Hi.
I’m studying in my junior year (Grade 11) and I’m an international applicant (NOT applying for financial aid). I’ll be applying to MIT, UC Berkeley, Cornell, Caltech, UCLA and Georgia Tech.
Stats:
• SAT-1: 2300+ (expected)
• TOEFL: 110+
• SAT-2: Physics, Chemistry, Maths- 800 in all.
• School Record: Been in top 2 students of my grade since grade 4. 10/10 GPA in class 9 and 10; expected 92%+ in grade 11 and 12.
• Numerous Academic Excellence Awards received from school and city organisations.
• Diplôme d’études de langue Français (level A1): 80%+
• APs: I am not sure if I’ll be giving any (no AP courses here) APs, since most stuff is taught in my Grade 12 after the AP testing dates. But I will give Physics C Mechanics and score a 5, positively. I shall give more APs in May’17, that’s long after the application period.
***Above in many places I have stated ‘expected’ because I haven’t given them yet and am still preparing. SAT-2 and AP Mechanics are a breeze for me since I study under the Indian curriculum which is very rigorous. Also, I’m good at SAT too, I will score 2300+ or will do so before I apply. I shall do well in Olympiads as I’m already preparing for JEE, one of the toughest engineering entrance examinations in the world.
ECs:
• Toastmasters (Public Speaking) 18+ trophies at club and city level.
• Karate Black Belt holder. Third place in sparring at city level karate tournament.
• City level award for environmental awareness competition.
• Two/three workshops at Eco Summit (again city level).
• National level Inter-school speech participant.
• Ex Vice Captain of Spring House (not an eco club, students are given respective houses like in Hogwarts) of my school.
• Ex Vice President and current President of the Debate Club.
• Active participant of the Nature club.
• Conducted various ‘waste and water audits’ under the aegis of the Nature club.
• Intra-school debate/elocution/calligraphy certificates.
• A+ receiver in Sastra Prathiba contest (less than fifty students get it in the country in which I live, UAE, I’m Indian though).
• School topper in Sastra Prathiba.
• 3 Distinctions, 3 High Distinctions in International Benchmark Tests (conducted by ACER, the people who also conduct PISA).
• Taught kids karate earlier.
• School topper in the Green Olympiad (would have gone for national level but school didn’t allow it that year for some reason).
• Recognised by Principal and Advisor for my projects in Science and Social Science.
• National level Inter-school quiz participant.
• Science week research paper award (2nd place)
• I also except to do well in the Gulf Physics, Chemistry and Math Olympiads coming up. I am positive that I can score a top rank in the Gulf.
Last but not the least, I feel that I’m very good at writing essays for colleges, and I can express myself completely although I need to work on brevity. I feel that I can compete against the people who have achieved more than me with my essays and answers to the short answers asked by colleges.
I may not have national/international awards but I have quite a lot of regional and city level stuff. I believe in pursuing activities which I love, and though they aren’t many, I do excel in each of them.
Also, the reason I can’t go for Intl. level Olympiads is that since I live in the UAE and although Olympiads at Gulf level are conducted it is virtually impossible for anyone here to go for the national Olympiad camp as it clashes with our final exams. Since scores are important, I can’t let that go.
Also, as for internship opportunities - they aren’t offered over here, nothing that I can do there.
Please do give me a whole hearted opinion of my chances. I really want to get into MIT especially or at least UC Berkeley (though MIT is the main deal ).
Thanks a lot in advance, dear CC members!
I don’t wanna discourage you, but MIT and Caltech look for students with the heart of an engineer, and your activities don’t say that. Sure, your scores are good and should do for just about any university in USA, but they all look for much more than that. Once they are satisfied with your scores, they will keep them aside and look for other things… Much more important things. There are many applicants at MIT and Caltech with profile similar to yours… So you should find something to differentiate you from them. You sure look like a probable acceptance for Georgia Tech and UCLA, and maybe UCB and Cornell. But trust me, Caltech and MIT are no piece of cake for anybody…!!
UCB is a tough school to get in for Internationals.Also Gtech is getting difficult of late for Internationals,Your Ec’s are not that great for MIT.Not to discourage you bt it all depends on your SAT score.I too live in Middle east so if you want to know you can PM me
Hey guys. I’m now in my senior year. Here are my updated real stats:
"Class Rank: 1/~200
UC GPA: -
Unweighted GPA: 3.8 (Educational system works on % basis Grade 11 onwards: 95% Grade 11, CGPA 10.0 Grade 10, CGPA 10.0 Grade 9)
Weighted GPA: -
International applicant from UAE
Intended Major:
Computer Science and Engineering (EECS)
SAT-1: 2200 (640 CR- 800 M- 760 W- 10 E)
SAT-2: Physics (800), Chemistry (800), Math Level 2 (800)
TOEFL: yet to give, pretty confident of a 95+
AP Scores: -
Senior year course load: Physics, Chemistry, Math, English, Computer Science (roughly equivalent to: AP Physics C: E and M, AP Physics 2, AP Chemistry, AP Computer Science A (coding in C++, not Java))
List a few of your most important ECs:
Environment Club Events Coordinator. Led school to win ~$10,000 at government contest. Individual prize in government competition in using GIS App to track Energy Wastage in the city
Student Council Prefect, Vice Captain
Debate Club president, wins in school debates and elocution competitions, participation in national competitions
Distinguished Toastmasters member, ~20 wins in city level contests
Karate- black belt, been learning it for the past seven years, wins at city competitions
Participation in robotics competitions at national level
Any other significant accomplishments in a specific field
Delegate at the EcoCity World Summit, a bi-annual international summit, school representative at city Eco-summits
Winner of a national science contest (~15 people win from about 50,000 students)
Notes:
Indian male, rising senior
Outstanding academic record for the past nine years
Studying in top Indian school in UAE. Students previously admitted to UCB, UCLA, Cornell, GTech
@skstanford
I’m planning on applying SCEA to Princeton, and Early Action to Georgia Tech as well (it’s a public school- so it doesn’t violate the SCEA policy).
@auntbea@indieparent@extremus@skspartan hey I have attached my recent profile. Mind chancing me again, please?
The colleges I’m looking to apply to are Princeton, Cornell, Columbia, UCB, UCLA, CMU, Georgia Tech, UIUC, UM Ann Arbor
Agree with above^^^ with the exception of UCLA-which I assume will be reject.
Where are your safeties?
You are an international candidate, so your scores have to be better than instate residents at the public universities like the UC’s.
No financial aid at the California public uni’s. $55K per year.