<p>International student from France. Half-indian.
Male
Major: Political Science
Applying RD to Harvard Princeton Yale and Stanford. Safety schools back in France.
Fluent in French and English, proficient in German and Spanish.</p>
<p>GPA: 4.0 uw
no class rank, top 10% estimate
Have taken the hardest courses available (38 hours of class per week )
SATI: 1520 (M720 V800)
SATII: Math 2C 800 Writing 750 French 800</p>
<p>EC's:
Have been playing the saxophone for 10 years. Numerous awards, many performances with professional musicians. I'm sending an optional rec from my music teacher and a recording. (is that a hook?)
Judo: 10 years, brown belt, will be getting my black belt this year. I know its not a very common sport in the US, but...
Tennis: 7 years, probably varsity level in the US
Have competed in many other sports including chess, skiing, table tennis... don't know whether i should include that...
Class president for the last 4 years
co-founder of an indian association to promote indian culture in my hometown</p>
<p>Awards:
Certificate of honor (for outstanding academic achievements)
Certificate of excellency in German
National Math contest ("kangaroo math contest"): 97th out of more than 100k
Nat Geography contest: top 100, approx. the same number of participants</p>
<p>CS:
Help out in a school in India every year</p>
<p>Teacher Recs: excellent
Essays: one on music, one on myself, both are strong</p>
<p>great chance IMO. Really impressive Verbal score for an international student. But then again, international competition at those schools are tough tough TOUGH! But you should definitely try. Also, it's great to see that you've been doing Judo and Tennis for so long...definitely emphasize that in your application - shows that you're really dedicated and commited.</p>
<p>I'm not planning to major in music, but I'd like to get a certificate in musical performance and play in one of the universities bands. Maybe even minor in music...</p>
<p>i think you have a very good chance...with good scores and good ecs...ofcourse it's very hard for intl applicants but i'm sure you're one of the more competitive ones...and who knows your mixed heritage might work in your favor as well...good luck!</p>
<p>I think you're great, axfr! I really hope to see you one day at princeton (this statement includes the wish that you, and i , both get in and go there :D )... </p>
<p>it would have been great if you had had a bigger sat math score, to back up the kangaroo thing, but this isn't important anyway... I especially like that you tried, and did v well, at so many different things. I don't know very much, but i'd say that this will impress the harvard people.
Anyway, i think that in your case, the essays are very important (and btw, u need 3 for pton), because your situation isn't self-explicative: if your essays reveal how all your passions come together and define... you, then everything should be perfect! </p>
<p>thx from the feedback guys
yeah im from strasbourg lived there my entire life, though i travelled a lot
double major at Harvard...wow!
i know i dont have a big math sat score, but that's because sat 1 is different from the french math syllabus. The Math 2C is closer (and i got 800)
hope to c u at princeton too pavalon! its my first choice actually!
essays: one very strong on music, one equally strong on my heritage (indian/french) and one short on chess (i used to play a lot when iwas younger) to show that i can concentrate and stuff like that. as for the pton shorts: about me or a global issue i care about. whatdya think about the topics?
BTW any body know whether its ok sending photocopies of the commonapp forms (recs+school report) to the universities?</p>
<p>uhh... for the "Kangaroo Math Competition".. Are you sure that it is a national conpetition where every1 can join? cuz I used to live in the UK once, and only the top 1 or 3% participants of this national british math competition (UKMT) are qualified the kangaroo competition.</p>
<p>Which one did you join?</p>
<p>I got into Pink Kangaroo, but no merit, no nothing.. just a lame participation certificate.</p>
<p>And how are you meant to prove that you've done like 10 years of some of the sports and musical instruments? I mean on the app. form, you can only write what you've done for the past 4 years. Or are you intending on putting that info in yer personal statement?</p>
<p>-everybody can participate in the kangaroo, but only the best do so. that's the way it is in France, it might be different in Britain</p>
<p>-for music, i slipped in that I had been playing the sax for 10 years in one of my essays
for judo, i mentionned that I have the brown belt. That implies at least nine years.
for tennis...their is no way for me to proove anything</p>
<p>that realli sux... In Britain, you have to get a Gold in UKMT-Intermediate and be the top 10% I think among the gold ppl. Well you must be pretty damn good... I totally flunked the test! lol.. Despite that it was AMC10 level, I just sucked... How do you know that you were 97th though? did they tell you? </p>
<p>Well anyways, I wish I had a 10 year of something... Gd luck in yer chances</p>
<p>wow this is really a surpise.. i thought that the ppl organizing kangaroo in romania were just ordinary, but i must review my opininons...</p>
<p>in romania around 250.000 kids participate, and each and every one of them gets a diploma (and a crapy magazine)... + the ~800 who do very well come to bucharest for a selection test (which is absolutely necessary because you can very easily cheat - the proctor leaves you 2h insetead of 1:15 (there are 3800 centers, and one can't control the balcanic cheating spirit...:() or "i make prob 1-19, you do 20-39. Go!":D)</p>
<p>on the other hand, the mentality here is for parents having 2-6 grade children to send them to kangaroo just as a chique and bon-ton thing to do. it's "intellectual", althugh the kids have nothing to do with mathematics and in their view the contest doesn't desirve the "fun-math" name at all ... it's pretty sad, if you ask me... </p>
<p>but that's how the foundation makes the money to pay for the suuuper camps they organize - some of them abroad, interrail trips through europe etc (this is how i first saw france, paris:)). oh, yes, forgot to say the quite important fact that every contestant has to pay the ~1 participation fee</p>
<p>we don't have any extra selection stuff. i came 90 something th out of ~110k and didn't even get a diploma. damn! all i got was a stupid book and a CD-ROM (the basics of calculus ore some similar crap)...oh yeah I also got a collector serie "kangaroo" plastic ruler...</p>
<p>yeah i know competition is pretty stiff for int'l.
BUT i seem to be the only frenchman on CC, so that might help. If you're Korean, Chinese or Romanian, it must be much tougher given the number of applicants from those countries</p>