I am currently a junior in a high school in India. I’m interested in applying to Harvard and other Ivy league colleges. Would these credentials be enough to get me admitted? What else can I do to better my chances?
Academics:
-1500 on the SATs
-96.75% in the B1 Level German exam - I was the Goethe Institute topper.
-96.2% in the 10th grade.
- I don’t know my 11th grade percentage yet, but since I spent most of the year focusing on an international level Yoga tournament, I’m expecting a low percentage.
I’ll be taking the subject SATs(Math level 2 and German) this June. I’m hoping to get a score of 750 or above.
Extracurriculars:
-I have an international level silver medal in competitive Yoga and more than 10 national medals.
-I have also translated a Yoga Book from Marathi into English.
-I have taken and passed all 7 Yoga exams with distinction.
-I came first in the first three exams, second in the sixth exam, and third in the seventh one.
-I’ve also been honored by the Mayor of Pune(my city) for my achievements in Yoga.
-I’m the creator and lead singer of a Yoga song in Marathi language that encourages youngsters to join yoga.
-In addition, I’m planning to do a yoga teachers’ training course this year.
- I have appeared for and passed 4 Kathak(an Indian classical dance) exams: I was the topper in my class for the 4th exam.
Your chance of being rejected is 95%+
That’s basic stats: all of the Ivy League colleges have admission rates for US students under 10%. About 10-5% of the class is international, typically from 40+ countries. For example, Princeton last year accepted 1900 students, of whom 167 were International students from 69 countries. Last year Harvard had 39K applicants for 1600 places; less than 200 were international students- from the entire rest of the world. There are currently 22 students from India at Harvard (total, across all 4 years). You need to be one of the tippy top students in your country to get into the big name schools - or have some extraordinary accomplishments.
That’s true for any international applicant.
Having a serious drop in grades in Junior year is a big negative for any applicant, domestic or international: these schools expect you to be able to do your high-level ECs AND keep your grades up.
So, based on those few pieces of information, I wouldn’t be optimistic about your chances. I don’t like raining on people’s hopes, and as I am not on the AdComms for any of those schools, I could be dead wrong. But we are also watching so many extremely qualified students getting their rejections right now, and that is painful also.
I don’t think you have any chance of getting into Harvard. The competition for top Ivy is so intense even for those who studied in US. My D got 1580 on SAT and still no chance of getting in. She has tons of EC but still it’s very hard.