Need help with deciding colleges to apply for

Student Lounge International Students
1

Hey there, I’m planning on doing my undergrad in the U.S and I plan on starting in Fall 2017. I’m in my 12th grade. I have a 9.5 GPA in Xth. And 96.8% in 11th. I expect the results to be similar in 12th grade too. I took the SAT (new) and scored a 1460 (equivalent to a 2090 on the old test) with little to no prep. (I’m re-taking it in October but I don’t think the results will be out before I apply so hopefully an improvement in my scores will beef up my scholarship options) I plan on majoring in CS and have a stringent budget of 80 lakh INR (inclusive of cost of living) i.e roughly translates to about 120,000 US$.

It’d mean a lot if one of you experts analyze my profile (and budget) and tell me the kind of universities I can aim for. Please note that I can compromise a bit on rankings if that means higher scholarship opportunities.

I’m aiming at the following universities for now:

  1. Vanderbilt University
  2. University of Southern California
  3. UPenn (The ivy league one)
  4. CORNELL
  5. Michigan State
  6. Uni of Cincinnati
  7. North Carolina State Uni.
  8. Purdue
  9. Uni of MInnesota, Twin cities.
  10. Uni of Winscosin, Madison.
  11. Boston Uni
  12. Uni of Maryland, College Park.

P.S: By scholarships, I mean both merit-based and need-based aid.

My extra-curricular activities are as follows:

AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

• Bagged a silver certificate by ranking 74 all over India in Technothlon (International school championship organized by IIT Guwahati in association with UNICEF)
• Completed all levels of Abacus with A+ grade by the age of 11.
• Shortlisted for National Geographic Junior Hunt-3 (city level) at the age of 10.
• Stood Second in the city in Multimedia Presentation conducted by over 60 branches of Gowtham Model School throughout the state at the age of 9.
• Stood first in all inter-school quiz contests from 6th to 10th grade.
• Stood first in all Essay writing contests from 7th to 10th grade.
• Stood first in story-writing contest in 6th grade.
• Won all elocution contests from 8th to 10th grade.
• Won all debates between 7th grade and 9th grade.
• Stood first in the extempore contest 7th through 9th grade.
• Won spell-bee in 7th and 8th grade.
• Built a working-model of a dam (that actually produced power) as a part of a science exhibition in 10th grade.
• Took interest in sketching (Won consolation prize at a city level competition conducted by Wall Hearts)
• Mental math demonstrations in front of small-medium audiences. (in front of school and outside audience)

POSITIONS OF RESPONSIBILITY
• Elected as Head Boy, Gowtham Model School, 2014-2015.
• Elected as Deputy- Head Boy, Gowtham Model School, 2013-2014
• Valedictorian, Gowtham Model School : 2014-2015
• Captain of GMS School U-15 Cricket Team, 2013-2014
• Vice-Captain of GMS School U-13 Cricket Team, 2012-2013
• Class Prefect in Grade 1 through Grade 10.
• House Captain of ‘Raman’ House, Gowtham Model School, 2012-2013
• Group Captain of various Science Projects including Gnyandeep: The Science Exhibition; lead a team of 7 peers and made a working model of a dam.

COMMUNITY SERVICE
• Raised funds for the welfare of the visually impaired at the age of 11 (for The Institute for Training, Relief, Rehabilitation of Disabled, Distressed, Disinherited Children)

EVENTS ORGANIZED

• Valedictory Function, Gowtham Model School, 2013-2015.
• Teacher’s Day, Gowtham Model School, 2013-2015.
• Cultural Festival, Gowtham Model School, 2014-2015.
• Literary Festival, Gowtham Model School, 2014-2015.
• Independence and Republic Day’s, Gowtham Model School, 2013-2015.
• Various inter-school competitions.

EXAMINATION RANKS:

• Unified Cyber Olympiad : Rank - 427 (all age groups); Scored :42/50. (Average score was 24) at the age of 8.
• TRACK RECORD OF INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH OLYMPIAD (Conducted by SOF in association with the British Council)

Class Seventh Eight Ninth
School Rank 1 1 1
City Rank 25 110 51
State Rank 270 920 295
International Rank 3617 12970 4620

• National Cyber Olympiad (Sixth grade, Age: 11)

School Rank: 1
City Rank: 8
State Rank: 153
National Rank: 1943

• National Science Olympiad (Sixth grade, Age:11)

School Rank: 2
City Rank: 14
State Rank: 390
National Rank: 6000

STUDENT MEMBERSHIPS
• President at Science Club, Gowtham Model School, 2012-2014
• President of Student Council, Gowtham Model School, 2014-2015.
• Vice-President of Student Council, Gowtham Model School, 2013-2014.
• President at Computer Club, Gowtham Model School, 2012-2015.

CULTURAL PARTICIPATIONS
• Performed a song (with instrumental) dedicated to Teachers at Annual Day, Gowtham Model School, 2013-2014
• Delivered speeches on special occasions including Teacher’s Day, Independence Day, Republic Day etc.
• Mic hosted all the cultural programs, Gowtham Model School, 2012-2015.
•

SPORTS PARTICIPATIONS

• Under-15 cricket team, Captain, Gowtham Model School, 2013-2014
• Wicket Keeper and Batsman, Under-13 cricket team, Gowtham Model School, 2012-2013
• Under-13 cricket team, Vice-Captain, Gowtham Model School, 2012-2013.

Guitar player
Extra-Curricular activities
• Learnt web-designing and web languages (HTML and CSS) in order to gain a better understanding of the Internet.
• Learnt basic programming syntax and jargon of C and Python.
• Tech Blogging (3 years) (started at the age of 12)
links: 1. https://web.archive.org/web//weirdotech.com
2. https://web.archive.org/web//techravers.com
3. https://web.archive.org/web//navneetstechblog.com
• Ran a tech Youtube channel : https://www.youtube.com/user/AskNavneettutorials
• Online freelancing (Helped people write articles, design blogs, design logos/infographics, social media optimization and search engine optimization)
• On-going internship at Rivi Group. (http://rivigroup.com/about-us/)

2

Impressive! I don’t think it’s a good idea to put achievements before high school on your application. Other than that, you have a great chance at those schools. One school I would suggest is Georgia Tech (very good for CS major). Good luck!

3

@indy101 Thanks for the prompt feedback. Can you tell me if there are other higher rated universities that I can consider applying to? (Aid is a priority since my budget is meager in comparison to the average tuition costs in the U.S)

4

Your ECs are more like ‘iv done 10 separate things’ than ‘iv done this thing with long term commitment’ . Honestly speaking admission officers don’t really give a shit about ECs unless its something with international recognition (Olympiads do not count) . I can see that your strong point is academics and I advise you to give a few sat subject tests and APs . This might give you a comparative advantage over other apps .

5

@fucbse Fair enough. I agree with what you have to say. I’m planning on taking SAT subjects and AP courses, yes but the results aren’t going to be out before I apply so they’ll hopefully boost my merit-based aid chances. What chances do I have of getting into the aforementioned universities with my current profile?

6

vanderbilt - reject
boston uni - waitlist
USC - waitlist
upenn - reject
cornell - reject
michigan state - accept
university of Cincinnati - accept
north carnolina state - accept
purdue - accept

all the rest are accepts

7

Also if you are willing to work hard , you could prob drill through math 2 within a 2 months and give the test in oct . I know a senior who did it in 1 month but again he practiced 2-3 hours a day .

8

@fucbse Thanks for the response. :slight_smile: I’m taking the Math-2 in November. Also, Math is a strength so will probably do well on it. I know this is asking for too much, but what are the odds of aid at those colleges?

9

Sorry for the late reply . Now talking about aid , forget need based unless you get into 1 of the ivies .Tbh its better if you can get your budget upto 1cr , this way you can attend colleges under 40-42 k .

10

I’m in a similar situation like you. I will probably shell out a loan of 15 lks to cover my needs .

11

@fucbse Let’s say I get my budget upto 1 Cr. What colleges can I apply to?

12

rutgers , purdue , ohio state , suny buffalo ,stony brook university (suny) , uiuc and the list goes on and on

13

uw madison and uinversity of Minnesota are a few more to name

14

What bothers me a little bit is that the school you go to follows the telangana state board syllabus which means that you are at a huge disadvantage compared to cbse students .Also ,as per my knowledge , state boards are an absolute ‘no’ to the colleges that I mentioned above due to level of rigor but again I might be wrong .If that is the case , I suggest you take a gap year and give a a ton of APs .

15

@fucbse Thanks for letting me know. Taking a gap year is absolutely impossible for me to do. Also, I’m taking 2-3 AP’s anyway. Besides, the state board rigor is not all that bad. Our syllabus is in line with CBSE if not with more content.