Chance an Indian please.!!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
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<p>Chance an Indian please.!!!!!!
Hello everyone. I just got my SAT-1 scores today so am putting myself up on CC and please please chance me.I know its very very tough to get through but please take a look.My credentials are as follows :-</p>

<p>SAT - I : CR 660, Math 800, Writing 730 = 2190/2400.
SAT - II : Lit. 610, Math Level I 770, Math Level II 780.</p>

<p>Rank - 9th Grade - 2/245
10th Grade - 1/245
11th Grade - 1/245
12th Grade - 1/245</p>

<p>GPA - 4.0 on a 4.0 scale (all 4 years).</p>

<p>No AP or IB offered in my school. Most rigorous curriculum taken.</p>

<p>Awards:
- Awarded the Certificate of Highest Merit by the Central Board of Secondary Education for
securing Highest in English in India.
- Winner - All India Reynolds Scholarship for Best All-Rounder.
- Awarded the Certificate Of Honour for All-Round Excellence and Achievement at The
Telegraph School Awards.
- Awarded the SP Banerjee Badge for Excellence for Best All-Rounder.
- Awarded the Best Student of the Year Award by Lions Club International.
- Awarded the Best Student Award by Parivar Milan Foundation.
- Awarded the Highest Merit for Academic Excellence by Vidya Mandir Society.
- Winner - Silver Medal,University of New South Wales English Examination.
- Awarded the ‘Star of Odyssey Award’at Odyssey 2008 for Best Overall Performer.
- Bronze Awardee - Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.
- 2nd Runner-Up - Spelling Olympiad.</p>

<p>Leadership:
- Student Council President
- School Head Boy
- School Representative
- Quiz Bowl Captain, Debate Team Captain, Music Team Captain, School Mag. Editor</p>

<p>ECs:
Music - Won 15-20 rock band competitions. Founder and guitarist of a professional rock
band which plays all over the country.</p>

<p>Quiz - Won around 10 quiz bowls and reached the finals of the All Asia
Bournvita Quiz Contest.</p>

<p>Debate - Won a few debates, School Speaker,School Representative at Model UN</p>

<p>Creative Writing - School Magazine Co-editor, won some prestigious All India Writing
Contests.</p>

<p>Sports - Member of Varsity Athletics, Football(soccer) teams</p>

<p>Essays - decent
Teacher reco. - Outstanding
Counselor reco. - Great
Principal reco. - superb (seen all of the above)</p>

<p>PLease please chance me for Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Duke, UChicago, UPenn, Northwestern, Columbia, and Brown.</p>

<p>I know its highly difficult for me to get in, but I'd really appreciate any honest comments. Should i even hope to get in.?</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

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<p>and i forgot to add my TOEFL scores - 114/120..</p>

<p>Please chance everyone..muchas gracias</p>

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<p>Your academics.. nice GPA, rank, SATs are pretty safe too. I don't think Columbia considers SAT Math Level 1 and Level 2 as two separate SAT subject tests, that would seem a bit stupid... which means they'd count your lit score, which is a bit low. BUT in my opinion, literature is too dam subjective to turn into a standardized test so honestly, I don't see it as a big deal. Besides, the rest of your academics make up for it.</p>

<p>ECs... very nice. I can't say that your lacking anywhere, other than try not to make yourself out as having a laundry list (they don't like that), I think they want to see a range of ECs but at the same time that you are tuned in to certain areas in particular. </p>

<p>You seem to have lots of awards, which is good but how meaningful are they? Are they school awards or are they nationally recognized?</p>

<p>I'm not going to chance you for ALL 10ish schools you listed... but I'd say your chances for Columbia (and similar tier schools) are good.</p>

<p>You have the academics and the ECs... but so do thousands of other applicants. I think its luck. My friend thinks they pick a lottery. Who knows?</p>

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<p>^^^^ thanks.
ya, i also believe it hugely depends on where you are destined to go to keeping in mind the huge huge number of similar and better-qualified students who apply to these schools..as for the awards, most of them are nationally recognized and a couple are state-level. thanks anyways</p>

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<p>bump bump bump</p>

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<p>You have good chance, but they're a lot rougher on international students.</p>

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<p>@ wb555 : that's true..also am asking for aid so that will make it even more difficult..</p>

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<p>"but they're a lot rougher on international students."</p>

<p>This is BS. </p>

<p>Vandit: you've got solid credentials, I think you've got a good chance. Hopefully your essays and recs were solid. And don't stress too much about the financial aid thing. I know they're not need blind to internationals, but if they do decide to take you, your profile seems strong enough that it'll hopefully override the fiscal conservatism that hitting all colleges right now.</p>

<p>I see you've applied to all the top schools--good luck! :)</p>

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<p>"This is BS."</p>

<p>It's not BS, you're just uninformed.</p>

<p>The international applicant pool is almost always more competitive, and a lot of the time the admissions rate is almost half (and sometimes less than half) of the admissions rate of US students.</p>

<p>Go look up the admissions stats of any top US college. MIT for 2008 accepted 11% of its regular US applicants, while accepting less than 4% of its international student applicants.</p>

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<p>@ cerberus: thanks..my essays are decent but i honestly felt my recs.were outstanding..can pm one to you if u want.?</p>

<p>@ wb555: u r right..it's very very competitive especially for ORMs'..</p>

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<p>"but they're a lot rougher on international students."</p>

<p>Yeah I would agree with this by and large, I remember looking at some top schools who published the international admissions rate and it was lower than overall. That being said certain international kids from obscure countries will get in very easily because they bring diversity and might be the only person from their country in their year / undergrad population. No such luck coming from India, it's pretty brutal, Cerb has interviewed kids, given them good recs and even though they had strong credentials they were rejected / deferred ED. So you definitely have a shot, but don't count on it, because Columbia probably takes like ~5 kids directly from India each year and ~6 Indian passport holders from outside India each year.</p>

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<p>^ ya,i know how tough it is for an Indian to get into the Ivies especially with the brutal competition one faces from his own countrymen..basically, my thread states whether i should "even hope to get in"..my recs are like really stellar so i am hoping they will be push my case a bit far..thank you..</p>

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<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/563100-could-you-chance-me-please.html#post1061003108%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/563100-could-you-chance-me-please.html#post1061003108&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>How have your SAT scores been magically reduced from one thread to another? Weird. I hope you're not one of those sickeningly competitive and desperate individuals that seem to inhabit College Confidential in throngs, that have to blatantly lie about their statistics to make an obvious impression. I don't know which version to believe, but if either is glib, I doubt your chances. What is it with people's fascination of getting approval from others on the basis of fabricated or inaccurate details? It's not even these "significant" others that have to take the decision that ACTUALLY gets you into college, and lying with the ones that do is a HUGE deal.</p>

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<p>oh, i am so sorry but my younger brother posted that much before i even got my SAT-1 scores so its really sickening,ya..it is 2190/2400,not 2320 though i would have loved to have that..</p>

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<p>my two cents: they're trying to increase the number of Indian passport holders from the undergraduate schools, although that'll help marginally if at all. The competition is still pretty intense, though, even within the region.</p>

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<p>I think people on the Columbia forums chance way too leniently. Considering that Columbia on accepts about 9-10% of people who apply, what makes you stand out? You have no APs or IBs, when others apply with 5-10 AP/IB. (International student or no)</p>

<p>I do think that your extracurriculars greatly help, but you have to understand that Ivies like Columbia, Harvard, and Yale are academic institutions. Which means that academics comes before others (Unless you're recruited for sports or something)</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Considering that Columbia on accepts about 9-10% of people who apply, what makes you stand out? You have no APs or IBs, when others apply with 5-10 AP/IB. (International student or no)

[/quote]
</p>

<p>firstly, there is self-selection, most kids that post on CC for whatever reason tend to have a higher rate of acceptance than chance would tell you. I'd say 20-30% of people who post on here get in.</p>

<p>Secondly and more important you absolutely do not need to be from a specific school system to get in. IBs and AP are not a requirement by any stretch, only the SAT is a requirement and 2190 is competitive enough. The Indian school system is pretty competitive and doing really well in their exams, says you are a top student just as much as doing really well in the IB/AP does. </p>

<p>Academically Vandit seems strong, as does he extra-curricularly. He might not get in, but Columbia would probably take ~1/2 or 1/3 people like him rather than their usual 1/10. If he's written great essays and has good recs he can easily get in.</p>

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<p>@ sadface : AP/IB is not offered in the majority of schools here and my school is one of them..we have a very different secondary education system functioning here where we have a Central Board of Secondary Education which comes under the purview of the Education Ministry of the Central Government of India..this Board decides the syllabi,books,etc.and conducts nation-wide certificate examinations for grade 10 and 12 students which one has to succeed at to be declared as one who has finished his secondary schooling..in fact,i am currently taking my Grade XII school leaving Board Exam..i took the most rigorous course selection available in my school and have consistently excelled at my academics..i don't think i could have done anymore on the school academic section..thanks</p>

<p>@ confidentialcoll : thank you so much..you really boosted my confidence..hope to get at least one favorable decision out of 11 schools i applied to..muchas gracias..</p>

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<p>what band are you in?</p>

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<p>it's called Nemesis..</p>