Chance me for Columbia,Cornell,CMU,UCB,Brown?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi! So i'm currently a junior living in India (i'm of Indian ethnicity but an American citizen by birth).</p>

<p>I don't exactly have a GPA per se, but from my 9th and 10th grades in IGCSE, I got:
A<em>s in Additional Math, Chem, Physics, Biology, English language, English Literature, Computer Science
A's in Economics and French
(so 7A</em>s, 2 As)... I assume that's the equivalent of a 4.0 or at least near that...</p>

<p>I'm currently doing the full IB Diploma, and will most likely be predicted (from what i've been told by my teachers)...
Math HL - 7/7
Economics HL - 7/7
Computer Science HL - 7/7
Spanish SL - 7/7
Physics SL - 7/7
English SL - 5/7
...for a total of 40/42.</p>

<p>My SAT I breakup is 730CR,710W,750M (2190) on my first try. I'll take it again some time this year.</p>

<p>I'm also self studying for this May:
AP Microeconomics
AP Computer Science
(i'm assuming i'll get a 5 in both because I've finished the syllabuses for both and they're really simple)</p>

<p>I've taken practice tests in SAT II Math II and always get 750-800. (I haven't taken it yet)
I'm also going to take SAT II Physics and on my practice tests i've gotten above 700 on all tries.</p>

<p>My ECs:</p>

<p>I've been playing the guitar (Acoustic,Electric) for 4 years (will be 5 when i'm applying) and the Electric bass for 1 both of which I can play well.
I've also learned how to play the Mandolin (a type of lute).
I'm in the school orchestra and choir.
I volunteer at a hospice near my house about 3 hours a week.
I've taught basic computer skills at a government school nearby for a year.
I wrote/designed my school website for CAS (a component of the IB Diploma) in PHP/HTML and it's pretty good I think.</p>

<p>I've interned in a technology retail shop in New Zealand every day (including weekends) for a month during summer vacation helping with computer assembly, restocking and a few other things.
I've also interned for a month at a firm that's into cloud computing where I visited clients/potential clients around the city to pitch our virtual products to. (I think it's really interesting since I had to travel alone on the public bus which in India is really uncomfortable since it's like 50 people stuffed inside and it took a lot of work getting places).</p>

<p>I'm writing an app in java (using external libraries) which I plan to put on the android store by the end of summer break.</p>

<p>Also I can get really good recommendation letters from my teachers and the second firm I worked for.</p>

<p>I'm aware a lot of this is just speculation seeing as I haven't gotten my SAT II & AP scores, and have no letters of rec or anything but I'd appreciate it if you could chance me on the schools I mentioned.</p>

<p>(I'm applying for a computer science major by the way, and am well aware that my SAT score is kinda under par with the average of these schools. Also, i'm most likely applying to Columbia for ED).</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Hey, thanks for chancing me! :)</p>

<p>1) Retake your SAT. Make sure to study really rigorously for the test- do lots of sample tests, go over sample essays, study vocab lists. Getting a solid score on that will definitely boost your application- especially since you do have a little room to improve. :slight_smile:
2) Your grades are stellar, if I understand your grading system right, as it is quite different from the typical American system. Since you say it’s a 4.0, I’ll take your word for it. Keep up the good grades throughout at least the first quarter of senior year.
3) Your IB exam scores are amazing. So many 7s; that’s a really big thing that stands out in a good way.
4) Take the 2 AP exams and get 5s.
5) Your ECs all point to a general interest in computer science, so that’s good. I think if you publish that app in the android market and it gets considerable sales, that would be a really big plus for any school you apply to.</p>

<p>Columbia, Cornell, Brown: you never know with these schools. I think if you apply ED, it should help your chances significantly.
CMU: don’t really know too much about CMU, but I’d say high match/low reach.
UCB: high match; the UCs look upon international students favorably, from what I’ve seen.</p>