<p>"Vampiro, what would you do if you had to admit a student from an unknown school in Pakistan - and you had bad experience from most small schools because they make fair transcripts? In that way, nothing in life is fair..."
This isnt a justification to their actions....maybe then they should tell the poor small city students to not apply...why make them waste so many $$ when they are going to reject them....
and speaking of their knowledge...u can speak to any (aware) person in India and he will say that DehraDun-Mussorie has one of the best schools in India....The Doon School,St. Joseph's Academy,Brightlands School (the recent 2 have nearly produced all the national toppers of ISC in the last 10 years...and has a rate of 40% students scoring over 90), Woodstock school,Wynberg Allen's,St.George's College,Mussoorie International School,Welham Boys/Girls...(these are the ones i could think of)...Most of the schools dont even admit kids from CBSE coz they dont even have the proper English preparation to be fit for schools in the valley...simply put they look down upon them...and its no secret that Doon,Welham produces the most influentiaal alumni than any other school in the country...Now if US admissions doesn't even know that Dehra Dun (although a small place) is the best schooling city in India then well i dont think we can call them even remotely aware.....</p>
<p>I wouldnt term DehraDun as an "small city" atleast in the educational way. Woodstock is amazing (mussori) .. if this is so, then its really sad...and unfair</p>
<p>Vampiro they look on a school's reputation not the city's. Doon and Woodstock are definitely on their list. But they wouldn't bther much with a kid from an unknown school whether its in a metro or a village.</p>
<p>St.Joseph's is a very famous and big school. The ICSE topper was fromthat school only. Havaldaar, its true that US Colleges discriminate with non-metro applicants from India. Whether u believe it or not...</p>
<p>Interesting discussion. Let me add something here, I'm an example of a small town person, from an unknown school.. (oh, I'm not really from Dubai, rather from a small city called Alain on the border of UAE and Oman). My high school teachers think I'm at MIT in India (apparently there are plenty of MITs there.... :-/ ) Maybe that should give you an idea of the type of school I'm from, and the type of exposure I would have had.</p>
<p>Colleges look at YOU, as an individual. Of course going to a good school would be you'll have more exposure, better ECs and so on, but that doesn't restrict your options. If you excel in what you do, show a drive to make the most of the resources available to you and show that you'd go the extra mile to reach your goals.. you'll make an excellent applicant. However, if you expect to be spoonfed (oh, my school doesnt have a debate club. WEll, hello?! Start one! show initiative!) Colleges like applicants who show initiative (perhaps even more than students who simply participate...)</p>
<p>I believe that US admissions process is as fair as it can get - I know plenty of people here at MIT (and other good colleges in the US) from small, unknown schools. Once again, I don;t understand why people bother with what's going on with other applicants - focus on your own application, give it your best shot and leave it to Him! There's nothing else you can do - if it's meant to be, it's meant to be..if it's not, then move on, life isn't solely about attending a big name college.</p>
<p>And about having offended some Pakistanis here on the "future" of Pakistan, I'm not going to apologize, I only stated an opinion...freedom of expression, anyone?</p>
<p>And oh, check this for more:
<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/4964934.stm%5B/url%5D">http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/4964934.stm</a></p>
<p>
I would concur with laila here, i studied in mumbai for 2 years, and was from an unknown school in a small town before that. Even in mumbai, i went to a school that would have definitely not been on any top schools list. Anyone heard of ruia?
Anyways, as laila said, the unis look at you as an individual and being from a small town doesn't matter that much, the only problem it causes is that you dont have the same opportunities as a big city person; but being from a small town has no DIRECT impact on your application.</p>
<p>alright so pakistan isn't one of the most "successful" contries, but hey are u just going to say that or gona do something about it? </p>
<p>to me, the only way to improve the country is for people like us to go to college, get a good education, and then help our fellow pakistanis, </p>
<p>not bash each other </p>
<p>anyway</p>
<p>whatever just my 2 cents. </p>
<p>so where r u going to college?</p>
<p>Course Ive heard of Ruia. But why do you call it a school? Don't you mean Ruia college?</p>
<p>well i cant say anything more now can I.....if u want any more expert opinions on the issue...just get some 09'ers views....</p>
<p>And Laila---> Situation is pretty much different in India and Dubai....
For eg. the Olympiads (the international ones) regional rounds are all conducted by CBSE...so half the time ISC students dont even get to know when the deadlines are, how to apply (because very conveniently the CBSE says that your names should be forwarded through your school...and obviously if the school doesn't know it how can they forward it)....so i wouldnt call this really the students fault....I know this is not US adcomms fault....but my point is just to tell you that "review in Context" policy turns to Bull S hit once you come to countries like India......</p>
<p>by 09'ers i meant the ones who were on TiT....(because they warned me to work even harder as my chances decrease because i am not from a school which sends students abroad)</p>
<p>
Like i said in my post, the small towners face the difficulty of not having the same opportunities, thats why they have to work harder...not because there is a pre-set bias against them. its not possible for the adcoms to take these factors into account; that being the reason for the disproportionately large number of students being chosen from big cities.</p>
<p> [quote=haval] Course Ive heard of Ruia. But why do you call it a school? Don't you mean Ruia college?
I have gotten into the habit of saying school, because otherwise i have to explain why i was in a 'college' and not a high school.
p.s., not proud of saying that i am from ruia</p>
<p>Adides i always thought that you were from Jai Hind (dunno how i got the idea..but used to think that u were).</p>
<p>Adides also I was fighting off the justification these people were giving for US people being rightful in auto-rejecting small city people (like fake transcripts, reccomendations)...I dont really think any school will give you fake transcripts....and reccomendations ..well gimme a break no one writes truthful reccomendations atleast in India (and this includes all big schools too)</p>
<p>theres a difference between being exhagerating and lying .. if u predict an A and the person ends up getting a D - then theres something wrong. And if the person is above average and they write "very good" thats just exhageration which is acceptable... but not "top few of my career".. thats lying.</p>
<p>atleast this is what happens is pakistan, not to sure about india. I studied in the British school new delhi and they were COMPLETELY honest</p>
<p>
Well, i was talking to a professor of mine today, and he shared something that would be quite helpful here (he's an econ professor)
When the adcoms are reviewing the applications, being from a big or well-reknowned school DOES make a difference. It doesn't matter if the school is in a small town or big town, as long as the school is good. This is because if you are from a smaller, less reknowned school, the 'error' in your GPA, or grade, is considered to be larger, since the adcoms dont have much info about the school. This means that a person who doesn't want to take a risk of taking an applicant who seems to have a good gpa, but it can be pretty bad as well (because of the error), goes for the applicant with the slightly worse gpa from the more reknowned school (and thus, less error, less risk).
I have to make a disclaimer that I have approached this problem in a very one dimensional way by just considering the gpa, but i hope it helps in getting the gist of the things.
So, CONTRARY to what i said before, being from a less reknowned school DOES have a direct impact on your application (being from a small city doesn't have a direct impact though). Now, if you are from a small school in a small city, your chances suffer greatly unless you are really brilliant.</p>
<p>"your chances suffer greatly unless you are really brilliant."
And as for Indians there is nothing which defines Brilliance...so in short you are F**cked</p>
<p>yep. and that's exactly the attitude that will help you succeed. good job, vampiro.</p>
<p>P.S. someone commented about the difference bw Dubai and India.. As I mentioned on my post, I'm from Alain..im pretty sure not many people here have even heard of that place, anyway, I didn;t even know WHAT the olympiads were until I came on CC. So much for difference in Dubai and India huh? Trust me, you're better off in India than in Dubai :)</p>
<p>
Change your attitude. instead of saying that the system is bad or the people are too smart, always say you could have worked harder...
I said that although, it limits your chances, it never crushes them, you just have to work as hard as possible and keep a good attitude!</p>
<p>if the ^^ remark was sarcastic then cool....
otherwise i did not get it...</p>