Josh Chen just graduated from high school this year and received offers from four prestigious American universities: Princeton University, Yale University, the California Institute of Technology, and the University of California, Berkeley. Any one of these four institutions is a dream school for countless students, yet they all extended an "olive branch" to this Chinese-American high school student at the same time. What exactly did they see in Josh? Was it his high scores or other reasons? Let us hear what Josh has to say himself.
Josh's SAT score was a perfect 2400. Many people assume that Josh was selected by these top American universities because of his extremely high SAT score. However, Josh jokingly remarked, "Harvard does not want students with perfect SAT scores."
According to experts, SAT scores are an important reference for high school students from all over the world when applying for study and scholarships at top American universities. Although American universities have certain requirements for SAT scores when admitting students, they place more importance on a student's professional potential, personal comprehensive quality, sense of social responsibility, and social practice that the student participates in from the heart. American universities value more than just scores. Josh stated that he was not admitted solely because of his high SAT score. In addition to good grades, his practical abilities were also excellent: he participated in a math club in high school and won awards in the National Olympiad; he started volunteering at hospitals and elementary schools early on; he is proficient in piano and cello, and joined a local orchestra...
In addition to focusing on the student's own practical abilities, top American universities prefer students who have their own unique ideas and are willing to contribute to the school and society. According to study abroad experts, about 10 Chinese students are admitted to Harvard University and Columbia University each year, so getting into top universities is not impossible, but he emphasized: "Students must have their own personality." American universities focus most on cultivating students' independent abilities and leadership skills.