International student advice

Hi, if anyone would be able to review my profile that would be amazing. I am an international student and only last year begun looking at US universities, but am now set on this pathway. I graduate at the end of 2027, so I still have a while to figure everything out. I'm worried my GPA won't be strong enough, as in my country unlike in the US less emphasis is placed on year 9, 10 etc rather year 12 is viewed as the most important year (hence the low GPA) however I'm hoping my SAT will make up for this. Additionally, in the country I'm from AP exams, college credit etc aren't offered which I'm afraid will also put me at a disadvantage. Overall, I'm most interested in doing either Economics, Political Science or Law. Below are my stats + my preferred schools.

Demographics

Gender: Female

Race/Ethnicity: White

Residence: Australia

Income Bracket: Upper middle-class

Type of School: Non-selective private school

Hooks: potentially geographic location

Intended Major(s): Economics, Political Science

Academics

GPA (had to calculate externally from my school as this isn't a typical measure): 3.5

--> also still have over a year left of HS

SAT (this is only from a practice test but I am largely already prepared for this): 1520

No honours, AP classes etc as they aren't offered HOWEVER I do take 1 extension class (equivalent/higher than) AP for English and plan on taking Extension History next year

Summary of my extracurriculars (Y7–12):

Ethics Olympiad — Non-Art Competitions (2024–present)

Competed at school then state level; placed top 10 (2024, 2025), 2nd at State (2026) — advancing to the International round.

Religion & Ethics Festival of Speech — Non-Art Competitions

Competed in timed, unseen-question rounds analyzing academic texts; won the school's senior Religion Memorial Prize (awarded to one student across Years 10–12).

House Committee Beck House Student Government (Y11)

Elected to lead ~100+ students; ran house meetings, directed a 15-min house play, choreographed the house dance, and assisted at inter-house sporting events.

Cross Country — Athletics/Team Sports (Y7–present)

Age champion every year since Y7; competed at regional and state level; incoming Captain.

Peer Leaders — Interest Clubs

Selected by staff (25 of 105 students in year group) to mentor incoming Year 7 students — coordinated sporting events, study support, and school tours.

Community Service — City2Surf Team Lead — Community Service

Organized and led a fundraising run team, raising $10,000 for a local charity where I also volunteer (100 hours).

Waitstaff, Local Sailing Club — Part time job/Employment (2023–present)

Promoted to fill in as Head of Waitstaff; responsible for training and delegating tasks to the team.

Club Soccer, Division 1 — Athletics/Team Sports (2019–present)

Long-standing member of local club's top division team.

Dream school

Wake Forest

Other top schools

Providence College

Tulane

Syracuse

University of Wisconsin Madison

Sewanee (for XC)

Virginia Tech