Can someone evaluate my ECs?

International Students
1

<p>Well, to introduce myself:</p>

<p>Applying for Fall 2015.</p>

<p>Country: India</p>

<p>Ethnicity; South Asian</p>

<p>Parent 1: Masters,Scientist
Parent 2:Masters, previously History prof.</p>

<p>Languages Spoken: Fluent in 7, teaching myself Russian.</p>

<p>Income : 30,000 $/yr.</p>

<p>SAT Score : (taking it this week)</p>

<p>Applying for financial aid: YES! (Gotta get generous aid to pursue my Bachelors' in US)</p>

<p>Intended Major: CS/ Engineering</p>

<p>Where and all I am planning to apply: Princeton,Yale,Dartmouth,Drexel,Wooster,Harvey Mudd,Cornell,Columbia,UChicago</p>

<p>Regarding my School : Well,it's a really plush school in the provincial capital where ONLY the children of employees working in the Indian Space Research Organization can study.</p>

<p>Class Rank :1/40 (Yes,the total number of seniors is 40 in my school)</p>

<p>GPA (till now) (UW) :3.9</p>

<p>GPA Weighted : not known</p>

<p>Course Load:</p>

<p>10th grade:</p>

<p>Math :Trigonometry Specialization; I was able to solve Govorov.
Physics: Electromagnetics Specialization
Foreign Language: Hindi</p>

<p>GPA : Perfect 10.0, National Examination (I was a double 10.0 in my 9th and 10th National Board Examinations)</p>

<p>11th</p>

<p>Math:Calculus,Trigonometry,Algebra
Physics: Mechanics
Chemistry: The same curriculum followed everywhere.</p>

<p>Interests: Computer Science,Aerospace,Foreign Languages,History</p>

<p>ECs</p>

<p>*School Head Boy for the past two years (Grades 11 and 12)
*Member of the prefects' council since grade six
*House Captain for the past two years</p>

<p>*Runner-up at the Indian National Aerolympics (formerly the Indian National Aerospace Olympiad), conducted by ISRO (Indian equivalent of NASA)
*Participant of IIST@Schools Provincial Level Camp (IIST is the top most Aerospace Engineering Institute in India)
*Winner of IIST GIS Day Quiz (GIS: Geographic Information Systems)
*Provincial Finalist at Aqua Regia (National level Science quiz)
*Provincial and youngest-till-date finalist at Hindu Youngworld Quiz (I did the feat in grade six, something never repeated till now)
*Runner up at World Space Week- ISRO Water Rocket Launching Competition
*Have been a quizmaster for lower grades for 4 years
*Member of quiz club since grade 3 (you get selected to clubs only in grade six)
*Recipient of a HDFC Bank Meritus Scholarship
*Participated in a Defence Service Debate
*School Debating Champion since grade 8
*Essayist; Have stood first in World Space Week essay competitions
*School Soccer team Goalkeeper
*Have got access to all of ISRO's rocketry facilities in my city
*Have got the opportunity to have met and talked to the greatest Indian Scientists in the field of Aerospace
*Member of a Community
*I donate regularly to UNICEF, esp. during Typhoon Haiyan
*Students' Academic Mentor
*Served in the National Cadet Corps
*School Elocution Champion
*ISRO Hindi familiarization award for best essay in Hindi (I was the first non-Hindi speaker to win this)</p>

<p>Well, if anyone could just go through this, please do leave a comment, and firstly,please help me in deciding my major.I am confused b/w Aero. and CS. I am fluent in C++,XML,Python but many of my ECs are inclined to Aerospace.</p>

<p>Please do drop your suggestions</p>

<p>Best,
Arvind</p>

2

<p>

That’s an easy one. Since none of the universities on your list does aerospace engineering, you are only left with CS. I assume that’s the major you are really interested in?</p>

<p>

Wow. How did you get fluent in 7 different languages? I had a hard time reaching fluency in just a single foreign language! Took me several years of livig in the US before I got through life without scrambling for words…</p>

3

<p>But as a general piece of advice, do your research before you decide to apply for a major other than the one you intend to study. It may not be possible to switch to your preferred major after you enroll and you don’t want to get stuck with a major you didn’t intend. (As a rule of thumb, it’s usually easy to switch to the liberal arts. E.g. from engineering to physics or history. It’s often tricky or impossible to switch between engineering specialties though.)</p>

4

<p>I guess there is MechE.+Aerospace at Princeton</p>

5

<p>I didn’t realize that India had a big Aerospace program. US citizens only for aerospace companies.</p>

6

<p>Sorry, forgot to add: US citizens for aerospace companies in US. Reason: Aerospace is typically funded by the US government grants. Government grants =US citizens. Unless India has a big aerospace program? I don’t know. I know that hubby participates in a number of grants in US aerospace and can only hire US citizens who can get through security clearances.<br>
Research your major.</p>

7

<p>I think you can work for Space X with clearance but it’s a sweat shop from what I’ve heard. I didn’t see you list Caltech, USC, Purdue, UofM, etc… for Aerospace program.</p>