Chance me please

Colleges and Universities A-Z Middlebury College
1

<p>Hello Friends,</p>

<p>I am a prospective International applicant from India and I had applied to colleges ( HYPS, Amherst, Williams, Dartmouth, Middlebury, Hamilton, Bates, Columbia, Penn ) this year. But now I expect rejection from everywhere. But still can someone chance me.</p>

<p>Career Goals - Politician, Major - Pol. Sci.</p>

<p>Grades - Class IX - 90+, Class X - 87.5, Class XI - 88, Class XII - 75.8 ( CBSE English topper ) </p>

<p>ECs outside School</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Co-Founder of Two Registered and recognized NGOs ( One in a major city and the other in Northern Bengal ), First helps the poor people in their pursuit to gain education, Second helping the homeless and poor.</p></li>
<li><p>Created a new product, investors ready to invest, product ready to be launched.</p></li>
<li><p>Writing two books which would be published in the coming month.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>ECs in School</p>

<p>President and founder of Student union of my school
President of student government
President and Founder of Youth Bank
President and founder of Eco Club
President and founder of school disciplinary committee
Founder of various extracurricular clubs for students
President, Founder, Speaker of Economics and Political club of my school
RWA President
Teacher of adult literacy campaign
Teacher ( Maths, Social Sciences and Painting ) for underprivileged kids
Chief Artist and group leader of our school's art club ( won many painting competitions )</p>

<p>Awards - </p>

<p>Received award from Government of India for my successful participation in the literacy campaign.</p>

<p>Other awards mostly from School</p>

<p>Recommendations - Excellent</p>

<p>Now the deal breaker - SAT Score - 2030, SAT II ( Jan 28th score, I am still shocked with the score. I felt I had done MUCH better ) - ( Maths - 630, US History - 640, Physics - 650 )</p>

2

<p>All of the colleges you applied to are huge reaches for you. I assume you have some safety schools in India? Your best bets are Bates or Hamilton, but I think those are longshots for you (especially if you need aid).</p>

3

<p>Why do you say so ? My scores are in the middle 50% range at middlebury. And my ECs are good too. My school grades are very good too. So why don’t I have any chance ? :-(</p>

4

<p>More often than not, the kids at the bottom half of the SAT I range fall into one (or more) of several categories:</p>

<p>1) Recruited athletes
2) Development cases (parents are potential big donors)
3) URMs (under-represented minorities), including Posse Scholars
4) Legacies
5) Students with an extreme hook (e.g., wrote a novel, appeared in a Broadway production, world-class oboist, etc.)
6) Students from under-represented areas (e.g., South Dakota)
7) Students who also submitted high ACT or SAT II scores for use in admissions.</p>

<p>Many of these students are accepted under the ED I or II rounds. For RD, you’re now competing with around 7,500 applicants for around 300 remaining spots in the class of 2016. If you’re an international student requiring aid, your stats should be in the top 25% of all reported scores in order to be competitive. </p>

<p>Don’t get me wrong–you still have a shot at Middlebury and all of these schools. </p>

<p>What sets you apart from the other thousand-plus international students applying to Middlebury this year? If you have a compelling answer, then you have a better chance of being admitted.</p>

5

<p>My career goals would set me apart.
I want to become the head of state of the largest democracy.</p>

<p>My ECs inside and outside the school prove that I have considerable political and leadership skills. My ideas and essays will also set me apart. And my application will prove that if I am groomed properly I will become a capable leader.</p>

<p>I don’t think any other applicant from my nation will have the unquenching thirst for power and extremely lofty political ambitions like mine.</p>

<p>I am sure my application will stand out but I know my stats won’t.</p>

6

<p>Hi, I was an international student like you (you can probably guess my nationality from my name), so I’ll give you what I think from the perspective of someone from a similar boat as you :slight_smile:
Other than being an int’l student, my application was very different from yours.</p>

<p>I’m with acardia. I think you have a very slim chance (as in, you still have a chance!) of getting in, with the same reasons he mentioned but here’s my additional two cents.</p>

<p>like you said yourself, your stats don’t stand out. Assuming that you’re graded out of a 100 you’re not near a 4.0 (which is an average of about 94+, you seem like 3.2ish gpa). I believe the Midd’s average HS gpa was a 4.0 on the Princeton Review.
Since you’re going for political science, you should have a solid SAT II US Hist score, but you don’t. Midd is highly competitive, as are most of your other schools, that most applicants get at least a 700, if not a 750+ in most of their SATIIs.
Your SAT 1 is similar to mine, so I don’t think it will break you, but it’s certainly not going to help you.
So you’re already at a disadvantage there.</p>

<p>you have an amazing list of ECs and accomplishments, but you have too many amazing things that it seems like you don’t dedicate and commit yourself to one thing/spread yourself too wide and shallow. Either that, or that your accomplishments aren’t actually that amazing if you’ve really done all of them to a good level.</p>

<p>making a product/writing a book is something a lot of people could do with the right connections, so while it does help your application, it doesn’t help by much. The fact that you’re applying to schools abroad shows you’re in a higher/richer class in India, so it would be fair to assume your parents have good connections. I’m sure admissions officers looking at international applicants would be aware of this :/</p>

<p>Also, there are a fair number of Indians in the ED 1 and 2 class of 2016 already (and probably more in the RD applicant pool with better applications), so your nationality—while it’s not a disadvantage, won’t be a hook.
which means that if there’s an applicant from say, Lebanon with a similar application as yours, you would lose.</p>

<p>also, now this is just a personal remark but… if your essays sound anything like this
“I don’t think any other applicant from my nation will have the unquenching thirst for power and extremely lofty political ambitions like mine.”
(you give off an arrogant and condescending tone) you should expect the admissions officer to think negatively of your personality.
Since personality seems to be a key aspect in LACs, it won’t work in your favor.</p>

<p>I am being very frank, but you did post here to get opinions. My opinion may not be right at all, but it is what I honestly think. From the way you respond to acardia, it seems like you wanted reassurance, but that’s what your parents are for, not what the forum is for.
I hope for your sake that you have safeties and targets, because the schools you listed all look like reaches. Williams, Hamilton, and Bates have the highest acceptance rates out of your list, and I think all your schools as selective or more selective than Midd are out of your reach. Williams is still pretty far imo, Hamilton isn’t too far. Actually, I think you have a good chance at Bates!</p>

7

<p>@shakuro - Are you an Indian ?</p>

<p>My GPA is not 3.2 but near 3.9 ( Indian grades are differently converted ) My rank has always been 1 except my XII boards which got spoiled due to some extreme family problems.</p>

<p>All my ECs are inter connected. ( like when I created the student’s union I had to build other related organizations to improve the school. )</p>

<p>I am from an EXTREMELY POOR family with annual income of $2000.</p>

<p>I had never studied USH so 640 with a 10 days prep is not that bad. ( By the way I did not send my SAT II score ).</p>

<p>The rest I did not read since I thought you got my background wrong.</p>

<p>Sent from my SGH-T959 using CC</p>

8

<p>hey! i think the two above said everything i was going to say. I agree with them completely, except for the high class thing which you proved wrong.
the rest of what sakura1446 said sounds valid though, and i think you should read it if you actually wanted the opinions of others. you do sound arrogant like sakura mentioned… though sakura sounds arrogant too :P</p>

<p>if you didn’t send in your sat II score, don’t worry about it. you’re right, getting a 640 without much prep is impressive, but why didn’t you prepare for it then? the colleges won’t be impressed that you decided not to study for it… ANYWAY, doesn’t matter :stuck_out_tongue: </p>

<p>i agree what acardia wrote here
"Many of these students are accepted under the ED I or II rounds. For RD, you’re now competing with around 7,500 applicants for around 300 remaining spots in the class of 2016. If you’re an international student requiring aid, your stats should be in the top 25% of all reported scores in order to be competitive. "</p>

<p>remember that most colleges are NOT need-blind for international applicants! :(</p>

<p>and i agree with what sakura wrote here too
“I am being very frank, but you did post here to get opinions. My opinion may not be right at all, but it is what I honestly think. From the way you respond to acardia (and sakura, might i add!), it seems like you wanted reassurance, but that’s what your parents are for, not what the forum is for.
I hope for your sake that you have safeties and targets, because the schools you listed all look like reaches. Williams, Hamilton, and Bates have the highest acceptance rates out of your list, and I think all your schools as selective or more selective than Midd are out of your reach. Williams is still pretty far imo, Hamilton isn’t too far. Actually, I think you have a good chance at Bates!”</p>

<p>good luck though! you’d be an interesting person to have at any school! :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile: but you have to remember that most of the other applicants have as interesting a story as you do.</p>

<p>(You never answered either of them but, do you have targets/possibles and safeties/likely’s? :S )</p>

9

<p>Sorry if I sound arrogant.</p>

<p>" High class thing " couldn’t get it, could you please explain ?</p>

<p>Already have full rides at Adelphi U and KSU.</p>

<p>Sent from my SGH-T959 using CC</p>

10

<p>wooah sorry about the misunderstanding. seriously, apologies. I come from a place with a lot of high class/rich Indians, so I just jumped to conclusions. I’m not Indian nor am I from India. I live in another country with and go to school with a lot of rich Indians though.</p>

<p>I still stand by what I said though, other than the high class thing. and your ECs actually sound amazing now that you’ve clarified that for me. I still think you have too many, but you’ve probably described that it interconnects better in your application than you did to me, so it’ll probably be a big advantage.</p>

<p>Now that I know you need a significant amount of aid though, I think that really weighs you down. If there’s a kid who’s an American citizen with a similar application as you, I think they would choose him. The reason is because that kid would probably end up successful, and help America’s economy, and donate to Midd, unlike you, who would probably also end up successful but help India’s economy and use your money to help India as much as possible. (again, here’s me jumping to conclusions… am i right though?)</p>

<p>like Middlover said, if you didn’t submit your sat IIs, forget what I said it doesn’t matter haha.</p>

<p>My SAT 1 was a 2090, and I got accepted–if that helps. But i didn’t need aid, I’m an under-represented nationality at Midd, and my application was personality based—rather than a description on my goals.
So the only thing we share in common is that we’re international :/</p>

<p>Again, I still do stand by what i said in the last chunk about you not having the best chances in your colleges, but you never know! maybe the admissions officers will be really impressed by your goals/ECs in a way I don’t see them</p>

11

<p>Anirudha, I’m just piping in here. A large part of the issue is translating your Indian grades to US standards. If your grades are based on a perfect score of 100%, then I agree with everyone else, you’re going to have to do something very impressive to gain admission to any of these schools. If they’re not, then perhaps you stand a better chance. The other thing is your ec’s seem to depend on something else happening. You’ve written two books that WOULD be published in the coming month (they WOULD be? If what? If pigs could fly?). You’ve created a new product, investors READY to invest (what are they waiting for? If it’s flying pigs I’ll invest too). These ec’s show some level of diligence, but not a lot of success. I’m sorry for being so harsh, but after taking a look at your other cc posts the perception of arrogance was simply augmented, not diminished. Humility is appreciated here - even more so before you’ve actually accomplished something.</p>

12

<p>I guess I’m feeling a little dubious since I’m also curious to know how you were able to spend over 15% of your family’s annual income on a smartphone? I know I couldn’t afford to do that.</p>

13

<p>The smartphone was a gift from an uncle. ( My uncle has gifted me many more expensive things like ipods, laptop etc )</p>

<p>I have sent in every detail of my books and product ( circuit diagram, info etc ) to the colleges.</p>

<p>The books are not complete yet. Giving the final touches.</p>

<p>NGOs are well and running. ( Registered and successful )</p>

<p>Sorry if I sounded a bit arrogant.</p>

<p>I do understand that I do not have a chance at Midd and other colleges so I am planning something else now.</p>

<p>Sent from my SGH-T959 using CC</p>

14

<p>Colleges ask what I was doing in my summer since I graduated from school so I had to tell them what I was doing isn’t it !!</p>

<p>Sent from my SGH-T959 using CC</p>

15

<p>My school ecs will be well documented in the LORs</p>

<p>Sent from my SGH-T959 using CC</p>

16

<p>And finally about the product, investors have already invested their money, the product is getting manufactured and would be up for sale very very soon.</p>

<p>Getting things done in India is very difficult so it takes time here.</p>

<p>Sent from my SGH-T959 using CC</p>

17

<p>I think you are a ■■■■■…You did get lots of good advise, and we’ll see what happens soon, won’t we…???</p>

18

<p>I am sorry but why is everybody angry with me. :-(</p>

<p>I humbly accept that there are tons of people with far better profile than me so I know I would most probably be rejected from all my top choice colleges.</p>

<p>I will work hard, retake the SATs, launch my books, develop my product and reapply next year.</p>

<p>Isn’t this plan of action good ?</p>

<p>I feel that as I am a non native speaker of english so my language
potrayed me as arrogant but believe me I am thankful to everyone for their valuable advice.</p>

<p>Sent from my SGH-T959 using CC</p>

19

<p>If you already have full rides from Adelphi and KSU, that’s great! If you don’t get in to any other schools, I’d go to one of those!</p>

20

<p>So, did you get in? will we be seeing you there soon? :)</p>