Chances at MIT, Caltech, Stanford, a couple of others.

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>International student - British citizen living in India.</p>

<p>SAT 1: 2320 - 800 V, 770 M, 750 W (79 multiple-choice, 8 essay) (This was in one sitting.) </p>

<p>SAT 2: Math II 800, Physics 800, Chemistry 790. </p>

<p>GPA: 82.1/100 (not weighted; A average by our school's system). This does sound low, I realise, but I attend a small, seriously competitive private school where the highest GPA is 85.9. Also, the whole of the 11th and 12th are treated as practice for the final end-of-12th school leaving exams, which I think I'll make a 94-95 on. </p>

<p>Have an excuse for slightly low GPA (could have been first!) due to having to take care of a very ill parent during most of the eleventh and beginning of the twelfth. </p>

<p>Rank: We don't rank, so it'll be reported as top 10 %, but unofficially 2/32. </p>

<p>Courses: Okay, this is where things get strange; we list our courses as plain 'math' and 'physics', but I'd assume that most university admissions offices have a bit of experience dealing with Indian school systems, and will know what sort of stuff we do. (My school sends a fair few students to the US each year.) Math is until differential equations, which might look fairly good. </p>

<p>Extracurriculars & awards:</p>

<p>NTSE scholarship (government-sponsored merit thing. It's a fairly big deal here.)</p>

<p>National Science Olympiad -- qualified for the nationals; sadly fell ill the week before, so ended up not attending, but it's a decent state rank and I might as well use it. </p>

<p>IAIS -- standardised testing, 99th percentile on Science/Comp. Sci/English/Math (for what it's worth!)</p>

<p>Award in tenth grade for highest Computer Science mark on the public exams (98). </p>

<p>(Attended a school that actually banned extracurriculars in the 9th and 10th, so I'm a little short on those.) </p>

<p>Cryptography team -- captained this. It was very short-lived, but we actually got through stuff and came fourth on the regionals.
Debate/public speaking -- fair few city-level awards (first place as best individual speaker and as part of a team, couple of honourable mentions here and there).
MUN -- team captain, at one point.
Creative writing -- in-school essay stuff, out-of-school first place at poetry contests & whatnot. </p>

<p>Essays: I think they're rather good, if slightly unusual.
Recs & etc: Will be glowing, probably. </p>

<p>Applying to: MIT, Caltech, Stanford, Princeton, Cornell, UChicago in the US, Cambridge in the UK. May have to ask for aid, as parents earn ~ $15000/year (combined; both doctors). (This doesn't apply to Cambridge, which I can afford.)</p>

<p>Edit: Forgot to add, I'm not a traditional-age student, as I'll turn 16 in August 2007. Will this help or harm my chances?</p>

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<p>Your stats are v.good, SATs excellent and the only way you'll really be able to find out your chances at these colleges is to apply (which you've probably already done, considering the date), your SAT IIs should offset your grades and prove your academic credentials for those colleges (if any) not familiar with the Indian systems.
Are you applying to any safety schools? I notice your college choices are all extremely difficult to get into and a gamble for most applicants.</p>

<p>I'd say you have as good a chance as any top International applicant. ISC or CBSE?</p>

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<p>I'm actually finishing up my apps now, and will probably send them all in by the 30th. (Stanford and Cambridge are both done, of course, since their deadlines have passed.) </p>

<p>I realise that I don't have 'real' safeties, but I'd reckon that (in a worst-case scenario), I'd make it somewhere in India; otherwise, I could probably take up to two years off and not lose anything (I'll graduate high school at age 15), which is why I feel rather free about gambling a bit at the moment (!). </p>

<p>CBSE right now (took ICSE in the tenth; had an 88, which was entirely the fault of Social Studies and an English teacher who sent in a barely-passing grade (for reasons known only to herself) for my internal assessment).</p>

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<p>Bump - I'd appreciate some help!</p>

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<p>K-twin is right. Your scores are awesome. 2320 in one-sitting is very very good. You are bound to get into at least one of the schools on your list. It'll definitely come down to your essays.</p>

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<p>Thanks for that -- yeah, I did think it would depend on the essays in the end, which might actually work in my favour (I think my essays are reasonably good, and definitely pretty unusual). </p>

<p>Does the age thing matter much, though? (I'm currently 15. I'll turn 16 in August 2007, a few days before term starts.)</p>

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<p>Well I'm 16 now, will be just 17 when college starts, and I'm pretty sure most colleges have their share of younger students, it doesn't really matter, I don't believe they'd factor it at all in their admissions. (It's only if you're something like 10 years old and a child prodigy that it'd be noticed at all! :) )</p>

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<p>British citizen in India....hello George Orwell. Kidding.</p>

<p>If asking for aid as intl, your chances are reduced. However, intl aid goes to the very top of the intl pool stats wise, which you are prbly in. Some schools are need blind for intls as well. Hard to predict chances w/ intl status + aid, but you'll def have a few good options in spring.</p>

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<p>Oh and just note also that, with reference to karl marks, your chances are exactly the same as if you didn't apply for aid, if you're talking about MIT and Princeton. However, for the rest, it will impact your application to a degree.</p>

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<p>I will not chance you for any of the US universities plainly because you're applying to the best(and admissions there are HIGHLY unpredictable). Another factor is that you require aid and where aid is not a consideration(MIT & P'ton) getting in is VERY difficult anyway. </p>

<p>I will, however, chance you for Cambridge - Since, you won't be counted as an international student and you're not applying for aid there - I would say you have a more-than-decent shot.</p>

<p>Good Luck :)</p>

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<p>LISTEN................................................ bottom line......</p>

<p>U R GETTING INTO EVERY ONE OF THOSE COLLEGES ( u dont even have to write a GREAT essay, just a good one)............... because according to ur age, u are a child prodigy, and trust me colleges want that.....u have everything a very strong regular applicant has.........AND u've achieved all of this 3 years before they have.
I'm not exaggerating ONE bit.
Now if u consider ANY of those points......ur definitely getting in. Dont even think about ur apps after ur done with them, just rest assured.</p>

<p>and by the way.....doesnt CAMBRIDGE's session start at feb or something ???</p>