My Profile . Any advice and my chances ??

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi guys,
I am applying to MIT, CMU, Berkeley, Gtech, Caltech ( All in regular decision ). In other words, I am applying to the top 10 - 15 Colleges in Computer Science undergrad degree. I would be applying as an international student from India.</p>

<p>I would be referring to IITs a few times in my post. Just so that u no what it stands for - IITs are the premier institutes of engineering in India. They select around 8000 out of the 10,00,000 students who appear for it and selection requires at least 2 yrs of rigorous coaching. </p>

<p>I graduated from high school June and the following are my percentages for the last four years.
9th : 90 %
10th : 92 %
11th : 84 %
12th : 88 %</p>

<p>Couldn't score well in my 11th and 12th because, well, like any other PCM student I took IIT coaching and hence didn't give high school exams the uno priority.</p>

<p>Missed the IIT cut-off by 1 mark . Thought of applying to the US universities only after I didn't get through JEE. So, now I've decided to drop from a coaching insti in Delhi and meanwhile I'll give the SAT in Oct, Nov and Dec.</p>

<p>The following is a very brief overview of my academic and EC records :</p>

<p>Acaademic :
School : DPS Jodhpur ( Very good, has twice produced the country high school topper )
Always among the top 5 - 10 in my class.
Took Computer Science elective for 11th and 12th. I absolutely love coding and making programmes ( was the best in CS in my class ) I hope in making CS one of my strengths in the application.</p>

<p>Took part in whatever competition came my way - Olympiads, NSTSE and others ( But then again, to make it to the top colleges mere participation does not help ).</p>

<p>EC:
Played squash throughout 9th, 10th , 11th. Participated in various tournaments across the country, participated in nationals, went upto 4th round in many tournaments ( This is one and the only strength in my EC part ). Again I had to leave this to focus on IIT. In other fields, took part in various plays, drama clubs, public speaking clubs in my school.</p>

<p>Not to sound overconfident but I am not worried about the Essays of my applications, they are definitely gonna be very good for the ADcoms. Recommendations would be great. I WON'T be applying for financial aid.</p>

<p>I have been giving the SAT paractice tests ( Kaplan, Princeton review and others online ) and have been getting around:
M: 800
CR: 730 - 760
W: 750 - 790</p>

<p>So that's how it stands guys. I am preparing for IIT again to appear for the examination next year just as a backup If I don't get accepted to the good colleges in the US.</p>

<p>Any help would be greatly appreciated. Would you require more info ?
Thanks.</p>

2

<p>As a backup I’ll be applying to Purdue and one of the Wisconsin madison.</p>

<p>About athletic recruitment:
To get recruited into something like Harvard, MIT or Caltech you need to the best of the best in your sport. These guys probably make 10 - 20 international recruits and to get recruited from India you have to be among India top 40 - 50.
Another thing is that once you get accepted on athletic basis they expect you to spend more time socializing and winning tournaments than studying for your major.</p>

<p>Squash, to me, is more than just a EC for the Admissions committee to consider but not that big that I would want to get through as an athletic recruit for the colleges.</p>

<p>I want to get accepted in the CS department of a good college. Athletic recruitment may help me get accepted but it would be difficult to get stream of my choice.</p>

<p>The previous year and a half I’ve not touched the racquet ( Blame IIT for this ). But it would not take much time to get back in previous form.
So I’m nowhere in the India squash rankings due to this big break of 1.5 - 2 years.</p>

3

<p>Good chance at Georgia Tech and an okay shot at Carnegie Mellon but the other schools are out of reach due to lack of awards and low grades (for the Ivies).</p>