Chances at top US colleges?

Student Lounge International Students
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<p>Hello, fellow Indians!</p>

<p>Over the past few days, I've been scouring the College Confidential threads, and have found the posts to be pretty useful (contrary to my seniors, who advised me to not waste my time on the forums like they did - though both of them got accepted to CMU, GATech and UCLA). So, firstly, thank you for that. </p>

<p>Okay, now getting to the point:</p>

<p>I'm a Grade 11 student at Sanskriti School, New Delhi. I will be applying to US colleges in 2014 (Class of 2018).
I wanted to get some advice on where I stand and more importantly, what I could do to improve my chances for admission. </p>

<p>Academic Profile:</p>

<p>Mostly, straight A1s, some A2s on my class 9 and 10 reports, with rare B+s (Which are probably for missing the summer project deadlines or something - CCE sucks).</p>

<p>9.4 GPA in both Class 9 and 10. (I know it isn't the best, but I was involved in a lot of other activities which should make up for this)</p>

<p>2150 on SAT (almost without prep) currently, taking it again in October, expecting 2250+</p>

<p>Now for the ECs:</p>

<p>I have professionally designed websites for many Indian and international clients, including startups and independent businesses.</p>

<p>I've designed, coded and developed a technology for QR-code identification. Developed and contributed to several open-source projects. Recently started an Android application business with two others.</p>

<p>I have co-founded a startup out of this technology (Incidentally, my partner is a graduate from Cornell)</p>

<p>I have also recently started (co-founded) another education-based startup, we're currently on a pilot project with Pearson.</p>

<p>I've participated and won in a lot of IT competitions in high school. Also participated and won in some writing competitions, and have a commendation for MUN.</p>

<p>I head and teach the web-design team at my school's IT Club. I'm also one of the founding members of the club. Also a member of the business club. Write a column in the school magazine, thus part of the editorial board.</p>

<p>100+ hours of social service, and I'm also volunteering for a Red Cross project.</p>

<p>Won a Microsoft app-design competition, registered WP developer.</p>

<p>Finalist at Texas Instruments' TI-Nspire competition.</p>

<p>I play the guitar, I've been a part of three bands at school. (I'm thinking of taking a grade exam to make it tangible)</p>

<p>I play tennis, soccer, and table tennis. I also swim. - Sports may be an area I need to work on, since I don't have any distinctions as such. Maybe I will try to diversify in breadth and not depth.</p>

<p>I'm considering the following universities (the first 5 being the only ones which offer need-blind financial aid to international students):</p>

<p>MIT
Harvard
Princeton
Yale
Dartmouth
Cornell
CMU
Georgia Institute of Technology
UCLA
UC Berkeley
Stanford</p>

<p>I will be asking for financial aid. It is important, though not absolutely necessary.</p>

<p>What can I do to improve my chances? I know that I'm applying to the most selective colleges, so I want to make sure that I give them my best shot. (I'm also enrolled in coaching classes for IIT, by the way :P). How hard is it to get a merit-based scholarship once I am in one of these colleges?</p>

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<p>First of all you have some nice stuff on your CV. Your marks seems pretty good. You should work on your EC’s and make sure you write good essays …
between what subjects have you taken in 11th? What major do you plan to take up?</p>

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<p>I have taken PCM with Computer Science (C++) .</p>

<p>I plan to major in Computer Science / CS and EE</p>

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<p>Your resume is very good, complement it with good essays.</p>

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<p>The GPA may hurt you a little…but not very much. Try to get good grades in class 11th. Your SAT scores are very good, ivy league caliber. But as we say, the higher the better.
You have good ECs, keep them going. Just concentrate on your essays now. :)</p>

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<p>How the hell did you pull that all off lol. That’s amazing! The ivy leagues and MIT for internationals in undergrad are veeeeerry competitive though. Did your startups generate substantial revenue? If not they’re not that great. I think you should look also at the tier below this such as where ucla and cmu are at. Schools like rice and notre dame are less glorified but still fantastic. You are by ^no means a show-in for these most selective colleges so don’t forget to apply to a wide range of colleges to make sure you get in somewhere. None of the ivy leagues offer merit scholarships cept upenn (which I think has phases them out tho). The Ucs aren’t going to give diddly squat because they are broke. Like i said schools like rice do have full scholarships for international applicants. Take a look.</p>

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<p>First of all, thank you for the compliments.</p>

<p>I know that the Ivy League and MIT admissions for international students are extremely competitive. Only about 6 people from India out of an applicant pool of around 2000 make it to MIT. But I would be fine at the other four I mentioned in my list as well. </p>

<p>As for the startups, one is about to be acquired (since I don’t have much time for these now), and the other is progressing with some partnerships. We do have something concrete to showcase as well as a MVP. My Android app business is taking off quite well.</p>

<p>Also, since I want to major in Computer Science, applying to Brown, UPenn, Columbia or Amherst doesn’t make sense, right? </p>

<p>What about my chances at GATech, Cornell, CMU and Stanford?</p>

<p>@bleach340: What’s a show-in?</p>

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<p>As you have accomplished so much in the IT and computer technology sectors, I believe you have a good chance of acceptance to every school on your list. You are working on your SAT and since you are an int. student, you may have to take the TOEFL, but that’s an easy test. Scoring 2250+ on the SAT as an international student is very impressive, and I think admissions officers would take that highly into consideration. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Can someone link me MyHandIsADolphin’s profile and achievements? He got accepted to both MIT and Stanford :O</p>

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<p>HI…i am planing on coming for this fall 2012 as a graduate student in the filed of engineering…i have a question here???got admit into CSU-Northridge waiting for CSU -Fullerton to give me a reply…i just wana know how great these colleges are???Kindly awaiting ur reply??</p>

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<p>What do you mean ‘no point in applying to BrownU’. AFAIK Brown has a great CS department.</p>

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<p>Yes, sorry, I just checked the USNews Rankings again. Brown does feature in the top CS universities list.</p>

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<p>MHIAD did not post his stats, so I am not sure that I should mention them here.</p>

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<p>I like how your EC’s have a lot of depth. That, combined with great scores and essays, will make you a very strong applicant. It’s also a good thing that you have started this process early in class 11th. You have a lot of time to make your applications stellar.</p>

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<p>Sry I meant shoe-in. If you’re doing cs might also want to consider ut Austin.</p>

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<p>You should broaden your college choices to other tiers of colleges. And please bear in mind that although undergrad education is important, it is a time of exploration and opening your mind to new fields. You may find interest in something else; you don’t HAVE to know that computer science is where you want to head. Having said that, you should definitely apply to some liberal arts schools/ other types of schools. Graduate school is probably the most important time.
Think about what really makes you happy and think about the specific college you want to attend (location, size, etc) instead of international prestige.</p>

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<p>I definitely want to do Computer Science. Maybe Electrical Engineering and CS, but definitely Computer Science. I do not plan to apply to any liberal arts college.</p>

<p>Which tiers of colleges are you referring to? Can you give me a few examples from those tiers? Also, why do you think I should consider those colleges?</p>

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<p>Ok here’s what you need to do. If you’re REALLY sure you want cs go the us news ranking. Pick 3 schools that are in both the top 10 for computer science and best universities ie. Stanford, MIT, caltech I think?. These are crapshoots for everyone. Then pick 3 that are in the top 10 for computer science but not even top 30 for best universities eg. Ut austin, purdue i think?. Here youre almost automatically in and you might get a scholarship. Then pick 3 that are in top 10 or top 20 for comp sci and in the 10s-30s for best universities eg. Rice, Berkeley. Here if you get in you should get a scholarship. Lastly apply to harvey mudd or 1 other liberal arts engineering college for sure.</p>

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<p>You have a good standing because your in the right range of students who were admitted to the colleges you are applying to. However, Depth is better than breadth. Colleges prefer the more interesting students rather than the students who do “everything” so it “looks good on their college application.”</p>

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<p>MIT
Harvard
Princeton
Yale
Brown
Cornell
CMU
Georgia Institute of Technology
UCLA
UC Berkeley
Stanford</p>

<p>^Which ones should I make my reach colleges?</p>