<p>Ok heres my story: My parents did not go through the admission process in America because they went to undergrad school in India, and some very misinformed people told me that 9th grade and 10th grade did not matter and that colleges only looked at 11th grade and 12th grade, so I totally screwed up 9th grade, and some of 10th grade which resulted in my GPA / Rank not being that good. However over the summer I met some people who actually knew what college adimssions was about and they told me all the information I needed to know, so I started focusing on school in 11th grade and did very well, and also plan on going above and beyond in 12th grade. Here are my stats, any advice is appreciated:</p>
<p>Colleges Im aiming for
Cornell - Early Decision
Brown
Carnegie Mellon
Penn State University
Boston University</p>
<p>Academics
SAT I (1st time): M: 600, CR: 540, W: 480
SAT I (2nd time): M: 640, CR: 560, W: 540
SAT I (3rd time): M: 770, CR: 720, W: 700
SAT II: Math II: 770, Physics: 750
GPA: 3.7 UW/ 4.0 W
Rank (Fails): 69/180
APs (Taken in freshman + junior + sophomore): AP Calculus AB: 5, AP Chemistry: 4, AP Physics B: 3
APs (Plan to take in senior year): AP Calculus BC, AP Physics C, AP Computer Science, AP Psycology - Plan to get 5's on all.</p>
<p>EC's
Junior Varsity Tennis - 1 year
Varsity Tennis - 2 years
ACM High School Programming Contest (3 years)
Math Club 1 year
Shadowed family member at local hospital</p>
<p>NOTE: I go to India every summer and have cultural experiences there so would I be able to put any of those in, and due to the fact that I go to India every summer I dont have much time to volunteer.</p>
<p>Well yeah, thats my resume. If I write a VERY GOOD essay and in that essay describe why I was so horrible freshman year and sophomore year, and that combined with colleges hopefully taking note of my upward trend in GPA/Standardized test scores, what are my chances at those schools listed above?</p>
<p>Congrats on bringing up your SAT test scores. That is a really nice increase from your first sitting. Be careful that your essay about what happened your first two years of HS does NOT sound like a sob story or an excuse. You could probably still write something about how you changed/learned as a person and a student with more discipline and focus. Don’t make it too broad-based and/or scattered. I’m not sure travelling each summer to see the family back home will effectively substitute for EC’s and community service in the states. It might have served you better to have gotten involved volunteering abroad, even if it was for a short duration. Aside from your tennis, you have a thin EC and non-existant CS resume-- and no leadership.</p>
<p>I think you have a shot at Penn State and BU because of your upward GPA trend and SAT scores. Your overall GPA will hurt your chances however, especially at BU. The other schools like CMU, Brown, and Cornell (ED) are high reaches. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>Decent test scores, but your weak rank/gpa and unimpressive ECs will push Cornell and Brown out of reach. You have a shot at the other schools, though.</p>
<p>Have a look at the common data sets, they will tell you much more than anyone here can. Cornell and Brown are out of reach. Given rank, a coach could not get you in as a URM impact athlete. CMU is unlikely and BU would only entertain you as a full pay who could hike their score average.</p>
<p>Colleges want kids who are self motivated and seek to do well for themselves, not because it will get them into college. Explaining you did poorly because you believed it would not count is not an excuse that will go over well. In fact, no excuses go over well.</p>
<p>Unfortunatly the ec’s are weak but the whole India thing (if you incorporate it real well into ur essay) should make up for that. But WOW, that sat increase is unreal. Awesome job, i would love to know how you managed such an imporvement.</p>
<p>Thankyou guys for your reviews
I guess I might try to incorporate my experiences in India into my essay, and maybe Ill just try to explain what happened in the ‘personal statement’ section instead of my essay.</p>
<p>I really really hope I can get into Cornell, its where I always wanted to go.</p>
