Chance me please!!

Student Lounge International Students
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<p>Woot my first post!!! Haha nvm that.</p>

<p>SAT Reasoning : 2360 (CR:790 M:800 W:770)
SAT Subject Tests : Lit 720, Math II 800, taking Phy and Chem in October
AP Exams (I had to go all the way to Chennai from Delhi to take them :/) :
Calculus BC : 3 (I forgot my graphing calculator in Delhi)
Physics C : Mechanics : 4
Physics C : E&M : 4
Environmental Science : 5</p>

<p>CBSE: Class IX : 91%
Class X Boards : 96.8 %
Class XI : 78.6 % :( (PCM and Biotechnology though, and that's the toughest course I've ever seen, I shyt you not. Plus I didn't feel like studying :/)
Class XII : Currently averaging an 86%, will hopefully get it up to around 88-90 % in time for my ED application)
Class Rank : 1/3 (there are only two other students with my subject combination) but I'm 1/28 in my section too this year but i was 2nd or 3rd last year. So i gss I'll go with Top 10%.</p>

<p>Btw I shifted schools after Xth. Came back to my old alma mater/school seeing as I haven't graduated in Delhi.</p>

<p>ECs/Volunteer/Work Experience/Academic Qualifications :
Quizzing (Bunch of certs),
Electronic Keyboard (Performed in school bleh :/ plus Trinity College Grade 4 this year, got a distinction on the grade 2 exam),
Taekwondo (will get a green-one by ED time, plus a South Delhi distt. tourney hopefully), Environmental Club at school + worked with a couple of NGOs (Delhi Greens, Teen Murti Bhawan students' association) and i'm really interested in 'going green' so...,
ARSSDC (Space Settlement Design Competition) (Class XI, not sure of whether I'll do it again this year) Really interesting + Engineering experience + Asian finals
N.I.M Adventure Course : Mountaineering course, 15 days, Uttarakhand, what can i say?? Bliss. Plus it's graded and I got top grades :) and it's a really reputed institution or so they say.
Learned the guitar by myself?? (Summer activity :P)</p>

<p>100 hours of volunteer work at the National Zoological Park with the vet.
Have worked with my school in their program for aiding underprivileged children. Also went on a school trip, albeit it was organised by and NGO called Pravah, to rural areas in Rajasthan and worked with the villagers there.
I'm trying to intern/volunteer with a few NGOs in Delhi but no luck so far, I'll try my best.
Oh yeah and peer tutoring too. Physics mainly. But a bit of math and chem too. I don't know whether to mention this because any guy with an 80+ in his XII could be a peer tutor (in CBSE)but I spent time on this so I guess I will.</p>

<p>UNSW - Grades 9 and 10 - High Distinction in Math, English, Science and Computer Skills
IMO - Grade XI - AIR 103
NSO - Grade XI - AIR 306
International English Olympiad (It ain't really international, just for Indian schools, basically like the 'International' Math Olympiad) - International/AIR 1 (Hell yeah! :))
Plus I don't know whether I can include this but I got certificates in my school for topping/2nd/3rd in math/english/french in the X boards?? </p>

<p>Intended Major : Aerospace/Environmental Engineering (Can't decide :/) OR Mechanical Eng. with minors in aerospace eng and env eng. (Quite a few of the univs i'm applying to don't offer a major in aerospace eng.)</p>

<p>Universities : Cornell (Top Choice, Applying ED, loads of interest)
Princeton
MIT (Everyone applies here :/ I might not)
UPenn
Yale (I'm probably not going to apply to this either, but just mentioning)
Lehigh
Georgia Tech (safety?)</p>

<p>I guess I'll get people to chance me on the Cornell thread sometime soon, but I wanted an opinion from my countrymen first (I love that word, ever since Julius Caesar in class X). </p>

<p>Oh yeah and a VERY important part of my application : Financial aid, loads of it. My EFC came out to be 8,000$ when calculated on the collegeboard EFC estimator but my parents could pay about 16,000$ a year and that's pushing it. </p>

<p>So, yeah what do you guys think of my chances? And if you know any other good univs out there that would be a match/easy-ish reach for me, do tell me yeah? </p>

<p>Oh and I've noticed there are a few guys from DPS RKP here. Hail to thee :) I'm from Sanskriti btw :P</p>

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<p>Heh, I think I’m the only guy from DPS RKP here. And Sanskriti, eh? I know a few 12thies there.</p>

<p>Cornell, MIT, UPenn, Yale, and Princeton are all very difficult to get into. Your scores seem fine for all of them, so it all depends on your essays. There’s no way to accurately assess your chances for any of those universities, though if you apply ED at Cornell, then there’s a relatively good chance of getting in.
Having said that, because of the aid you require, Georgia Tech is off your list. They offer no aid. Cornell is need-blind for Indian applicants, and so is MIT, Yale, and Princeton. U Penn is not, and getting aid there is very difficult (but not impossible).
Lehigh is very competitive with aid (and their cost of attendance is $52,000), though I’d still give it a shot.</p>

<p>What you really need are colleges that give significant aid to international students, and so you’re looking at tier 2 and possibly tier 3 colleges. Illinois Institute of Tech comes to mind, though there are many others. I’d recommend you repost here:
[College</a> Search & Selection - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/]College”>College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums)</p>

<p>and emphasize on the aid you require, so you can know which schools will offer significant aid to you. Here on the Indian forum we aren’t very familiar with tier 2/3/4 schools.</p>

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<p>@bluebox: you really seem to know everything about the college application process!</p>

<p>Anyway, I think you’ll be able to get in to most of the universities you mentioned due to your exceptional grades, test scores and ECs. Just present yourself well in the application, don’t be modest and hope for the best!</p>

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<p>BTW, I completely agree with PCM and biotech being the toughest subject combo possible!</p>

<p>I’m doing ISC science and I refer to cbse textbooks so I’d know.</p>

<p>In my opinion, CBSE/ISC students should be preferred over IB students due to the euphemistically “tough” portion that we have to study!</p>

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<p>I want you to remember that Cornell is the easiest Ivy to get into, but it is the most difficult to graduate from. Yale is not a viable option considering what your intended major is.</p>

<p>From the looks of your application, I would suggest you don’t apply to MIT because they aim to have a student body that is musically, artistically, athletically or otherwise accomplished. And learning the guitar by yourself is by no means a musical achievement.</p>

<p>I would like to point out that on the common application, you can only state jobs/internships that you have received pay for.</p>

<p>Your aid status will be a big problem - they won’t reject you because of your aid status, instead most places will offer you admission in the hopes that you will be able to find a means to pay for yourself. Financial aid for internationals is a major hurdle. Try looking into cheaper schools. I suggest you find more tech schools like Caltech and avoid the liberal arts route.</p>

<p>Good luck with everything! :)</p>

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<p>CalTech admissions w/ aid is extremely competitive. If OP can manage that, he’ll also likely manage Cornell/MIT/UPenn.</p>

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<p>Google makes me sound more knowledgeable than I really am. Its amazing how much info is available, if people search for it.</p>

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<p>Thanks a bunch blue, aniruddh and audrey :)!!! Your batch or mine blue?? Grats on UNC btw!</p>

<p>Haha yeah I know :stuck_out_tongue: Yup I’m going to work hard on my essays. Yeah Georgia Tech and UMich too…I had this strange idea of taking a Sallie Mae loan and attending if i don’t get in anywhere else (huge interest rate, 9% or smtn, starting off in your freshman year) and Georgia Tech is cheaper than UMich (about 36k a year?) so yeah…but it’s a really insane idea.</p>

<p>Nah man that would hurt my hugely inflated ego too much :confused: tier 3/4 univs i mean. and would i get aid if i transferred out?? Amen to that anirudhh. If only <em>sigh</em>.</p>

<p>Audrey, I don’t think graduating would be a problem for me. Really :confused: Yeah i realise that. I gss I would declare an env. eng/env sc. major if I went to Yale. It can’t be that bad for engineering right. Haha the keyboard is my primary instrument, not the guitar :stuck_out_tongue: But agreed MIT looks for much more…unnatural interest in a particular subject and all that <em>sigh</em>…well then I haven’t held any jobs…I’ll put it under volunteer work…I’m pretty sure there is space for that on the Common App…which btw is going online today :D. Yay. </p>

<p>I’ll look Caltech up but i have a feeling that i already have and rejected it along with Stanford cuz of the limited aid. Or extremely competed-for aid as blue said. Google then Collegeboard Profile then University Website is what I did for univ research.</p>

<p>Oh yeah btw how bout Wichita State Univ for aerospace eng.?? Wichita is the air ‘capital’ of the world and all that so…also it’s aerospace eng. program is ranked pretty well. And it costs about 22k a year (Wichita has the lowest cost of living in the US or smtn) + they offer fin aid to international undergrads, 2k + merit (abt 2k more).</p>

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<p>For aerospace specifically you should look into Embry-Riddle. It’s well known for it’s aerospace engineering but the aid is very limited.</p>

<p>And for env. engineering you might want to look at Northwestern which is, again, stingy for aid. But hey, it doesn’t hurt to try.</p>

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<p>Don’t take out loans. You can pay ~16k so for Georgia Tech you’ll need to borrow ~90k, and for Michigan ~120k. Its insane, you’ll spend the next 10 years trying to pay that off and it will influence every decision you make.</p>

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<p>I would really prefer an aerospace eng. major…environmental science is my second passion :stuck_out_tongue: Yeah i looked into embry-riddle but it provides almost no aid to internationals :/…k i won’t take out a loan…crazy idea man…and how about Purdue?? It provides merit scholarships to internationals?? Plus i think it would be a safety-match for me. <em>sigh</em> If only getting into Cornell was easy.</p>

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<p>Purdue offers 2 merit scholarships for students who aren’t in-state. You’ll have to apply by November 15. You can try out, but it must be competitive, because I don’t know anyone who’s got em, and I know a lot of people going to Purdue.</p>

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<p>Work really hard on your applications. You are definitely good enough to get into Ivy etc schools which will give you as much money as you need and then some. 2nd and 3rd tier schools are not an option for you nor is Purdue.
Go with this, you’ll get into the best here - so only go abroad if you get the best there. And I think that you can.</p>

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<p>This is very odd advice. Especially the ‘definitely’ part.</p>

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<p>Good enough = qualified. OP is definitely qualified.</p>

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<p>You underestimate Ivy league admissions.</p>

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<p>Guitar, that really gave me a boost to my self-confidence, thanks :smiley: but like blue said, you can never say with the Ivies so i need a safety to fall back on, however I’m going to work really hard on the App (already started :P) so yeah hopefully I’ll be accepted by Cornell :)…blue does that mean i need to send in my app to purdue by nov 15 too?? I had a look at their app and they require proof of financial support for one year (40,000$) :confused: so taking a loan (as directed by the Purdue Fin Aid Office) is the only option assuming the merit-scholarships cover what…18k?? I’m looking into TU Delft in the Netherlands too. 17,000 euro so about 22k $, which is manageable. No fin aid of course. And its aerospace eng. program is right up there. Top 10 in the world. As a back up of course :P</p>

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<p>You’re only considered for the scholarship if you apply by Nov 15. 38k - 18 k = 20k, so that’s how much you’ll have to pay. However in case you don’t get the scholarship, you’ll have to show that you have 38k in the bank. This is not really relevant, because if you don’t get it, you won’t be attending.</p>

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<p>Delft is really good. There solar car team… OMG. Amazing.</p>

<p>Anyways, I’d just caution you against limiting yourself to school which offer aerospace engineering. People mostly do aerospace engineering as their masters degree. Trust me there’s not much difference b/w AE and ME at the undergrad level.</p>

<p>Companies like Boeing, recruit random majors. I did an externship there and got an internship offer as a ME. My mentor there was an EE major. And besides, very few of their undergrad recruits were actually AE majors.</p>

<p>Just my $.02</p>

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<p>^Totally man, most universities don’t even offer undergrad majors in aerospace engineering, including Cornell and Princeton too i think. But i guess keeping my interest in the field in mind, as well as the low cost of attendance for Delft, it would be a good univ to apply too. I have no idea how selective the admissions are though. All they require is a high school transcript and the TOEFL. </p>

<p>Blue, i guess i could include IIT (Illinois Inst. of Tech :D) on my list too. It does seem to offer generous fin aid to internationals, and an alumnus of my school who is in Cornell right now had that as his safety too. Thanks for all the help!</p>

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<p>Hey people!!
Ok, so i have the same story. I am in the twelfth grade, have been preparing for IIT for a year, am hell bent on SAT… so, you know, the same old…
So, while on this chance thread, can you chance me too?
SAT score-2230
Lots and Lots of ECs (unfortunately, all before the 11th grade, ie, before i started preparing for JEE)
Always maintained a good class rank… not top 2 but definitely top 5-10…am a national level player (state rank 3 for 3 years, 8 times national selection)… so, you know, good things.
Plus, i have an elder brother who’s like my counsellor… so, having the essays and the app proof read the easy way…
SO, what do you think? will i get through? Like everybody else in India, i will be applying only to the TOP UNIVS (god, how cliched)…
CHANCE ME PLEASE???</p>