<p>I'm an Indian student and am thinking about dropping this year. I haven't taken SAT yet but I intend to take it this year. I'd like to know more about opportunities abroad (particularly in Computer Science). Here are some of my achievements:</p>
<p>Class XII: ISC - Indian School Certificate Examination - 94% (Overall); 94.5% (Best of Four incl. English)
Class X: ICSE - Indian Council for Secondary Education - 96% (Overall) 97.2% (Best of Five incl. English)</p>
<p>ECs:
Grand Prize Winner - Google Code In</p>
<p>IAIS by UNSW Australia:
High Distinction - Computer Skills - In the top 1% of participants for the year 2008 and 2007
Distinction: Mathematics - In the top 2% of participants for the year 2007 and 2006</p>
<p>8th National Cyber Olympiad: In the top 3% of participants of the region</p>
<p>Ranked 1st in School since Class IX (exception being Grade XI when I ranked 2nd)</p>
<p>Vice Captained House in School. Led the team to victory in Inter-House Cricket competition. The House finished 2nd in the Annual Sports Meet.</p>
<p>--</p>
<p>I'd like to know more about Universities in the US. Financial Aid is a big concern though. Also, from what I've heard, NUS (Singapore) seems to take board percentages a lot into consideration. I missed the deadline this year but I'm optimistic about it next year. Perhaps good SAT scores would strengthen my chances.</p>
<p>Yes, as far as I know from friends accepted to NUS this year, the cut-off was 96% and you’re 2% short. Maybe a high SAT score could offset that, but I’m not an authority.</p>
<p>What would you like to major in? Since financial aid is a major concern, I’d recommend the usual prescription of Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT, Dartmouth, Brown, Amherst, Cornell, University of Pennsylvania. Also, if you can afford to pay ~$55k for the first year, Berkeley allows you to apply for merit scholarships from the second year onwards.</p>
<p>Your SAT scores are only part of your application. Your ECs seem impressive and so do your academics. Don’t forget your essays count for a major part of your application.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>What will you do in the gap year?
Prepare for ISEET or JEE/AIEEE and other entrances along with SAT
(I’ve already had a shot at JEE and AIEEE this year. I had coaching for it in XI and XII but things didn’t go well enough unfortunately)</p></li>
<li><p>Does best of four mean your best three? Does best of five mean your best four?
Its like a de-facto among the ISC/ICSE students to quote percentage for the highest marks secured in say three subjects + English (in XII) and four subjects + English (in X). I think universities consider the overall score but I wasn’t sure about it…</p></li>
<li><p>What would you like to major in?
Computer Science</p></li>
<li><p>Also, if you can afford to pay ~$55k for the first year, Berkeley allows you to apply for merit scholarships from the second year onwards.
Way beyond what I can afford :(</p></li>
<li><p>Your SAT scores are only part of your application. Don’t forget your essays count for a major part of your application.
This might have been covered earlier, but I would appreciate a reply concerning my case in particular. Even though higher is better, what should be a decent baseline score (taking into account my ECs) for the above mentioned Universities?</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Are we given some essay prompt for the application or we’re free to chose our own? What about Letters of Recommendation?</p>
<p>you should have a look at CommonApp… They have some premade essay topics you have the liberty to choose from the topics given my them or your own topics …
Both are allowed :)</p>
<p>Your ECs are highly focused in CS, math and the sciences, which gives you a good shot at the likes of MIT if you can get a decent SAT score (2250+)</p>
<p>You might also want to consider universities like UW Madison, UIUC, Gatech, etc, while being public universities, do offer internationals merit scholarships IF YOU APPLY EARLY.</p>
<p>Thanks Crystal, that clears the doubt regarding the essays :)</p>
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<p>Glad to know that there’s a glimmer of hope at some great universities! What books would you all recommend? I’ll be picking up the Blue Book and both volumes of Direct Hits. Anything else that would be helpful? I’m targeting CR and Writing in particular. How’d I go about evaluating my essay scores when I practice?</p>
<p>The blue book is good but the practice tests tend to be on the easier side. If you want to challenge yourself and are targeting a really high score, I’d recommend Barron’s SAT 2400. It’s not a very long book; it’s pretty clear and concise.</p>