Have I ruined my chances of studying computer science at a top university (MIT, Stanford, etc.) ?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Alright, a bit of an overview

  • International applicant from dubai (Sweden originally)
  • SAT 1560 [not taken subject tests yet]
  • Year 10-11 [IGCSE] essentially all A/A*s
  • Year 12 [junior] currently scoring 39/42 in the IBDP with 4 HL subjects (maths, physics, chemistry, economics)
  • Founder and president of the school's chess club, play chess 20 or so hours a week, school prefect, tutor friends in maths weekly, attending an iOS development course in the coming summer, currently developing a few iOS applications, (trying to find a partner for an upcoming maths competition)

Now, the deal-breaker,
In year 11 (the year we took our final IGCSE exams), I was insanely depressed to the point where I could barely go to school (looking back at it I was a complete moron). Due to this, I sadly ended up scoring a C on my further pure maths exam (I took the regular maths course a year early) and even worse a D on my school report (I don’t know what these are equivalent to in US grades but I read that a C is a B+ or something like that - this seems insanely optimistic on the other hand). Anyways, would something like this end with my application being thrown out the window immediately considering the competition for international applications or would the fact that I am scoring 7/7 in a much harder maths course currently make up for it?

I know these ‘chance’ threads are very repetitive and all and believe me I tried to stay away from writing one but yet here I am… any thoughts?

2

Well, looking at your SAT and junior IBDP grades, I’ll tell you not to worry.

However, you should explain what happened on your report. Don’t leave them hanging. If you left your bad scores unexplained, it might be able to affect you negatively.

But with a brief and strong explanation, along with your SAT Score (& solid subject test scores), your ECs, your essays, and your recommendations, you’ll still have a chance.

Keep working and good luck!

3

Ask your counselor to explain the score in her recommendation letter, and have her say it was a one-off event, which surprised both her and the other teachers. You should also explain the reasoning in the additional information section of the application. The stories should of course match. Do this, and colleges will disregard it.

4

thanks for the slither chance of hope, don’t you ever wish you just had the chance to go back in time?