Chance me for the Ivy's, Oxbridge, and others

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey guys, please chance me for the Ivy's, Stanford, MIT, UChicago, Northwestern, Rice, Oxford/Cambridge (Trinity College), LSE, UCL, and Warwick</p>

<p>Country: I am a US citizen but live in Mumbai, India and go to an international school. I had lived in America for around 10 years and came here around 2.5 years ago.</p>

<p>GPA: N.A. (School does not offer GPA's)
Rank: 1/50</p>

<p>Course Load: IB (Predicted, final board exams are in May 2012 so actual exam scores cannot be given whilst applying)</p>

<p>Math HL: 7
Economics HL: 7
History HL: 7
English SL: 7
Physics SL: 7
French Ab Initio: 7</p>

<p>Total Predicted: 45/45</p>

<p>Testing</p>

<p>SAT: 2300 (Three Sittings), Superscore: 2350
SAT Subject Tests: Math II: 800, U.S. History: 800</p>

<p>IGCSE's (9th and 10th) :6A* and 1A (Cumulative Average of 94% in boards)</p>

<p>Awards and Achievements: Indian Topper for IGCSE IT (highest score in all of India)- Cambridge Outstanding Achiever
Debating Matters India best debater award
George Bush Presidential Award for Academic Excellence
Duke TIP
Felicitation (face to face meeting) from the ex-president of India (Dr. Abdul Kalam) for achievements in the field of microcredit at a young age.
Many School Awards (Outstanding Student for many subjects, etc.)
TIMES OF INDIA student of the year (best student in Mumbai from the largest newspaper in India)
National Society of Highschool Scholars</p>

<p>Extracurriculars: </p>

<p>Conferences: Got selected to go to the THIMUN Youth Assembly in the Hague, Netherlands, voted most insightful delegate
Got invited to be part of the Indian delegation to the Conference of Sustainable Development (which will happen in New York this year from May 4th)
Got selected based on merit to go to the Wockhardt Thought Leadership Conference where I got to spend personalised time with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Dr. Muhammed Yunus (the founder of Grameen Bank and Industries, pioneer of microcredit)
Invited to the South Asian Leadership Conference in Bangalore in IIM (the Indian Institute of Management, famous in its own right)
PMUN 2010- Secretary General
Chosen to give a speech in the Indian National Stock Exchange (NSE) about the importance of youth entrepreneurship and their impact on finance</p>

<p>Organisations</p>

<p>Have started an organisation called Project Synergy 2 years ago. This aims to bring all schools and NGO's ACROSS INDIA together for collaborative sustainable development projects. Therefore schools and organisations have the help of other organisations to implement projects which allow the scale of projects to be severely increased. Is affliated with Oxfam, Amnesty International, a multinational Bank, THIMUN, the Frankfurt Globe (media source, and the largest student run magazine in Germany), University of Amsterdam, and several other organisations for funding. So far, there are 43 schools and organisations across India with around 2,400 students.</p>

<p>Started a microcredit organisation called Eutopia 4 years ago which is a microcredit organisation working in rural areas. Not as big as Project Synergy but still have managed to give loans of 27 lakhs (around $50,000). Works on the principle of Social Capital. </p>

<p>Social Ambassador at the Indian Development Foundation</p>

<p>Volunteer for Oxfam India and Grameen Bank India</p>

<p>Part of the Stanford University Incubator project (called IDEAS) which is an organisation based on Stanford which uses global volunteers to implement projects based on sustainable solutions.</p>

<p>Chosen to go the Georgia Leadership Summit (when I had lived in the United States)</p>

<p>Clubs and Sports</p>

<p>Head Boy
Varsity Tennis Captain (2 years), 3rd in the entire state of Maharashtra, Invited to the Adidas Tennis Summit (when in America)
Varsity Basketball (2 years)
Model United Nations President
Model World Bank President
Economics Club President
School Newspaper Co-editor
Writer for the Frankfurt Globe (economics and politics)
Habitat for Humanity President
Maths Club President</p>

<p>Jobs/Internship</p>

<p>Interned at India's 4th largest private-sector bank in research department for rural development and solutions</p>

<p>Research</p>

<p>Research with University of Mumbai about alternate mechanisms of implementing microcredit in urban areas (as social capital is ineffective). Planning to give a proposal to the Mumbai Municipality government for implementation.</p>

<p>I realise that I have created a chance thread before but some things have changed since then and since all of you at College Confidential, based on my experience so far, are insightful and knowledgeable, I would appreciate it if I could get candid assessments of my chances for the above schools. Also, I have not listed out my teacher and/or counsellor recommendations because, I haven't gotten them yet ( College Admission season are still approximately 3 months away). And for those of you that have gotten into your selected schools, CONGRATULATIONS! You deserve it.</p>

2

<p>I hope you know how chance threads for Ivys + Stanford, MIT, UC, Oxford and Cambridge are pretty unpredictable. And I think you can only apply to either Oxford or Cambridge in a given year.</p>

<p>HPYSMC-Cam/Ox - Who really knows, really?
Dartmouth - Match
Cornell - Match
Brown - Match
Upenn - Match
UC - No idea, since someone from my school with a 2360/Sal got rejected.
Rice - Safety
Northwestern - Safety
You should be in at the rest of the English schools.</p>

3

<p>You have a chance at all of these schools as you are very qualified. But with the Ivy League you can never be sure. Don’t be surprised if you are rejected at Dartmouth but accepted at Harvard. Good luck!</p>

4

<p>Honestly, you have one of the best applications I’ve seen on CC (which is saying quite a bit). If you can’t get into at least a handful off of your list, none of us can.</p>

5

<p>IGSCE topper yet 2300 on SAT after 3 tries? That’s a bit strange. Still, everything else is so amazing that that won’t matter. 2300/2350 is a good score, it’s just that it’s surprising it took that many tries for someone who seems to be brilliant. I’d say you have a great chance at any of them.</p>

6

<p>^ I’m sure he didn’t have time to memorize how the SAT works(like at least 75% of CC) with his incredible ECs. I’d say he just went in with little prep and just took it 3 times. I could be wrong, but it doesn’t seem like he would have time to do prep stuff.</p>

7

<p>Honestly, nobody cares your Oxbridge college affiliation after graduation, as you receive the same education in every college. Makes no sense mentioning Trinity on your list…
Also, UCL, LSE and especially Warwick are safety schools, in your case, compared to HYPSM and Oxbridge. The same goes to Northwestern and Rice, you will definitely get in.</p>

8

<p>@plue- Yeah I know that you can only apply to one but I mentioned both because I am undecided as of the moment and since both of them have relatively the same criteria, I wanted to see whether I would be a fit in both places. Also, believe it or not I did prepare for the SAT the last two times. I think my mistake was taking the SAT in 8th grade without preparing and scoring only a 1980. I should have waited and prepared. As a result, I lost one attempt. But regardless of the score, it was a learning experience. The second SAT I got a 2280 because of well silly mistakes. Yeah I know, excuses excuses. :slight_smile: Anyways, thanks for your chance, it was really honest and helpful.</p>

<p>@Cronus- Really, harvard but not dartmouth. How does one work that out?</p>

<p>@fdeb- Thanks a lot. I’m sure there are much better candidates than me but your opinion means a lot nevertheless.</p>

<p>@bob- see @plue. Yes, it is strange and relatively, I believe that’s one of the few weaknesses of my resume. Perhaps it could make me come of as a person that loves testing and has no life. That is not the case, but I shouldn’t have taken it in the 9th. But as you said, its a good score so no regrets. And thanks for your chance mate.</p>

<p>@Gerald- Yes, I realise that the degree you get will be one of Oxbridge and not the college and so by corollary, the college won’t matter. But I mentioned Trinity because each college has different admission rates based on its size, endowment, etc. Because Trinity is the largest and most endowed (around 60-70% of Cambridge’s total endowment goes to Trinity and the other goes to the others. Talk about disparities eh?). Therefore, I just wanted an idea on how I would qualify for that particular milieu. </p>

<p>And please, more chances would be welcome. They really help. So, keep’ em coming folks. :)</p>

9

<p>You have good chances at all of the ivies; with your bragsheet, you can expect to get into at least one HYP. The only way that you can screw up is to write a terrible essay for the US schools. Don’t underestimate the power of the essay. It counts for 30-40% of your college application. Also, make sure your recommendations are strong; give your teachers at least a month or two to write them. </p>

<p>One other suggestion- as I’m sure you’re aware, you can only apply to either oxford or cambridge. I’d add St. Andrew’s as your safety in the UK - it is a prestigious university looking for US internationals in their student body. Anyways, I applied to some of the ivies, Oxford, UCL, LSE, St. Andrew’s and Warwick and got into all of my schools - feel free to pm me if you need any suggestions :)</p>

10

<p>Am…well…the current endowment of Cambridge University is 3.9 billion pounds, while Trinity’s share is 700 million. That’s roughly 18%. Quite far from the 60-70% you mentioned :smiley: Have to admit, however, that about 2/3 of the total Cambridge endowment is in the hands of the colleges, therefore it can be taken for granted that the share of Trinity’s from the colleges endowment is far greater, about 38%. But it’s still far from the 70% :wink: Honestly, I love these urban legends :smiley: College wealth in Cambridge have no effect on your education, anyway. The wealth of the university is a different matter, of course :)</p>

11

<p>@gerald-18%? Blimey, I wasn’t so far was I. Only about a 50 percentage points here and there. :P. But then what is all this talk of the degeneration of UK education?</p>

<p>And people, MORE chances please. Would appreciate it.</p>

12

<p>Well, £700 million is about 18% of £3.9 billion. I’m not dealing with maths, but it seems quite certain :stuck_out_tongue: Have to admit, Trinity’s share from the university’s possessions is also great, as, for example, it owns land around Cambridge and in other parts of the UK that worth about £2.5 billion. But we are talking about endowment, and not possessions, and £700 million from £ 3.9 billion is hardly 70% :smiley: Have no idea where you got the idea that Cambridge University is nearly equal with Trinity College (at least in case of endowment), but it’s far from being true. You can search for up to date data regarding the financial situation of Cambridge, it’s all on the net :slight_smile: But trust me, this is not the first, and not even the funniest urban legend about Cambridge; I’ve spent one year there, after all, and heard tons of interesting “facts” about Cambridge :)</p>

<p>But enough about Cambridge, and the somehow overrated richest Oxbridge college. Do you have any particular preference, where to go to school?</p>

13

<p>You are so sick. You got to spend time with Yunus and the Dalai Lama and the ex-president of India?!?! YUNUS THE NOBEL LAUREATE AND MICROCREDIT KING you genius/lucky/whatever-you-are. (Y)</p>

<p>Oxbridge - depends on how you do for your interview (as i’m sure you know, it tends to be very academically/intellectually-based), TSA or other related tests eg BMAT (or is it UKCAT)? But you’ve got a v good chance at any rate if you get 45 (I’ve got friends there with just 41).</p>

<p>Ivies, Stanford, MIT - strong chance. I’d even say the lower Ivies are a match (Brown Dartmouth Penn Cornell). But put in apps to all because US decisions can be very unpredictable, offers can depend on what kind of interesting people they are looking for each year, not how qualified you are.</p>

<p>The rest - Safeties. Especially the UK schools - the main criterion is grades and you’ve got that in the bag.</p>

<p>Dude, you’re like Joyce Meng (<a href=“http://www.joycemeng.com/joycemengresume.pdf[/url]”>http://www.joycemeng.com/joycemengresume.pdf&lt;/a&gt; - her resume’s so big she had to create a website for it. Haha kidding :))</p>

<p>Also: How the heck did you start your own microcredit organization (at such a young age)?? I’ve been seriously thinking of doing that but idk how to get it off the ground. Will PM you about this if you have time (and are not mugging your ass off for IB haha).</p>

14

<p>You have pretty good chances at all of the schools on your list. Your EC’s are excellent and your test scores are superior as well. I’d imagine you’ll get into most of the schools on your list. Good luck!</p>

15

<p>@Gerald- Yes, I do have a preference between Harvard and Yale (something new huh? :P). I’m planning to apply ED to either one and also ED to Berkley since it has a rolling admissions program. What do you think?</p>

<p>@Slamdunk- Thanks mate. It means a lot. And if I have a query, you’re only one message away eh?</p>

<p>@Dinosaur- I think I was extremely lucky. It was a mere case of being in the right place at the right time I think than any sort of intellectual prowess honestly. It also helps that you live in the 2nd fastest growing nation in the world. Couple that with going to an international school then, I think, the odds tilt in your favour. Can you give me examples of questions they ask in these intellectually driven interviews? And do you really think LSE is a safety. I believe it has an admission rate close to 7% right? This would place it rit there in the league of HYPSMCO. And for the microcredit organisation, I’ll send you a message mate. Incidentally, what country do you live in? Being in a developing one certainly helps here.</p>

<p>@LG- Thanks for your chance. </p>

<p>More chances are welcome guys!</p>

16

<p>I firmly believe that in your case Berkeley would be a fine…safety school. I know, I know, there is a huge difference how the US and how the rest of the world is treating Berkeley: in the US, it is the best public school, and as such, it is highly ranked, but not as highly as the top 20 private institutions. In contrast, the rest of the world tends to believe that Berkeley is a World top 10 university, and far better than, say, Duke or Brown. Still, from sunny California, you can obviously aim Stanford and CalTech in the first place, but not Berkeley - also, you will be OOS in case of Berkeley, am I right? Needless to say, getting into top notch schools such as HYPSM, CalTech and Cambridge is just one thing, but receiving (proper) financial aid is an other…</p>

<p>Trust me, LSE’s acceptance rate is far greater than 7%. It’s undoubtedly a great school, but, again, compared to HYPSM and Oxbridge, it’s fairly obviously far from their league. Of course, if you wish to live in the UK, then it is a real alternative compared to Oxbridge, but as you are a US citizen, and could and would go to university in the states, there are far better business schools there. (In addition to the universities already mentioned, Penn’s Wharton comes to mind.)</p>

17

<p>ON LSE</p>

<p>"Admission to LSE is exceptionally competitive. According to 2008 UCAS figures, the school received 19,039 applications for 1,299 places. This means that 15 applicants fought for each place, which is the highest ratio of any university in Britain. Some courses, including Government, Economics and International Relations have more than 20 applicants per place and thus an admissions rate of around 5%.Consequently, LSE is one of the world’s most selective universities at the undergraduate level, with many courses surpassing the 7–9 percent admissions yield of Ivy League universities Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Columbia. Most programmes give out typical offers of A*AA-ABB at A-Level.</p>

<p>Entrance standards are also high for postgraduate students, who are required to have (for taught Master’s courses) a First Class or Upper Second Class UK honours degree, or its foreign equivalent. The applications success rate for postgraduate programmes varies, although most of the major courses, including Economics and Law, consistently have an acceptance rate below 10%. Some of the very top premium programmes such as the MSc Finance and the MSc Financial Mathematics have admission rates below 1%."</p>

18

<p>This is one of the most brilliant applications I’ve seen so far.</p>

<p>And that 45… I’m also taking IB and I had to work my butt off for a 41.</p>

<p>Really, if you don’t get into either Oxford or Cambridge with a 45, no matter what your other scores might be, the world will end the next day.</p>

19

<p>@Gerald- Yes, even here in India the repute of Berkley is greater than for example say, a Brown or Dartmouth. And since I want to major in economics with political science, Berkley gains even additional repute with its excellent social sciences program and nobel laureates. Pardon me for my ignorance but what is an OOS?</p>

<p>@Luke- Can you tell me more about LSE? Its perceived status internationally, U.S., and in the UK. I’m sure they vary from region to region. And 5%? Blimey mate that’s just tough. But I believe the rate is so picayune because the school is not large enough to accommodate so many undergraduates? Is this true? Please correct me if I’m wrong.</p>

<p>@FoShizzle (I love that name): Thank you. And 41 is a great score accepted by the best universities in the world. But remember, my 45 is a predicted, not the real thing. </p>

<p>And in general guys, in addition to more chances, can you please give me some information on need-blind financial aid for top schools such as Harvard or Yale. When do we fill out these forms? Do we fill them out at the same time we fill out or applications, later, etc. And what are the criteria? Thanks guys. You all are the best.</p>

20

<p>Hey guys, any responses?</p>