Chance Me: Non-Resident US Citizen - Rising Junior [IGCSE, business or economics, <$50k]

Chance Me / Match Me!
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1

Demographics

  1. Male
  2. Citizenship – United States (living in India)
  3. Asian (Indian)
  4. Private School (British System)

Intended Major

  • Econ/Business

Academics

  1. All A*s (Highest grade possible) at the IGCSE (British board- 10th Grade) for all my 9 subjects
  2. I was awarded for getting the highest grades in my batch for the subjects of Spanish and English.
  3. SAT- 1500
  4. A-Levels Subjects= Math, English, Computer Science and Economics (Awaiting results which come by August)
  5. GPA (Approximately)- 3.8/3.9
  6. Did not fare as well in my freshman year (9th Grade) due to covid with 3 Cs, 2 Bs and 4 As.

Extracurriculars

  1. MUN- 3 years, Chaired committees (part of the secretariat which is a leadership position), won 3-4 awards, mentored students for 2 years.
  2. School Newsletter- 3 years, I wrote extensively about economics/finance in my articles , I also wrote for an independent student magazine (outside school).
  3. Blog- 2 years, wholly dedicated to economics and the organization of businesses/supply-chains.
  4. Certified Open Water Diver (SSI)- Can dive 80 ft into the Ocean and rescue divers in distress as a part of my training (sport).
  5. Volunteered at for Medical outreach from a hospital, I visited ill people in remote villages who couldn’t access healthcare and assisted in their treatment ( done for 2 weeks), did fundraising for the same.
  6. Volunteered at an NGO- 21 hours, taught underprivileged inner-city children.
  7. Interned at a corporate law firm (Mergers and Acquisitions) for a week, got a letter of recommendation from a senior partner.
  8. Interned at a private equity firm (on the Bombay Stock Exchange) for 2 weeks and got certified for the same.
  9. Completed an advanced Python course and got an A grade in my certification.
  10. Completed a Junior MBA course (business) and was certified for the same.
  11. Held a stationary drive for an NGO which assists disadvantaged girls (certified).
  12. Extempore- won 1st prize for public speaking.
  13. Wrote a 5000 word Research paper about Economics- sent to Cambridge for assessment.
  14. Wrote a 3000 word Research report about Economics and health for a medical journal (under review for publication).

Schools:

  1. Northwestern (ED hopefully)
  2. Georgetown
  3. Duke
  4. WashU
  5. University of Michigan Ann Arbor
  6. NYU
  7. UNC Chapel Hill
  8. University of Indiana Bloomington
  9. University of Washington Seattle
  10. USC
  11. Purdue University
  12. UMass Amherst
  13. Babson
  14. UCLA
  15. UCSD
  16. UCSB
  17. UC Berkley
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Also I’ve received an 8/10 rec from my Econ teacher and a 10/10 rec from my English teacher. I have good relations with both of them. Furthermore, I received an 11/10 rec from a senior partner at the law firm I was interning with… its India’s 3rd largest corporate law firm.

3

Don’t be all over the place in terms of your ECs.
Present a coherent picture of yourself in terms of your passions.

4

Thank you… what would be ideal in terms of making my ECs more succinct? All of them are somewhat related to my major, but isn’t a wider variety good?

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You can take out 7, 8 (1wk or 2wk internships that look as if you got them with family help should not be mentioned – you come across as being privileged), 9 (there are tons of coursera and other courses people take – they don’t mention them; not taken seriously), 10 (sounds silly – don’t know what a junior MBA course is), 13 (not published yet) & 14 (not published yet – and make sure it is published in a peer reviewed journal if you are going to mention it).

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Also take out 6 – you shouldn’t mention things that you did for 21 hours. You will look non serious.
And 5 was done just for 2 weeks – again, non serious. Is this your passion? Maybe you can leave it in – border line.

It looks as if you are building a resume for college applications.

It is important to come across as being authentic.

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EDITED because oops, this is not an international student!

I agree with @neela1

You are a rising junior? That means you have only two years of high school grades. Right?

References would ideally come from teachers you have in your junior year.

Will you need financial aid to attend, or is your family able and willing to pay the full cost of attendance? What can they contribute annually? This matters because most of the colleges on your list do not guarantee to meet full financial need. In addition all of the California public universities…expect to be a full pay student there as you are not a resident of CA.

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I agree it’s important for OP to know his family’s budget - but he is not an international applicant.

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I’ll edit my post. Done!

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Yes I will need financial aid and hence most of the colleges I’m applying to are need-blind. Furthermore, I will fill out FAFSA and the CSS Profile, but now I’m beginning to reconsider the UCs. Although some of them are very good safeties.

However, is there anything I can replace the UCs with… perhaps some other cost-effective safeties?

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What is your budget?

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I think we can reach $50000 but not more than that.

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Ok. Have your parents run the net price calculators on these schools’ websites and post those numbers here so we can more appropriately give you.

For now, only Purdue is under your $50k budget.

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Need blind does not necessarily mean the it will offer enough financial aid for you.

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UCs will cost more than $50k for non-California residents. Large merit scholarships are rare and should be considered reaches at best.

The ones you list are not necessarily safeties for admission only either.

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Need blind means that your level of need is not considered when your application for admission is reviewed. It really has nothing to do with the level of financial aid you receive.

With a $50,000 budget, I would suggest looking at some of the SUNY schools.

Someone else’s would need to clarify, but I think you would be an auto admit for Kelley Business at Indiana. Tuition/fees/room/board are about $54,000 a year.

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Yes, this student currently meets the auto admit threshold for IU Kelley. Would be a great safety and IMO, better for business than Purdue.

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Thank you… so I’ll try for schools which try and meet 100% of need.

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Thank you… I will look into SUNY schools. Is kelley need-aware?

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Will Kelley be a little more generous in terms of aid since I’m a domestic applicant?

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