Indian Student

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):2040(M-800,W-660,CR-580)(Super-scored)
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II:M1-800,M2-800,P-790( No prep)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):5%
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):NMTC Round 2-Top 19,NCO-International 7,State-1,City-1,CSI Young Talent search National Finalist-Top 10,TCS IT WIZ regional finalist,INOI-2014 and 2015,Robo Olympics-1st,Some more quizzes and olympiads
Grades in 9th:10 CGPA
Grades in 10th:10 CGPA(no upgrading)
Grades in 11th:Math-100,Computer Science-100, English-96, Chemistry and Physics above 85 (don’t remember)
Grades in 12th:School attested -97%
Others:5 in Calculus BC (ab subscore too)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):Other than Awards- Assistant secretary of Trivia Club,Active member of Techno and Ramanujam Club. FIITJEE student.Robotics(School expos and competitions), Programming(contests), Chess(School -1st), Maths(contests).
Job/Work Experience:None
Volunteer/Community service:World Heart Day, Race against Cancer.Work with Orphanages.
Summer Activities:Reading, Coding, Math,Travelling and Gaming
Essays (rating 1-10, details):9-10
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):8-10.School csc teacher,Fiitjee Math Teacher, School Principal, and School VP-who also happens to be my Physics teacher.Counsellor Report too.MIT I got one from english teacher as well.

Applied for Financial Aid?:No
Intended Major:Computer Science(AI)
State : Tamil Nadu
Country:Chennai
Income Bracket:<$100k

Schools Applying to: MIT,Stanford,Georgia Tech,CMU,Princeton,Caltech

2

MIT, Stanford, CMU (SCS?), Princeton, Caltech - very high reach, I’d put your odds of getting accepted to any of these at less than 10%.
Georgia Tech - I have no idea, it seems possible.

Why would you not apply for financial aid at the need-blind schools? How are you going to afford $60K/year college costs with family income less than $100K? Some of these schools give generous aid to financials. Other give little or none,

If you are serious about studying in the USA and can afford it, I hope you applied to some less selective schools!

3

I didn’t know how to apply. Can I apply still?

4

Every college has their own rules - check their websites. Most require you to apply for financial aid at the time you submit your application, others (primarily the need-blind schools) will let you apply later if you are accepted. And many colleges gives little or no aid to internationals - in which case, if you can’t afford the cost, it makes little sense to apply.

5

The fact that my SAT1 score is low brings down my profile? My ECs are all national and international level so won’t they compensate for a poor SAT1 score ? I also have an A in my FCE and 106 in TOEFL (both no preparations). I am in a curriculum which is very taxing and prepares students for IITs, hence the lack of time to work on these aspects. Olympiads came naturally to me because of the rigour of this curriculum and self research. So did many of my ECs… My parents have told me that they will manage to pay somehow if I don’t get an aid. That is not an issue.But an aid would certainly be great as it would help bring down the tension in their side.

6

You can’t apply until September 2015. The deadlines have passed.

7

Dude, I have finished all my applications…

8

Your major weakness is CR 580. This is very low for the schools listed above.

9

@ronakice - Check all the financial aid deadlines for all the colleges you applied to - I just checked MIT and it’s 2/15. It’s a pain submitting financial aid forms to schools you are unlikely to be attend, but if you want aid, you have to do it.

10

I don’t want to be harsh, but that 580 will probably preclude your chances at any of those schools, despite your international awards. The rest of your application is top notch, but unfortunately it is similar to other highly qualified internationals who will have a much higher SAT. There’s a slight chance you may be accepted, but prepare to be rejected from all. Do you have safeties?

11

There are a lot of Indians with 800 or so math and physics SAT IIs, but those are good scores. I think you have a good chance at Georgia Tech and a chance at CMU. The others, IMO are very high reach.

12

Yeah. I know my SAT1 scores are bad. That was because of the pyrexia I developed the day of my second time I took the SAT1 :(. I do hope they disregard these scores and see beauty in the other aspects of my application. Thanks a lot, guys…

13

Thanks a lot for your opinions. I hope the institutions see beauty in the other aspects of my applications and as long as there is no minimum SAT score cut-off, hope they even look into it.

14

Your application looks very strong overall.
Apart from that 580 in CR, i think you’re set.

MIT - Reach
Stanford - Reach
Georgia Tech - Match
CMU - High Match/Low reach
Princeton - Reach
Caltech - Reach

Im also an indian so i know how taxing it can all be.
Your chances at MIT, Stanford, Princeton and caltech are low, as they are for everyone, but you are definitely in the upper half of all indian applicants.
Apply to some safeties/matches because the US admissions are very unpredictable.
Good Luck !

15

Thanks dude. You brought my hopes up at this critical time. Love ya:)

16

Good luck to you too!