Chance me for Yale, MIT, Penn?

Student Lounge International Students
1

<p>Hello,
I am an international applicant from India for economics.
I am applying to the following colleges:
Yale
UPenn
UMich
UW Madison
UC Berkeley
MIT
University of Chicago</p>

<p>I have completed my 9th and 10th from India's Central Board of Secondary education
with a cumulative GPA of 9.8/10.0 from Delhi Public School, Mumbai. That is in the top 8% all over India.
Then, I shifted to Maharashtra State Board in an integrated program (integrated programs are for students pursuing all india level entrance exams for universities. These programs are among coaching classes and dummy colleges. We dont go to college, we only go to coaching classes and we have our attendance marked at our college).
Maharashtra state board is one of the 30 state boards of India. Due to my integrated approach, I only concentrated on my studies to crack the entrance exams and hence i scored 66% in my 11th standard while the school topper (non-integrated) was a whopping 92%. </p>

<p>SATs- 1st attempt 2360; 800,800,760
ACT composite- 35
TOEFL-113
SAT IIs:
Physics- 800
Chemistry- 800
Math Level I- 800</p>

<p>ECs and community service:
-Grade 5 Trinity Guildhall certified Piano Performer.
-Grade 5 Trinity Guildhall certificate for Music Theory.
-Grade 4 Indian Classical Vocal Music
-Captain of Hockey team for 4 years. Played in several CBSE tournaments and internationally too.
- TT all India level tournaments.
- Several tennis tournaments- winner and runners up (from the age of 6)
- Several All India and international Phy, chem, bio, IT, Math olympiads with olympiad ranks below 100 (from grade 4 onwards)
- Participated in fundraisers for National Association for the Blind.
- Participated in a classical concert arranged for paraplegics.
-Participated in a charitable drive for eyecare for over a year.
-A times of India young editor for the sports section.
- Participated and won 2nd prize in the famous all Asia- Cadbury Bournvita Quiz contest aired on national television.
- Member of student government for 2 years as a prefect.</p>

<p>Family Background:
Parents both ophthalmologists.
Earning WELL above 200,000$ a year.
My grandparents (dad's parents) are Hindu (sindhi) refugees from Sindh, pakistan after the partition of India in 1947. Sindhis are a minority community in India.
My mom is a Maharashtrian brahmin.</p>

<p>The only thing irking me is my 11th scores, but can the admissions officers really know about some STATE board in India?
CBSE is quite well known because a lot of Indian students apply from CBSE.</p>

<p>What chance do i have?</p>

2

<p>You have pretty good chances but you never know with Ivy so all the best but you do have a strong chance at UMich, UW Madison and I guess Berkeley ! Don’t worry about your 11th grades, adcoms know every thing about each country! :)</p>

<p>Keep your fingers crossed and hope for the best. Don’t forget to write good essay because they have a good weightage…</p>

3

<p>Thank you!
Does my 66% percent affect me very adversely?
Also, i dropped math in 11th, does that put me at a disadvantage?</p>

4

<p>It shouldn’t affect you too badly, especially since you have exceptional SAT scores and ECs. Write a kick-a** essay and you’ll get there!</p>

<p>But as Crystal said, the colleges you’re applying to are all very, very good and quite selective. Add a safety school to the list, just in case. Maybe Indiana University - Bloomington, Ohio State or University of Florida. You shouldn’t need it, but you never know.</p>

5

<p>I am thinking of removing MIT and UChicago and adding Amherst and UIUC.
How does that sound?</p>

6

<p>Since you are loaded, apply to CMU and Purdue (safety) as well.</p>

7

<p>If my parents earn above a certain range, is it necessary that i have to go full freight? And IF i HAVE to go full freight, does it affect my chances?</p>

8

<p>IDK about the other colleges but UCB, CMU and Purdue donto give finaid to internationals.</p>

9

<p>no. i meant, if i can pay full fees, do i have better acceptance chances?</p>

10

<p>Yes, only harvard, yale are need blind for int’l. Rest of unis arent. They may reject u soley because u require aid</p>

11

<p>But from the looks of it, u dont need aid. College will cost u about $60,000 a year. Ur parents make more than $200,000. And people can luxuriously live in india on $15,000 a year</p>

12

<p>I have to say Muhammad that is not true. Live by yes, luxuriously I am afraid not…</p>

13

<p>Haha … XD</p>

14

<p>I agree with anialways…
and i dont want to spend my parent’s money to a very large extent… i feel very guilty at times when i think about it.</p>

15

<p>Where I am from, teachers in American/British schools tell their students NOT to apply for financial aid or they will get rejected, and that is true enough because most universities are not need blind for internationals. So merit aid is the way for you to go :slight_smile: There are universities that give aid, of course, but as you said you don’t need it, no issues. :)</p>

16

<p>yeah… i guess i shall do that…
btw, i have given math level I (above given)… and being a math dropper, i am not prepared for math level II. Should i still give it?
Also, i havent completed the “recommended” college prep courses for all colleges (certain years of social science, foreign language, math et al), is this applicable to me or only to the US students?</p>