<p>I'm doing my 1st IB year in a boarding school in India. Before this, I studied at another school till grade 10.Here's my bio-</p>
<p>-I'm gr8 at academics, especially in math.( got a 38 in my first assessment)
-I can solve the Rubik's cube within 40sec, and can also do the 4x4one, Also learning to solve it blindfolded.(special talent?)
-In my previous school, I've won many quizzes ranging from math 2 bio 2 general knowledge to computer science as well.
-I know C++ and in my previous school I won the first prize in a computer project competition i C++
-I suck at sports(I mean, im trying my best to do well, but no success till now!I' mworking hard on my badminton, but still the chances of me getting into the school team or whatevr are VERY slim). However, I did play basketball for my previous school for 2years.
-I did the Tabla(Indian percussion instrument) for a year. Also played in events a few times.
-I was Head Boy in my previous school.Trying for prefect in this school.
-I'm learning drums, hopefully will get better at them and perform some day.</p>
<p>As you can see, I'm kind of 'well lopsided'(?). My interest is in Finance/Econ. My chief aim is Harvard(yeah!) or some other Ivy. Also considering UChicago and NYU Stern. </p>
<p>What do you guys out there feel? What are my chances? Any improvements??</p>
<p>-I’m also in my school MUN(Model United Nations) team. I’m going to Beijng for the HarvardMUN in March.
-I can write in Arabic and am learning to write Cyrillic, Hebrew and probably Greek(Just a hobby!And no, i’m just learning the script, not the language).
-I can speak 2 regional languages other than English,+I’m learning German.</p>
<p>-I’m also in my school MUN(Model United Nations) team. I’m going to Beijng for the HarvardMUN in March.
-I can write in Arabic and am learning to write Cyrillic, Hebrew and probably Greek(Just a hobby!And no, i’m just learning the script, not the language).
-I can speak 2 regional languages other than English,+I’m learning German.</p>
<p>-class rank top 10% for sure.
-IB 38/42 in my first assessment, which roughly translates to a GPA of 3.6 out of 4 or a 4.5 out of 5.
-I topped the grade in math this time with no one close to me.
-my IB choices are Physics HL, Econ HL, Math HL, English SL, History SL and German SL.
-10th Grade percentile rank of 97(approx.) in my state.</p>
<p><em>EDIT</em></p>
<p>-I gave the PSAT in Oct. expecting results soon.
-I’m giving the SAT in Jan’12, but based onpractice tests, assume a score of 2100/2400 or 1450/1600</p>
<p>The Rubik’s Cube stuff is cool, but it won’t get you into college. Blindfolded solving is amazing. I’ve seen it done. You “simply” study the scrambled cube for about five minutes, put on the blindfold, solve it, and then bask in the adoration and amazement of the admiring throng. Trust me, if you do this in a public place it always draws a crowd.</p>
<p>Princeton has a Rubik’s Cube club, but it isn’t very active.</p>
<p>Cool as it is, you’re probably better off focusing on academics than cubing.</p>
<p>People don’t convert IB predicted grades to GPA. The colleges in US pretty much use your school grades along with the various scores to admit you while the predicted grades give them an indication of what your school thinks of you. In most cases, the history of admits from your school at different colleges is what will make a difference. So you should determine what schools you are applying to, if they admitted any students from your school in the past, and what it is that got those students in.</p>
<p>@texaspg yeah, actually i never thought about that. i’ll probably talk with my counselors about which universities accepted our students in the past. anyways, my main point here is that, is what i’m currently doing enough? or should i try and expand my ECs a bit more? i mean, the main reason i like the US over the UK is that they consider ur ECs and not only the grades, hence giving you a chance to have fun with your EC’s in college as well. i find uk to be a bit more geeky(no offense!). </p>
<p>in a nutshell- should i try my had at some sport? or should i just focus on the stuff that i’m doing right now?</p>
<p>Sports are for people who can be recruited based on the sport. So if you are not good at one already, it is a bit late to be trying out in 11th grade.</p>
<p>The things you need and seem to be lacking:</p>
<ol>
<li> work experience/research</li>
<li> service/volunteering</li>
<li>leadership roles in your current school</li>
</ol>
<p>1.you hit the nail here. actually i am thinking of doing a job next summer. i’ve even found out some ops so probably that’ll work out.
2.in my hometown, there are a lot of avenues for doing volunteer work and such. this school also offers some ops with local hospitals, oldage homes and the likes.
3.this is what i’m working on actually. head boy is beyond my reach right now as a potential candidate is already there. yet there are other avenues such as prefect etc. </p>
<p>based on this, which univ do you think could be a realistic goal for me in the US?basically im more research oriented and love financial analysis.</p>
<p>thanks a lot for all the support you guys are giving me here! you have no idea how much this counts for me!:)</p>
<p>To be honest, it’s not really about “should I pick up a sport or go do some volunteer work so that Harvard will accept me”; rather, the idea is that you pick a couple of things that you feel really passionate about and you excel in them. Maybe if you feel passionate about finances or economics or whatever it is that your original post said you were interested in - try getting an internship concerning one of these things. Or even office hours volunteering as someone’s secretary. Something along those lines. Ultimately, point is that you pick a couple of things, stick to them, and excel in them (as opposed to randomely doing a lot of things with the hopes that Harvard will accept you).</p>
<p>@questionsg thnx man, i’ll surely work on my grades @forver1 thanks a lot! this, i guess, should be my course now. just one more thing, out of curiosity- do you or any of you guys out there know about any competitive exams in economics, finance or the likes? in the US? or at the international level? that would help me a lot.
once again, thakns a lot for everyones help!</p>
<p>though harvard is my big dream(and many others’), from a realistic point of view its obvious that even with my ECs my chances are slim. still, i’m confident that by next year my academic track record shall improve greatly since im working hard on it. </p>
<p>obviously im not applying only to harvard. so here are some other univs which im thinking of-</p>
<p>Brown, Columbia, Chicago, Yale, Penn and Stanford are reach schools even if you have GREAT SCORES and GPA and VERY GOOD ECs.</p>
<p>It does not mean that you will not get into any of them. Those schools are so damn difficult to get in. You can boost your chances by applying ED to Brown, Columbia or Penn or EA to Chicago. (I dont believe Yale SCEA or Stanford REA boost your chances.)
I think you have good chances at NYU and great chances at BU.
Do your best and see what happens.</p>