Do I have a chance at the top 20 universities?

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Demographics: Indian Male

international student

  • State/Location of residency: India
  • Type of high school : A levels school:

**Intended Major(s)*: Physics

GPA: Got 8A* in my IGCSE. Will hopefully get all A*s in my A level as well.

  • Class Rank: School does not rank
  • ACT/SAT Scores: Planning to give SAT in august

Coursework

In my IGCSE I took 8 subjects (Physics, chem, math, economics, EFL, geography, Hindi and Bio)

In my A level am taking Physics, chemistry, math and economics.

Awards I don’t really have major awards but I got a distinction in the international benchmark test. Apart from that, I won several debating and speech competitions at my school. I also qualified for the second round of an international writing competition.

Extracurriculars

I have a Physics blog where I write articles on the latest happenings in physics, research paper reviews and explain Physics concepts. I have over 60 physics articles and my blog posts have garnered more than 100K views.

Published a book on Physics. I completed it in 11th grade, and it’s about the history of physics. Previously, I had written two more books when I was aged 9 and 11, respectively. They were published by an imprint of Penguin: Partridge Publication. But I don’t think I will be able to talk about them as AOs are only interested in activities during the HS.

Interned with a prestigious science journal. I worked there as a junior editor for Physics and Astrophysics. My work was to data check original researches/articles/ review articles, etc. I also worked as a writer at cosmobc where I wrote articles on Physics

Many of my articles were published in famous science blogs like ZMEscience, Illinois Science, Science scienceborealis. My articles were also published in Science magazines.

Gave a licensed ted-ed speech on Physics

I was the head boy of my school

I was the president of my school chess club and the head reporter for my school magazine.

I also tutored many IGCSE students with many of my students getting A*. I also worked with Purple Wave tutors for free where I tried to help students as much as I could.

Cost Constraints / Budget

I will need financial aids

Schools
So should I take the chance of applying to the top 20s? I mean do I genuinely have a chance or should I consider lower-tier colleges? I really want to spend the application fees only if I have a chance of getting in. So please do help me here. Thanks in advance.

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Honestly, you have a profile that we see on CC quite frequently. The biggest obstacles you face will be the same as others - you come from an over represented country, need financial aid, and are looking to major in STEM. International acceptance rates are far less than the overall acceptance rates and the vast majority of schools will consider your ability to pay before deciding to admit you. I’m not saying it is impossible but if you research the number of international students at the top 20 universities, the odds are not that great. MIT generally accepts 5 or 6 Indian students per year. If that number holds true for each of the other 19 in the top 20, you would need to be one of the top 100 students in your country, presumably higher if you need financial aid since a need aware school might choose a student a bit further down if they can pay.

If you are open to schools outside of the top 20, there may be other options you could consider that might have more favorable odds.

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Do you intend to major in physics?

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Yes, by all means. Try your best to get in. Otherwise, you will always wonder and have regrets.

Try to do your best and apply to your dream schools and some others.

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yea

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Yea but do you think I have a chance? I mean those colleges have really expensive application fee so I only want to apply if I truly have a chance. So do you think I should apply their or I should look for the top 50s and top 100s?

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Diversified portfolio among top100

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No one can tell you what your chances are. There’s no such thing as guaranteed admission. Choose one or two of those top schools and then fill in the rest of your list with schools that have higher acceptance rates.

These schools give the most FA to international applicants, but many have very low acceptance rates.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/universities-that-offer-international-students-the-most-financial-aid

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Do you think you are one of the top students in your country? I mean, seriously, you have to have an idea if your school has sent a number of students on to top US colleges in the past. You should have some idea of the better schools in your country and if your school is one. Even though your school doesn’t rank, you should have some idea if you are one of the top students (among the top 10? The top 20? In the middle of the pack?). You mention that you don’t have any major awards but have distinction in the benchmark test. How many others earned the same distinction and is there a higher recognition level than that?

Where I live, everyone knows the “best” schools - the expensive private ones, the public ones with the best course offerings, the ones with a reputation for sending students to the top colleges. In our school, everyone knows who is a National Merit Finalist, who takes all of the AP classes, who the football MVP is, who won a poetry contest, etc.

The issue is your application will be judged along with all of the applications from your country and the admissions staff will select 5 or 6, or maybe 4 or 7. In order to be one of those, you need to be among the best few in the pile. Others will come from the best school, have better grades, won more awards, or have more money. The key is knowing where you fit in.

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They are a high reach for everyone, even US citizens. As an international who needs financial aid, your odds are even less. If you really want to study in the US, you need a much broader list of top 50 or top 100 schools, focusing only on those who will give aid to international students since you require it (many will not).

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Yes, I see now that you specifically included your intent to major in physics in your original post.

In general, the terms in which you have described your schools of interest may limit your chances of studying in the U.S. For example, colleges that would be superb for the undergraduate study of physics and mentored research in physics, such as Pomona, Williams, Hamilton, Haverford and Reed, may not currently be within your consideration. In other words, if you were to select the right reaches, instead of those you have seen on a limited top-20 list, your search could work out really well for you, at least partly because you would encounter less competition from other international applicants. In choosing schools to which to apply, you may want to look into some of the awards presented by the American Physical Society (examples below).

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