<p>Also, it would be wonderful if I could get an advice on what I should I do in order to get a scholarship in these colleges...I wanna pursue a Bachelor's, Master's and a PhD in Astrophysics. Also, maybe for Bachelor's, I may consider General Physics and Math for most universities don't offer Astronomy for undergrades.</p>
<p>Note that I'll be doing more psychological researches and creating a few more websites.</p>
<p>MODERATOR’S NOTE: Please do not post links to document-hosting (or other hosting) sites. Those links will be removed.</p>
<p>Chedva
Moderator</p>
<p>What are your stats? We can’t offer any advice until you divulge some info.</p>
<p>Here’s my stats (a moderator removed the link, actually):</p>
<p>Education: Shri Balaji Vidya Mandir (prep-I to class V) Score: 90%-100%
Holy Cross Senior Secondary School (class VI-VIII) Score: 85%-100%
Delhi Public School (class IX-XI [present] ) Score: 85%-100%
Class X GPA: 9.0/10.0</p>
<p>Co-Curricular Activities and Achievements (In School)
-Certificate for 100% Attendance (2009-10)
-Participation Certificate for Bhaskar Genius Scholarship Awards (2011)
-Certificate for English Skit (2011)
-Certificate for Ranking 3rd in Arts & Science Exhibition (2008)
-House Prefect (Green/Pragati House) – (2013-2014)
-Vice House Captain (Green/Pragati House) – (2014-present)
-Participated in A Seminar on Women’s Rights – (January 2014)</p>
<p>External Examinations
-Certificate for Scoring 70% Marks in UCO (2013)
-Certificate for Scoring 70% Marks in UCO (2012)
-Participation Certificate in IMO (2012)
-Certificate for Acquiring 17th State Rank in SKGK (2013)
-Certificate for Acquiring 2nd School Rank and 5th City Rank in IEO (2013)
-Certificate for Acquiring 6th School Rank and 17th City Rank in IMO (2013)
-Certificate of Merit in Australian National Chemistry Quiz (2013)
-Certificate of Participation in NSO (2013)
-Certificate for Acquiring 3rd School Rank and 15th City Rank in NCO (2013)
-Certificate with Distinction in Computer Skills – IAIS (2013)
-Certificate with Distinction in English – IAIS (2013)
-Certificate with Distinction in Mathematics – IAIS (2013)</p>
<p>MUNs
-Participated in Amity International MUN Conference (2013)
-Been The Assistant Director in A School MUN (January, 2014)
-Been The Directory in Another School MUN (July, 2014)</p>
<p>Programing for School
-Have Re-Designed School’s Website
-Have Created A Website for All the Students in The School Where They
Can Upload Their Resumes and Their Bio
-Have Created A Website for School MUN (<a href=“http://www.dpsrmun.hol.es”>http://www.dpsrmun.hol.es</a>
2014-present)</p>
<p>Sports
-Have Played Cricket (both inside and outside of school – 2005-2010)
-Been Playing Basketball (both inside and outside of school -2011-Present)
-Chess (2010-2013)</p>
<p>Co-Curricular Activities, Skills and Achievements (Outside of School)</p>
<p>Languages
-Proficient in Hindi
-Proficient in English
-Can Read and Understand Chhattisgarhi
-Familiarity with German</p>
<p>Programing And Computer Science
-Proficient in HTML5 and CSS3 (2011-present)
-Proficient in Python programming language (2012-present)
-Proficient in JavaScript (May 2014-present)
-Proficient in jQuery (January 2014-present)
-Proficient in PHP (April 2014-present)
-Proficient in XML (October 2013-present)
-Familiar with The Django Framework of Python (July 2014- present)
-Two Months of Visual Basic (December 2011-January 2012)
-Completed The Codecademy Track for Python, HTML & CSS, JavaScript,
PHP and jQuery.
-Co-Founded ProgrammingWhiz in collaboration with a colleague
(<a href=“http://www.programmingwhiz.bl.ee”>http://www.programmingwhiz.bl.ee</a> ) (June 2014-present)
-Head of The Website And Algorithms Department in ERROR Computers
-Creating a local dojo Using The Site CoderDojo
-Proficient Using The Terminal – Ubuntu Linux (January 2014- present)
-Strong Knowledge of The Working of The Internet and Networking
-Proficient in Created Website with The MVC model (Model View
Controller) (May 2014-present)
-Familiar with AJAX (May 2014-present)
-Completed the Following Online Courses from Harvard University (online):
-Understanding Computers and The Internet
-Building Dynamic Websites
-Comfortable Using: Microsoft Word
Microsoft Powerpoint
OpenOffice.org
FileZilla for File Transfer To A Website
Sublime Text Code Editor for Programming
VMWare</p>
<p>Blogs
-Akshat’s Articles <a href=“http://akshatsposts.blogspot.com”>http://akshatsposts.blogspot.com</a> (May 2014-present)
-Lovers of Thinking <a href=“http://loversofthinking.blogspot.com”>http://loversofthinking.blogspot.com</a> (Jan 2014-presen)</p>
<p>MOOCs:
Have about 18 certificates currently from edX, Coursera and Udacity in fields such as CS, Psychology, Philosophy and Science.</p>
<p>Video Editing
-Have Created A Couple of Youtube Channel:
<p>Currently Doing A Psychological Research on Love
Wrote A Paper on Religious Restrictions on Menstruating Women
Drawing And Painting (2007-present)
Used To Create Gun Models Using Paper Mache (2010-2012)
Proficient In Playing Guitar (2012-present)</p>
<p>Will be doing more psychological researches and publishing research papers as well…</p>
<p>Have you given the SATs? They are a very important factor in the admission process.
Your grades as good but I would recommend cutting out some of the crappy ECs/achievements(You can identify them by yourself) as you can only fit in 10 on the common app.
Also quality >>>> quantity. Though you have achieved quite a lot, I could see only a few things that really have quality. I would advise to only list the ECs on your app which are in line with your intended major/your interests as anything else might work against you.</p>
<p>Also do aim for a score around ~2300 on the SAT 1 and a perfect score on the SAT subject tests. And also write great essays.</p>
<p>Few of the top colleges in the US offer merit scholarships but they do offer need-based aid, however with few exceptions (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and a few others), they do not offer the same aid to international students that they offer to US citizens and residents.</p>
<p>You clearly have a number of impressive accomplishments. As soon as it is feasible, I would recommend taking the SAT or ACT, as well as 2 SAT subject tests (Math II and a science), as without these it is impossible to apply to most US colleges.</p>
<p>I agree with humblefool, with 2300+ on the SAT (or 34+ on the ACT) and 800 on your SAT subject tests, you will a competitive candidate as long as your essays and recommendations are strong, and you interview well.</p>
<p>You have a chance at all these universities. Stick with what @humblefool said, cut down on the ECs and make sure you have a great SAT/ACT score as well as phenomenal essays. P.S. Acceptance rates for international students are lower!
Good luck! </p>
<p>@humblefool Thanks a lot for your response; I actually haven’t yet for I have not been able to get enough time to prepare for SAT as I was busy with MOOCs and researches and stuff. I’ll try and give it ASAP so I know where I stand and where I have to improve. Also, you stated, “I would advise to only list the ECs on your app which are in line with your intended major/your interests as anything else might work against you.”
That doesn’t imply that I cannot list out achievements in other fields, right? For example, I plan to major in Astrophysics, so it’s gonna be against me if I list out achievements in CS and Psychology, right?</p>
<p>@BldrDad Thank you for your suggestion. So, as far as I can comprehend, I should start focusing more in my academics and SATs rather than these researches and programming and stuff, right?</p>
<p>@Dream0n Ya, that is actually something I am worried about too. Last time I checked, MIT’s acceptance rate for International students was about 8%, so stakes are pretty high! Still, I’ll try my best…thanks. :)</p>
<p>@aksrocks111 What I meant to say was that colleges like people who have done something that they are passionate about. They like a well rounded application and that is when listing achievements in various field might work against you because then you will have to write essays showing your passion for all of them(and that is difficult). Sure, you can put out psychology and CS achievements if they are significant. But do not list petty achievements in that field because then they would wonder why do you want to pursue astrophysics when all that you have done is psychology/CS studies. It will become much harder for them to get to know you.</p>
<p>Another piece of advice is that if you are now in the 12th grade/entering 12th grade, its high time you start writing your essays. Do not underestimate the importance of essays.
Also, leave the MOOC and other research stuff aside for a while and practice the SAT so that you get something around a 2300 and a perfect score on the SAT subject tests.</p>
<p>@humblefool Okay, thanks so much for letting me know about writing an essay in the field(s) I’m interested in. However, I really do love psychology and CS-- a lot! Had I given a chance to write an essay on them showing my passion, I think that I would be able to do it, and now that I know its importance, I would try and work more and more towards essays as well.</p>
<p>I’m currently in 11th and here’s what I have planned: I’ll complete doing all my researches, MOOCs and websites before the summer of next year. That summer I’ll spend preparing for SAT only and then I can start giving my SAT exams, will it be fine?</p>
<p>P.S. For the preparation of SAT, I’ve got the official SAT guide and might get for subject tests as well. Will those suffice or will I require some additional resources as well?</p>
<p>That depends on your aptitude…for some, a guide is enough while some require many books. I prepared for the SAT 1 through the official guide and did not really buy any book for the subject tests.
Regarding the time to give the SAT, give it whenever you feel confident of getting around 2300 as you do not want to waste time with an extra attempt.</p>
<p>I gave the SAT in november last year(was in 11th) so that I could then focus on the essays.
I gave the subject tests a few months back.</p>
<p>Plan on writing the essays early as they can make or break your application.</p>
<p>@aksrocks111 @humblefool - A minor quibble: in American English, a teacher gives a test, a student takes a test.</p>
<p>@aksrocks111 - I would recommending taking the SAT or ACT before next summer - that way you can retake it if you are not happy with your results. It will also allow you to better judge your chances. I don’t think most american students put much effort into SAT prep. I believe my daughter just did a practice test or two for preparation before taking it. She took it early in 11th grade, was happy with the results, and did not take it again.</p>
<p>@BldrDad Thankfs for correcting me. Will keep that in mind!</p>
<p>@BldrDad Thanks for the correction, really appreciated. And about that test thing, fine, I will start preparing as soon as possible and will start giving the SAT so I know where I stand and can improve.</p>
<p>@humblefool Okay, thanks so much. I will keep that in mind and start focusing on essays as well.</p>
<p>@all (including BldrDad and humblefool 
) While I am aware that getting into a top university with a scholarship can be really challenging, especially for an international applicant; still, considering my current achievements (and the ones mentioned for the future) and maybe my getting 2300+ on my SAT and decent in subject tests, what chances will I have of getting into MIT or Harvard or Yale or Stanford or some institute like that?</p>
<p>@aksrocks111 - If your standardized test results are as good as you hope, admission decisions will likely come down to the impressions made by your essays, recommendations, and interviews. It’s difficult to assign odds, as these colleges do not simply select the candidates with the best academic qualifications. They also do not publish international acceptance rates, but it’s known that it’s tougher to get accepted as an international candidate.</p>
<p>@BldrDad So, we really can’t be sure whether I can get in or not even after having “perfect everything”, huh? Still, I’ll try my best, thanks a lot for your help. :)</p>
<p>No offence “DUDE” … on the real zo…get real. Why would you even ask us to chance you…without SAT scores or SAT 2s…thats absurd. Give the tests first, then ask. Since you’re international score 2300+ and get 750+ on subject tests. </p>