<p>OK I know dat giving olympiads is almost a must if u r applying to ne american university but i want to know r there ne other xams dat can b given apart from da olympiads??</p>
<p>Hey apurv,
Jst show ur passion in a particular activity like debating or quizzing or in a specific sport & u’ll b fine…
For Other Exams,
u cud try to give AP’s bt dey’re held in a very few indian schools…</p>
<p>@apurv- There are many channels to show your worth. I don’t think there are more than 1-2 students on this Indian forum banking on some kind of olympiads for admission</p>
<p>Thank you pulkit2692 & gary7</p>
<p>Also, which olympiads are you looking at?
Don’t go for random private ones.
Govt. is always better for US univs.
i.e. INOs, NTSE, KVPY etc.
And private- NSO, NSTSE are your best bets.</p>
<p>“OK I know dat giving olympiads is almost a must if u r applying to ne american university”</p>
<p>FYI,
Olympiads are NOT necessary.</p>
<p>Lots of people in India bank on the competitive exams to get into top colleges. Why not try something out of the box, like sports or something in arts (assuming you have an interest in those areas)? Colleges always like to accept diversely.</p>
<p>hey surfup i play guitar does that count?</p>
<p>yeah definitely. but you have to show something for it. do you play in a band or have played in competitions? do you have any awards/accomplishments in that area?</p>
<p>for example, I play the violin and I had some awards from contests I used to participate in…however, I did not put this in my app since I haven’t practised in two years and colleges dont like to see people quit like that. so if its something that you do every day/week with dedication, then put it on your app.</p>
<p>Adcoms don’t give a ***** about international students’ ECs. Your EC’s won’t matter unless you have won some international olympiads/competitions (anything related with international recognition).
Well, you can always mention a long list. (I’m pretty sure you’ll have tons of ECs. You can always “exaggerate” about your ECs until it is believable. Trust me, most of the people tend to “exaggerate” their ECs and there’s nothing wrong about it.)</p>
<p>If you do an EC passionately, is DOES count a LOT. I even sent in a rec from the organization i work in.</p>
<p>IMO olympiads don’t help at all. Cos unless you’re one of those mathematical geniuses, there’s next to no chance that you’ll be able to do them in the 11th…and even if you do end up doing them in the 12th, by then your admissions decisions are already going to be made. </p>
<p>Sooo don’t do olympiads cos you think they’ll help with admissions (if you’re not genuinely interested then you probably won’t be able to do them anyway). All they’re looking for is passion/achievement, in something, anything. It can be football, violin, MUN, oil painting, volunteering, scuba diving, shoe shopping…whatever works for you, really.</p>