry i forgot i asked a question on here so i didnt check)
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