Hey there, I am a high school senior in India and I am taking a gap year after graduation in 2021. I have got a research internship at the “Caltech of India”, IISc Bangalore, I have done loads of online courses regarding Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering(the two subjects I want to major in), and I know Python, Java, MATLAB, AutoCAD, and Autodesk Fusion up to an intermediate level. I have a GPA of 3.85 (averaging my 4 years from 9th to 12th), wrote 2 investigatory reports on Materials Science in high school, I have taken 4 AP classes (papers I’ll be giving in June), got a 1550 on SAT and was school valedictorian when I graduated from class 10th and was the nationwide topper in English. In terms of extracurriculars, I won a state tennis championship, teach Python to middle schoolers and high schoolers at my alma mater, and have started the sole science club in my city. Can anyone tell me what are my chances of getting into schools like MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Harvard, Cornell, and how can I increase those chances.
Take a look at this link to Harvard, which will be pretty representative of the colleges you are asking about. Statistics | Harvard International Office There are currently 24 students from India across 4 or more years at Harvard. Let’s assume 6 per class. The yield is likely greater than 90%, so maybe 7 students are admitted from India each year out of the thousands who apply.
Looking at your accomplishments, you can give it a shot, but your GPA and 10th ranking is a weakness – there were already 9 students ahead of you in your high school. Are you going to be viewed in the top 7 of all of India? If your goal is studying in the US, I’d look at other good programs in your major from less “name brand” schools. Also look to see how much aid they will give internationals if this is an issue for you.
You are an international coming from an over-represented country so your odds of getting into an elite college in the US are slim, especially if you are looking for significant financial aid. By all means apply and give it your all, but be sure to have back-ups in your home country.
OP wrote that he/she was valedictorian. However, the “when I graduated from class 10th” is a confusing comment in need of clarification.
My alma mater was till class 10th only, while a normal school in India is till 12th class. So I technically graduated from the institute. And 10th class exams in India are known as Secondary School Leaving Exams.
No, I was class topper I meant that when I completed tenth grade.
I am not familiar with how the Indian system works. Are other students applying from India applying after grade 10th or 12th equivalent to your school? What was your rank after grade 12th? A 3.85, unless your school has heavy grade deflation and this is known by the colleges you are applying to, will be seen at the low end. At the end of the day, you will first be compared with other applicants from your region in India and then India as a whole. How will you stack up against them?
No actually, I’m the only person applying from my city.
And also since I haven’t given my school ending exams yet, I got 95% in the half-yearly exams and in the pre-final exams, which account to 20% of the grades and was the topper of a class of 50 kids then too.
You likely have maybe a 5% chance or less of getting into any of those colleges listed.
I don’t feel there is anything else you can do to increase your chances at this point. Keep doing activities you like. Apply for your peace of mind.
In the end, you have the research internship as a backup plan. It sounds like you could be successful in your home country.
I don’t think people understand what you mean by “class topper” which is not an idiom used in America. Do mean that you have the highest scores in your class? Do you mean you had the highest English score in all of India? You would be “head of your class or top of the class or valedictorian (first place) or salutatorian (second)”. If that is the case, congratulations that is quite an achievement. (I am not trying to pick on you just explain why some people are unsure how to assess your profile.)
You should be very proud of you accomplishments. But Ivy League admissions cannot he chanced. You are likely qualified but that tells you nothing about whether you will will get in.
Uh yes, class topper means that I had the highest grades in my class. I got the highest grades in my class 10th exam in school, which is one of the Indian factors in admission. And I got the highest grades in English all over in India and in all the other subjects(Mathematics, Science, Social Science, Computer Science, and Hindi) I was in the 90 percentile.
And also I got the highest marks in my state in an international chemistry exam (24/28), was in the 90 percentile in another set of international exams.
Your chances are quite low – just like everyone else who applies to these schools. You should lower your sights a bit, and consider other schools that are highly regarded in engineering, such as various state universities, but which may not have the immediate cachet of the schools that you have listed.
Also, will you be able to afford the tuition/fees/room/board for the schools that you have listed? I’m not sure that you can count on financial aid.
This^^^^^
Plus, you want to major in, and apply to popular, crowded majors at the same universities, where every student applies. The seats are finite, and, “fit” is really an issue at these elite schools. If a university wants an oboist, an artist, or a green environmental “farmer”, then that’s what they’re going to search for and select.
I don’t mean to minimize your accomplishments, but your school experiences are very similar to the thousands of your countrymen who are applying to US universities (i.e. tutoring a computer language, starting a science-based club, and playing tennis).
Read some of the posts (here on CC) from your countrymen, who list very similar activities that they believe the schools want. It seems as though there is a checklist somewhere.
Apply wherever you want, but “spread the wealth” by applying broadly to schools that aren’t Ivies. Lots of students are shut out by the Ivies. There just isn’t the room for the hundreds of thousands of students wanting seats at the Ivies. Apply to the safeties in your country.
Manish - what are your plans for gap year? How much can your parents afford per year? This will make a big determination on what type of schools to apply for.
In the US, there are only a handful of colleges which are need-blind for internationals. The rest are need-aware, which means they take the level of your need into account. Since college financial aid budgets are tight, they tend to take internationals with amazing credentials. To balance this out, they will take lots of internationals who are full-pay.
Your chances are as good as anyone else who applies with your credentials from your region. 5% or less of applicants are accepted to these colleges. This means 95% don’t get accepted.
Apply and see…but I would suggest you cast a much broader net than just these highly competitive colleges.
I intend to play more tennis tournaments and studying Materials Science books and doing more courses also use the languages that I have learnt. to create projects that are closely intertwined with Materials Science. And as for pay, my parents can pay up to 15000 USD a year.
I’m planning on applying to 15-20 universities in the US, which is kind of my target destination, but I’m also applying to universities in Canada(McGill (it is my father’s alma mater), Toronto, British Columbia) as well as UK (Oxbridge and Edinburgh).
You say your parents can pay $15,000 USD per year for your college education. Will any of these 15-20 colleges be affordable?