-International Student( India )
-ACT: 34
-SAT Math 2 - 790
-SAT Physics - 780
-Grade in 9th- 9.2/10 CGPA
-Grade in 10th - 10/10 CGPA
-Grade in 11th- 73%
-Founded an Electronics Club
-Founded a Theoretical Physics Club
-Tennis for 3 yes
-2 time medalist in Taekwondo
-3 time Gold Medalist in English Olympiad, Olympiad (national?) rank 13
-2- time medalist in Finance and GK Olympiads
-Applying for Engineering/Physics
-Speak 4 languages
-Tennis 3 yrs*
-Have 3 research papers (none published)
Should have OK-ish LORs and good essays.
Also, how can I improve my chances
are you asking for aid?
- You're in the Cornell section not Yale.
- 3 research papers that aren't published mean no research papers
- Tbh man it's a top ivy, you could have perfect everything and still get rejected and have above average everything and get accepted. No one here will tell you with any accuracy if you will or won't get in
Yes @LV98xx
- I realized that after posting... 2.OK. So to show that I am interested in research and actually do it , should it be on my LOR's or should I mention it on my app.
- Just a rough idea. Certain amount of luck is there ofc. @Herokid11
I also haven’t given the SAT 2 's yet, but I scored 790+ in every practice test. I’ll be giving them on December 9. Should I apply early? Would not having the SAT scores decrease my chances?
“-Grade in 11th- 73%”
Is this correct? If so, I don’t understand how Cornell (or Yale) is even close to possible.
My school has a tough grading system. The topper scored 75%. In India schools generally score strictly in 11th , but class 12th exams are conducted by the CBSE at an all India level where scoring is much much more lenient. Generally people scoring 70+% at my school go on to score 90%+ in class 12th. I talked to my teachers and they said they’d mention it the LORs. Some US schools also mention a GPA conversion scale that states 60-100% is a 4.0, though that seems dubious. I realize my academic standing (in terms of stats) goes down because of the 73% , so that is also a reason I’m giving the SAT 2’s.
Of top tier American Universities, I’ve only seen detailed statistics on enrollment by country from Harvard. You can use the H stats as a proxy for difficulty level of gaining admission to Y, and work from there. On average, Harvard enrolls only 5 applicants from India per year. That would tend to indicate that you would need to be one of a handful of the most outstanding students in India to have a reasonable chance at Yale.
@tdy123 Could you give me these statistics’ link when it is convenient to you? I am unable to find them. I know for a fact Cornell enrols 5-6 Indians through the Tata Scholarship, and a few without…I understand I have to be one of the best for a chance at Yale. In fact I will apply to Yale instead of Harvard because 1. I am sort of drawn to Yale…It has some profs in EE whose works I have read, and some in whose fields I would love to research, and gaining that kind of mentorship for a future Ph.D.would be welcome. 2.The Yale EE is oft underrated, and I would love to capitalize on students non-preference(I could be very wrong, it is still a top 100 program) to get into it. One more thing. Outstanding in what way? The holistic sorta way, academically brilliant or unique?
@GalladeAggron http://www.hio.harvard.edu/statistics Your last question made me smile. For international undergraduate applicants, the answer is: all three. Your application needs to show a level of talent, passion, accomplishment and potential that clearly sets you apart from the other applicants.
OK. Noted. Thanks for both the link and the answer.
One more thing. I’ll be giving the NSE Physics, a good score qualifying me for the National Olympiads, where I expect to score well. Can I send scores AFTER an application has been sent? Also, are there other good schools with effective fees( after scholarships etc) ~35000 which you would recommend applying to?
You can find the Harvard numbers on their website (# of students, by country, by college). Harvard college has total 22 enrolled students from India over four years (Source: http://www.hio.harvard.edu/statistics).
Yale College is probably at or below Harvard level for India. Cornell is definitely much higher than Harvard and Yale. Across all Cornell’s schools, it had 127 total undergraduates from India in 2014, over four years (Source: https://isso.cornell.edu/sites/isso.cornell.edu/files/isso/documents/stats14-15.pdf)
BTW, 73% in the 11th grade will pretty much place you out of running at the top schools. If you’re keen on coming to the US for an undergraduate education, consider expanding your college list.
Engineering at Amherst?
@merc81 Physics if Amherst. Engineering if Cornell/ Yale
@fivesages US schools are only as safety. I’m assuming that if I am competitive for these 3 schools(Yale as a top ivy, Cornell as a top engg school and Amherst as a LAC, +all 3 provide need blind admissions) I’ll be competitive for some others like the public ivies.
Also, aren’t high ACT/SAT 2 scores supposed to offset low GPA?
I do have reasons for that GPA. Maybe I’ll put them into the essay
@GalladeAggron Nothing to loose in applying. Unfortunately, high scores won’t offset low GPA. Not especially 73%. While colleges do look at the context/reasons, most of the competitive applicants from India to the top colleges in the US tend to have a close to perfect academic profile, if not perfect. Good luck!
@fivesages is there anything that could, potentially offset the 73%? National exams/Olympiads or the like?
My percentage marks look pretty bad as a whole, (~2 GPA) but the Indian marks system doesn’t take credit hours or difficulty of courses into account. Some other factors are also there and as I said I’ll provide context. But I can’t dedicate an entire essay to low marks can I? So where should I put it?
Also, how competitive am I for Amherst? Should I apply ED considering my SAT 2’s are in December?