How to Choose US Colleges as a Regular High School Student: A Waitlist-to-NYU Case Study

发布时间：Date: 2023-03-06 返回新鲜资讯Back to News

To address the common challenges of background enhancement and school selection faced by regular high school students applying to US colleges, CheersYou（清柚教育） provides a practical reference by analyzing a real case of a regular high school student who successfully gained admission to top universities like New York University. Despite having an excellent GPA and TOEFL score, the student's SAT score was not outstanding. After giving up early decision, they adopted a strategic regular decision approach, leveraging soft power such as a US high school exchange experience, and ultimately received offers from many renowned institutions including NYU and UC Santa Barbara.

The core highlight of this case lies in the flexible adjustment of application strategy and precise execution of essays. Facing NYU's waitlist, under the guidance of CheersYou（清柚教育）, the student persisted and submitted high-quality supplementary essays, successfully turning the waitlist into an acceptance into NYU's strong Engineering Mathematics program. This not only demonstrates the critical role of supplementary essays in US college applications but also provides valuable experience for regular high school students to achieve a dream school comeback through precise positioning and soft power exploration when hardware scores are not absolutely dominant.

In recent years, studying abroad has shown an increasingly 'younger' trend. It's now very common to choose to attend high school overseas, let alone pursue an undergraduate degree abroad. The US is often the top choice for many families, making competition particularly fierce. Many regular high school students who want to apply to US colleges worry that their background isn't 'strong' enough and are unsure how to choose and position themselves. Today, CheersYou（清柚教育） will analyze a specific case of a 'regular high school student applying to US colleges'—feel free to compare your own situation!

Applicant Background:

Regular High School

GPA: 3.8+

TOEFL: 105+

SAT: 1450+

Admitted Schools:

- NYU

- UCSB

- UCD

- UCI

- UW

- UIUC

- OSU

Strengths and Weaknesses Analysis:

This student had a good GPA and TOEFL score, but their SAT score was not particularly outstanding. Due to time constraints, they gave up on Early Decision and initially selected some universities with Early Action and Regular Decision options, including University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), University of Washington (UW), Ohio State University (OSU), University of California, Davis (UCD), University of California, Irvine (UCI), and others.

After retaking the SAT, although the score was still not outstanding, they still chose NYU and other schools as reach schools. Initially, NYU placed them on the waitlist, but they didn't give up and submitted supplementary essays to continue fighting. In the end, the supplementary essays helped them successfully secure an offer.

It's worth mentioning that this student once went on a US high school exchange and also took preparatory courses in psychology and calculus, which all contributed to their application. The majors they chose were mostly in the STEM field, and NYU admitted them to its strong program—Mathematics in Engineering, which is great. Congratulations to this student for realizing their dream of attending a prestigious university~