I am interested in Aerospace engineering.So,my profile goes like this:
1.I have participated in some competitions like Spell Bee,Montfort Olympiad(Offered in catholic missionary schools) and I am an NCC cadet with A-certificate(NCC is like boy scouts in the US offered in grade 8,9 &10).
2.My rank is always in the top 10 rankers list and I am one of the brightest students in my class.
3.I have been involved in some charity work too.
4.I have ideally solved at least 10 SAT model papers and almost all of the question were correct.
5.In 2014 summer my school instructed the students to motivate people to vote for the 2014 elections and collect their names etc and I motivated more than 58 people in my area to vote for the 2014 elections and i also have received a certificate for this.
6.I was also part of the basketball team for inter house competition in my school and i received a medal for it too.
These are some of my achievements and I am still not eligible to write the SAT because of my age so when the time comes I’ll submit my SAT scores too.SO,please reply and also explain me about the chances for me and also tell me what I’ve to do in the coming years.Please write.
The SAT is not a good metric to measure the qualification of Indian students because the SAT math & science subject test syllabus is India’s 10th-grade syllabus. Obviously, when 12th-grade students take the SAT math and science subject tests, they will score 2400/2400.
If you had scored an 800 in December math level 2 subject test, your national percentile is 80.
If you had scored an 800 in December physics subject test, your national percentile is 88.
If you had scored an 800 in December chemistry subject test, your national percentile is 90.
I am not sure if the college board website is having bugs but according to the data they’ve given, one out of every 5 students in India gets an 800 in math.
As far as I know, there is no lower age limit for SAT. You can take the test in 9th grade itself.
You can score 5s in AP science and math tests if you are thorough with the high school syllabus. If you are preparing for IITJEE, they are going to be very easy. I haven’t taken AP tests but I have seen the sample papers.
Some American students take the SAT at age 12 or 13 (for something called “talent search”). You can do it too.
Realize that taking SAT subjects in math&science and scoring 800 will do nothing to help you get into top schools, because literally THOUSANDS of Indian students do the same.
Test scores can keep you out but won’t get you in. What gets you in is what makes you unique: your personal history, what you’ve done with your time, how kind and spirited and resourceful you are as demonstrated by your actions and things others can say about you…
What matters is your profile: can you score well on humanities/history subject tests? Do you have impressive EC’s (the “get out the vote” drive was good, for instance, and continuing progressing in Olympiads would be important). What can your teachers say about you? Are your essays interesting and well-structured? (read the website “essay hell”)
And finally the key element, alas, will be your ability to pay…
Before you do all this, order a book called Princeton Review’s Best Colleges. There are dozens and dozens of excellent colleges, including some that aren’t well-known in India but are superb (Pomona, Harvey-Mudd, Williams, Wellesley, RPI, Lehigh, Union, Carleton, Davidson…) and others that are very good, very selective, and offer a great education in areas of the country where fewer Indians apply and where the competition against Indians is less fierce (even if you still have to compete against excellent students from China or Europe, you can stand out a bit better), such as St Olaf, Denison, St Lawrence, Skidmore, Connecticut College…
For all highly selective universities, “fit” matters. In the US, top colleges have a “personality”. Cornell isn’t Brown isn’t Dartmouth isn’t Columbia. If all you see is their rankings, your odds of admission become low, because colleges want applicants to “get them”, to know what they’re about, their “personality”, their “culture”. That’s what we call “fit”.
Most students in India never get to know about exams in time. India is progressing and I’m sure this lack of communication will be solved some day in the near future. Here is a list of important (in my opinion) competitive exams you must be aiming for:
- National Talent Search Examination
- National Science Talent Search Examination
- Regional Mathematical Olympiad (leads you to Indian National Mathematics Olympiad)
- National Mathematics Talent Contest (leads you to Indian National Mathematics Olympiad)
- The Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana Fellowship Award (gives you a ticket to the National Science Camp)
- National Standard Examination Junior Science (leads you to Indian National Junior Science Olympiad)
The students in 10th grade usually cannot take the exam due to their age. Check the NSEJS pamphlet to find out if you are eligible for NSEJS 2017. - National Standard Examination - Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy, Biology (leads you to Indian National Olympiads)
The Indian National Olympiads lead you to the selection camps in the corresponding subject. The members of the international olympiad teams are chosen from these camps.
Here are few government funded internship programs I am aware of:
- INSPIRE Internship (you have to pay 0$, government pays for your food, accommodation, travel, etc.)
Other important nationally recognized events which I am aware of:
- National Science Camp (Qualifying for KVPY scholarship will give you a ticket to the camp)
- National Science Fair (IRIS)
You can send an application with your innovative idea. If the selection panel considers it to be a brilliant idea, you will get a chance to present your idea in the fair. - The top colleges of India such as Indian Institute of Science, Indian Institute of Technology, etc. each conduct a technical fest annually. These programs usually have open-to-all workshops on various topics which you can attend. There are other events such as guest lectures, training programs, etc.
If you are poor, you should aim for exams which lead you to the international olympiads as the admission fee for the selection exam is just over 1$ (you don’t have to pay for the subsequent stages).
It has been very difficult for me to get money to write the SAT (around 10,000 INR) and AP exams (15,000 INR per exam). These are very costly. If you can’t take these tests, then you’ll be left with nothing which foreign institutions can understand (the admission officers most likely won’t know the value of each national level event unless you brief them about it in your application which is a waste of valuable space). Therefore, you should make a plan and start saving money if you are poor.