<p>Hi, i am a student from Bangalore India. Let me get straight down to biz.
SAT1 - 2170,
SAT2 - 800 -Math2, 800 -Physics</p>
<p>GPA -3.8 UW</p>
<p>EC:
Gold medalist at IRIS science fair. Largest in India.
Finalist at ISEF. A good chance at Second prize for CS.
Won the best project from state from the government of Karnataka.
Provisional patent for an airplane design. Working on it.</p>
<p>Definetely a brilliant essay in mind.
Also, since i may win something at ISEF will this compensate not having an Olympiad medal? Looking at MIT Too.</p>
<p>Here's my List
Cornell
MIT
Harvard
Yale
UPenn
UChicago
Northeastern U
Dartsmouth
Brown
Drexel</p>
<p>Also im applying for financial aid. So what are my chance for the Ratan Tata scholarship?</p>
<p>It’s Dartmouth not Dartsmouth, Overall, you have a pretty good chance at all the colleges. Try applying ED at Dartmouth and you’ll chances will increase dramatically, Dartmouth is need blind to intls, so fin aid will not be a problem. Here’s my opinion
Reach - MIT, Harvard (both very high reaches, mainly due to SATs)
Match/Core - rest of the others
Safeties - None, try adding a few safeties so that you’ll be guaranteed admissions somewhere if the above colleges don’t work out.
Also, It’f be real helpful if you could provide SAT I breakdown.</p>
<p>Thats a weak list.
I would suggest adding only 2-3 universities of this list.
Like UChicago, Dartmouth and MIT - they are very tough to get in (irrespective of scores- I know people who have been rejected from MIT with 2400).
Couple these universities with a few good universities with higher acceptance rates- UMich, UIUC, UNC Chapel Hill, NYU, UCLA
And add a few universities as safeties- OSU, MSU, SMU, Drexel, Rutgers
Best of Luck!
You have a great chance.</p>
<p>@abhi30196 I never said that scores mean everything, but they should lie inside the college’s median or else you’ll need to have something extraordinary to sway the decisions in your favor, and the guy rejected from MIT with 2400 is a perfect example of why scores alone don’t matter. What you should know is that no factor alone matters, I also know a guy who designed a nuclear reactor with readily available tools in his garage and was still rejected from MIT. Now this too, is a perfect example of why extra curriculars alone don’t matter. Note that Abhishek needs fin aid, so stop suggesting him public schools, they won’t give out a dime of aid to intls. @AbhishekM1997, you list is good, just add a few safeties (no more than 3) which you’d really like to attend and you’re done. I’d recommend a t15-25 LAC.</p>
<p>Thanks @Duck007, thing is i can get a 2250, as i had little preparation (did not know essay format at all). My friends say i have good Awards/Honours so i am hopeful to get into Harvard. From my country besides, Olympiads im not sure which other awards/honours i could get. IRIS is the largest science fair in India and ISEF is the largest in the world. But im sure i have to do more.</p>
<p>I was thinking about University Of Illionois UC, Amherst and Williams. Whatchya say?</p>
<p>Abhishek, you really confuse me, your choices are erratic. On on side you have U of Illinois and on the other you’ve Amherst and Williams?? Did you just just pull off Amherst and Williams from the top of the rankings or did you research them? My advice
Don’t get your hopes you about Harvard solely based on your friend’s opinion or anything else. Harvard and MIT are the only two schools that are out-of-bounds even for the top students. Offers are generally given to top scholars/artists/activists… whatever from their respective countries.
Look a little deep into colleges, and try looking beyond rankings and prestige. Know that there isn’t any substantial difference between rank # 8 and rank #20 as per US news and world report rankings or any other rankings. For e.g. You can get the same quality of education at MIT and Caltech or Amherst and Colgate.
Look a little deeper into the LACs. If you’re a typical Indian, you’ll need a little time to adjust at big unis, LACs are perfect for almost anyone with undivided one on one attention, small sizes, real professors not TAs etc. You even have your own academic adviser which guides you closely as you select your career. A LAC is perfect for everyone who’s not decided on a particular major, moreover there are 3-2 programs for engineering students too.
Now coming back to IRIS and ISEF, I know what they are and sadly they’re not enough. Remember that you’ll have to explain your contribution to the project if you want to leverage it, were you an individual participant or a team participant? Many applicants have been rejected from schools like Duke (let alone Harvard/MIT) who were finalists and patented what they designed and even had offers from industrial companies to commercialize it into a product etc.<br>
Finally, try to identify college personalities and whether you’ll fit there or not, instead of rankings. I hated Harvard and Williams, both at the top of their respective rankings, so i didn’t apply there ~ as simple as that. Read Fiske Guide to colleges to get a brief idea of the college you’re considering.</p>
<p>I understand that, @Duck007, i was an individual participant without any mentor nor any support. I have been researching since 9th (but im sure so are thousands of others out there).</p>
<p>It’s completely understandable that you think i’m just another student who searched for “top colleges”. Thing is i know the culture at most of these schools. I fell in love with Harvard, because of my uncle, whom i admire very much (“Harvard PHD”).
A couple of the colleges, i was suggested by people who were selected. The main reason i am applying to the US is not for what they teach, but the work ethics/mentality. Here in India, i will be one more among the rat race aiming to get a nice job. In the US i have a head start at entrepreneurship </p>
<p>I’m not sure what you mean by ‘typical indian’, but i think i got your drift. I don’t mind any college as long as i have a modest career after, and the college has a strong entreprenurship fervour. I am not ‘typical indian’ </p>
<p>Finally, while i do realise how difficult it is to get in. What do they look for? A passion? A craziness to change the world.</p>
<p>By typical Indian, I meant an Indian who’s raised traditionally and attended a CBSE/ICSE school with different marking and grading systems. I meant nothing about the outlook or mentality about the Indian people. Most Indians find themselves struggling at bigger Universities, almost no idea what to do and which courses to take, a small LAC is perfect. It’s nice that you want to follow your uncle, then again, a Harvard Phd is different from a Harvard BA or BS. Harvard University has 11 schools/colleges, only one is dedicated to offering bachelor’s degree. Harvard boasts about its world class faculty but most undergraduate classes are taught by TAs, not professors. Schools like Harvard and Columbia are research powerhouses, with little focus on undergraduate education. The professors have a so called “I’ll not waste my time with undergraduates” mentality.
I’m sorry you felt offended by my typical Indian comment, but I meant something else. So loving Harvard for graduate studies is different from loving Harvard for Undergraduate studies. There’s no factor that guarntees admission, but you can maximise you chances by
being an “A” average student
scoring in median range of school’s SAT/ACT, better if 50 or more points above the median
positioning yourself well (by extra curriculars, SAT IIs etc.)
having a hook
writing a memorable essay
having great recommendations (although it’s mostly out of your control, so focus on top 5 points).
What did you present at the ISEF? Airplane design, which you’re working to get patented?</p>
<p>Nope. That was last year. I have developed a Data compression algorithm. I got a hook. Programming. Wbu? Where you headed? Also i was wondering what % i would need to get in. In my school, highest is 88% in grade 11. I got around 85%, in mid term. Howvever i can get >95% in my finals. Do they only want finals or do they want mids too. Plus i got only 9.4 cgpa in 10th i can justify why. Does the upward trend matter for International students?</p>
<p>They want each and every academic record from 9th through 12th i.e. a total of 8 report cards and 2 boards scores. But you have to send the 12th internal final result and boards results after accepting the decision, they don’t matter as much, only as a proof that you’ve graduated high school. Let me tell you something - you have a position (a position is quite literally, well… a position), but how you appeal that position is a “hook”. Programming is a position because there will be a lot of programmers applying and you’ll be competing against them (not against arts/social science majors), the adcoms will define you as the guy who developed a data compression algorithm. How you got interested in programming, what have you been doing with it (like use it for public welfare etc) is your hook. Upward trend matters for everyone. I’m not headed anywhere, I applied to Deep Springs but was rejected. I’ve taken a gap year to blow off some steam and am currently preparing for a few Cambridge A levels and will be reapplying this year for the class of 2019. First choice is Thayer school of Engineering or Yale.</p>
</p>