Chance me for colleges listed.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

[International Appplicant planning to get an undergrad in Physics/Astrophysics]

Colleges:
MIT
Harvard
Yale
UChicago
Cornell
Caltech
Princeton

I gave SAT I just to see how much I get and I got really horrible scores. This time, I’ll make sure that I get 2170+ on SAT I and 720+ on Math II and Physics and a decent ACT score, let’s say 32.

Academics:
Till 8th grade-- straight As
9th-- 8.4/10 because it was a new school and I was like the “new” kid, had trouble adjusting.
10th-- 9/10
11th-- (expected) 8.2/10 (top 10% of my class)

Family background:
Middle class (or lower-middle, maybe). Annual income: about 3500$/year
VERY dysfunctional-- might be the reason for bad academic performance

Achievements [All of the things I did-- learning programming, video editing etc.-- were self taught]:
Placed 10th in my organization in Google Code in 2014
Will have published 2 Psychological Research papers
Selected in National Level Science Exhibition, will most probably come in top 10 or top 15
Came in top 5 in Regional Level Science Exhibition
3rd in Arts in Science Exhibition in 5th grade
In Cosmo Youth Festival, came second in the Science Exhibition
Attended 3 International Model United Nations’ conference
Organized over 5 MUNs in my school
Gold medal in school level IMO (2014)
Silver medal in school level NCO (2014)
[Got selected in both the Olympiads for the second level, awaiting results.]
Bronze medal in school level NCO (2013)
Silver medal in school level IEO (2013)
Participated in Aerobis in 8th grade
Have been programming for the past 2-3 years. Proficient in HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Python, PHP, Linux, jQuery, MySQL, MVC, AJAX, and will learn more along with iOS programming.
Created a few sties which have tutorials for various programming languages
Have re-designed mine and another school’s website, also created a small social networking site for my school.
Have about 26 MOOCs’ certificates in Physics, Math, Philosophy, Psychology etc. from edX, Coursera and Udacity.
Wrote a 9 page long article on how to improve the education system, some of the points are currently implemented in my school.
Have contributed in lots of open source projects in Github and will contribute more
Have been also playing Basketball and Cricket for the past 5-6 years (no special achievements, though)
Have a couple of blogs in which I post my views on various issues; not a typical blog in which you describe your daily life events
Have an experience of one or two years in video editing, also created an advertisement for HNLU’s cultural fest (a law school)
Been playing guitar for the past year
I also take OCW courses in my free time and watch TED talks
Have certificates of merit in ANCQ
Got Distinction in Computer Skills, Mathematics and English in IAIS (2013) (was in top 10% in my region)
Got Credit in Mathematics, Science and English in IAIS (2014) (was in top 12% - top 18% in my region)
Participated in a women’s rights seminar in school
Wrote a paper for Religious restrictions on women for some organization (sorry I can’t remember)
Also love to draw, paint and create gun models using paper mache (no special recognition)
Have got articles in the newspaper about me and my school for the Science Exhibition and MUNs

Letters of recommendation:
My principal sir, Senior coordinator and my Physics teacher love me-- say that I am VERY bright and will accomplish a lot in life (so the recommendations are not an issue).

So, chance me and also let me know what else I can do to improve my application, thanks a ton. :slight_smile:

2

Too many ec’s you can only list 10. Weed out all the SOF crap every uni knows it’s crap. And other Olympiads it’s a waste of one award mention. GPA is a bit low especially these days when every second CBSE applicant has a straight 10.0 and uni’s know how easy it is to get 10. Your financial status is not helping you. I cannot even say apply to some matches except these but they won’t give you the money you need to attend. Remove sports. Apply within India too is all I can say because putting all your hopes into these colleges can be a disaster.

3

Why Uchicago it does not have a great rep in STEM is it because they sent you invites over email. For that I should tell you they are sent to everyone and mean nothing.

4

I actually saw Uchicago’s rankings and was listed among the top 15 colleges by QS rankings. Also, are my chances really bad for these colleges? What about NUS or some other college which is in top 50s or 70s?

5

Also, about my financial conditions-- won’t it show the universities that I pursued whatever I loved to the highest extent without a good family background?

6

It is in the top 15 but it does not have an engineering department it is more for philosophical people with english majors :stuck_out_tongue: . NUS is possible if you get 96% in 12th along with an under 1 lac rank in JEE mains.

7

So, should I leave all of my ECs and focus on 12th and SATs and stuff?

8

Your financial situation would help but only at need blind uni’s 3 out of your current 8 are need blind. You should not really bother applying to the other 5 as they look for full pay in extremely competitive pools like India.

9

No SAT’s are required for NUS just great academics and a good competitive rank. Only state and national level sports are worth mentioning for NUS ec’s.

10

Okay, it is REALLY freaking me out right now. :disappointed: Will I get into a good college which may even be in top 60s or 80s?

11

Yes with determination you can pull a lot off. Hongkong is great NTU in singapore is great.

12

You can also try BITS.

13

And about ECs, should I stop doing everything and focus just in academics?

14

And no BITS, I really do not wanna do my undergrad in India for I really worked hard on my ECs and outside, there will be people who are all rounded rather than those who excel only in academics (which is very impressive, still, there needs to be a match).

15

Is it really that important to you to study in “THE BEST OF THE BEST” US schools? I mean, why don’t you add a few safety colleges, the ones where you’ll be a “top applicant”, the ones where you won’t be an “average student”, because in the schools that you’ve listed, you won’t really stand out to the people in the admissions office and might get rejected. If you’re from India, any decent American university will give you better chances at life than the best Indian degree.

My advice is:

  1. Work on that GPA (you seem much smarter than me yet my GPA is about 9.5 / 10)
  2. Use some college search engines and add other good colleges and one average one where you’ll get in 100%. Also, apply to the unis that you listed as well, because you never know!
  3. Try to write an essay where you’ll show a creative, sympathetic and human side. Don’t make them think you’re some machine who thinks only about himself and his success.
16

@dudefromeurope Thanks a lot, sir. And about writing essays, I think that I can work on that as I am always helping my friends with their problems using whatever I have learned in my Psychology courses and I’m often called a “career counselor” by my friends for I always try and better people’s future. :slight_smile:

And while it is not important to attend the best US college, still, from my knowledge, these are the colleges which provide you with need-based financial aid and have a holistic admission criteria (and considering my financial situation, this is THE most important factor). Also, I do not want just a “good” or a “decent” life; I wanna do something with it-- become the best Astronomer possible, work REALLY REALLY hard for it. It would be much easier to attain such goals if I am in a great college like MIT (my heart is set in this place, AMAZING things have happened at MIT, many new inventions, Nobel prize winners teaching at MIT and lots of other things I need not mention). Anyway, thanks for the boost (I feel much better). So will try to focus on my GPA from now on-- will be my first priority rather than 2nd or 3rd.

Thanks. :slight_smile:

17

No you should not stop, but if you are really interested in NUS then you might have to.

18

I’m not really that much interested in NUS, but considering my snowballs chances at the Ivy leagues, NUS maybe a safer option. What if I give 3 hours everyday to my studies? Will that be enough to get me a great grade? Also, the rest of the time will be spent on preparation for tests and ECs as well.

19

I cannot really comment on your schedule that is and should be an extremely personal choice but, NUS is not safe by any means people with 97% get rejected because they could not pull off a desirable rank in the JEE.

20

I hate to say this but you don’t have a shot in hell at
MIT
Harvard
Yale
UChicago
Cornell
Caltech
Princeton

Look into schools ranked between 15-30 you should have a good shot.