<p>Hello I am an indian gap year applicant. Please take a look at my profile and give me an unbiased (but not too harsh please) opinion.</p>
<ul>
<li>cricket
*cricket commentary for 5 years. Acclaimed and recognised by cricketing greats ; featured on news channels (getting a recommendation from indian cricket board official) had a small stint in the 3rd edition of Indian Premier League.
*3 years varsity cricket</li>
<li>co-founder of a cricket related business where we have cricket tournaments for housewives.</li>
<li>master of ceremony for an Indian cricket board function
*one of the organisers of a cricket tournament which raised 40000 for education of unprivileged kids.</li>
<li>advertising
*worked as copy righter for a renowned city ad agency
*working as copy righter for the city branch of nation's best radio station: Radio Mirchi. Penned ads for many top brands.
*Started an ad and marketing consultancy. Employed 5 people as of now. We are growing slowly</li>
<li>doing a very interesting marketing related project with the food vendors of our city. Marketing products of small time business with potential for free.</li>
<li>won a marketing competition at conference of an internationally renowned entrepreneurship group.</li>
</ul>
<p>-social service
*teacher for unprivileged slum kids, working for a national level organisation.r
* motivational speaker for the city branch of the same organisation for one year
* raised thousands in fund raising projects
* been organizing an annual fashion show for senior citizens.
* part of a save river campaign. We got the governments attention and it is actually being cleaned up.</p>
<p>-miscellaneous
*intern at a leading city daily
*written a novel, trying to get it published
* house captain and school head boy
* theater
* won lots of local debates and elocutions
* won a prestigious personality competition and becoming the youngest winner ever
* won in Horlicks wizkids</p>
<p>The sad part
90+% in 9th to 11th but 74% in 12th :/ (i am taking a gap year). Grading was tough and internals at our school are crazy. inspite of 74, i am in the top 20% of the class. My grade is still A ! 60-100 get an A grade.
SATs this october and SAT 2 this november.</p>
<p>My intended major is econ/business.</p>
<p>Should i be hopeful if i apply early to Stanford ?
Thanks so much</p>
<p>No one should ever be “hopeful” when he/she applies to Stanford, as 94.3% of the applicants are rejected. At this point, it seems as if your academic credentials are weak. Top 20% of your class isn’t going to make you a competitive applicant, so definitely try to get into the top 10% of your class. Also, you haven’t taken the SAT/ACT/SAT2s, so that makes it difficult to “chance” you as well. When you take those tests, shoot for above 700 on every section of the SAT and/or above 30 on the ACT. You probably shouldn’t apply restrictive early ACTION (Stanford doesn’t have early DECISION) because you’re going to want them to see your first semester senior grades (which they wouldn’t be able to see in REA), grades which might help bring up your class rank and/or make up for some of your performance earlier in high school. </p>
<p>Other than your academic issues, you seem to have a genuine passion for cricket, which Stanford (and other top schools) may certainly appreciate.</p>
<p>I am done giving 12th exams !! I’ve taken a gap year. </p>
<p>20% is what was estimated by me, but I asked my class teacher yesterday. She said I’m definitely in the top 15 and might just make it into top 10 as well.</p>
<p>Top 10% would be great yes. I think you have a good chance with your unique interests and accomplishments. </p>
<p>Now SAT’s will be crucial too, and if you haven’t taken them yet, how would you apply early action? You won’t get your scores in time. Plus you may want to retake them in January (last date allowed) if you want to improve your scores. </p>
<p>So go for regular decision. This will also give you a chance to talk about how you’re spending your gap year. Good luck!</p>
<p>Yes November is fine for Early. You now have October and November tests before you apply. If you apply Early, you will not have time to improve your scores by retaking them. </p>
<p>But of course, you may get great scores in one sitting, why not. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>If Stanford is your first choice and if you’re able to nail the SAT/ACT as well as the essays by the deadlines, then you should definitely apply early. Just know that applying for financial aid as an international applicant will lower your chances.</p>
<p>There is not much more people can say. Your extracurriculars are good and unique, but your academics appear to be the weak part of your application (for Stanford). You will ned to have top scores if you have a weaker transcript. So without knowing your scores, it is difficult to give an opinion. And even if you have top scores, everyone’s chances are quite low…
And yes, deadlines are different for schools. Read specifically what Stanford says about when your scores are due.</p>
<p>“You will ned to have top scores if you have a weaker transcript.”</p>
<p>This is not true. Stellar standardized test performance never makes up for a sub-par transcript, which is considered to be the most important document in the whole folder. Admission officers care much more about how you performed over a four-year period than how you performed for a few hours on one Saturday. </p>
<p>@wharton1995, it’s impossible to chance you without seeing your whole file (including teacher recs and essays, both of which are unavailable to us), so don’t be so hard on CC users. And even if we saw your whole file, it would still be difficult to chance you because we’d have no idea what the entire pool looks like. At this point, there’s nothing you can do about your academic record. Focus on the things you can change: your essays. Work tirelessly on those. Other than that, just relax. The only way you know what your “chances” are is if you apply.</p>