I am currently a sophomore in highschool. My gpa is currently a 3.94. My nationality is Indian. I am not an American citizen. I go to an international school in Tokyo, Japan. I have not taken the SAT/ACT… and assuming I get the standard score for most people who get into
I wanto
As of now these are my extracurriculars & awards:
Speech (Most Dedicated Award)
Brain Bowl
MUN (MUN International Conference Commendation)
Wrestling (Have won multiple awards)
Student Council Class President (9th & 10th Grade)
Robotics Club President & Team Leader (Coordinating over 30 guys!)
Solo for my instrument Gold Award
Honor Band (Bass Clarinet)
Part of an international group of prestigious students dedicated to fixing world problems with science)
Did a Ted X Talk in Tokyo
Part of the Game Design & Film Club
Part of a tech group dedicated to keeping our school site maintained and updated (This is coding related)
Since I’m only in my sophomore year… I’m expecting to continue to build my Brain Bowl career maybe even becoming captain of the team… same with MUN as I will get multiple opportunities at international conferences… with Wrestling there are still many opportunities to get more awards… and with the Robotics club we only started this year and we expect to go to Taiwan and nationally in Japan to compete by the end of this year… I also finally hope to run for the executive student council so I’ll see how that goes…
Given all these extracurriculars and awards and what I plan to at least try to achieve in the years as I grow… how can I make myself more unique… and don’t sugarcoat it… If I’m aiming to do a comptuer-programming related major at one of the best universities in the U.S (California Institute of Technology, UC Berkley, Stanford, Ivy League) / World for that… how can I continue to making myself someone more unique?
Your resume is extremely impressive already. Almost too much so. It’s important to be well rounded, yes, but you need to show colleges you have one passion. If you are going into computer programming, which is a very competitive major, focus on ecs that are related to that. I’m not saying that you need to only do that, but focus more on clubs that involve it. Don’t try for too many leadership positions in ecs that have nothing to do with your major. Because honestly, looking at your ecs, I would assume you would be a polisci/gov/int relations major.
To make yourself stand out as a coder, make an app or a site. It’s not too hard if you can actually code, but shows you have initiative. Bonus points if the app becomes popular or is useful to society. Another thing you can do is contact a professor at a local college or a professional at a local company and ask to come do research with them or obtain an internship. Once again, this shows initiative, not that you just take everything offered. This will take a lot of work, but will definitely impress college admissions officers. Basically, do what you love and a lot of it. Colleges want to see that you’re a go getter with a love for your work, not someone who just does things to get into a good school.
Otherwise, your app is already extremely impressive, especially considering you are only a sophomore. If you get an even halfway decent SAT and GPA, you should be accepted to UCB for sure, and since you are an international student, most private schools (including ivies) will want to take you. Good luck!
This is really not true. Admission is more competitive for Ivies for internationals than it is for domestic US students. If the OP is able to pay full cost for a US university, they may have good luck with well known state (public) universities. Those schools are often looking for full pay internationals to offset the lower tuition they charge in-state students. Ivies and private colleges don’t have that same incentive.
@sashachup, You’re a high school senior. What are you basing your advice that OP should narrow the focus of their ECs on? Also, admission to elite schools is very competitive. It’s even more difficult for internationals, so I wouldn’t assume that being an international gives OP a boost at any private university – especially an Ivy.
Not true @sashachup. No one knows how the UCs develop their classes other than by GPA and SAT score.
The OP does NOT have an SAT score.
The OP is an international student. International students have a difficult time getting into US schools because it is VERY competitive and expensive.
The OP is an Indian student who would have to compete with all of the other thousands of Indian students trying to get into a US university. He/she is considered an ORM (over-represented minority) at the UC’s.
The OP wants to major in computer programming, a very typical major for Indian students, which is extremely impacted at UCB.
The OP is not a California resident. UCB is a public university, funded by the taxpayers of California to provide affordable educations for California residents. There is a cap on non-resident students.
If accepted, the student could not receive any funding from the college. The UC’s do not provide any financial aid for non-residents, so fees would be $60K per year.
Looking at my extracurriculars… they’re kind of balanced… although I think the international group will bring out some really cool projects regarding STEM… The Robotics thing is a big part of my life already…
I have 5 Fine Arts Related (Speech, MUN, StuCo, Honor Band, )
I have 5 STEM related, tech related ECs (School Site Maintenance, Robotics, Game Design, International Group solving world problems w/ science, TedX talk was a one timer… and I talked about Tech)
1 Sport (Wrestling)
Brain Bowl is kind of a misc…
What other tech / STEM related activities would you all suggest? Hackathons? Anything else?
I’m going into the IB next year and everyone has to do an IB project so I’ll definitely do something related to coding… maybe I can write about something related to Technology on my extended essay (but will they care about my IB extended essay?)
@austinmshauri @“aunt bea” @intparent Ok, so I’m a non U.S Resident, International Student, seeing that regardless of if i take a loan or not the best universities in the U.S --> California Institute of Technology, UC Berkley, Stanford, Ivy League would not matter. Also since I’m an over represented minority who all want to do Computer Science… that feels pretty… bad.
How would you suggest I stand out from those other millions of Indians applying? Are my extracurriculars well rounded enough? Should I do more tech related stuff like hackathons… or do some tech projects for my IB, etc? Does living in Japan and being a Japanese citizen help me at all compared to the Indians living in India, U.S, U.K, etc? Do I need to really prioritize my SAT & ACT and even GPA to be on the same level as the millions of indians applying since my extracurriculars are in place? I know thats a lot of questions, but I’m trying to figure out what steps I should take next… don’t worry I’m not stressing out about this
I think the honest problem is that competition is so fierce for those few slots that an amazing GPA, amazing test scores, and EC accomplishments that are more than just local are needed to be seriously considered.
You mention a loan – can your parents pay for a US education? How much can they pay? There are a lot of fine colleges here with strong CS programs that you could get into even if you can’t get into the top 15 or so. Don’t get trapped in the idea that only a tiny number of colleges can help you reach your career goals. It isn’t true.
Check out “How to be a High School Superstar” by Cal Newport.
“The basic message of the book is this: Don’t wear yourself out taking as many classes as you can and being involved in every club and sport. Instead, leave yourself enough free time to explore your interests. Cultivate one interest and make it into something special that will make you stand out among the other applicants and get you into the toughest schools, even if your grades and scores aren’t stellar. Newport calls this the “relaxed superstar approach,” and he shows you how to really do this, breaking the process down into three principles, explained and illustrated with real life examples of students who got into top schools: (1) underscheduling—making sure you have copious amounts of free time to pursue interesting things, (2) focusing on one or two pursuits instead of trying to be a “jack of all trades,” and (3) innovation—developing an interesting and important activity or project in your area of interest. This fruit yielded by this strategy, an interesting life and real, meaningful achievements, is sure to help not only with college admissions, but getting a job, starting a business, or whatever your goals.”
@intparent Obviously true, I’m just looking for the best college for me… but of course I’m trying to aim for the best colleges that can offer the program but also the most realistic for me… However, I want to aim for the top to try my best. So don’t worry and instead please help me understand what steps I can take (slowly) to continue to make myself the best I can… and the most unique I can
@intparent@austinmshauri @“aunt bea” @sashachup You haven’t responded to my mentions… it’s been about a week… i completely understand you all are busy with life, etc… but potentially this may have been lost in a sea of notifications so this is just a reminder to respond to my mentions (when you have time)
Nobody can tell you how to be you. We aren’t adcoms, so we can’t tell you want they want either. Pursue activities that interest you and do your best.
Have you asked your parents if they can pay for college in the US? You can’t borrow money here, and I wouldn’t borrow heavily at home to come here. If you do get accepted to a US school it’s important that you understand you’ll be expected to return home after graduation. Please don’t take loans with the assumption that you can stay here and work to repay them. Find affordable options in your country, and target affordable schools here. Getting accepted doesn’t matter if you can’t pay for them.
We are all unique as the word individual suggests. Further we all have personal interests, skills and talents that make us unique. You probably are not a clone of anyone else. Other than putting together an admissions package that really represents you, I can’t think what would make you union’s other than something that made you notorious.
