<p>I'm an Indian international student from Bangalore, applying to the US for the class of 2012.
Here are my stats:
School marks:
CBSE - 96
Usually above 90 in school.
Translates to a 4.0 GPA if I'm not wrong.
Rank - 1-2 / 250-300
SAT:
CR - 770
M - 800
W - 770
SAT II:
Math II - 800
Physics - 800
Chemistry - 800
Biology M - 760
French - 800
Math I - 800
Spanish - Will be giving
Literature - will be giving
APs
I'm giving the following APs this year -
Calc AB
Microecon
Macroecon
US Government
Physics B
Chemistry
French
Extracurriculars -
1. School Debate Team Captain
2. Prefect
3. School Quiz Team Captain
4. National Squash Player
5. President & Founder - Science Club
6. President & founder - French Club
Achievements -
A few NSEs, Robotics Competitions, nothing big.</p>
<p>I've had my sights set on Harvard ever since class 9 and have done everything to make my application stand out. Unfortunately, I've been looking around this forum of late and have been pretty appalled with the Decisions threads. What I thought was a sure acceptance isn't so sure anymore, and I'm very worried. Add to that the fact that I am applying for aid and have no major awards as such.
I have tried to compensate for my lack of awards by stocking up on SAT IIs and learning a few languages, like a senior of mine advised but I'm beginning to think the adcoms will begin to realize I'm compensating. </p>
<p>I want to apply to Harvard, Columbia, Penn, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford and Dartmouth. Maybe Caltech. The Usual bunch. I'm working on my essays right now. Is there anything I can do to make my application stand out? Am I applying to schools which might not be in my league in terms of aid?
Assistance of any form is highly appreciated.</p>
<p>For the class of 2016, you mean?
Okay, first off, you seem tense. Do the following in order to regain a healthy and calm disposition:</p>
<p>Step 1. Relax</p>
<p>Step 2. No seriously, relax.</p>
<p>(Just got that off from MIT’s site, ha.)</p>
<p>Anyway, your testing scores are excellent, but seriously you do not need to take so many subject tests, and you certainly do not need to learn languages :|</p>
<p>Most colleges would only see your best two subject test scores, which are perfect scores. And a 2360 makes you competitive at all colleges.</p>
<p>Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, and Dartmouth are need-blind, so you don’t need to worry about your chances being affected because of aid. </p>
<p>It really does all boil down to your being a fit for these colleges or not. “Fit” a fancy term which is tossed around everywhere on this forum. So what is a fit? It probably means whether or not you’ll thrive at the college. </p>
<p>In any case, your profile is pretty good. You said that you had seen loads of people with similar stats get rejected. IMO, that’s possibly because these applicants fail to stand out. You got some interesting stuff like robotics, make sure you highlight it well.</p>
<p>And it is really, really awesome that you’re already working on your essays!</p>
<p>Yeah, sorry. Class of 2016.
The reasons I learnt a few languages was because A. Parents got me into it, B. A senior says it showed diversity for an Indian, and C. I’ve notice a large portion of Harvard Admits know quite a few languages.
I thought English, Hindi, Tamil, French and Spanish would bring in a fair amount of diversity.</p>
<p>Another thing - Won’t colleges technically SEE all your scores if you send them all and report them on your commonapp?</p>
<p>I’ve heard ‘fit’ being thrown around a lot… However, I find the concept quite confusing. I mean - these are all elite schools, right? So they’re all looking for elite students, which stats are supposed to demonstrate. If you demonstrate academic proficiency on all aspects of your application, doesn’t that mean that you’re probably going to thrive no matter where you go? Or is there something I’m not getting. I don’t quite understand the reason people with 2400s and 10-15 5s in APs and quite a few important achievements and ECs are rejected.</p>
<p>And I haven’t exactly started on my essays. I’ve just began the introspection process, to see what exactly has been important to me.</p>
<p>The reason those people are getting rejected is quite simple: There aren’t enough slots at Harvard to admit everyone with great stats. Not to mention the slots held for athletes, legacies, etc.</p>
<p>So you have to have something more than numbers.</p>
<p>I understand, but it’s not like they’re admitting the top 1000 applicants with the best stats either. Some applicants who are obviously smarter/more sincere/ more genuine individuals than others get rejected to make way for less deserving candidates. I’ve seen that happen first hand. I don’t like the subjective aspect of the application process.</p>
<p>You sound like an amazing students. The schools you are applying to are always reaches, I’m afraid to say, but I definatly think you have a strong chance. Good luck :)</p>
<p>I went through your stats and I actually said “WOW” out loud.</p>
<p>Anyway, follow everyone’s advice above and I guess that if you maintain what you’re currently doing it all depends on your essays, so write a kickass one… Essays are really important.</p>
<p>Alright. Thanks everybody.’
I had a few questions:
Do I tell colleges about my AP plans in senior year? Are there any APs which are a must for top engineering colleges besides say Calc BC, Physics C?
Should I retake my SAT to improve my Superscore (2340 was my first attempt)?
Should I retake SAT II Bio?
Is there anything I should/can do besides essays to improve my academic standing?
I’m pretty nervous considering 10 of India’s best applicant make Princeton, and although I’m probably not the worst, there’s probably better.</p>
<p>I know I probably sound pretentious wanting to retake a 2340 and most of you will advise me not too, but from my perspective, it’s like a spot on my application.</p>
<p>Honestly, you should relax. I get why you might want to retake a 2340, but it’d be better if you direct the effort you’d be spending on getting a 2400 towards winning something big. </p>
<p>I suggest that you take APs in only the subjects that you don’t have in your CBSE curriculum (unless you’re looking at placements from now). </p>
<p>And remember there’s always someone smarter than you out there. So you can’t outsmart your way in :p</p>
<p>What do you mean by a few NSE’s btw? There are only 5, as far as I know, and you didn’t indicate what you exactly achieved? </p>
<p>A National Squash player + The fact that you’re brilliant academically = Awesome!!</p>
<p>No seriously I’d say you can pass for an athletic recruit as well. Contact the colleges coaches early and they will see your game. If good they’ll most definitely take you. A national rank in this sport is a good boost to your application.</p>
<p>Another CC Indian here, ivycollege, is a national squash player. You can PM him if you want more info on that.</p>
<p>Over the past few years, Princeton has taken 1~2 squash athletic recruits from India each year. And as far as I know it is the best ivy for squash. All the colleges you mentioned, except Caltech, have pretty good intercollegiate squash teams (even MIT!). And trust me, no nationally ranked player can/will have stats/scores/board-percentage/ECs as yours.</p>
<p>EDIT: If you don’t mind me asking, which group do you compete in (U-17 or U-19) and what’s your national rank?</p>
<p>The only reason I was vague about my NSEs and my Squash is because I did not want to compromise my identity on a public forum. I just don’t think that’s very wise.</p>
<p>The only reason I’m taking half the APs that I am is because honestly, I want to inflate my courseload.</p>
<p>I don’t want to outsmart my way in - I’m sure there are smarter people applying. I just want to be amongst the top few people applying. I’m no International Olympiad hero, so I’m trying to demonstrate my academic strengths in pure statistics maybe.</p>
<p>About being a recruit - I don’t really know how that process works. Is it a separate application process altogether? Is there a limit to the number of colleges I can be recruited by?
Besides, I am not really bothered about how good or not a college is at Squash. In fact, I don’t mind if there’s no squash at all. I’m of the firm belief that college is academics first, ECs later. I don’t want to compromise on my college GPA to play squash.</p>
<p>Although I don’t want to reveal my ranking, I will say that I compete U-17.</p>
<p>Well I’d suggest you give your best without thinking too much about being at the top (because you never know how the entire applicant pool is). That said, you are a very well-rounded individual. Keep working hard.</p>
<p>Okay.
How exactly DO you get recruited then? Just in case I change my mind.</p>
<p>I’ll keep that in mind, Debarghya. Because all of you must be more experienced about college admission matters, I just wanted to know where you think I’d stand in an Indian applicant pool.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think MIT and Stanford are very high reaches, and the rest are reachable. Also, on account of the number of Indians they admit every year, I have very good chances at Penn.
I’m also wondering whether or not I should avail of the Early Decision option for Penn Dartmouth or Columbia.
Otherwise, I’ll definitely apply early to Harvard if they bring back Early Action. If not, Yale or Stanford for sure.
Any suggestions on that front?</p>
<p>You should only apply ED to your first-choice college. Don’t apply ED just for the sake of improving your chances. Try Stanford REA or Yale SCEA instead.</p>
<p>Pray, none of us here are “experienced” in any way, except in talking about stuff we haven’t the faintest idea about. Don’t take anybody here seriously when it comes to general college admissions. This forum is only useful for specific application questions (like you asked how recruiting happens - that kinda stuff).</p>
<p>Okay, you have a great shot if you’ve scored 90+ in 11th as well. That is very important.
I’m going to give you some advice which is very, very important. Spend 2-3 months on your essays, and kiss some serious ass to get great recommendations. Ass-kissing will not affect their opinion of you, but it may affect the amount of time they spend on the recs.</p>
<p>Even if you don’t understand how it is possible to write 2-3 essays over 2-3 months, try to do it. A good piece of introspective writing should take that amount of time. After all you’re not writing a paper for a class or an argument; this is real writing. Ralph Waldo Emerson style.</p>
<p>Short answers and other things- take your time with them, or be spontaneous- whatever suits your personality. Don’t try to game the thing or write what you think they want to hear.</p>
<p>I don’t see why you shouldn’t make it to an Ivy or Stanford. You’ve made a good base, finish the job.</p>
<p>@debarghya9: Which Early Action is more beneficial? Yale or Stanford? I’m going to be applying to both anyway.</p>
<p>@rsaxena: Since all of you are seniors who’ve probably gone through the stage I’m going through now and will also probably be getting acceptance letters from very good universities in a month or so, you obviously have figured out more or less what works, right?
And besides, I couldn’t judge the strength of the Indian applicant pool from the Harvard decisions threads. Since most the American applicants seem to be 2300+ scorers and pretty decent everywhere else, isn’t it correct to assume that much more is expected of the more competitive and over represented Indians?</p>
<p>And plus, how do you get recruited?</p>
<p>@guitarclassical:
Thank you for the confidence booster.
Recommendations will not be a problem in the sense, I’m sure the teachers I have in mind will write me long, detailed drafts. However, I am concerned that they might include tidbits about what they refer to as my “aggressive” attitude and misbehavior, which might reflect badly.
That’s one of the major problems I’m facing in my essay, I’m at a crossroads between whether to please the admissions office (which is extremely hard to not do) and to just write the way I want to.
When I write, my style I feel is very enticing. However, it doesn’t sound as gloomy and serious as some of the other example essays I’ve read and people keep saying “You’re not seriously going to submit that?”, but I really think it reflects who I am. </p>
<p>My story’s a twisted story of the passing away of my mother, getting a part time menial job, losing my teenage love of my life because of the above, the subsequent winning of a squash tournament, and topping the class after coming second for two years in a row only to find out my girlfriend is dating the guy i just beat. It’s the story of my life. I can’t help but write about this rather than building robots or learning languages. Should I go through with this?</p>
<p>Sigh. We think we have it figured it, but nobody can say whether we have right or no. Even if you do take advice from here, I’d still ask you to keep in mind to treat everything with a pinch of salt.</p>
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<p>Can’t say. CC is very limited in scope, so don’t jump to any conclusions based on the American applicants. They’re from a different system, background etc. What is expected of Indians no one but the admissions office can say, so if you were hoping to find out where you stand from CC, then you’ll be disappointed. </p>
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<p>On this point though, I think everyone will be clear. You can’t please the admissions office, because you don’t know what they are looking for, or what kind of people they are (besides, you shouldn’t even be trying to). Just write what you want to write.</p>
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