So here is my story in a gist!
I am a 19yr old Indian and I want to study in an IVY league(or University of California,Berkeley) next year,as a computer engineering freshmen!
I was a topper of my high school and i got 92% in secondary school certificate.
The past 2 years of my life has been very very hectic,challenging and sort of a nightmare.
My grandfather suddenly fell terribly sick and my parents had to leave town to visit him.
I couldn’t accompany them because it was 11th grade and my junior college does not grant leave application for more than 2days.So my parents had to reluctantly leave me with my neighbour.My neighbour is a working lady so that practically made me all alone.
I had to take responsibility of my college,my academics,classes,extra curricular activities and condition at home alone.
Meanwhile,i was struggling hard for IIT-JEE exam.Most of you should be knowing what it is because its the world’s toughest exam.I had no one to help me because my parents were far away from me taking care of my grandpa.I had to travel to far off places(3hrs by bus) for my IIT JEE classes.I stood 1st in my 11th grade 1st unit test but things got worse after that.
My parents had to extent their stay because my grandpa was in a critical stage.I realized IIT is my only goal and they don’t need any information regarding a candidate’s GPA or high school record.You qualify in their exam and then you get in accordingly;so i did not pay attention to my college and struggled very hard to crack the IIT JEE.
I am a simple person with a very high thinking.I am from a small town and the schools here are simple,strict with almost NO extra curricular activity facility.They are totally based on books ,books and BOOKS!! You need to mug up word to word of the book like a bookworm to score good but I hate doing that because science is all about high thinking and practical application(which is what IIT is about)Neither do they have facilities for studying foreign languages nor facilities for giving an Olympiad exam for the 9th-12th grade students.There are no clubs or hi-fi varsity sports facility available yet I have been an active member of my high school football team for 5years and served as a leader for 2years(during my 9th-10th grade) My junior college did not have any of these facilities so I could not avail them.
I fell sick 2days prior my Higher Secondary exam.I was diagnosed with pneumonia.Doctors told me to take a complete bed rest but I knew I couldn’t do that even if I had to.
I got 71% on my Higher Secondary School Certificate.My parents were still far away.
They know I should have got atleast 20% more but they are still proud of me for my achievement despite all these unexpected challenges.They are proud of my responsibility.
Few months later,I got my IIT JEE result.I got a good rank but I did not get the subject of my choice so I had to skip because I do not believe in attending a college just for his prestigious name.I took a year off.I wanted to explore the world because I did not get a chance to do anything good during my 9th-12th grade phase.I started tutoring a small group of poor kids for free for IIT JEE exam.4 out of 9 students have qualified and I am very proud about it.
My ambition in life is to become an astronaut scientist and work for NASA.That’s my ambition since i was 6.I did not have a computer back then so i used to spend hours and hours of time on my high school library reading space science books.Then i just got a laptop 4months ago and i studied about the String theory and The Super String theory in depth.I took a tour to NASA this summer and accidentally met an amazing scientist Herb Zeigler.He is retired but he is still in touch with the agency.I told him about my passion and we spent 13hours discussing about the Super String theory.I cam back home and visited a famous Atomic Research Center in the nearby town,to study more about atoms.
I did not initially plan to take the SAT but now when I figured out what do I want from myself I have planned my future well and NASA is my ultimate destiny.
My family has returned back home,a month ago,from my native place.The big mess is I only 2months time left to give all the standardized exams because majority f the good colleges have their application deadline by december end.I have my 1st TOEFL the next month and 1 ACT on dec and 3subject tests(MAth I,II and physics).So i only have 2 months on hand and I have to do my best in my 1st shot because I won’t get another opportunity like millions of applicants.I have full confidence on myself that I shall score between 31-34 on my ACT test and 720+ on my SAT 2.We only had 1 chemistry scholarship exam during my 11th grade i got qualified.That was it.
Do you think my low GPA scores and unavailability of extracurricular activities can stop me from getting into an IVY league or University of California ,Berkeley?? I have learnt that all these colleges stress a lot on high school achievement but as i mentioned above my high school did not have these facilities and I have participated in the smallest of all the facilities available.
So i need your views.Thank you for reading.I appreciate it!! 
P:S:I apologize for my typos.I wrote it in a haste