<p>Just had a massive nervous breakdown, which is a pretty rare thing for me...</p>
<p>Anyway, the application deadlines are approaching and I want to know where I stand.</p>
<p>I'm an Indian student taking the IB, with a predicted score of 38 points and a rather low SAT score of 1860. But, I'm retaking the SAT and hope to get at least a 150 - 250 point jump.</p>
<p>On a completely unrelated note: I manage to get 2150+ in my CB practice tests, but somehow I did considerably worse during the actual test date. Why is this? Is there anyone else who gets high scores while practicing at home but surprisingly lower scores during the actual test date?</p>
<p>My extracurriculars are strong: no national-level prizes or anything but a decent and varied resume. I've been told I write well and that my college essays are very good.</p>
<p>As for my school subjects, they are very rigorous, with higher level Economics, Literature and History and standard level Math, Physics and French. Of a maximum score of 7, my subjects are all 6s and one 5. </p>
<p>Assuming this is all you know about me, what kind of colleges do you think I have a chance of getting into?</p>
<p>You are going about this all wrong and your self-described “nervous breakdown” is evidence of this. You do not let a string of numbers decide where you can “get into” but rather find a college that is a good fit for you based on a dozen or so variables such as LAC vs. Research U, City vs. suburban vs. rural, Greek dominance or not, region, affordability, academic strengths, campus culture, etc. Do some research on this and some introspection as well. You are not grabbing a brass ring, you are deciding where to learn and grow for 4 years of your life.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’d concur with that. I gather that this is different in India from the number of people who ask the question, but in the US it’s not possible to just list off what kind of colleges people with X stats ought to attend. There are too many of them, and they’re too different.</p>
<p>Agree with the two above, but thats not even the problem for me. The problem is that you don’t really provide any information… at all. Like seriously, ok you take IB. Thats cool, so does mostly everyone who has it available at their school and wants to get into a competitive college. Your SAT… is low, you need to raise it, but you can’t just expect to randomly increase your score by 250 points, so don’t take that as a factor and deal with the fact that you have an 1860 right now. Also, you don’t even tell us your gpa or class ranking. If you think your resume is “decent and varied”, everyone else probably thinks its something like “mediocre and random”. Compare yourself with the other people who got in to the colleges of your choice and judge for yourself how your ECs match up. From here, all I can say is that you have no shot at all, because the only information that you’ve given me is your 1860 SAT score and the fact that you are an ORM.</p>