State/Location of residency: I moved out of Illinois to India after middle school, but my dad has been working/living/paying taxes in Illinois for the last year so afaik I do qualify for Illinois residency.
Type of high school (current college for transfers): Private, CBSE school
Gender/Race/Ethnicity (optional): South Asian male
Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.): N/A
Intended Major(s) Mathematics (possible minor in econ)
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
9th: 96% (ICSE)
10th: 95.2% (ICSE)
11th: 84% (CBSE, standard 11th grade deflation, hopefully explained in school report)
ACT/SAT Scores: 1540 SAT (780M, 760E)
Coursework
Took Math, Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science, English in 11th/12th grades
Awards
Selected in the Indian Olympiad Qualifiers in Math (similar to an AIME qualification)
Lots and lots of interschool/regional swimming awards
Many speech/debate and MUN awards (will specify in the app, regional level)
15th nationally in an international French language competition
1st place in a North America-wide cultural poetry contest
Extracurriculars
Research with an educational institute to model effective assessment techniques using regression analysis and value-added models. Developed n independent MOODLE course management software
Content curating internship at company aimed at improving the lives of elderly relatives of Indian expatriates
Volunteered with a conservation organization in rural settlements near a national park during the second wave of COVID-19, distributing medical supplies, raising awareness and the works.
Founded my schoolās first ever chess club in 11th grade. We organize regular tournaments and donate the proceeds to an NGO that runs child welfare programs.
Participated in a lot of math camps and scientific conferences throughout the years
Speech/debate/MUNs
Swimming
Selected to participate in a program with the biggest tech company in the country where I explored algorithm design and developed a fun AI powered chatbot
Was my schoolās Cultural Secretary in 9th grade. Organized its first ever Science Fair which was a massive success.
Tutored precalc and competition math at a local library to 2nd-9th graders.
I wish I could elaborate more on my ECs, but Iām typing this in a hurryā¦
Essays/LORs/Other
I consider myself a decent writer, but nothing truly extraordinary like some of the stuff Iāve seen online. That being said my topic is fairly unique (if a bit risky), and I can think I can pull it off fairly well.
LORs will be alright. I plan on asking my history teacher from 9th/10th grade and my Physics teacher from 11th/12th grade
Cost Constraints / Budget
$35k/year would be the hard limit my parents can pay out of pocket
Iām applying EA to every school that allows it. Iām aware this is an extremely reach-heavy list, but Iād be happy going to any one of my likelies (UIUC, Purdue, Wisconsin), so I donāt see a problem in shooting my shot where I can ĀÆ_(ć)_/ĀÆ
If you are a really strong swimmer and would consider an LAC, maybe look at Denison University in Ohio. Your list includes mostly larger schools, but I see Reed and Carleton, which are comparable in size to Denison. Denison has good merit money for students with your stats and a very strong swimming and diving team.
I have a problem when a student with a 1540 SAT & good ICSEās headlines āmediocre statsā. You donāt have mediocre stats.
Also, there is no such thing as āsemi-domesticā. You are domestic student because you are a US citizen, no matter where you are studying. The only question is whether or not you have IL residency, which is based on whether you meet the requirement that your āparent who is required to complete the FAFSA must physically reside in Illinois and Illinois must be their true, fixed, and permanent home at the time the initial FAFSA was completed and processed by the Central Processing System (CPS)ā. UIUC says that āAs long as 1 parent is a bona fide resident of Illinois, youāll pay in-state tuition.ā (Qualifying for In-State Tuition FAQ, Undergraduate Admissions, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
Your problem may be $$: have you run the NPCs? UIUC comes in just at your hard ceiling, and you need to know if any of the others will come in that low. If not you have one maybe safety- depending on what you are applying for: if itās CS, itās not a safety (iirc, ~15% acceptance rate). In which case you need a real safety- in terms of both admissions and affordability.
edited to add: UWi is not a safety b/c it is outside your budget; UMi and Georgia Tech are almost certainly not affordable
I agree that your problem may be budget. Tuition OOS for Purdue is $40-42K/year and merit $ is very, very hard to come by. Run the NPCs and make sure your safeties are affordable, otherwise they arenāt safeties.
Correct, but Iām being compared academically with my international peers, yes? In that case my stats are really mediocre w.r.t. some of the other students Iāve seen posting on CC or Reddit. Not sure how well the āgrade deflationā excuse will hold up when Iām pitted against kids from feeder schools with near perfect scores across the board.
I have. All of them come under or at $40k, granted, some of those include loans and/or work-study. I was on the fence about Michigan, but one of my seniors in a similar financial situation got in last year and was able to afford it, so I figured it would be worth a shot. Many of my match/reach schools (Case, URoch, Emory etc.) are also known for giving decent merit $$. I know itās competitive and Iām not counting on it, just explaining my reasoning. Do you have any suggestions for an extra ((financial) safety?
Iām good, but probably not strong enough to be recruited. In any case Iām ambivalent about LACs because I can probably place out of introductory classes and might run out of upper division courses to take if I decide to go the academia route. I do like the small classes an undergraduate focus though, which is why Iāve added schools like Reed and Carleton known for strong math programs, and smaller universities like Rochester and Tufts.
You wonāt run out of classes. LACs have lots of upper level classes. You could also do research or pick up a double major or a minor to fill in what you think will be extra time.
It could be an issue for math specifically, particularly if the student is already highly advanced in math at high school graduation (completed math beyond single variable calculus by high school graduation). It is not that unusual for math undergraduates at research universities to take graduate level math courses and do graduate level research as undergraduates; opportunities to do so may not be present at many LACs.
Having progressed through, say, multivariable calculus prior to entering college would not represent an especially advanced level for LACs with strong math departments. What will be your actual level?
Not sure how to specify tbh. Calculus wasnāt the ultimate goal of high school math education here. So weāve covered single variable calc extremely theoretically, far more rigorous than what Iāve seen in the AP BC exams + touched multivariable, but not as comprehensively. Iāve also covered most of undergrad linear algebra and discrete math (combinatorics, number theory).
Iām aware, which is why I still have Reed/Carleton on my list. I was more concerned about places like Denison that someone else mentioned.