Chance my EC

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Hello, I have been in quite a dilemma recently. After looking at all those steller stats, I have started to think that perhaps my EC is not up to the mark. So here I am asking you guys for help. I just entered my junior year and I will be applying to colleges (EA) next year. Like everyone, I am aiming for the top colleges(Yale being my dream school). I know it’s a crapshoot but it never really hurts to try one’s luck. Stat-vice, I think I am fine. I am getting good SAT scores in my practice tests and I have been pretty consistent and good with my studies. It’s just extracurricular which haunt me. So please do comment on my chances with these EC. Thanks a lot!

Intended major: Physics

Activities and awards:

Published a novel on science fiction at the age of 9. It was published by an imprint of Penguin random house. It’s available across the globe on multiple online platforms like amazon. I then again published another novel on science fiction at the age of 11 which was again published by Partridge(an imprint of penguin random house).

Was recognized by multiple news channels and magazines as one of the youngest authors of India.

Got till the second quarter of the prestigious L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest award.

I have a blog on physics where I regularly write on the latest happenings in the physics community. I also write breakdowns of recent researches taking place in physics and explain them to my readers. I have published over 50 articles on physics and have got more than 20000 views.

Many of my articles were published in some of the very prestigious science websites like Suke India, Illinois science, cosmobc.

Did an internship with a prestigious science website where I worked as a science communicator and wrote multiple articles for them on science.

I also worked with purple wave tutors and tutored many IGCSE students for free. I helped many students to get an A* in Physics and maths.

I was the president of my chess and science club.

Gave a licensed ted-ed on Physics. It was on Supersymmetry and how it could unify physical laws.

Was published in the very prestigious science magazine, Science today.

Went on the Sakura exchange program. There we had to build a science model along with Japanese students. Everything was decided but sadly because of the corona virus, it had to be conducted online.

Got a distinction in the International benchmark test

Member of the student council (Vice-head boy). Probably will become head boy this year.

Got the first rank in the interschool speed competition. Around 21 schools took part in it and we had to orate a self-written speech.

I think that’s pretty much what I have done. It includes both the awards and activities I have engaged in. I know my EC and awards are pretty weak so I will take part in some more of the competitions to make it a little stronger but please do help me here. Please do tell me if with these EC and good stats, will I stand even a little chance for t20s. And please do comment on my awards and extra curricular. Thanks a lot for reading. Really appreciate it. Once again, thanks a lot!.

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your ECs don’t seem weak to me at all ??? i dont know how it is for international students but publishing multiple books at such a young age is really really incredible. i’m also a high school student so i might not be the best source of advice but you seem super driven and a competitive applicant for any school. this is also me assuming your grades are up to par with what T20s want.

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Your ECs look fine. How about your grades, and SAT or ACT scores?

Are you an international student residing in India? That will play significantly in terms of your chances for acceptance. If you are applying to only top 20 schools in the U.S., your chances of acceptance are in the low single digits as an international student. This means that 95% or so of international applicants don’t get accepted.

Also, you don’t mention if you will be applying for need based aid. Check each website for policies in terms of awarding need based aid to international students. Most of the top 20 schools are need aware for admissions which means they will consider your financial need when reviewing your application for admission.

I think you need to cast a much broader net than just top 20 schools and include a sure thing in your own country.

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Your ECs look very good to me. I think that you should continue to do what you think is right for you. Then apply to Yale.

I do not think that you want a long list of ECs. You want ECs that you care about and that you have done well.

Also apply to universities in your home country, and make sure that you apply to some good safeties.

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What is your GPA, and how rigorous are your classes?

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  1. You cannot list anything I believe that you have done before high school
  2. I would try to establish a certain theme or 2 and not explore everything or dive into multiple things
  3. I would try to gain more leadership experience or try to show colleges your creativity and character more
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In my IGCSE i took physics, chemistry, maths, geography, biology, economics, First language english and hindi. In my A levels I will take Further maths, Physics,Chemistry,A level maths. I think they are quite rigorous according to IGCSE and A level perspective. I really dont know about my GPA but my grades are up to the par for these colleges.

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Really we cant?

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You could find a way to briefly refer to earlier accomplishments in your essay(s) but they wouldn’t be something you listed on the list of 10 EC activities. You would want those to all be from 9th grade on.

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You can, but colleges generally only look at accomplishments in high school. That being said, having two published books at a young age is worth mentioning. However, don’t expect it to have a huge impact on your admission chances.

For you to be considered seriously as an applicant from India to Yale, your GPA or equivalent, should be close to, or 4.0. While you have extensive activities in informal science outreach and publications in popular venues, what is your record in regional, national level awards or higher?

As @thumper1 wrote, admissions rates from India to any of the most popular colleges are pretty abysmal - probably similar to acceptance rates to the IITs.

As other have asked - can your parents afford the cost of college in the USA? If you are applying and asking for financial aid, that reduces your chances in most of the most popular colleges in the USA. On the other hand, if they can pay, that increases your chances substantially.

Why are you looking to study in the USA?

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Luckily I belong to a high-income bracket so I think I will not really need aid. To be honest, I really don’t have awards at the national level, and this is something that haunts me. I do have earned distinction in the International benchmark test which is like an olympiad and you get a distinction when you have scored above the 95 percentile. And I made it to the second quarter of L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest award. Apart from them, I don’t really think I have any national award. I know its going to really hurt my chances but I really do want to study in USA because their education system is just much better than ours. Another question: Is it prohibited on the common app that you cant report EC before high school? Or its a convention which everyone follows?

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You can maybe mention it as a reference in your essays or related to something you did in high school but it’s not identified as a main activity

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@Ragnor_Lothbrok

There are plenty of accepted students at colleges here who have not received national awards. Do you think adcoms at elite schools look for national awards and toss all applicants who don’t have them? That’s not true. Even for international students.

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It isn’t prohibited to write any EC that you want. The question is whether the admissions officers will consider it.

AOs don’t have a formula by which they consider whether you have done sufficient ECs or ECs which are good enough. They look over and rank you by whatever measure each decide, mostly in comparison to everybody else. Some ECs will have higher weights, others lower weight, and, as a rule, EC from before high school have no weight at all. However, an EC which is part of a continuum, such as, say, an athlete, musician, dancer, etc who has been active for more than three years, since it demonstrates a long history of serious engagement.

The books are sort of in between. On one hand, it is from before high school and not on a continuum. On the other hand, it is something interesting and pretty unique about yourself, which can make you stand out. If you were, say, interested in pursuing a major related to creative writing, it would make more of a difference. As a prospective physics major, perhaps less so.

If you have no issues with paying, I would recommend that you start looking to apply to slightly lower ranked colleges, specifically the ones which are need aware for international students. High-stats, full pay international students tend to have a much higher chance of admissions in some of those.

For example, University of Illinois has a great reputation for physics and is very well known in India, and you are almost certain to be accepted to their Physics program, U Maryland, U Michigan is higher raked overall than the previous two but its physics program is about equivalent. For “higher ranked” universities, look at Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, Cornell, or Duke.

For physics, Yale is not up in the highest regarded. Th Ivies to look at, aside from Cornell, are Princeton or Harvard, but acceptance rates are so low to these two, especially for international students, that they are no more than lottery tickets.

You should also look at liberal arts colleges. Some of the best undergraduate physics programs are at LACs.

Overall, you should not look at the rank of the college, but at the number of physics majors that it has, the number of physics faculty that it has, the opportunities in regards to undergraduate research. Liberal arts colleges do a lot better at that than most research universities, BTW.

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