<p>Thanks Carolyn, all the public univs are off my list. Sorry for my ignorance, but I never researched any of the schools except USC, Pomona and Claremont before adding them to my list. Yes, I've been posting my college lists on other CC forums too, to get a more general consensus.</p>
<p>I had a 3.94 uw HS GPA at graduation (i'm from cali, and even though our school doesn't weight gpa's or rank, to give you an idea of a weighted gpa, my UC GPA ended up being 4.39).</p>
<p>1500 SAT I
800 Math IIC
800 Writing
760 Chemistry
740 Biology-M</p>
<p>My main thing probably was doing research (and showing that I put individual thought into it...not just being handed a project) in biomedical sciences for four years in high school...</p>
<p>In the interview...I really was just myself (which I thought would get me in trouble, but apparently not)...for example, a simple question they asked was my least favorite subject...and i said history...because it was...i have nothing against history, i just disliked it (or possibly the way it was taught) in hs, and in my stuttering justification, i said something along the lines of, although we learn things from history, i don't usually enjoy learning facts for the sake of learning facts...and if you really want to learn history, learn what you will actually use in the future...not every little nitpicking thing...haha...but honestly, i think in the Trustee interview, they want to get a sense of who you are, not how well you can answer, if you give "correct" answers...etc...I remember ending up laughing a lot during the interview (which was only a whopping 20 minutes)...and responding to a question that was asked: what do you think is the largest problem in the world today, and how do you think YOU can help change that? So...yeah...don't prepare answers...be yourself, if they choose you for an interview...its not because they want to see 300 of the same people...its because they want to see a unique person attend USC...and that person is you...</p>
<p>sorry for the blabbering...ok...what else? why did i choose stanford?</p>
<p>It was honestly down to 4 (count 'em 4!) schools on April 30th....Caltech, Stanford, USC and Boston University (BS/MD program)...</p>
<p>Stanford was giving me a little over half-tuition (about $15000), and loans and work-study on top of that....
Caltech was giving me about $11000
BU- $10000 Dean's Scholarship
USC- Full Trustee ($30000)</p>
<p>but the honest truth is now that i look back...i really think i would've picked either Stanford, BU or USC...BU because of the program (and not the school) so not picking that probably was a choice)....USC...man...that was hard to turn down...esp. being from SoCal....I had grown up the biggest Trojan fan in school....but it ended up being that I was not as interested in business as economics and biology and i thought Stanford would be better for me...</p>
<p>any other questions...just ask</p>
<p>Hey DR_SLC,
you do have great SAT I and II scores. Well your ONE MAIN EC ACTIVITY really did the magic for you. I think my commitment to and formal experience in equities (that will be easy in portraying with the Exchange certifications, and indeed VERY RELEVANT to the Business/Economics programme that I want to pursue) could do the same for me too..</p>
<p>Thanks, dr_slc. I'm a little worried because I have great SAT scores and grades, and I've done lots of theatre at school (and a summer program at USC), but I don't really have anything completely independent and spectacular to use as my "selling point". I haven't published anything, done any independent research, or devoted thousands of hours of volunteer work to any cause. I did co-found an animal welfare club at my school, but I honestly haven't been doing much actual community service lately. I am really interested in Air Force ROTC, though, and USC does have the #1 AFROTC program, so I can emphasize my desire to participate in that.</p>
<p>I really appreciate your advice to be yourself in the interview. I may <em>ponder</em> some potential questions in advance, but I won't recite any pre-fabricated responses. Thanks again!</p>
<p>Akshay, as you can see by reading the ibanking threads on this site, many Americans do not look kindly on would be ibankers. They are often seen as greedy and shallow by people such as adcoms, and only in it for the money. It certainly won't be looked on as scientific research would be. So be careful and get some advice on how to position yourself. I can certainly see some raised eyebrows about a kid from India who is "poor" enough to need a lot of aid yet has ibanking contacts.</p>
<p>Justa BUMP</p>