<p>Hello everyone! I am from India. I have passed my 12th exams from CBSE in 2005 securing 75.25% (best of four).I had Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Biology and English subject combination. I scored 89 in English but only 66 in maths. I want to take SAT now to be eligible to take admission in a top engineering college in USA like MIT, Stanford, UCB, Cornell, Purdue, GeorgiaTech, CalTech... Will my low score in XII very much affect my chances of getting in a top tier Engineering School in US (in Computer Science dept.)?? I have been a good student though scoring 88.2% aggregate in Xth (ICSE), with 92 in Maths, and being in the top 10% of the students in my school ( a big and famous school in Patna) in XI and XII. I just couldn't perform good in XIIth boards only due to my focus on Indian competitive exams... I even got about 6000 rank in MAHE Manipal (medical stream).. will this rank be beneficial for me in US admission?? Will a good SAT score help me in my desire to get admitted in a top tier US engineering university? What are my chances? I have performed well in many extra curricular activities. I have also been very good in quiz competitions in State level too... I have even secured a scholarship of Rs.7000 thru quiz competition by Hindustan Times. Please also keep in mind while answering my query that I will have a gap of 1 year, since i will get admission in Setp. 2006 only. We don't have any grade point average in our school. Please reply at your earliest.</p>
<p>Hey maybe u should PM mercurysquad or better still just catch him in TiT.
I think he's near your area.
look Dude what board are you from.</p>
<p>thanx vampire... I am new to this forum... what is TiT??
plzz bear with me :)</p>
<p>TiT=The Indian Thread but I see that u are talking to him already.</p>
<p>vampiro whats ur yahoo ID?</p>
<p>being an indian, getting admission into top universities in US is easy. cuz as for now, the general trend is that US people love indians. Especially if u r applyiing for computer science. I would strongly advice u to take SAT I and get atlest a 780 on ur math (to stand up for ur bad math marks) and also to take SAT Math IIC (which is needed if u r applying for science) and get a 780 (it is described to be easy.. but it is easy for indians generally.) that will lessen ur oddes into getting into ivy league schools.</p>
<p>chemphy I don't think you're right about things being easy for Indians. Loads of Indians apply to Ivy League/other top schools every year and the competition is fierce. </p>
<p>ronty007
The SAT score isn't everything, while it's important it won't guarantee admission to a top school - not by a long shot! In fact HYP are constantly calling attention to the fact that they reject more than 50% of all 1600s (I was rejected by HYS despite my 1600) But I think in your case, you will definitely need a very good SAT score to offset your board marks. You will have to find a valid way to justify the marks to your colleges (I don't think the competitive exam excuse is going to hold). Due to the huge numbers of Indian applications they receive, I think they are well enough acquainted with the Indian examination system to recalculate your GPA from your board marks and it is not going to be too high. I don't know if the MAnipal medical exam rank will make any difference but the fact that you haven't studied a second language in the last 2 years of high school may since most of the schools on your list recommend 4 years of a foreign language. (not compulsory but recommended.</p>
<p>Apart from getting a good SAT score, you need to have excellent essays and killer ECs. The ECs in particular must be fantastic since you need to explain the gap year too. (Gap year applicants who spend their time profitably have as good chances as the rest of the applicant pool - so long as theyre involved in really meaningful activities)</p>
<p>All the colleges youre applying to (with the exception of MIT) are non need blind for international students. If you plan to apply for aid, remember that it will seriously affect your chances. </p>
<p>I'm not trying to discourage you and there's certainly no harm in applying but keep n mind that the competition is going to be very very tough.</p>
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I want to take SAT now to be eligible to take admission in a top engineering college in USA like MIT, Stanford, UCB, Cornell, Purdue, GeorgiaTech, CalTech...
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<p>i cant believe u took purdue's name in the same breath as MIT and stanford!! </p>
<p>i really dont know why people think purdue is that great?!!! i know 30 people from my college who are going to purdue. (thats not an exaggeration) everyone who applies to purdue and does no ask for finaid gets in. there is NO selection at all. yet most people seem to regard it very highly.
perhaps it is a good college, but for internationals not seeking finaid it is a joke. and it has a rally good reputation in inda (owing ofcourse to the fact that every second person goes there) the Times of India even classified it as an Ivy League Uniersity. (w t f??????!!!)</p>
<p>ok ok im being mean and generalizing. truth be told i dont know much about applications to engineerin colleges, and based my opinion solely on the quality of students that i know who are going to purdue (which is, well pathetic)..</p>
<p>so how hot is purdue?</p>
<p>(in retrospect this post is rather jumbled, but i like it so i wont delete it...)</p>
<p>Well, thanks everyone for ur precious advices!
Yes, I too have heard that Purdue isn't very diffucult to get in...
I dont have a great but, yes, a decent EC.
I am learning Spanish by the way...
MY ECA includes:
Captain of Schools' Quiz Club
Captain of schools' Yellow House
I was one of the nine the finalists of Hindustan Times Knowledge Index Quiz... out of approx. 16000 applicants from Patna and some parts of Bihar... Won a Scholarship of Rs. 7000 and Rs.500 Voucher from Bharati Bhavan.
Maggie Quiz Finalist
Won prizes in Drawing and Collage Making
And, I am planning to write a book too...
Did some computer courses from ZED Point
Made a model automatic parking light with theory for School Science Project which was graded "A" by the teachers...
Many Project works in School(almost everyone in India does that :) )
and some more insignificant things...</p>
<p>and i am sorry for my typing mistakes in my last post... i was tryin 2 be quick</p>
<p>I strongly suggest dropping Caltech from your list.</p>
<p>dude just because Purdue takes in so many students, it doesn't mean it's a third tier ****...It is ranked in top 10 in almost all of the engineering fields, pharmacy, management and aviation. It is also very good for the sciences. Did you know Purdue has graduated more astronauts than any other college. Neil Armstrong graduated from Purdue. It has the most fortune 500 CEOs after Harvard. It's aeronautical/astronatucal and industrial engineering is always in the top 4 in the US. And once you get in Purdue, it is very hard to graduate and many students drop out or change fields to easier liberal arts major.
So just don't diss a college, if you don't have the whole picture. And yes, I am going to Purdue and I got a $10,000 scholarship from them.</p>
<p>btw ronty007, I used to live in Patna but moved after class 6th....what school are you from?</p>
<p>Till 10th I was in Rose Bud School(ICSE), then I moved to DAV BSEB Colony(CBSE)...
Yes, I too believe that I should drop Caltech since its quite unrealistic for me to get admitted there
Thank again Sucharita.
Well, boomer01 u were in which school, and what are ur stats... plz share...
best of luck for ur future... maybe u will run a fortune 500 company someday too... all the best...</p>
<p>Sucharita, I want to apply to Princeton with aid, do i have a chance... considering i get good sat scores...</p>
<p>Princeton is needblind - the fact that you need aid is not going to play a role in your admissions decision and if youre admitted they'll meet 100% of your need (Princeton is extremely generous with finaid)</p>
<p>Keep in mind though that the acceptance rate hovers at around 10% and is even lower for the regular decision round. So basically, it's hella competitive and they regularly have to reject phenomenal applicants.</p>
<p>Apply anyway since it's need blind but the fact is there's no magic formula - schools like HYPS sometimes reject the most fantastic people for no clear reason.</p>
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schools like HYPS sometimes reject the most fantastic people for no clear reason.
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<p>...and also accepts not-so-fantastic people for no clear reason</p>
<p>dude, apply everywhere (like throwing darts) and you'll get somewhere (coz it is as random as throwing darts, if you suck as much as i do at throwin darts)</p>
<p>well but Princeton accepted sucharita, so it shouldn't be that difficult :p
j/k</p>
<p>And regarding Purdue, like boomer said: Purdue is one of the best engineering schools in the US. But since its a large public University, it lags in selectivity and hence it gets screwed over by major ranking methods. </p>
<p>Ronty007 - The key in this rat race, is to set yourself apart. How you do that, is entirely up to you. Another thing, Purdue, Berkeley & GaTech do not financially assist international students. Good luck and PM me if you have any specific questions :)</p>
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schools like HYPS sometimes reject the most fantastic people for no clear reason
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usually the reason is because they found another fantastic applicant :p</p>
<p>and ronty007 dont fall for adides comment, he had awesome stats and is/was very passionate about many issues in our country.</p>
<p>adides is a unique applicant and he was able to project that succesfully to the adcom. Even though there were people who had stats that may have looked better than his on paper, I think commitment to the stuff he did (and it's pretty awesome stuff too) made all the difference.</p>