From WIS to the Ivy League:

WIS Grade 12 student Kazuki Sadamoto shares lessons and strategies that led to his acceptance at Yale, Stanford, Duke, Brown, Cornell, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and other top American universities.

Hi WIS Community! 

My name is Kazuki, and I’m a current grade 12 student (Class of 2026) who managed to join one of very few Ivy League undergraduate students from Namibia. I was honestly so fortunate—and shocked—to be accepted by Yale, Stanford, Duke, Brown, Cornell, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Pomona College, Washington University, and many more great schools.

I spent months researching how I could make this dream a reality, so I wanted to help some of you with general information about my experience. Our Principal and College Counsellor Ms. Reiff thought it would be a good idea for me to share a general run-down of my entire process, struggles, and any advice for aspiring students! 

I was first introduced to the US’ competitive admissions process by my brother who went to a boarding school in Japan. He also got into a great school, and seeing him enjoy the abundance of opportunities at his school inspired me to at least try my chances with these schools with single digit acceptance rates—this was around the start of grade 11 for me. Besides the opportunities and funding, I really wanted to study at a top school in the USA because I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to study. American schools are much more flexible in terms of declaring your major much later, and also supporting double majors, which is something I also really wanted to do. 

What matters when applying to university

I want to preface this by saying that it was by no means easy, but I’m grateful that these selective admissions officers recognized my hard work. In terms of the application, there are five general aspects that admissions officers look at when evaluating students: 

1. Grades: consistent, and strong grades from grades 9-12 were the baseline for consideration at some of these schools. I definitely worked hard academically, to ensure that I performed well during IGCSE and maintained good grades through the IBDP, whilst balancing 4 higher level subjects. 

2. Test Scores: as a testing center, I think that WIS students are quite lucky that they can take the SAT on campus. For the SATs, I prepared with entirely free resources, including practice exams on Khan Academy, timed practice tests on Bluebook, and topic-specific questions on the College Board Question Bank. 

3. Extracurricular Activities: these are a KEY part of US college admissions. Personally, I think it’s very important to pursue activities that you are truly passionate about, and feel fulfilled with. For me, this happened to be working with a local NGO to foster 60 kittens, working as a volunteer teaching assistant in Katutura, working in WIS student council, conducting an individual research project about cheetah conservation, founding the SPCA club, doing multiple internships, and a few smaller activities. However, I want to emphasize the importance of doing what brings you joy, and also having broader themes so it’s easier for schools to understand the kind of applicant you are!

4. Awards: this section was probably the weakest part of my application, as there weren’t many opportunities to receive awards. For me, I filled this section with some of my MUN awards, and my research publication in a scientific journal. Many international students win science Olympiads and international competitions, but this goes to show that they understand the contexts which each student is applying from. 

5. Essays: this is another crucial part of the application; arguably the most important. Generally, you have a personal statement where you write a 650 word essay which is submitted to all of the schools you apply to. Then you have supplemental essays, where each school provides 0~5 prompts for you to answer. Since I applied to 30 schools (which in hindsight, may have been overkill), I had to write around 100 essays. It’s safe to say that my December break was not very restful. I was fortunate enough to have an external counselor that reviewed my essay and provided advice. However, I don’t think this is necessary: you could simply ask your English teachers for help, and I’d also be glad to help! 

How WIS supported my journey

For me, WIS provided me with the opportunity to start exploring my extracurricular passions—particularly through the Creativity-Action-Service (CAS) requirement of the IB. For instance, being in the student council pushed me to work with the greater Windhoek community, and to work with local NGOs. I’m also infinitely grateful for the teachers that took the time to write a letter of recommendation for me. I attribute a lot of my success to them as well. Most importantly, though, I think that it was the WIS community, particularly the friends and teachers that I had around me, who supported me through this journey. 

I do want to emphasize that you could do all of this and still get rejected. Unfortunately, holistic admissions consider everything so there isn’t one straightforward test score, achievement, or narrative that they’re looking for. Beating these single-digit acceptance rates can honestly be compared to winning the lottery. But, if after reading all this, you are still up for the challenge, I urge you to shoot your shot! 

I’d love to help where I can and hopefully support some of you in your goals! I’d also be willing to give a more in-depth information session for students or parents, so if you are interested in this, please let me know! 

If you have any questions or anything please feel free to reach out to me at ksadamoto@wis.edu.na, and I’ll try to help where I can :)