Hello everyone! I am an applicant from India. Since I do not have any counselor (in school or otherwise), could you chance me for Brown, UChicago , Yale and Columbia ?
SAT- 2320 (730-cr 800-m and 790-w in one sitting)
SAT Sub.- world history-740 math level2 -720 (retaking for 750 +)
GRADES- 10/10 CGPA in grades 9 and 10
94% in 11 Semester 1 and 92% in Semester 2
85% in 12 semester 1 ( alongwith a note about grade deflation in 12 and 95+% predicted scores)
rank- none
AP- Comparative Govt and Politics, Macroecon and Psych – all 5s
Academic honors
- first author of a research paper to be published in a national peer reviewed journal
- first author of a research paper presented at a national conference
- co-author of a paper in another peer- reviewed journal
- National Talent Search Exam - qualified State level with district rank 1
ECs
- Research work
economic behavior - financial risk and mood perception, investment behavior, identity crisis etc.
- Ward manager as a part of MC executive committee for a cleanliness drive
- managed 4 health camps, 1 blood donation camp and got 2 parks remodeled over the years
- School Prefect (highest student govt post)
- initiated a fortnightly letter exchange between students of my school and a school in Pakistan to harbor amity etc.
- State Level Athletics (did not win anything, though!)
- MUN and IR Club president
- placement coordinator for a charitable computer training center for underprivileged girls
- took weekly meditation and stress alleviation classes for kids, manager of the meditation center
- 2 unpaid internships… 1 at a national weekly magazine and another at a local daily.
Country- India
not asking for financial aid
recs- should be good
additional rec- mayor of the city
Reaches - those stats are not good enough even for US citizens.
Thanks for replying. Why of course they are reaches for anyone! So, do you mean to say that my SAT Subject tests are not good enough? Btw those percentages should not be considered gpa on a 100 point scale… My percentage just might be the highest in the entire school ( no official ranking in place)
There are too many high achieving international students applying from elite private schools in their home country and India is among the most competitive. What do you think your chances are at IIT ? I would suggest you have about the same chances to get accepted at an elite US school as you would at IIT which is low imho given the your peer applicant pool from India.
@Regulus7 IITs are basically engineering institutes. Engineering is not my field of interest. It is economics, psychology and allied social sciences.
Great application but international applicants are disadvantaged, best of luck but it’ll be a long shot!
You asked me why I felt your stats were not good enough? I suggest you to read the post by one of your own countryman today who is your direct competitor: “setsquareangle”
Even he will not have much of a chance to get in (I conditionally gave him a good chance!) or read someone’s chances from US “tomatox1” to see the caliber of your competitors for elit schools!
@Ambitious27 IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore and IIT Delhi all have top ranked global economics and business studies departments. There are some excellent schools in India, it would seem prudent to consider applying locally or considering other schools in the USA outside of the top 20 which are incredibly competitive. There are also excellent LAC with global leading economics faculty to consider as well.
The Ivy’s are a reach for everyone - scores and GPA are just one of the any factors they take into acct. And there are many high scoring candidates from India with a high GPA and have done all sorts of EC’s. Have you considered top state unis in the US? For example, University of Maryland (in Wash DC metro area) or Rutgers or many of the big state schools in the midwest (UIUC, Univ of MIchigan, Indiana University) ? All these universities offer an excellent, well rounded education in the humanities and social sciences. You can also look at liberal arts colleges, such as Claremont Colleges in California - but they’re pretty selective too. If your family can afford to send you to a university in the US, perhaps you can afford to hire a private counselor to help you navigate the choices. If your parents will only pay for the Ivy’s, well then that’s different.
@Regulus7 IIMs are postgraduate institutes (what they call graduate school in US!) . IIT economics programs are not considered top ranked. Besides, I am interested in pure economics and not business economics. Yes, will surely apply to LACs. Thanks for your input.
@mathprof63 Yes, I have applied to UMich EA and will surely apply to LACs. Fortunately no, my parents are not as ivy-struck as some others out there!!
LAC’s have more holistic admissions than most state universities, and so your essay(s) should be written in a way to stand out, especially if you are aiming for a non-STEM major. The top tier LAC’s are difficult as well for admission (they take a lot less students, for one thing). It may be worthwhile to hire someone (preferably a native English speaker) knowledgeable enough about the app process to read over your essays (but NOT write them for you). In the Internet age, I am sure there are some consultants available that can do this for a reasonable fee. There may be even some on this forum. (I am not one of them!) If I were you , I would push more apps to other big state universities. U of Mich is one of the most competitive state unis - almost at an Ivy level. Same for Berkeley, UCLA etc.
If you want to study in the US but have only reach schools on your list (for your stats, Univ of Michigan is a reach), then you may have to find some safeties within India.
'Twill be difficult, given your status as an international, but you should be proud of what you’ve accomplished in your own right - don’t be discourage if you don’t receive offers of admission, you’ll succeed wherever you end up.
Are you also looking at Canadian universities? They tend to be more stats-driven than US schools, and are usually more affordable. Your stats are high enough for consideration anywhere, but you belong to the most brutally competitive applicant pools (ie. Asians, especially Indians, applying from overseas). There simply aren’t enough slots to accommodate all the accomplished students trying to come here. If you really want to come to the US for college, you will need to cast a wider net. International applicants tend to concentrate on the globally-recognized, “brand-name” colleges, and overlook the scores of other excellent colleges and universities here. Since you won’t need financial aid, add Tulane, University of Miami, Syracuse, University of Pittsburgh, Temple, George Washington, American, Clemson, UCs outside of Berkeley and UCLA, and some first-rate liberal arts colleges like Davidson, Grinnell, and Claremont-McKenna.
Your chances are as good as anyone’s but you are an international student from India so you need to consider that your countrymen apply by the thousands.
Not majoring in CS will help, but you need to be aware that if you get into a US college for Economics/social sciences, you have to know that you will be returning to your country after graduation. If that is okay with you, then you should be good to go.
It is very difficult for non-residents to gain employment in the US. Laws have changed and immigration rules have tightened. Jobs are still difficult to get. Many employers are now posting that they will not sponsor non-citizens. It takes too much time and expense. Economics and the social sciences are very popular majors in the US so there are a lot of candidates for employment.
@woogzmama I agree with you on practicality of all schools you named except for Claremont McKenna which is very tough to get into!
Hello again!
Just for closure, I got into UChicago (EA), UMichigan (EA), and Tulane (EA - Presidential Scholar with 32k per annum merit aid). Will be headed to Chicago this fall. In retrospect, I think that even though a lot of competition does exist for the international applicants, it is a bit over-hyped. Thanks everyone for your suggestions!