<p>I am a class 10 student from New Delhi, India and want to get admitted to Harvard as a Freshman for a degree in Computer Science. My family's annual income is approximately $8800. Right now, I am attending a coaching institute for getting into the IITs which have the lowest acceptance rate in the world, approximately 0.007% and I alongwith my teachers feel that I can make it to the IITs. But I want to go to Harvard. My percentage in school will be 95% [we don't have GPAs here] and I will require full financial aid in the context that my parents will only be able to pay $1500 a year for my studies, but I am willing to work all day on campus jobs to pay the fees. The financial aid calculator shows that I will have to pay only $3000 out of which parental contribution is $0 and student term time work is $3000. I play for my school basketball team and have also represented Delhi in the inter-state tournament. It is difficult for me to sit for all the exams like ACT, TOEFL and IELTS alongwith SAT and the two subject tests as they are very expensive and I don't think my parents will allow me to, because it is like as much as my father's one month salary. But I feel that I will be able to score 800 in math and a total of 2200+. And subject tests also, 700+ in both Chemistry and Math or Physics. I am very good at computer science and have won various competitions of fests of big schools of Delhi and also qualify in Google Code In every year, I am the All India Rank 1 in the SOF National Cyber Olympiad as of 2013.
My physics' teacher's daughter also went to Harvard in 2012 for 100% aid and she was no prodigy, so I was wondering what my chances are. I may become the Academics Prefect or the House Captain or maybe even the Head Boy of my school next year.</p>
<p>Admission into these two schools is a roll of dice even with amazing credentials(e.g. IMO Gold, IPho medalist, and 2200+). One can only hope for the best and make an attempt. However, I think you have a decent chance if you work hard in the whole process and demonstrate your intangibles(personal character, strength, etc.) thru your essys and interviews.</p>
<p>I’m willing to do ANYTHING that is required to get there, it’ll change my life for ever.
But I do not have much to begin with, could you guide me as to what I should start doing right now besides hard core preparation for a 2400 or anything else that is required/may increase my chances?</p>
<p>Even if you do everything you can, there is no guarantee. You can only do your best; all it takes is to be yourself.
THere are tons of 2400+4.0s who are rejected by MIT every year - test scores are important, but they are far from being the most important factor. Focus more on ECs. Show yourself in your essays.</p>
<p>Good luck though, and wish u get into your dream school!</p>
<p>I would say ECs, essays, scores are all not important. The importance lies in the synergy and combination of individual components you present in your application. In other words, they judge based on impressions. That’s what is meant by a “holistic” admission policy. Sure, they try to justify their impression using details and reasoning, but the ultimate outcome stems from intuition and not logic. Your best bet is to be honest, forthcoming, truthful, real, unique and even charismatic. These are things beyond scores and ECs. People can tell if someone has an IQ of 140, if someone is friendly, if someone is hardworking, if someone truly cares about animals etc. from their language.</p>
<p>My conclusion?</p>
<p>Refine yourself as a human being if you want to get into MIT/Harvard. Taking the so-called short-cuts is confusing and not so accurate. If you have the potential it will show. You seem to be overtly concerned with scores, intelligence and the materialistic side of things. It will not help. The more intangible aspects in your application will be more deterministic of your application results than what you think.</p>
<p>Why do I say this?</p>
<p>MIT/Harvard is bombarded by thousands of applicants with extremely high talent and solid achievements from China and India. And I know dozens of them. They think scores and achievements are all it takes. And it shows through their essays. Unfortunately they also didn’t get in.</p>
<p>Now if you were to break that stigma and stereotype, your chances increase dramatically, …if you have the same stat as them.</p>
<p>Plenty of brilliant people go on to lead fulfilling, productive lives without having gone to Harvard. If you get in, great. If not, there are other places to get a great education. It’s one school.</p>
<p>Okay, here’s what I think I’ll do,
Study hard for IIT and may be get in IIT Delhi while also preparing for SAT side by side. I’ll try for 2300+. The thing is, the environment in India is such where parents teach there children that IIT is everything. And I have a pretty good chance at it, so I’ll just go with it and leave it all to God. I’ll be true and honest in my essay and application and if the admission officers feel that I deserve it, then I will surely get it. Still, there are two years to go so I will not waste this precious time crying over it. I’ll just keep going and I believe that if I have the slightest of chance, then I will surely do it and even if it happens otherwise, I will continue to work hard in life and become what I want to. Thank you.</p>
<p>The key is to show that you’re not only smart, but have also developed other areas like a commitment to charity.</p>
<p>I’m sure you do something in your free time, and not just studying? If it’s something you like, and if it’s precious to you, value it. Think about why it’s precious to you, how it defines you as a human being. That means much more than scores.</p>
<p>Don’t be overtly true in your applications. Tell your life story like something from an epic novel (or a hilarious short story…) Color it with imagination and imagery.</p>
<p>You are a good student, but don’t fall into the common traps that so many Asians do, like focusing too much on stats. When people say “be yourself”, it means “be yourself”. Express yourself in your own voice. Talk about a game you like to play in your free time rather than your assumed “passion” for a subject someone else forced on you.</p>
<p>You have to make yourself stand out in some manner. This can be reflected in essays, extracurriculars, and interviews. Sure you’re smart and everything and will study…but how does that make you different from someone else with the same promise? How are you unique? </p>
<p>Even with a 4.00 and a 2400 you need to truly make yourself stand out amongst all the other equally qualified candidates to gain a chance at admission. Its even harder for you because you’re international. So try and join clubs that pertain to your interests to show the schools that you really have a passion for what you intend to study.</p>
<p>I joined this coaching institute for IIT called FIITJEE in 2013, before that I spent most of my time on the computer - worked on projects for the school computer science exhibition every year and created an android application to work alongside the school website. Now, i have no free time for the next two years. Have 6 hour classes on each day at weekends and then school and revising what was taught at school and FIITJEE. So basically, I don’t have free time.
This will go on till I give the Indian Institute of Technology - Joint Entrance Examination. It is THE BEST institute in India for CS and other engineering branches, guys like Vinod Dham, Nikesh Arora, Vinod Khosla are all IIT alumni. But it will be VERY difficult for me to get CS at IIT. you only get CS if you have a rank below 500 out of 1400 thousand students that sit for the exam. So i was wondering if I could make it to Harvard as the SAT is a LOT EASIER than IIT JEE. But now, its a different story after knowing that SAT is not everything. Could you tell me of any good CS college in the US that provides full aid to intl students? What should I do?</p>
