Ivy Chance-Brown & Columbia+UCB and UChicago

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>First off, I live in India and follow the CBSE system. This is extremely different from most other education systems, in that you are required to pick a "stream"(commerce, humanities or science) in grade 11, and you can only study the subjects that come as a part of the stream. That said, here're my stats</p>

<p>Intended Major-Econ. </p>

<p>SAT I: 1st Attempt: 1950- 670 CR 530 M 750 W
2nd Attempt: 2120- 730 CR 650 M 740 W</p>

<p>SAT II: Taking Math II, Eng Lit and a Science between November and December</p>

<p>9th grade-all 9's(on 10) except Science(8)
10th grade-9's(on 10) except Math(8)
11th grade-74.something%(93% Business Studies, 83% Accounts, 56(!) Math, 70-odd English and 68.something in Economics). Keep in mind that all Indian kids see a downward trend in 11th and 12th grade.
12th grade-horrendous(about 60-something % overall)=>more on this later
Rank-School doesn't rank, more on this later</p>

<p>Work Ex: 2 week internship at a network to connect businesses with venture capital. Not much time, but this was pretty meaningful to me. </p>

<p>Community Service: a. Taught underprivileged kids after school for a bit
b. Went on a week long trip to a village as a part of a program conducted by an NGO in collaboration with my school</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars
a. Secretary General, Model UN: This is my biggest co-curric. SecGen of an International conference(400-odd people) and one of the people administrating the MUN community in school(200-odd people, we take it very seriously)
Been doing this activity since 9th grade, won about 13 prizes, in 15 conferences including 2 internationals(ILMUNC Philly and ILMUNC Beijing, Honbl. Mention and Best Delegate respectively). This includes a bunch of Best Delegates. Directed a couple committees too. This is a HUGE part of my essays, because this is very meaningful for me, and I like to think that I'm fairly good at it. </p>

<p>b. Chief Editor, Economics and Management Club: Also contributed a lot to this club, been in it since 11th grade. Organised a trip for the members, helped organise a bunch of inter school competitions, and did some editorial work too. Mainly has to do with my interest in business and econ. </p>

<p>c. Student Govt.: Assistant House Captain last year, and Member of the Discipline Council this year. Did tons of work last year, but relatively less this year. </p>

<p>There are a bunch more, but I'm just trying to give you a gist of it. Do feel free to ask if you want details</p>

<p>Essays: Seem to be pretty good, though I can't say for sure
Recos:
I know for a fact that my BS teacher has given me a rank of top 5%, though I haven't(and can't) read her LoR
I think my Maths teacher will do the same
Counsellor: Hopefully she too will give me a top 5% rank, and a good letter as well. I've worked with her before, and she's very understanding. </p>

<p>The story behind those grades is that my school in particular, has extremely tough marking(one kid got a 90% in 11th grade, from the entire grade), and thus the grades in absolute terms aren't all that great. Having said that, I'm doing well enough in comparison to the others(went up in 2 subjects, including an 81% in Econ, which is very good relatively speaking)</p>

<p>Other Info
Fin Aid: Not asking
Nationality: Indian</p>

<p>ED to Brown, EA to UChicago, UNC Chapel Hill, UMich and UVA(Mcintire) RD to all the Ivies, Claremont McKenna, Tufts, Rice, Emory, UC Berkeley UCLA and UCSD</p>

2

<p>I’m sorry, but from hearing about Indian students who only get 90% and above, your grades do not sound impressive for some of the schools you plan to apply to. Are they impressive? What do you think? (Aren’t these exams standardized (i.e board exams)? Or are they school-based? Does your school rank students?)</p>

3

<p>It depends on the school that the kid goes to. Mine isn’t really that into foreign admissions, because it likes to prep its kids for the standardized exams(which, to answer your question, happen only in March. Before that its all school-based), by being very strict with the marking before that. The highest anyone’s ever gotten in English here is an 80, whereas it’s in the late 90s everywhere else.
My grades are fairly alright, for this school. As I mentioned, both my LoRs will (legitimately)state that i’m in the top 5% of my class, and I usually do decently enough. But that’s very subjective.</p>

<p>EDIT: Also-no, my school doesn’t provide a specific rank, though I believe we do give percentiles(not too sure about this because they’re a little secretive about this stuff)</p>

4

<p>Your SAT score is a bit low for those schools. Your grades have a downward trend which is no good. I understand it is very competitive in India, I have some Indian friends myself. However, getting 60s or below in 11th and 12th will hurt you. </p>

<p>It’s hard to say because those schools are so competitive and the Ivies have less than a 10% acceptance rate. I’d say you have decent chances at UVA, Tufts, UCSD, UCLA and Claremont McKenna. The others are reaches.</p>

5

<p>Without wishing to go on a tirade, and without any disrespect to anyone, I’d just like to tell you guys that the CBSE is an absolute joke. I stopped taking it seriously, when they cut my marks in Economics in class X, because the answer was correct, but not from the text book. The chapter had to do with Money and Banking, and we started talking about the Fed. When I brought up Milton Friedman’s opposition to its existence, the teacher got angry and nearly threw me out of class for being “disrespectful”. And mine isn’t an isolated case-nearly everyone who bothers to actually learn, almost always gets penalized for it.
One cannot use Latin terms(that are used frequently in the English language, mind) in an English paper, because the people correcting the standardized exam paper might not understand, and ruin one’s grades. How’s that for fairness?
The sad fact of the matter is that this isn’t education. You only get good grades if you memorize entire textbooks, and regurgitate that memory onto the exam paper. If you can’t do that, you’re a failure. </p>

<p>In conclusion, how do you recommend we put this across to the adcoms? I really, really don’t want to deride my school and teachers, because this isn’t their fault at all, but I also want to make some kind of statement when applying. To me, that will make or break my admissions chances, and maybe even those of some of my peers.</p>

6

<p>You do need to bring up your SAT score for any of these schools for a decent chance. Aim at 2250+.</p>

7

<p>While your concerns and issues may be legitimate about your 11th/12th grades until your CBSE exams, the issue is there are so many, many students from india who have the 2250+ SAT scores, 800s in all subject tests and the top 1% class rank, and have done something substantial in Extra curriculars, those are the student profiles from India I have seen get into the top colleges. There just is a lot of competition. Check out the india thread under internationals. I would have some safety colleges.</p>

8

<p>2250 is definitely something I’m aiming for, for the Oct 5 SAT. Hopefully I will push up my Math score sufficiently.
@fall2016parent: Yeah, those are valid points. While I feel my EC’s are pretty good, the Subject Tests can go either way. Hopefully, they’ll go well. As for class rank, my school doesn’t rank as a principle, but we’re trying to change that this year, because of the huge disparity between our grades, and those of other Indian schools.
I do have a couple of safeties, but I don’t want to spend that much money on an American education unless it’s from a really good college.
Speaking of that, I think it’s worth mentioning that many(if not most) people from this country will be applying for Fin. Aid, and very few of the top colleges are need blind for internationals.
EDIT: So, while a majority of applicants to the top colleges may have amazing stats, they get put in a different applicant pool; one that is exponentially more competitive. Thus, paying full freight to any small-medium sized college(won’t work with the top 10’s, obviously) with relatively less impressive stats, still keeps one in the running. That was, however, a massive generalisation, with plenty of exceptions, I’m sure.
It is an inconvenient truth, but a truth nonetheless. I’ve no idea how adcoms will construe that, though.</p>

9

<p>In regards to your previous post about being unfair—that’s life. It isn’t always fair. There were quite a few classes that I took in both high school and college that weren’t fair with grading. In high school specifically, I remember my physics teacher being very unfair with his exams and not explaining concepts well. Pretty much everyone got a B or below in that class.</p>

<p>The point is, no you can not say anything to adcoms that wouldn’t come off as a pathetic sob story needing attention. There are several kids from India that have done extremely well—your excuse will just come off as deriding the school and curriculum. If you had to just memorize the textbook to get a decent grade then that’s what you had to do. Even if it may not be totally fair. </p>

<p>Right now just focus on improving your SAT score. Oh, and definitely add a few safety schools.</p>

10

<p>Don’t worry OP- you need not worry about your grades if there is appropriate context provided by your counsellor and teachers. However, I must say, your 12th grade report will hurt because it shows a downward trend.</p>