<p>Hey. This is my first post on CC, so my deepest apologies if this is in the wrong section,
or simply is the wrong kind of post for CC.</p>
<p>I'm an Indian student currently in my senior year and I'm interested in majoring in Computer Science.</p>
<p>GPA: Well, our school doesn't have it. However, I'm in the top ten percent of my class for most subjects and the topper for CompSci. (Q: How will Stanford consider this?)</p>
<p>SAT: 2200 (Q: How much higher does this need to be?)</p>
<p>ECs: Lots of stuff here (all international competitions), but no recognised olympiads. (Q: Will that be a problem?)
Mostly programming contests organised by well known companies like Google.</p>
<p>Other stuff:
- Editor of the school magazine.
- Several awards from our schools' dramatics and computer clubs.
- I regularly contribute to several open source projects. (eg. the Sahana Software Foundation)
- I volunteer with our school's Interact Club.
- I love creating things, so I've got a lot of stuff that I've created online, like web applications, games, and so on.
- etc.</p>
<p>Why Stanford?
The location, the people (Andrew Ng) and the fact that it's a great school for CS.</p>
<p>The problem: financial aid.</p>
<p>What can I possibly to do improve my application and my chances? Is the fact that I require financial aid as an international student a huge negative?</p>
<p>Probably posting this in the Indian forum would help.</p>
<p>There are many colleges in US that offer great CS programs. Stanford is just one among them. Stanford is one of those universities which admits, on an average, only 4-6 students from India. So the competition will be intense, very intense! To my personal knowledge, only those guys who won accolades in the real international Olympiads, international science fairs (Google Global Science Fair and ISEF) or who did exclusive research in science or engineering were admitted in the recent years.</p>
<p>
Yes! A BIG Yes! As an international student and also being an Indian applicant.</p>
<p>What about the rest of the questions I asked?</p>
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<p>There are many schools in the US, I believe, that do not calculate GPA either. I think without GPA, they will look at your individual grades more carefully. Still, Stanford has a holistic review, so I doubt not having a GPA will make or break your application.</p>
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<p>I got a 2110 on my SAT and was admitted. Some kids with perfect SAT scores were rejected. Stanford’s holistic review is, as with most admissions, a crapshoot. And from the lady I asked while I was visiting Stanford, they “look more” at your grades than they do your standardized test scores. From what I can tell, it wouldn’t hurt to have a higher score but personally I would leave it as is if you believe you can’t get any higher.</p>
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<p>Unsure about this one. I would agree with hopingforbetter. Posting this in the Indian forum might help.</p>
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<p>“Chance” threads aren’t a definite indicator of whether or not you can get in. I would personally ask for more specifics regarding your extracurriculars.
Not only that, but IMO, I think the essays are a large part of the application. On paper, you look almost relatively the same as every other Stanford applicant; great grades, tons of ECs, great SAT scores, etc. The essays make you who you are and if you can convey to Stanford that you have the personality and attitude of a Stanford student, that may help. [At least, this is how I believe I got in. My grades and ECs were mediocre at best; my essays helped me stand out though]
Stanford is not need-blind to international students. They therefore do look at your FA when considering you; it might be a negative, depending on how much you need. I’m not very clear about this, however, and would suggest going to their financial aid website.
[Financial</a> Aid : Stanford University](<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/finaid/]Financial”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/finaid/)</p>
<p>Here’s some more detail on the ECs:
<p>I’m worried because none of these are proper Olympiads or science fairs, and that almost seems to be a prerequisite for getting in. </p>
<p>Aside: do you have any suggestions for colleges that are great for CS and are need blind for international students. I still have my heart set on Stanford, though. :-/</p>
<p>These are my stats, and I got in.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/15718693-post18.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/15718693-post18.html</a></p>
<p>I never participated in any Olympiads, international competitions, etc. Literally everything I did was school-area/district-area only. It is possible to get in without national competitions, etc.</p>
<p>I would suggest just skimming through this thread (<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/1480174-stanford-class-2017-official-decisions-thread-rd.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/1480174-stanford-class-2017-official-decisions-thread-rd.html</a>) and looking up the stats of the kids who were accepted/rejected. It might give you a vague idea of what Stanford’s looking for, but as said before, admissions is a crapshoot. Kids who have perfect scores, perfect grades, an incredible amount of extracurriculars can get rejected, and kids who (pretty much just me lol) haven’t done much in my HS years can get accepted. It’s difficult to predict.</p>
<p>I am not a CS person, so I don’t know any good CS colleges. I would google “Top CS undergraduate colleges/universities” or something and look up the rankings. Of course, rankings themselves aren’t a foolproof indicator of the best, but it might give you an idea of which colleges are up there.</p>
<p>Just one thing to add: the poster above is a domestic applicant while you will be an international INDIAN applicant asking for aid. Without any significant achievement, it’s very unlikely that you will be accepted! It’s harsh but it’s true. Don’t get attached to any college like you are for Stanford.</p>
<p>With the kind of achievements you have, you should put your fingers crossed - that too only if you nail your essays. But still, your financial need plays a big role!</p>
<p>But I really would like to appreciate you for your two achievements in those competitions organized by Google and Co. I found the Hardcode one particularly interesting because the other winners were college students while you are a highschool’er. But the other one also sounds good considering that you completed approx 2000 tasks.</p>
<p>Anyways, apply to Stanford and hope for the best to happen.</p>