<p>Hello! </p>
<p>Tl;dr
I am currently taking a gap year and will be applying as a freshman to american colleges. I sincerely apologize for the long post but I would like the people advising me to get the same picture that the admission committees will thereby giving me a fair idea of where I stand.</p>
<p>I completed high school in May earlier this year. I am not satisfied with the colleges that I made this year so I am taking a gap year. I will be applying ED to Cornell. Here's my stats profile followed by my gap year activities, and tentative College list. </p>
<p>Standardized testing-</p>
<p>SAT I- 2 Attempts so far. July '12- 1910 (M-720, CR-610, W-580 (essay-8))
Oct '12- 2150 (M-780, CR-670, W-700(essay-10))
Taking it for the third time in October later this year.</p>
<p>SAT II- Physics- 790
Math II- 800</p>
<p>APs- 1) Physics C- E & M (5/5)
2) Physics B (5/5)
3) Chemistry (5/5)
4) Computer Science A (5/5)
5) Calculus BC (5/5)</p>
<p>High school- </p>
<p>I graduated from a renowned school in East India. I had taken up the study of Science with Computer science in the 11th and 12th Grade. We don't follow the GPA system here. Instead, the final term report comprises a weighted average of the midterm and final term examination scores for each subject each year. I have scored 90+ in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Computer Science each year. My scores have always been at least 20 points above the class average. I rank in the top 1% of my class. In the 11th and 12th Grade, I scored 95+ in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Computer Science both the years. I have had a fairly consistent academic record showing a gradual increase from the 9th to 12th grade. </p>
<p>We also have two public examinations (the Indian equivalent of the GCSE and GCE) that students must take at the end of the 10th and 12th grade respectively. </p>
<p>ICSE (GCSE equivalant)- 96.8% overall (Average of the top 5/7 subject scores)
ISC (GCE equivalent)- 97% (Average of the top 4/5 subject scores)</p>
<p>Gap year activities-
1) I am working with an NGO and helping them create a Database of Blood Donors. This is part of a drive to spread the awareness of Blood Donation among the people of this country.
2) I am working on creating a start up that spreads free online education. It's a small step towards a larger goal of spreading free education to people who do not have access to good schooling or any schooling at all.
3) I am also taking numerous online courses from Coursera instead of taking classes at a community college because I do not want to go through all the intro classes all over again. I would like to learn something new this year.
4) I am working on quite a few Computer Science Projects and uploading the same to my GitHub account.</p>
<p>College List (note I want to major in Computer science (and Math if possible))-</p>
<p>Cornell (ED)
Colgate
Harvard, Princeton (Because they are need blind. I know I don't stand much of a chance here.)
Vanderbilt
Earlham
Wesleyan College
Brown
Hamilton college
Skidmore
Olin college of Engineering
Rose-Hullman </p>
<p>Again, I apologize for this long post. Please feel free to critique on my chances at the said colleges, and drop any suggestions or advice that you feel would be helpful. Thank you.</p>