Please chance me

Student Lounge International Students
1

<p>Could anyone please chance me for the following colleges :-</p>

<p>HYP, Dartmouth, Amherst, Williams, Middlebury, Hamilton, Bates</p>

<p>Preferred major : History or Political Science or Philosophy</p>

<p>Career goals: Politics</p>

<p>Essay 1: How a deep family crisis since late 2010 shaped my political ideology, ambition and goals, why I feel that the present Indian socio economic structure needs to overhauled and how would a top liberal arts college in the US help me to develop into a dynamic political leader.</p>

<p>Common App Additional Information: Synopsis of my books and details of my awards. I also say that 2011 was a jinxed year and I underachieved in both my boards and SAT but I will definitely score a 2400 in three SAT subject test ( 1 in US history - a subject which I don't have much knowledge since it is not taught in Indian schools ) just to prove that the jinxed year is over and I am back to my very best.</p>

<p>Additional Essay ( Sent to all of the colleges through email ): A memorable trip to my ancestral village where I discovered that I belonged to the family of the first democratically elected leaders ( 11th century ) of modern Indian and the Naxal threat.</p>

<p>( Princeton essay - How as a child I was obsessed with Hitler due to same childhood circumstances but later understood how evil he was, Amherst essay - How I formed the student's union of my school after a hard fought battle, Williams essay - An excerpt from my diary describing the scene when I could see my broken ancestral house through the rikshaw and comparing with my own life situation )</p>

<p>Recommendations - All my three teachers would most probably speak about my intelligence, love for social sciences, political ambitions, nationalism and my brilliant leadership qualities and visionary mind which helped me to bring sweeping changes to the school's functioning and helped it to become a top class school.</p>

<p>Additionally My counselor has promised me to add a note why my board results slipped even though I was a class topper throughout my academic career. </p>

<p>Class IX - 90+, Class X - 87.5 ( A1s in all subject except french ) , Class XI - 90+, even 90+ in Class XII preboards ( I requested my counselor to send every single score including preboards with my transcripts so that the colleges know I was never a bad student. )</p>

<p>Class XII CBSE - 77 % ( Yet CBSE topper in English and among the top 3 scorers of my school in Maths )</p>

<p>ECs</p>

<p>President and founder of Student union of my school
President of student government
President and Founder of Youth Bank
President and founder of Eco Club
President and founder of school disciplinary committee
Founder of various extracurricular clubs for students
President, Founder, Speaker of Economics and Political club of my school
RWA President
Teacher of adult literacy campaign
Teacher ( Maths, Social Sciences and Painting ) for underprivileged kids
Chief Artist and group leader of our school's art club ( won many painting competitions )
A few more but Common App only allows 10 .... </p>

<p>My SAT Score very poor - 2030 ( Only 660 in Maths - a subject in which I never scored less than 95 :-( :-( ).</p>

<p>But the biggest problem is - My father's income is very very low and I would need a full ride. ( But the saving grace is that HYP, Dartmouth and Amherst are need blind, Williams and Middlebury are almost need blind and Bates and Hamilton are generous )</p>

<p>I was reading about the holistic process American Universities use to evaluate applicants .. And I felt I might have a bit of a chance in these extremely competitive schools.. What do you people feel as you really know the system.</p>

<p>Even US History books I am reading for the SAT subject tests speak how America is a nation where dreams can be fulfilled .. So I hope the Adcoms also put faith on my dreams.</p>

2

<p>I will chance you honestly, since your thread seems honest enough.</p>

<p>The first thing, off the top of my head is that I am thinking, “Wow. This is such a sad application.” Now, don’t get me wrong here. You seem passionate enough to evoke a tear from the adcom members. You delve into all the right aspects, emotionally, but where is the “happy” in your application? Here are a few lines that stood out to me:</p>

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</p>

<p>Do you see where I am pointing at? On another note, you academic performance and recommendations will give you the upper hand. However, (yes, there is always a however :p) did you explain your drop in the XII boards examinations? Because when it was the time to deliver, you didn’t match your own expectations. Colleges would like to know why.</p>

<p>I cannot comment holistically on your essays since I haven’t read them. Though, I can say that you have chosen very sensitive issues which should be handled with care - especially for such things as college admissions and job interviews. I say this because it reveals your true views and opinions on topic that have been hotly debated on for quite some time. You might just inflame someone against you. Just a caution that I hope you took care of.</p>

<p>Also, do you really want to be associated with domestic insurgents? The Naxals? Plus, I can’t really see the significance of you been related to people who died 1000 years ago. Was it some sort of revelation for you? Or was it just a catalyst in your quest to overhaul India’s political and socioeconomic system?</p>

<p>Your XII grade percentage also begs the question of why you took a gap year. Did you explain what you did during that gap year?</p>

<p>The only thing(s) I am worried about is(are):
[ul]
[<em>]The easily misunderstood (as pretentious) topics of your Essay 1.
[</em>]Gap Year.
[li]SAT (any chance for re-taking it this January?)[/li][/ul]</p>

3

<p>@Tizil7 - I forgot my calculator on the SAT test date so I missed 10 questions on the Maths section. Should I have mentioned this somewhere on my application.</p>

<p>And I have sent you a PM … Please check …</p>

4

<p>why such a low score in class 12 cbse examinations???in which getting a above 90% score is a cakewalk???</p>

5

<p>@sarasaxena some personal difficulties affected my boards… I wasn’t in the right mental state</p>

6

<p>Man after looking at your EC’s I get this thought in mind that except you, everyone else in your school is useless(founder,president…).
Your stats-SAT-XII Marks are awesome.
If adcoms ignore these then ure in with few acceptances else…</p>

7

<p>@USApplicant- Dude only few schools in India have clubs. If you are lucky to go to one of them, doesn’t mean people in the other kind of schools are useless…</p>

<p>@ani1993- You have a very good chance of making it somewhere good. Reading your story I doubt any adcom wouldn’t be moved. Your application is not just about numbers, its about what stories you tell about yourself. And since you seem to have told very moving ones, you have a very good chance. All the best!</p>

8

<p>@phr34k- I said “everyone else”, not Anirudh. Because he seems to be president & founder of MANY clubs. So what do other peoplecin his school do-keep craming these good gor nothing NCERTs?</p>

9

<p>USApplicant, that last sentence took me a good two minutes to decipher :wink: But from what I did understand, I would prefer NCERT over AP or IB any day, the theoretical part, in any case.</p>

10

<p>@USApplicant- Sorry I misunderstood your comment. </p>

<p>Yep that’s the sad truth here, we Indians for some reason seem to love cramming…</p>

<p>@Tizil7- Why do you say that? (I haven’t seen any AP/IB syllabus, so I have no clue btw)</p>

11

<p>@USApplicant - It was not that everyone else was " USELESS "; When I founded the student’s union I had a vision and I had promised my fellow schoolmates that I would fulfill my vision with their support. That is why they supported me in the very first case. And had I not kept my promise I would have been beaten up :slight_smile: … Moreover I was the founder so I naturally won the presidential elections … that doesn’t mean that I was the only person who was responsible for the well functioning of the structures that I had formed … I was supported by a large group of students as well as teacher who were as important as me… That is why my school improved manifolds during my time. I was just the face of this " mini revolution " since I was a good orator and a visionary leader who could turn people towards him and his plans. Others were not useless … They were as Important … If I didn’t have the support of the school nothing would have been possible.</p>

12

<p>Thanks everyone for boosting my moral … I hope I can prove to the college adcoms that even though 2011 was a pretty bad year for me, I can still perform academically and I have it in me to handle the rigorous curriculum of these elite schools by keeping my words and scoring a 2400 on Jan 28th SAT Subject tests …</p>

<p>A BIG THANKS AGAIN</p>

13

<p>did u get into any indian colleges???</p>

14

<p>I never wanted to stay in India;You don’t get value for studying History or Philosophy in an Indian college.</p>

<p>Sadly India is a Science dominated nation.</p>

15

<p>Moreover I really love freedom and flexibility. I like to be the " Architect of my own education "; Which is only possible through the broad liberal arts curriculum offered by US colleges.</p>

<p>The Indian model of education is too narrow and lacks freedom and flexibility. In India, One cannot study Physics and History together.</p>

<p>I have a broad range of interests which I won’t be able to fulfil here in India.</p>

<p>Indian education still follows a system resembling the old caste system - Science students need to study Science and Humanities students need to study humanities. Mixing and choosing is not allowed.</p>

16

<p>By the way, I did get into some major engineering colleges ( NOT IIT, I did not take JEE ) since my parents forced me to take the engineering exams.</p>

<p>And I was meeting the three subject cutoffs of almost all major DU colleges for the BA program. ( My % is low just because of only 1 subject )</p>

<p>So I am not " Running Away " to US because I did not get in anywhere in India.</p>

17

<p>I’ll break up my review college-wise.</p>

<p>Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth: your app seems good, but it’ll depend on the rest of the applicant pool.</p>

<p>Amherst, Williams: these never take more than 1-2 Indians a year(normally less). I personally know 2 people who were accepted one early decision this year, so chances are bleak. </p>

<p>Middlebury, Hamilton, Bates: you seem misinformed about their aid policies. I highly doubt they will afford much aid to foreign students; but if they do, you will get a look in for sure.</p>

<p>Your lack of safety schools is a little alarming - do tell me your final admission decision when you do receive it please.</p>

18

<p>Could someone let me know the Financial Aid policies of the colleges - If I have applied for Aid, can they offer me admission but not give me an aid package covering the 100% demonstrated need of the applicant.</p>

<p>( If this is the case I can ask my relatives, staying in the US, to cover the remaining cost and they would surely help me. )</p>

<p>Or do colleges reject every candidate whose demonstrated need the college can’t cover.</p>

19

<p>Anirudh, if you email colleges or just wander over to their websites, they’d be happy to tell you that :)</p>

<p>As for your second question, yes. That’s how most Indians don’t end up at US universities. Colleges admit you and offer you a certain amount of aid. If you accept it, good for you. Otherwise, you can negotiate, but the offer most probably will not change.</p>

<p>Just imagine it as … you’re looking at resumes … you own a business, okay? Some of the applicants demand a salary of 2x instead of x(= what you are willing to pay). Obviously, your decision will be biased.</p>

20

<p>Here comes the problem - I have asked my relatives who say that they are ready to pay $40000 a year but only if I can show them an admission offer but they are not ready to become my official sponsor and sign the CSS Profile on my behalf.</p>

<p>But when the colleges see my CSS profile - they would think that I can£’t pay a single dollar. How can I convey this to the colleges that my actual family contribution can be much more than the one the CSS profile is showing only if they could accept me.</p>