<p>Well.... I am a 17 yr old from a small town in MP,India.
I am a sci. student with cs.. expecting a 80-85 in my boards, I read some posts here and I wish to apply to US unis. I plan to take a gap yr/drop and study for engineering examinations. So any advice what would help me gaining admission in any good University(cornell,stanford,caltech,yale..etc).
What should I work on, SAT, and ACT... Are they easy ?
I am going to apply for Financial Aid.(Can afford about 40,000.. rest 10000 or so aid)
And as for my extra curricular, I was the vice head girl,participated in quizzes,debates,dance competitions,Olympiads,rotary club. An overall descent record, relative to the one's I have seen on this site. </p>
<p>I would request some suggestion for planning the year ahead, some really good ways to improve my chances. And if it is possible to appear for various Olympiads, and qualify for IMO/IPO/IChO, after one has passed the 12th cbse.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance.
And best of luck, hope you gain admission to your target college(s).</p>
<p>I know that you qualify for IMO because you won't be in a college. But seriously, IMO is, well, IMO! People study for it since, at maximum, 13, 14 years old. Well, okay, it depends, I don't know how are the IMO teams prepared in India...</p>
<p>If you're good in Math, Math portion in SAT is a piece of cake. Problem begins with the English portion - buy a prep book and study, study, study. Practice a lot. No secrets here.</p>
<p>Colleges like to see one passion shine (you'll have to write essays for applications, and you'll have to show this passion through them). It really doesn't matter if you're a well-rounded person (I know, I know, life is unfair).</p>
<p>My situation very much the same. Few basics first:</p>
<ol>
<li>SAT is more popular than the ACT. I found the ACT easier since it doesn't involve much memorization.</li>
<li>Your boards are not a problem. I had an 85.2, you can more than compensate if your other stats are good.</li>
<li>If you need only 10,000 in finaid, then you should apply to places like Cornell and Stanford without aid and consider taking loans, since it'll boost your chances greatly, especially Cornell.</li>
<li>As far as ECs are concerned, just writing them down on paper isn't as good as presenting them really passionately.</li>
<li>I dont think you'll be eligible for Olympiads this year, since its through the RMO, but I'm not sure. Consider independent research.</li>
</ol>
<p>Feel free to shoot any more questions you may have</p>
<p>well, can you elaborate on that one particular passion! and presentation...
As I have a whole year at my disposal, any great ideas which would be great for admission, like being passionate about charity and social service is good ???? please give me some ideas.. which I can use and prepare a good application.</p>
<p>And as far as IMO is concerned, there are others too, I know IMO is tough but I guess with some effort and professional training I can have a shot at IPO , ICHo or at least make it to the regionals and national. </p>
<p>When should I take the ACT or SAT like when is the next exam date. Any other things I can polish in the coming year.?? And I can be frank that I would follow the Ideas even if I am not passionate about them, for the sake of a good application, which I see is fair as most Americans do them for college admission. </p>
<p>Looking forward from advice from students who took gap years and got 'in'.</p>
<p>Umm well.... abhinav it would be really nice of you if you could reply back here only, my parents are impossibly strict, and this ain't my system.. So don't have either. Sorry for the trouble. </p>
<p>I really need help, please give me some suggestions.</p>
<p>By passionate, I mean you should find one thing you do best, and center your application around it. Cant say much more there because only you know what you do best.</p>
<p>I used to work with one of these offices in Latin America, and in my experience the staff and counselors there really know their stuff. </p>
<p>One problem you have is that right now you are only listing very famous, very competitive, very hard to get into universities. You need a broader list that includes some smaller schools that have good departments in math, and some public universities.</p>