Chance Me for Ivies and UChicago

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey guys! I’m an International Indian applicant applying for the class of 2022. I know it’s really hard to get into the Ivies as an international student + Asian, but hey! I can try, can’t I? Please be brutally honest. I don’t mind.

SAT: 1580 (EBR&W - 790, Math 790), Essay 7/5/6
SAT Subject Tests - Math 2 (800), Physics (790), Chemistry (760), U.S. History (710)
HS G.P.A. - We have a grading system out of 100 - I have got an average of 95+.
HS Rank - 1 out of 60
AP Exams - Calculus BC (5), U.S. History (5), Physics C- Mechanics (5)
Course load - the most rigorous my school offers.
ECs - an International level Guitar player, Journalist with articles published in national newspapers, School Head Boy, Nationally ranked in Science Olympiad, the usual community service, Bournvita Quiz Contest top 25 in India, run an online news portal with over 700,000 visitors and coverage in national media worth around $12,500, write for blogs, summer internship at a creative writing company (plus a recommendation from the director) Editor-in-Chief of school newspaper, National level Debater and MUNer (gold medals and other awards + chairman for a national debating competition), Research internship at a local university, founder of school debate and MUN clubs.

Reccomendations :- 4 (Principal, Eng. teacher, Physics Teacher, and the founder of the writing company I interned with). But I’m sure the recommendations are gonna be awesome (btw, everyone applying to the Ivies is gonna have great recs)
Essay: I’ll do my best to work hard for them.

Anticipated major - Physics & PoliSci
No financial aid required.

btw, I come from a very small town in rural India which has almost no history of sending students to the Ivies, so the opportunities I got were not comparable to someone coming from the big cities. Do you think that the colleges will look at my application holistically?

And is there any particular weakness you see in my resume?
Thanks for taking out the time everyone!

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Btw, I’m a first gen college student. Does that help?

3

yup! being an international student and a first-gen college student are def hooks :slight_smile:

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@memeqween101 being an international student is definitely not a hook. International student acceptance rates at the top schools are quite lower than the overall rates. Especially from a country like India the comeptition is beyond insane for the top schools. First-gen is a hook.

5

Looks to me like you have done everything right, but recognize that with acceptance rates generally under 10% the schools you listed are reaches for any unhooked applicant – you just have to wait and see how things turn out. Hopefully you have applied to some match and safety schools as well.

Agree with the above that being an international student from an over-represented country is not a hook.

6

Also be careful of the definition of ‘first generation student.’ If your parents graduated from a foreign university, you may not count as first generation. You need to be the first generation of your family to go to college.

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Wow! That’s an impressive resume. I think you will get into a few Ivy League schools

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Thanks for you opinion everyone. I am a First Gen student, my parents never attended college. Fingers crossed for the results. Best of luck to all!

9

First gen does not apply to international applicants only ones from the US. Being Indian will work against you at some ivies, some others it won’t matter as much. If you want to increase your chances at an ivy or Chicago apply early decision. You may want to consider that for Chicago as it has superb physics and poly sci programs, probably better at both than any ivy except maybe Harvard. You also need to broaden your list a little to include more matches and safeties. For poly sci and physics, look at a couple of public universities like Berkeley and Michigan, also NYU as a private that could be a match.

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Actually, I’ve applied to Berkeley M.E.T. (got an interview for that), UCLA, Yale-NUS (shortlisted for an interview), Candian unis (McGill, UofT, UBC), and British ones (offers from UCL,KCL,ICL, and Uof St. Andrews). So I have enough safeties.Can you tell me the source of your claim that first-gen only applies to American applicants? Thanks !

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I wouldn’t consider UCs safeties, since they will not give financial aid to internationals. Do you have any schools that are affordable from a financial standpoint?

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Actually my family can afford the whole tuition fee - but I’ve got Candian and British Unis as backup. Thanks!

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@Rajvir your parents can afford the cost? Didn’t they not go to college and live in a rural area? Statistically speaking, you shouldn’t be able to pay excess of 50 lakhs a year(INR)!

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My Dad has a flouishing business here - he’s a born businessman!

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Can you tell me the source of your claim that first-gen only applies to American applicants? Thanks !

You should probably google it so you have more information but the basically it’s for applicants in the US whose parents didn’t go to college and so don’t know the process of college admissions. Overcoming that and providing social mobility for low-income applicants (which correlates highly with first-gen) are two advantages that first-gen gets. You can call the colleges or email them to confirm.

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Well, i guess being from a first-gen rural family in India, I don’t know the process of college admissions as well. I did everything on my own, and my parents don’t even know which colleges I’m applying to. Let’s see…

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@Rajvir which grade are you in?

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Grade 12. I’ve already applied to these schools, now preparing for the final Board examinations!

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@Rajvir, just because you want it doesn’t make it so. I’m not sure that you are grasping how college admissions work here. Your first generation status will not apply as you are applying as an international applicant. This category was meant to give domestic applicants a more equal footing with other domestic applicants who had an advantage. As an international applicant you will be put in an entirely different pool of applicants. Actually, your ability to be full pay will be an edge for you as most universities are not need blind to international applicants (with the Ivies and a few others with big endowments). Good luck. For UChicago, those essays will be key.

20

Hahahaha, I don’t want it to. I meant I want colleges to look at my achievements holistically, and in context, that’s all! Thanks for weighing in!