<p>OK guys, I know many of you have already read these messages tons of times, but here goes:
Please chance me in all the Ivy League Colleges + Stanford, MIT, and Caltech.
My Credentials
Academics:
9th Grade - 81.7% - School topper in English and Math and Sanskrit (Language in India)
10th Grade - 93.6% - School topper in all the three subjects mentioned above plus Physics
11th Grade - 84.83% - School Topper overall
12th Grade Semi Annuals - 96% - School Topper overall
Participated in various Olympiads (National Science,National Cyber, International Math, International English) and Quizzes, memorable All India Ranks being - 167, 102, 119, 125, 209, 1125 etc etc..
Always among the top 2% students, Ranks being as follows:
9th - 11/450, 10th - 19/450, 11th and 12th semi annuals - 1/750 (I changed high schools)
APs - Planning to take 7 APs this May, got 4s and 5s in all the practice tests</p>
<p>ECs:
1) More than 900 hrs of community service in the last 8 years, around 500 in the last 4., including local to international level Clubs eg- Interact Club of Rotary... it may sound fake, but trust me I've got proof.
2) District Level Cricket Player, Play Football in inter-city matches.
3) Passed 3 levels of exams for percussion instrument study (theory and practical)
4) Learning to play the acoustic Guitar and the keyboard
5) Lots and Lots of expeditions and Leadership activities, including leading a group of 7 people while trekking on the Himalayas.</p>
<p>Standardized Testing:.... the Low points
ACT - Composite - 29
English - 29
Math - 35 Right?? Right??
Science - 25 very low... I know...
Reading - 25 yeah... again low.. </p>
<p>SAT 2 Physics - 710
Math II - 740
Chemistry - 690</p>
<p>TOEFL - 117/120
Oh Yeah BTW I am an Intl Student and DONT require financial Aid... possibly the only bright side of my application... and yeah my essays were great... I scored 30/30 on the TOEFL Essay Section and 11/12 on the ACT, so they have to be good... right?
So Give it to me directly- Am I a Jackass for not having enough backup, or do I have a good chance in any of the colleges I listed??</p>
<p>Did you apply to other colleges aside from the ones you listed? Every school you listed is EXTREMELY competitive, even for students with your EC’s and grades.</p>
<p>No individual awards antwanmon, some team awards and a big fat recommendation from the coach. And yeah, some medals for fund raising… and plenty of certificates of appreciation for community service… its just my thing… FateGoneAwry16… yeah I have GeorgiaTech, Stevens and UMich…</p>
<p>FateGoneAwry16 - I have applied for a major in mechanical engineering in the SEAS for all the universities I have applied to. And BuBBLES FoR SALE - Yup, I have applied to GeorgiaTech, UMich, and Stevens Institute of Tech.</p>
<p>BuBBLES FoR SALE - I am pretty sure no one in India, who is applying for admission in the U.S. has as many hours of community service as I, and I have recently been selected to represent my high school cricket team in the nationals (I got the news yesterday). I have asked the said colleges whether I can send them an extra Reco from my coach, and they said they’ll be happy to go through it. So I guess it gives a considerable boost to my ECs. And for the ACT scores, yeah they’re very low, but I guess the colleges give highest consideration to the scores that are needed for the major you are applying to (in my case - Mech. Eng.), so I think they will give highest consideration to my Math ACT and Math and Physics SAT II, and all those scores are good. If I am wrong about my previous comment then yeah, I am in trouble!</p>
<p>Its already the end of February so the ivies & Stanford are half-way done the admissions process (MIT and Caltech and almost done since they release decisions in mid March). You can definitely send the rec, but there’s a good chance that it won’t be added to your app in time. </p>
<p>Here’s what I think of your app: [ul]
[<em>]Grades: 9.7/10 - No problems here (I didn’t give you 10/10 because that would mean your were ranked 1st all four years).
[</em>] EC’s: 7/10 - Being on the cricket team and doing 900 hrs of community service are definitely good EC’s. Unfortunately, there are many, many applicants who play one or more sports and have massive amounts of community service (I personally know five people who earned 1000+ service hours before they applied to colleges). While they will benefit your app, neither of these two activities will really make you stand out. In addition, you don’t seem to have any math or science EC’s which are VERY important if you apply for engineering (even more important for someone with your SAT II scores). I know you participated in math & science competitions, but engineering schools are looking for students who are on the math team, science bowl team, robotics club team, etc.
[li] Test Scores: 3/10 - I’ll be direct (as per your request) and say that your test scores aren’t good for the schools you’re aiming for. Your ACT score roughly converts to a 2070 SAT, which is definitely on the low end. With that score, you’re in the bottom 25th percentile of admitted students at most of these colleges (and the bottom 10th percentile for some). In addition, your subject tests score, while decent, could have used some work. As an intl student, US colleges will pay more attention to your test scores than for domestic applicants because test scores are standardized (unlike your HS curriculum).[/ul][/li]Assuming you wrote good essays and showed interest, I’d say:</p>
<p>Cornell, UPenn SEAS - Reach
Brown, Dartmouth - Higher reach than above two colleges
Columbia, Caltech - High reach
HYPSM - Impossible to predict accurately, but very high reach</p>
<p>FateGoneAwry16 - Thanks a lot for the review, but there are a few things I’d like to point out. I have participated in various national and international level Olympiads for math and science and have secured good All India Ranks (stated above) among more than 100000 students participating each year. I have only added the volunteer work hours that I have done for the Rotary Club of my city. I also volunteer for local community centers that my ancestors had started. If I add those hours (as I have on my common app) my total no of hours will be 21 hours per week for about 20 weeks for the last 4 years. A total of 1680 hours, much more than any one, even in the US probably. And again, I am not lying. I have indicated these many hours in my common app profile, and have written certificates of appreciation from all of the centers as proof. Due to shortage of funds, I could attempt the standardized tests only once (all my education fund is coming from academic and sports scholarships from my govt. + some funds that my parents have (about 5000 USD only). Do the universities account for this while making decisions? Does this make my profile look better or worse?</p>
<p>^ “lack of funds”, but you don’t require financial aid?</p>
<p>I’m sorry if i’m being too blunt, but the Olympiads don’t count for anything, seeing as your Subject Test scores are subpar, especially for those colleges. Your ACT isn’t doing you any favours either.</p>
<p>Academic excellence is a prerequisite. ECs will not make up for it. </p>
<p>But then again, i’m not an admissions’ officer, so I’m not qualified enough to “chance” you.</p>
<p>AdityaP - Yeah I am getting enough funds from academic and sports scholarships + my cousins income ( he lives in the US ) + some money from my parents income and savings. That much is enough for lasting 3 years. I’ll see about the last year later, but not applying for fin aid as an international does increase your chances in the Lower Ivies. And I may have misunderstood, but are you suggesting that a national level cricketer plus a city level football player doesn’t have enough ECs to boast about? I agree that I may not be the best candidate for the schools that I am aiming for, but I know one thing, that I am not the worst either. And again, my parents could not afford to spend 210 USD plus 400 USD twice to make me sit for ACT/SAT II and reporting my scores to the 14 colleges that I have applied to. I have said so in my common app profile, and I think those colleges should account for it. That said, do u think I have a better chance in state schools like UMich and GaTech, and Stevens? They’re sort of my back up for the Ivies.</p>
<p>And yeah, I forgot, I have worked in 2 internships at 2 different companies and one with a researcher in my city who is now a researcher at Harvard. Does that help?</p>
<p>It does^^ but not as much as you think!!
Good application…not great…but you do have a shot(sorry If I sound rude but the people i have seen on CC ARE MAD:D)</p>
<p>No, that’s not true. You have to understand that you’re applying for the * most difficult colleges * in US. There are people with 2000, 4000, and even 5000 hours of community service. I personally know someone with 2200 community service hours (he’s one of the five 1000+ hours students I mentioned above) and plenty of HYPSM applicants will have far more. I know that seems ridiculous, but trust me, there are definitely applicants who are that good. </p>
<p>I’m not saying that you’re a bad student in any way. Your EC’s and grades are excellent so you’ll definitely be competitive at many schools. What I’m tell you is that you aren’t at the top of the applicant pools to the ivies, Stanford, MIT, and Caltech. </p>
<p>In addition, I find it strange that you didn’t apply to good engineering colleges in the top 11-25 (aside from Brown and Cornell) like Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, WUSTL, Rice, and Carnegie Mellon. These colleges are less selective than the ivies but have equally strong engineering programs (if not stronger in some cases). I think you would have been competitive at any of those schools. </p>
<p>In any case, good job on all the work you’ve done so far. From one South Asian to another, I truly wish you best of luck in the admissions process.</p>
<p>Thanx quiverfox and FateGoneAwry16… FateGoneAwry16… ok if u must know I do have a little secret… if that secret would have counted in the admission process then I am sure that I would have been accepted in all the Lower Ivies… maybe Even HYSPM… THe thing is… unlike most of the international students, initially my parents were verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry reluctant to even let me sit for the ACT/SAT II… it was in september that they even agreed to let me APPEAR for those exams only as a warm up for indian competitive exams… it took 3 months, 2 of my cousins in the US, some hard work, and admissions officers of some of the Ivies to convince them that going to the US for undergrad isn’t such a bad idea… I gave all my exams (ACT+SATII) in october and TOEFL in November… I researched about the colleges, applied for the entrance tests, studied for them with my 12th grade semi annuals, and scored marks stated above in all of them and I got only 3 months for that. I think I did a good job… and hence I didnt get much time to consider colleges other than those which I could find quickly ie the “Top Brand” of colleges… (my parents had that condition hat they’d let me go only if I get in these colleges… so u know why it is so important to me)…</p>
<p>I really don’t think that’s a big secret: I did the very same thing:) And the late thought may even me more of a disadvantage to you because U havn’t found your right fit!!
Oh and mind you…I had 2 weeks for my SAT 1 for preparation and none for SAT 2 …Its the same for most Indians</p>
<p>quiverfox - thanx for telling me that… I was almost going to tell the authorities about that… Anyways, the point is… I know this one guy… almost the same profile as mine… Just one difference that he was Rich… and I mean Richie Rich types… his dad is one of India’s richest people and he got into Stanford… That was 3 years ago… now I am not applying for aid from universities so that makes my profile almost Identical to his… I mean he has a bit more marks in the standardized tests than I have, but he has way less Volunteering hours than I have… and our ECs are almost the same… Internships, Sports, Music, Theater, other arts… Thats what makes me Kinda hopeful… do u think its right?</p>
<p>Hey guys… Sorry I was not available lately… one more question… I have applied for 9 AP’s in May 2013 (received fee waivers) and as I mentioned in the original questions, I scored 4s and 5s in all of them during my practice tests. Now I want an Indian, or someone who is familiar with the Indian schooling system to answer this question. Can I, as a student of a state board high school which does not provide IB exams apply for them individually? If so, Is it wise to appear for AP and IB exams together?</p>