Im sick of people telling me lies.. Can someone do an HONEST chance me?

Student Lounge International Students
1

Demographics:
Indian Male
Living in the Middle East
Private School (Sent <10 students to Ivies in the past decade)
No Hooks
No aid needed

Intended Major(s):
Computer Science/ Data Science

ACT/SAT/SAT II:
SAT: 1450
SAT II: 790 (M2)
IELTS: 8

UW/W GPA and Rank:
Rank: 2/ 75
UW GPA: 4.0 (4 predicted A*s for A Levels)

Coursework:
A Levels: Physics, Computer Science, Mathematics, Further Mathematics
AS Levels: Physics (A), Computer Science (A), Mathematics (A), Further Mathematics (A)
IGCSE: Biology (A), Chemistry (A), CompSci (A), Design and Tech (A), Economics (A), ESL (A), English 1st Language (9 [A]), English Literature (A), Geography (A), Mathematics (A), Physics (A*)

Awards & Honors (As mentioned on Common App) :
Deputy Head Boy/ VP of Student Government (School)
Secretary General of MUN Club (School/ National)
DofE Gold, Silver, Bronze (International)
BSA Crest Silver, Bronze (International)
UKMT Senior Silver in 10th Grade (International)

Activities (10 mentioned on Common App):

  • Leader of my school’s trekking group: I have completed treks in 6 countries (Kuwait, Austria, India, Nepal, Jordan, and Cyprus). My main highlight being the Everest Base Camp trek. [72 hr/wk, 3 wk/yr]
  • Assistant Swimming Coach: I taught swimming to 9-13 year old students in the evening, while balancing a heavy courseload at school. [6 hr/wk, 15wk/yr]
  • Academic Research (CREST and EPQ): Every year, I choose a new academic research topic. The latest being: to assess role Big Data plays in public votes like elections and referendums. [2 hr/wk, 15 wk/yr]
  • Teaching underprivileged kids: Every summer, I spend time teaching English to underprivileged kids in my hometown. [8 hr/wk, 4 wk/yr]
  • Founder of the SAT Club: When I started preparing for my SATs, my school didn’t provide any support. Hence, I started the club to help others. [1 hr/wk, 22 wk/yr]
  • Organiser and Captain of Soccer Team: As a member of a student committee, we organised the football tournaments and I often captained my team. [1 hr/wk, 12 wk/yr]
  • Outdoor Volunteer at : I have a particular interest in culture, and I find myself highly involved in places which appreciate and encourage cultural activities like . [2 hr/wk, 10 wk/yr]
  • Advisor for the Campaigns and Causes Committee: After leading many campaigning events, I was chosen as a senior advisor for the high-functioning committee, raising awareness for breast cancer, etc. [2 hr/wk, 25 wk/yr]
  • Doing a cleanup campaign: It started as a walk on the beach, picking up litter, but I later joined a group which raised awareness for a clean and healthy environment. [1.5 hr/wk, 20 wk/yr]
  • Online courses on edX: To expand my knowledge in coding and analysis, I have done a few courses about computational thinking and data science. [4 hr/wk, 8 wk/yr]

Essays/LORs/Other:
I’d say most of my essays are 7+/10,
Letter of Recs from Maths teacher (probs going to be 9/10, CompSci teacher maybe like 7/10)

Colleges:
ED: Cornell CoE (Rejected)
EA: UMich and Purdue
RD: Brown, CMU, Dartmouth, GTech, UCol Boulder, UPenn, USC, Vanderbilt, UCLA, UCB, UCSD, UCSC
UK RD: Cambridge (Rejected), Imperial (Interview), Edinburgh, UCL, Warwick (Offer Recieved)

Could you also please reverse chance me? Im struggling here :frowning:

2

Aside from your SATs being on the low side, you’ve got a strong app. Unfortunately all your schools are reaches-for-everybody places, and on top of that, computer science is a difficult major to get into directly. Acceptance rates to CS are less than 20% at all those schools, plus a lot of them are state schools, which highly favor residents of their own state in admissions.

I would cast a wider and slightly less selective net if you want guarantees. Otherwise, odds are you’ll get into one or two of those places, but it’s anyone’s guess as to which ones. As an international student, not needing aid already helps you dramatically.

3

Not sure what you’ve been told, but you are applying as an international student to one of the most popular majors, and your SAT is low for the majority of schools on your list.

Generally speaking, international acceptance rates are half of what they are for domestic applicants.

At the public flagships on your list, the overall published acceptance rates don’t differentiate between major and in state/out if state applicants. For CS and international students, competition is fierce.

I’d recommend you apply to some true safety schools, which typically would be in your home country.

Good luck!

4

Congratulations on your HS achievements.

Your US list is reach-y, and I agree with the above that CS admission rates are generally lower than the overall admissions rates, and test scores/GPA higher than average.

What are your EBRW and Math subsection scores…I am assuming they are not balanced? If your EBRW is below 700, that may be problematic for the tippy top schools on your list, even tho you have a good IELTS score.

If you are interested in adding schools at this late date, I suggest U Rochester which continues to increase its proportion of international students, and Clemson, because it still has a relatively high CS acceptance rate (in line with it’s overall rate). Also, you might consider an ED2 app…I know Rochester has ED2.

I will call @MYOS1634 to help with the UK schools and perhaps suggest others. Will you attend Warwick if that is your only international acceptance?

Good luck.

5

Take a look at the forums here for engineering and CS early acceptances at some major state schools. Look at who was rejected. It surprises me each year to see those high stat, high achieving kids get deferred and rejected. Take special note of OOS applicants. Your chances as an international student from an over represented nationality bring your chances down even lower. All of your schools are reaches and you stand a very good chance of being rejected from all of them.

Check out Stevens, Manhattan College, Rose Hulman, Clarkson, Kettering and some directional technology schools with departments that offer the courses you want and apply to them if you want better chances of studying in the US. There are over 3000 colleges in this country. Focusing on the most selective 5% is setting yourself up for failure if you don’t have some back up schools in the mix

6

@Mwfan1921, the UK limits applicants to 5 courses/unis, so the OP can’t add more.

Interview at Imperial means on the shortlist- but it’s a wild card after that. Warwick has a strong CS program, as does Edi , which looks promising. I think both Warwick & Edi are stronger in CS than UCL, but not everybody agrees with me :slight_smile:

As for the US ones- why Dartmouth? CS is not exactly their strong suit.

OP, I don’t know who is telling you ‘lies’, but the most basic research should have told you that CS at top US names as an international was always going to be a long shot.

7

Understood, but OP can add other EU schools ?

8

Your SAT is on the low end. You only have one SAT2 score, for colleges that probably want to see two. Your ECs are fairly standard. Your demographic is over represented. Your major is impacted.

You have one offer, so congratulations, you are going to college. As far as your other schools, you might get into Boulder, UCSD, UCSB., and Edinburgh. Not sure about other UK schools. As for the other US schools, the odds aren’t good.

9

Thank you for the honest advice. At this point, I have lost hope in the process. I dont even know why Im applying to the USA. Im clearly not good enough.

10

Im Indian where the competition is WAY fiercer. Plus, the educational culture there doesnt suit me. Im disappointed to hear that but I needed to.

11

English: 710, Maths: 740. My English was waived for most of my Early schools as I got more than their required Reading score.
Cheers for the advice tho.

12

I reckon my UK colleges are my backup. Thanks for the advice.

13

I have a college counselor (hired by my parents) who has suggested these colleges based on my stats and ECs…
I dont trust her anymore, thats safe to say.

14

Not really looking for schools in the EU.

15

Cheers!

16

Slow down. You’re a good student with good stats. However, the schools you’ve applied to are very difficult to get into…for everyone applying regardless of race, gender, nationality. CMU accepts less than 10% into CS. It’s difficult for everyone. That’s why you need to look at schools just below CMU, MIT, GaTech, etc. You can attend schools in the US and do well. It just might not be the ones on your list above. For CS you don’t have to attend a top 10 school to do well.

Maybe look at NC State, Virginia Tech, Ohio State, Pitt, UT Dallas or Arizona schools. For California maybe UC Irvine or UC Riverside. What about Canadian schools like Waterloo, U Toronto, or British Columbia?

17

I think Id rather attend a top 7 UK college than attend a T30-T40 US college. Just my opinion…
For some reason, attending a great college in the USA had always been my dream, but I never really worked hard enough :frowning:

18

If any place in the US that would be amenable to accepting you rates lower to you than your already accepted option, then you are done. Sit back and see if maybe one of your lottery tickets pan out, understanding that the chances are way way low for that, and make plans to go to your accepted school. You are already set. The rest is just the gravy on the main course

You do have realistic options to study here and the US but not among the schools you have on your list. That you are not needing financial aid makes a big difference. International students with need have virtually no chance of acceptance at schools here.

19

Yes, well I have clearly outlines to my parents that I have my eyes set on a top tier education program… the country (USA or UK) doesnt matter. But, how would you suggest convincing my Indian parents that the world doesn’t end at the USA and colleges like Imperial are worth going to regardless of them being in the UK.

20

@MorbEmergency , I have no advice regarding schools outside the US though I did spend quite a bit of my life overseas and had the option of going to school in Europe. I know very little about British schools.