Hi I am an international student from kashmir, India and I want to study in Harvard. I am in class 12 right now and right now looking at my options for further study, My grades for class 9: 96% , 10: 91% , 11: 94% ( these are mid terms ) , for finals 9:95% , 10: 91% , 11: 93%. My SAT scores is 1590 , SAT Sujects physics is 800 and math II is 800 as well. Toefl is 115 . My extracurricular include being part of the school basketball varsity team for 4 years , swimming varsity team for 4 years , water polo team , from my school only a few boys get selected for 15 mile swim , I’ve been completing the swim since the past 4 years and always stood stood in the first 5. I am a PSP ( pupil support pupil),teacher at my school, I’ve ran cross country runs for my school. I’ve been the class helper as in 9 and 11 and department captain in class10 and 12. I am a member of the swimming club whose main aim is to teach younger kids swimming. But my real passion lies in computer science, I’ve been a member and leader of the code club at my school. I have helped in the development and maintenance of the school newspaper as well as taught coding at my school. To various classes. I have been a web developer for the past 3 years developed websites for quite a people. For all these I have cerficates and proofs. I just wanted to know that do I have a chance of getting into Harvard or Stanford or any ivy for that matter. Right now I am open to a lot of choices but I want to make the right choice for myself. So please help , so that I can concentrate on 1 option only.
The only people who can answer your question with certainty are on the Harvard admission committee.
So you’d need to apply then wait for their decision.
For 2014-15, 187 non-resident aliens entered Harvard College as first year students.That’s an average of about 1 per country. Some countries (including India and China) send more. A figure I’ve seen for MIT is “5-6” students from India per year (https://www.quora.com/How-many-students-from-India-are-admitted-to-MIT-each-year). Note this statement: “Most of them are medal holders at international [Science] Olympiads.” I suspect that many Indians admitted to Harvard also have won major awards or distinctions at national or international levels.
I’d say your chances are quite low (probably much less than 1 in 10) just because Harvard gets so many outstanding applicants from India and other Asian countries. It would be a poor strategy to “concentrate on 1 option only”. Instead, build a balanced reach-match-safety list, taking into account the net costs as well as admission selectivity.
If you need a large amount of financial aid, then your most realistic chances may include some of the schools on the following lists:
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
You’d need to verify in each case that the listed scholarships are available to internationals.
Why do you want to go to Harvard, Stanford or “other Ivy” (Stanford is not an Ivy!)? Chances are these are the only schools you know about and in some cultures, appear to be the only options for application. However, if you want to study in the U.S., there are many many great colleges and universities so I think you should educate yourself on them. And for computer science specifically there are many great options, including some great state university programs.