Match me - International student applying to T30s

Chance Me / Match Me!
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I previously did a chance me post before . However , I was very new on this platform and I wasn’t able to provide all the details that I possibly could have . I am extremely thankful for all the guidance I got in that post . You guys are awesome!

I am trying to put a much better version of my application this time .

Demographics
international student
State/Location of residency: Rural
Type of high school: Indian
Gender/Race/Ethnicity:Female
*Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.): First gen

Intended Major(s) : Computer science / business / bio-engineering

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
We don’t have the GPA system here . So , I am posting the scores.
9th : 96% (1/500)
10th : 95% (1/500)
11th : 95% (rank not disclosed , probably in top 1% , class strength 2000)
12th : 88% (rank in top 4-5 %) [hospitalized for 5+ months]

SAT scores : 1570

Coursework
9th grade : English , Sanskrit , Math , Physics , Chemistry , Biology , Geography , History , Political Science , Economics , CS , PE

10th grade : same as 9th

11th grade : English , Math , Physics , Chemistry ,CS , PE (toughest workload provided by my school)

12th grade : same as 11th

Extras : Quantum Field Theory , Multivariable calculus , AI , ML , Cognitive Sciences , Robotics , Real Analysis , Linear Algebra , Differential Calculus . Quantum physics 1 etc.

Awards

  1. National scholarship award (won’t mention which one for confidentiality)
  2. Dean’s Honor Roll (throughout school)
  3. Student of the Year
  4. A fellowship award (international)

Extracurriculars

  1. Started my own business (social enterprise) . Seeded by Govt. of India . Raised 20,000 USD in first round of funding.

  2. I have a registered NPO for climate change . Planted almost 1680 trees till date . Helped poor women in my community start a nursery business this pandemic year to help them earn a livelihood . Fundraised 1000$ (huge amount here)

  3. Community services : volunteered in a public health drive in Bauchi tribe of Nigeria . Volunteered in a suicide helpline (3 years)

  4. Research : working under a professor from a renown university . Published and presented in an international conference.

  5. Tutoring : started a student based group to tutor the underprivileged poor kids , most of them worked in factory or were rag pickers . Fundraised to send them to school.

  6. Student Council : President (11) , vice-president (10) , secretary (9) , house captain all 4 years . I had a pretty impressive stint in student council - organizing large scale events , conducting anti-bullying drives etc.

  7. Trained classical dancer (almost 12 years now)

  8. Started a couple of clubs in my school.

  9. Interned as web developer in a startup.

Essays/LORs/Other
I’ll give my essays a 9/10 . I wrote about my internal curiosity and affinity to learning and exploring . I also related it to my fight with paralysis and how it helped me to built my grit and resistance .

My LORs are okay-ish . Asked my class teacher who knows me decently well (7/10) . My other LOR is from my principal (9.5-10/10) . He knew me pretty well and was always a confidante and mentor for me.

Cost Constraints / Budget
I’ll definitely need financial aid . I might get a 50k$ grant , but nothing is set on stone yet.

Schools
I would like to know what should be my reaches , matches , safeties etc . Any additional comment is extremely appreciated .

Extras
I just want to put a little background info here . I came from a relatively low income family + rural area . So , I don’t have very stellar ECs like summer schools at Ivies , or ground breaking research etc . I also got a paralysis attack in 12th grade , so my second half of senior year and a major part of gap year is pretty lack luster . Will that affect my application?

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Do you have any specific schools in mind?

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The T20s , Amherst , Northwestern university , Berkley (though I doubt I’ll be able to afford it) , Washington University St. Louis etc

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As these schools are need-aware, it’ll be a big reach to get into them as an international (esp low-income). Are you looking into any safeties? Are they in the US/India?

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Is that amount renewable for each year or is it $12,500 per year? Nothing much has changed since your last post. Your biggest obstacle is still going to be finances and the limited opportunities for international students.

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I’ll get 50k at once . It might get renewed every year though (25k every year) , depending on my school gpa

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What can you afford to pay? Have you run the NPC on some top schools to see what they say?

Depending upon your budget, there might not be any safeties in North America (in the sense of being safe both for admissions and for affordability).

You are obviously competitive anywhere. You will have some chance at top schools. However, the universities in the US which provide full financial aid for international students are few in number and very, very competitive for admissions. They get a lot of applications from excellent Indian students such as yourself.

One wild idea: This would also be a reach, but you might consider applying for the Lester B Pearson scholarship at the University of Toronto. It is very competitive. You would need to get your high school to sponsor you to even apply. However, if you get it then you would have a great scholarship at an academically excellent university with really strong CS and bio-engineering programs. I do not know anything about its business program but it is a very strong university in many, many ways.

A bachelor’s degree in India plus a master’s degree in North America might be less expensive and is also something to consider. Even financing a one year master’s degree is however not cheap.

I hope that you have recovered well from your health issue. To me your ECs look very good. I am impressed by your strengths and I expect you to do well wherever you end up.

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50k at once + 25k per year is not a small accomplishment, you should be proud. That being said, it might be beneficial to apply Early (EA/ED/SCEA) to maximize chances (+ show applicant interest) in that specific school.

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You might want to look at Section C of the Common Data Sets for the schools you are interested in attending; there is information there on admission criteria and how it is weighted, the number of persons who applied/were accepted/actually attended for a given academic year, and other objective information on students who matriculated. The schools you have named are difficult to get into as a U.S. citizen, much less an international applicant; and if you are going to need financial aid, that is another layer of difficulty to get past. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t apply, but your expectations regarding these schools should be greatly tempered.

Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, as well as Temple University, are schools that give merit scholarship money to international students:

SIU-Edwardsville has a competitive full tuition scholarship that is available to international students, here: Financial Aid - Scholarships, Awards and Grants | SIUE

SIU-Carbondale offers a tuition rate equal to universities in certain foreign countries, based on a Memorandum of Understanding, here: Scholarships | Center for International Education | SIU (“Qualified students may also be able to receive our alternative tuition rate through some of our partner universities. We have agreements with other colleges all around the world to give scholarships equaling the resident-rate of tuition to their students.”) and here: Memoranda of Understanding | Center for International Education | SIU

(For the latter option, I don’t know whether tuition rates based on the MOU with the listed schools from India would get you where you need to be financially; but it might be worth a look.)

With regards to Temple University, here is some information about scholarships for international students: Scholarships for International Students | Temple University Office of Undergraduate Admissions

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If not taking the financial issues in account , do you think my ECs are enough for Yale , Amherst , Princeton , MIT or Harvard (the need blind schools)

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UC Berkeley offers little to no financial aid to International students so figure on $67K/year to attend. UCB would also be a Reach with an 8% acceptance rate for International students last year.

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Taking ethnicity/demographics into account? Maybe? (IMHO, I’m not an AO so I’m not qualified to speak with certainty)

Excluding ethnicity/demographics? I would say you have a good chance. (But again, imho)

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Thank you so much ! I will keep your advice in my mind . Also , the professor I worked under teaches in University of Toronto. Would that help?

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I would wager that most every applicant to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, and Amherst has started a website and/or a non-profit organization and/or a business; volunteered in their respective communities; done research; tutored; and started clubs at their respective high schools.

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Agreed. int’l pool is a lot more competitive compared to domestic (and the # of ppl that receive acceptances is substantially lower)

1 acceptance to a T10 uni (in one int’l country) vs 3-4 acceptances to that same uni in one US HS

@nuts Are you planning on applying ED/EA?

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I realized that my application doesn’t stand out exceptionally in the competitive pool . My NPO did get some recognition from the state govt. and my business was seeded by Indian govt . I am trying to get some international recognition as of now. Some of my projects I worked while I fought paralysis and immobility , do you think the AOs will factor that in?

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Yes I am planning to do EA/ED for some of my reaches and some safety schools which I can afford (factoring in loans and grants)

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Which school are you planning on EAing/EDing to?

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Harvard , Columbia , Duke , UBC , UofT , JHU , Virginia Tech , Colorado college , Amherst (I am not sure about it) and Northwestern university

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Perhaps. I suspect that an AO will be looking for length of commitment and things that demonstrate leadership in such ECs. Again, everyone you will be competing with for admission to these schools will have similar ECs.

You need to identify schools that are not only a safety and match for admission, but also for finances. Don’t pin your hopes on getting into a school with a 4.5% admission rate that will subsidize your entire undergraduate education; you may need to play a long game whereby you get your undergraduate education at a school that is far away from being a T20 school, get good grades and recommendations, and then get a graduate degree at a more highly rated school (T20 or otherwise).

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