Lost, Confused, and Don't Know what's gonna happen. Please gimme an input.

Applying to College
1

<p>Hello to anyone who reads my post, sorry for the story.
I am an international student from India. I've stayed in the USA for 7 years. While I was there I skipped two grades( 6th and 7th), participated in won in many tourneys in Maths, Science, Tennis, Chess, GK, congratulated by the Illinois government and so on. After the completion of the 8th grade, I moved back to India. I've about to complete high school next month, and I've applied to:</p>

<p>MIT, YALE, HARVARD, PRINCETON, CORNELL, COLUMBIA, DARTMOUTH.</p>

<p>My profile is as follows:</p>

<p>9th grade: 98%
10th grade:86%
11th grade: 83%
12th grade: 93%</p>

<p>For anyone who doesn't know: above 75% is considered an 'A' grade in India.</p>

<p>I prepared and took the SAT in a month:</p>

<p>Maths- 640 Reading-610 Writing-610</p>

<p>Total: 1860</p>

<p>SAT II was done in a month too:</p>

<p>Maths II C- 740 Literature: 600 Chemistry:650</p>

<p>I also took the TOEFL (iBT); 112/120</p>

<p>Extracurriculars, essays, activities, community work, recommendations are perfect.</p>

<p>Will my TOEFL score help cover the gap in my app (sorry for the rhyme scheme) ?</p>

<p>What are my chances, if any?</p>

<p>I sincerely request advice. Please and Thank you.</p>

2

<p>Your grades are very good, but your SAT I and SAT IIs (except for the Math score) are what a lot of people would say not enough or competitive for the schools you’ve applied to. The 50th percentile for these schools are roughly between 690/700-790/800. Your TOEFL scores are just to check your competence in the English language so they don’t replace or compensate for SAT/ACT scores. </p>

<p>You ask about your chances and judging only by your stats a lot of people would say that your chances are pretty slim (especially for MIT). Despite that you shouldn’t lose hope :slight_smile: Your SAT scores are only one part of your application. If you have something else in your application that is impressive, a hook or an unusual story or talent etc. then you could still be in the running. I can really relate to you though. My SAT I scores aren’t very impressive either (1970). Have you applied to other schools?</p>

3

<p>I don’t see any safety schools in there!
I think you have set yourself up for a bunch of rejections from highly competitive schools.</p>

4

<p>Trying for some other schools too.</p>

5

<p>Yup. Might want to take a grammar class for SAT and for college app so you don’t say “I excel at maths.” (colleges would like :frowning: ) too late for you though.</p>

6

<p>“I excel at maths.” is standard British English. Coming from a student who has been in the Indian educational system for the past few years, it is perfectly OK. </p>

<p>Lordahbi - You should take your questions about your admissions chances at these schools to the International Students Forum. There is a sub-forum there for students from India. Someone there will have a better sense of what your grades and test scores mean in your educational context.</p>

7

<p>I never wrote " I excel at Maths" so whats the discussion?</p>

8

<p>You definitely need some safety schools. All of the schools you are applying to are reaches for you. It would be entirely possible to get zero acceptances out of that list, for ANYONE.</p>

<p>What do you want to study? Are you only interested in the Northeast?</p>

9

<p>@susgeek: Its not that I want to study only in the northeast. Its the fact that I require financial aid, and these schools + my personal interest are the ones that fit my criteria. But the only flaw in my application is my SAT score. So Im guessing there are some chances.</p>

10

<p>All the schools on your list are very expensive and very difficult to get in to. Even if your scores were better, you still need a safety school. Like I said, those schools are very competitive. But especially with those scores, you could be looking at zero acceptances (and honestly you have zero chance at MIT).</p>

<p>We are not international, but we also need financial aid in order to attend. My younger S is my fourth child to go to college, and he is a senior right now. He has applied to a total of seven schools. Two of the schools are less expensive schools to ensure that he would end up somewhere he could afford - SUNY Buffalo and Alfred University - that also are strong in his area of interest (chemical engineering). He also applied to Cornell, which has amazing financial aid, but it is much more difficult to get into. </p>

<p>I think you need to find a couple schools like that - that are more in line with your stats and are initially less expensive.</p>