PLEASE HELP!! Chances for Stanford, Yale, Williams, Rice, Duke

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>I want to know what my chances are for Stanford, Yale, Williams, Rice and Duke. Also, it would be really nice if you could recommend some safe schools for me to apply to. PLEASE be brutally honest, because my school councillor and family are ridiculously optimistic and I NEEd realistic opinions. I would be REALLY happy if you could read through the whole thing and respond in detail, but any kind of response will be appreciated. Thank you so much!</p>

<p>About me:
I was born in India, and I am of Indian origin. In every single city I've lived in, I've attended good international schools that followed the American curriculum.
I've lived in India (kindergarden-3rd grade), Argentina (3rd-7th grade), Italy (8-9th grade), Ethiopia (10th grade) and India again (11th -12th grade)</p>

<p>GAP YEAR:
I just graduated and I'm applying to colleges in my gap year. During my gap year I'm teaching English part-time at a school in India for children below the poverty line and also taking advanced courses at a language school in Spanish and Hindi (both of which I am reasonably fluent in)</p>

<p>Scores/ grades:
SAT (superscore): 2310 (800m, 760 r, 750w)
SAT subjects: Math 2-780
Physics- 760
Chemistry- 720</p>

<p>APs: AP Calculus AB- 5
AP Chemistry- 5
AP Environmental science: 4
AP English Language: 5</p>

<p>APs taken this year, awaiting results: Physics, English Literature, Microeconomics, Pysch. I also did IB Spanish at Standard level (Language B)</p>

<p>GPA: 3.89, unweighted (I don’t know my weighted GPA, but keep in mind that I've taken a 8 AP exams + 1 IB course). </p>

<p>Community service:
I've done extensive volunteer work in both Ethiopia and India. I've organized slum clean-ups and celebrations of local festivals for slum children. I've fundraised to provide educational supplies for slum children. I headed the habitat for humanity chapter in my school in India. Altogether, around 300-350 hours</p>

<p>Summer Programs:
Oxford Advanced Studies Program (Oxford University)
Summer volunteer job at an NGO for abused women (2 months)
Internship at a leading national newspaper office in India (1 month)</p>

<p>Additional:
Participated in MUN conferences in different parts of the world, won 2 best delegate awards
Written a monthly column profiling various NGOs in the city for a local (not very prestigious) newspaper in India</p>

<p>Also, will my international background be an advantage? And will the fact that I am an international student who general pays much higher tuition fees (and is NOT looking for financial aid) help?</p>

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<p>P.S: How do I change my birthdate on my profile? (I’m born in 1993 but I accidentally put in 1994.) thanks</p>

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<p>P.P.S: I forgot to add that I was on student council in eleventh and 12th grade (first as a class representative and then as treasurer) and that I have a reasonably high level of proficiency in the sitar (an Indian string instrument)</p>

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<p>Um, wow. The india hitch will really help you out, along with all the community service you’ve done. You’re SAT sores are great along with your GPA. I’d say that you’ll most likely get into Williams, Rice, and Duke. Stanford and Yale are so hard to predict. My absolutely brilliant cousin didn’t get in even though he was first in his class and started all of these organizations, yet someone else in his class got in that didn’t have nearly as impressive a transcript. </p>

<p>Good luck</p>

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<p>Safety school: U-Michigan/NYU maybe…?</p>

<p>Chances: I’d say you have a decent shot overall. Great mix of academic achievement and community service/international experience. Try to submit as polished an app as possible and I am sure you’ll AT LEAST make it into Rice and Duke. The others are a crap shoot for any applicant.
Good luck! :)</p>

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<p>You’re good, doesn’t look like you have anything to worry about. The productive gap year will make you look even better.</p>

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<p>Wow…thank you guys. What do you think of UCLA for a safety?</p>

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<p>India, factually, will hurt you. It’s painful to read some of these posts. But the assortments of cultures you’ve lived in makes you of far more interest than the average Indian candidate. I would not call UCLA a safety by any stretch and I would make certain to add actual safeties, but you have a decent chance at these schools.</p>

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<p>Ok, thanks. What safeties would you suggest? And why would the average Indian candidate be disadvantaged, just curious?</p>

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<p>Because there are so many, both from wiithin the US and from India, that are high stats candidates, and each top college will only take a few.</p>

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<p>

  1. International - universities only admit so many each year, and you are talking about an extremely competitive pool full of incredibly high stats students fighting for only so few spots (Even without FA need).
  2. India. You’re talking about one of the countries that produce hundreds, if not thousands, of accomplished students wanting to come to study in the U.S every year who are all fighting for a hundred or so spots per school.</p>
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<p>If not thousands? Make that tens of thousands and they all want the same few schools.</p>

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<p>Well, I was being conservative with my numbering (guess I went too far). The reason why I said that was the “accomplished” part – tens of thousands want the same few schools, but only so many of them are truly accomplished (even then, maybe I went too far being conservative in numbering).</p>