My Chances

Student Lounge International Students
1

<p>What would be my chances to be accepted at a good university in U.S. </p>

<p>I am an Indian Student. 2 months away from completing my 11th grade</p>

<p>I got an 8 CGPA in 9th
I got an 8.6 CGPA in 10th
Presently its making around 60% in 11th</p>

<p>I am planning to give the ACT
getting 30 above composite on timed practice tests</p>

<p>I was a member of the robotics club in my school
a member of the Indian Aeronautical society of India
Won a competition organised by Indian Aeronautical society of India
I have participated at robotics competitions at national level 5 times and have won a best robot design trophy
Got third prize at state level science exhibition (152 participants)
Working on making a robotics channel on youtube
About to be an Oracle Certified Associate in Java</p>

<p>I am passionate for robotics, math and computers. I am a self taught programmer and I know C,C++, Java, Arduino, NXT-G, xCode, Java for robotics, C#, HTML. I do poetry and blogging as well.</p>

<p><strong>"I can pay upto $200,000 for college (4 year fees), No aid required"</strong></p>

<p>However, My main concern is, I got 60% in my 11th grade. The situation is such that, I am one of the top scorers in all the sections in my school. In fact, I got the highest in chemistry in these sections, in my quarterly exam. I got 40/70 in the chem exam, which barely makes up to 58%. The problem here is that, my school fails half of the students in 11th quarterlies just so that they are well prepared for boards and competition exams in 12th grade, I am amongst the top students in my class. Its actually frustrating, in spite of working so hard you barely get 60%. And I certainly believe these marks are not the true reflection of who I am. </p>

<p>Especially in physics, our teacher would not give any marks, he gave me 30/70. I am thinking to give SAT II Physics along with Math Level II just to show the universities that my 11th grade marks are not true representation of who I am. I don't think my teachers are going to give more than 65% even in 12th mid-yearlies. </p>

<p><strong><em>My main questions</em></strong></p>

<p>What do I do to compensate for 11th quarterly marks I got, (I still have the finals with me)
How do I make colleges realize that I am one of the top-notch students of my school, where testing is rigorous and marking is as strict as it could be.</p>

<p>and finally tell me what chances do I have in the following universities:</p>

<p>MIT
Carnegie Mellon University
Stanford
UCLA
UC Irvine
Purdue
uPenn
Penn State
NYU
UC San Diego
UCB</p>

2

<p>Get your 11th finals done,then work as hard in 12th, and then I’ll post. So much can change in 1 year, yknow!</p>

3

<p>good profile though:-)</p>

4

<p>Honestly even your 9th and 10th grade marks aren’t very good. And 10th is done by the board so you don’t really have an excuse there.</p>

<p>MIT - no chance
Carnegie Mellon University - Very High reach
Stanford - no chance
UCLA - Reach
UC Irvine - Match
Purdue - High Match
uPenn - Very High reach
Penn State - Match
NYU - High Match (depends on the department though)
UC San Diego - Match
UCB - Very High Reach</p>

<p>Community service is helpful. So is having a leadership position or creating a club and the like. Also look into the international olympiads although you may not be able to compete in them in time for apps at this point.</p>

5

<p>Oh! You are quite same as myself. Except i had 9 CGPA and i require aid.
:)</p>

<p>Guptashvm, for your info…
There are two types of 10th grade board exams in CBSE.</p>

6

<p>imakebots, Don’t follow what others did.
Be yourself, Be original.
Remember, Originality and Character are the two qualities that adcoms are looking for the most.</p>

7

<p>^I was going to post this on another thread.
This comment is not for this thread.
I repeat, it was a mistake.</p>

<p>Damm! you Chrome!</p>

8

<p>I agree with guptashvm. You’re 9th and 10th marks are pretty average.</p>

9

<p>All that I have ever done was just by interest, true interest. I don’t really look to open up a club or do community service because I am not interested as such. I would prefer reading on neurology as I love the subject. Creating a youtube channel on robotics just because I like to do such stuff. Although I do have A.D.D. (Attention deficit disorder) under medication. I’ll be fine when I’m 18. What about this: I go to some okay kinda university in my 1st year, get good score in the university, do good stuff, high gpa’s, I think I will be able to get to a nice university. Would this work?</p>

<p>Please somebody answer that question I mentioned above, what do I do, my 11th grade marks look bad, my school doesn’t give good marks. How do I show the colleges that I really am competent. </p>

<p>Why I had low marks
I am very ambitious, though A.D.D makes it difficult to thrive in a country such as India where rote learning and mugging up proves to be more useful than conceptual learning, and due to the C.C.E. system, I got moderate marks in 9th and 10th as I was unable to make those hindi and sst projects like other kids did. This is why I want to move out of the system and this country. Well, I nobody around me would say that I am not good intellectually. The primary reason being I am passionate and follow my heart. I have been reading medical level books on neurology. Doing robotics since the past 5-6 years. I’ve been great at programming. I hacked my school server when I was in 6th grade (in a competition, other participants 11th and 12th grade kids).I do poetry as well. Nobody could say I am low on intellect. Just the academic achievements don’t reflect. </p>

<p>Guess what</p>

<p>*<em>Staying in India, I have never taken tuitions till date, the A.D.D problem gets worse there. People harass me. People say you can’t even survive 11th and 12th without tuitions and yet I am getting the highest marks in my classes. *</em></p>

<p>I am getting really good marks on the A.C.T. (mocks)
Like 34-35
And if I score 32 or above, does that improve my chances?</p>

10

<p>Transferring into a top university after one year elsewhere is more difficult than getting in regularly. The acceptance rates for transfer students are much lower. Don’t worry, colleges know that indian schools grade strictly in grade 11. You can probably take a few AP exams to show that your competent? And yes, a lot of importance is given to standardized testing!</p>

11

<p>Can i give AP Exams without taking AP classes as we don’t have any in our city? Should AP Computers and Calculus do good?</p>

12

<p>Yeah! it’s fairly easy to self study AP exams with the number of guide books out there. I self studied 4 exams and did fairly well. Also, the AP exams are only in May, so you have a good 1 month to prepare for them during your summer break. And yes, computers and Calculus AB or BC should be fine. Try doing BC since it’s the more difficult one.</p>

13

<p>Its good to see people doing so much, but really tell me why you are different entirely from me/codeguy etc…?</p>

14

<p>You’re talking to imakebots right? ^</p>

15

<p>Anybody mentioned me? :D</p>

16

<p>Holy Mother of God. I have A.D.D. myself. But I am not having any kinda therapy (I like it this way. :P)</p>

<p>quiverfox, Imakebots : We are even!</p>

<p>My School is the same. It Gives as less marks as possible. And I am not a overall topper. AND Maybe I am the first one from my school to even apply to the States.</p>

17

<p>The Irony with India is that if you are Intrested in subjects other than PCM, you are considered waste. If you try to do some good to the world, you are considered Hopeless.</p>

<p>In India, Cracking IITs are much important than chasing your dreams.</p>

<p>Thats why,
The Great Indian Dream was, is and will always be just a dream.</p>

18

<p>@codeguy OMG OMG, I just read your forum on the chance me thing, we are nearly the same , we are so similar. You got A.D.D., I got A.D.D. you’ll be the first guy to go to the states from your school, same here, I code, you code. Your school doesn’t give good grades and marks, well same here and yes we both are applying to states.</p>

<p>Anyway, What I believe IIT holds good for anybody who has the standard Indian dream, to be an engineer and have a good salary to run your house.
If I go to an Indian college, I would get to a decent college, It won’t make much difference if I go to IIT, rather it would be bad to be surrounded by nerds (Nerds in the sense, people who care about only and only studying).
Let me tell you, all the awesome stuff I ever ever learnt in my life was outside school. I am an avid reader and let me assure you, there is amazing stuff out there in books and on the web. You can master any domain if you want to without going to an institution.
But my point is you can do a lot more even if you don’t get to IIT. Go to some good college, work hard on your internships and your efforts will show. Internships while in college prove to be very beneficial. Even employers like students who go for internships and students get experience by doing that.
Moreover the IIT status would just give you a better salary initially. After 2-3 years, everybody is even. Then your skills and experience matter more than the institution you graduated from.</p>

<p>@CodeGuy i know people think that you are worthless if you have interests in stuff other than PCM. But I think having interest in CS is a good thing, coincidentally even I was interested in things which hold good value in the market and in the minds of people. Neurology, artificial intelligence, robotics, programming, poetry and reading books for instance.</p>

<p>As for you, codeguy, I think we have the same drawback, our 11th grade marks. But do you know what? Stop worrying. Give in the best you can for school PCM, if you get low grades don’t worry, just give SAT Subject tests, and APs to prove that you are competent and make sure you mention it in the essays that your intellect is not coherent with your 11th and 12th(mid) marks and everything will be fine. Rest, even if you get to a decent college in US, its fine, make sure its the cheapest option then. You will save more money. Thinking holistically and rationally, what you know counts more than the college from where you graduated. </p>

<p>This always works…
Shoot for the stars, you’ll reach the moon.</p>

<p>I’ve decided for my self, for sure, I will graduate once from an Ivy. That is for sure.
I have got masters and PhD with me. I’ll go to US, get my undergrad done, get classy GPAs show my potential and intellect. Then for masters, PhD I’ll go to an Ivy. They might not understand the grading done in 11th and 12th in India. </p>

<p>At last, I would say, codeguy, Don’t worry, you will surely get to a good university in the United States. Talent is always noticed. We might even meet if we end up in the same state.</p>

19

<p>Transcripts seem to be your main problem. You should ask your high school counsellor to include your class rank and class average in your transcripts. Also crack AP exams and SAT subject tests. Thats all you can do.</p>

20

<p>@garggaurav, then can I expect to apply to better universities than penn state, purdue etc…</p>