Nationality: Indian
Country of Residence: India
Catch: Aid Applicant
COLLEGES I’M APPLYING TO:
-Caltech
-MIT
-Stanford
-Harvard
-Princeton
-Cornell
-Yale
-Georgia Tech
-UC Berkeley
-University of Washington Seattle
-University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
-UT Austin
Intended Major: Computer Science (+ Math / Astronomy if available)
SCORES:-
9th Grade: 9.8/10
10th Grade: 9.6/10
11th Grade: 85% (Terrible grade deflation. Explained on transcript)
Class Rank: Always in top 5-10%
Class size: ~200
SAT I: 2370 (800M, 800CR,770W) Single sitting. Retaking in October for a shot at 2400.
SAT II: N/A Taking in November / December
AP Physics C E&M: 5 (Self studied)
AP Chemistry: 5 (Self studied)
Took a few MOOC courses on edX and Coursera with an Honor certificate (I’m not sure if they count, though)
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES:
Authored 3 research papers in international journals (two of them are on machine learning, one on statistical mechanics. Expecting two to be published by Oct/Nov and the third one by January 16). Quite possibly third/fourth author on another relatively high impact to-be-published paper.
Founder and president of the school's computer club, and led them while hosting a large inter-school technology contest.
President of the school's quizzing club
Regularly took part in science fairs and olympiads throughout high school
Community Service: Founding member and Chief Operating Officer at a nonprofit organization that helps those in need by connecting ecommerce and charity, Teach India 2014 volunteer
Won quite a few regional, national, and international level competitions explained below
Competitive Programming on CodeChef, Topcoder etc.
Minor extracurriculars: Avid solver of cryptic crosswords (won a few competitions), published poet and some other stuff in programming.
HONORS/AWARDS:
Google Science Fair 2015 Regional Finalist
Won about 40 regional and national level quiz competitions including large ones like Hindustan Times Inquizitive etc.
CBSE Science Exhibition National Finalist in 2013 and 2014 (for different projects)
Qualified the Zonal Computing Olympiad in 2015
Won other inter-school competitions like CBSE Cryptic Crossword Contest.
EMPLOYMENT:
Not exactly an employment but currently working as a part-time remote intern in the Advanced Research Group at a large tech company (Started September 2015)
Recommendations: Should be excellent. I might also get one from the CEO of a large tech company for some work I did.
Essays: I’m still working on most, but they should be decent.
Additional Information:
Now quite a few people have told me that with my stats, I have a decent shot at a few places I’m applying to, but I’m incredibly anxious because I cannot afford college in the US without aid, and I believe an international applicant requiring aid is quite possibly the last thing colleges want to see, especially because I don’t have any hook like an Olympiad medal.
I’m almost on the verge of abandoning this whole effort and trying for college in India, and possibly some non-Ivy colleges in the US which might grant aid. So I’d be grateful if you could tell me if I have a real chance at any of the places I’m thinking of applying to AND get financial aid.
You are well qualified for the top schools, but admissions to the private schools on your list is like a lottery. I don’t know if any of the public schools on your list (Georgia Tech, UC Berkeley, University of Washington Seattle, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and UT Austin) have aid for internationals. Make sure that they do before applying.
Certainly apply to the privates, but also apply to some less selective ones that grant aid.
Just a note: retaking the SAT will be a waste of money and 3 hours. I can guarantee you that absolutely no school will reject you based on your current SAT score.
If you have money, anything is possible. If you don’t have money, going to those top schools may be tough because many of them (like public schools) don’t offer FA. You would be paying a TON of money.
I would say that you have a good shot at Princeton, provided you write your essays well. You will definitely get an interview with MIT (after that, everything is up to the adcom). I’d say that your chances are the weakest at Caltech, UC Berkeley and the other state schools because of the aid factor.
I 2nd the SAT statements. Schools won’t discriminate between a 2400 and a 2370. Some of the schools you list do award financial aid to international students. I’m not sure what saladass is basing the statement about Princeton and MIT on. You are a strong candidate for each of the schools you list. You have stiff competition because the number of slots are more limited for international students. I’d advise you to apply in India as well-and to include some safeties in your list.
It’s ironic that @saladass’ Chance thread title has the words “with 0 knowledge of how things work” yet they freely give advice as though they have some special insight as to what goes on at Princeton, MIT, Caltech, etc.
Thanks a lot for replying!
I know that the UCs and most other public universities do not provide need based financial aid to internationals, but there are quite a few merit based scholarships at those schools (which my counselor told me about), so I decided to apply to those. Am I making a mistake by applying to public schools and hoping for a merit based scholarship, instead of schools which definitely provide need based aid to internationals?
I dropped Georgia Tech from the list, because it doesn’t offer either. So thanks for the advice!
@diyAuror Yes, that seems like it would be a mistake.
The applicant pool at Berkeley (and other top public schools, such as the University of Michigan) is strong enough that an international student’s chances of getting a merit scholarship (if you’re even eligible for those scholarships - some may be limited to US citizens) are virtually nil. Relying on a merit scholarship from UCB to fund your college education is a dicey proposition at best.
I’ve already registered for the SAT Reasoning Test in October, so I guess I can’t do much about it now as the test is on the 3rd, except try and score a 2400 this time.
How are the following schools as safeties?
-Rice University
-Emory University
I’m having a hard time scouring for safeties in my intended major, so it would be great if you could offer some suggestions.
Safeties are schools that you could easily be admitted, be given aid, and those which you wouldn’t mind attending. I don’t see any on your list.
You seem to be adding schools that are really difficult to gain admission. Plus, you need financial aid as an international candidate, so that doesn’t help.
You need to find schools in the Midwest and south where they need diverse student bodies.
