<p>I would highly appriciate it if you could help me out with my problem. I am currently in twelevth grade, and I have an elaborate plan. Plan A-US universities, Plan B-NUS, Plan C-BITS and other univerities in india other than IIT as i wont be writing advanced. I wrote SAT last year and got a pretty decent score but I will be writing it two more times where I hope to get above 2000. I got ten cgpa in tenth and 89% in eleventh. My ECs include tons of prizes in art and painting including at horlicks whizkids where more than one hundred schools participate. My problem is that if I don't get into a good college i'll need something to fall back on which is my plan B and plan C. Both of these require me to prepare for JEE and other simiar exams like bitsat. I wasted my eleveth in this sense as my studies for JEE in eleveth was nill. Now, i have joined Aakash for jee prep. my question is, is this elaborate plan a wise decision? I don't inetnd to write advanced but is one year enough for jee prep alongside filling us applications and writing sat subject tests and preparing for boards? I will be able to dedicate an average of four hours everyday for JEE prep apart from school and coaching. Is this enough? have you heard of people who prepare for both US and india simulatneously? what is the best advice you can give me? I won't leave coaching now but is it advisable to do both? I will finish writing my subject tests in the summer holidays and re write sat in november if required, apart from which my full concentration from august will be on JEE mains, boards and filling up US applications. Is this managable? If not, what is the best i can do? </p>
<p>First off, I’d say follow a singular path, no plan Bs or Cs. If you have something to fall on, then mark my word you’ll definitely fall! On the other hand, If you don’t have anything to fall back on (and everything to lose), you will put all your efforts and try your best and finally succeed. A meticulous planning will definitely get you into a good college with decent aid.
If you’re interested in art, that’s just excellent. Most adcoms stereotype Indians as math-science whizs, you’ll be a nice change, just try building your whole application around it. If you’re sure you want to go to US, stop preparing for JEEs NOW, your money would be better spent at SAT/ACT and SAT subject books and reporting charges, rather than Aakash JEE prep.
and Finally, ask yourself what do you really want to do in college and with your life. Is it really engineering? If you’re not sure, there’s no better place to be than US. Most college allow a year for declaration of major and you can apply undecided whereas in India, you’ll have to apply not only to engineering but also to the specific branch of engineering with areas of concentration in that branch too.
I’d say go to US, I think you don’t have any solid idea what do you plan to do and it looks like you decided to apply to US colleges on a whim. Lastly, US colleges are no joke, each has its own personality and it takes a lot of research to find the right fit, not to mention 4-5 essays each school requires. If you’re serious about US, start preparing NOW. These are the things you need to do now,
- Make an A/C on collegeboard/act.org and register for SAT/ACT
- research and procure SAT/ACT prep materials
- Decide which SAT IIs to take (if any), and when to take them
- research and procure prep materials for the above ^
- start researching colleges (majors, location, prestige, financial aid and other parameters that you find suitable/necessary). US News and world report would be a good place to get a college list
- Use the funnel system to prepare the list of colleges that you’ll apply to</p>
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<p>If you need any more advice/info, feel free to PM me.</p>
<ul>
<li>PT out</li>
</ul>
<ol>
<li><p>Follow peepingtom’s advice for the US College process. ( SAT is important along with school grades. Try your level best to score high in both)</p></li>
<li><p>Indian students who are admitted to NUS have scored ATLEAST 95 % in CBSE 12th ( Sometimes, students with higher marks too get rejected.)
NUS also does not give importance to extracurriculars, other than academic ones. So, winning an international Olympiad medal, or securing high ranks in national level scholarship exams like NTSE/KVPY is considered a bonus.</p></li>
<li><p>I beg to differ from peepingtom regarding Plan B and Plan C.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Irrespective of meticulous college selection, and great essays, no college is a ‘safety’ for an Indian applicant seeking financial aid. The college admission process is a ‘crapshoot’ , where you might end up getting into some colleges you had minimal hopes on, but you might get rejected from your ‘safeties’ too.</p>
<p>Since you do not plan to write JEE Advanced, you can focus entirely on JEE Main, BITSAT and other exams.</p>
<p>JEE Main can be cracked with a lot of practice, since question types are somewhat similar every year, and sometimes, questions do repeat.
BITSAT is also easy if you know your concepts well, and you have practiced a lot.</p>
<p>4 hours is enough, if you utilise them really well.</p>
<p>People do try acing both the US College process, and the Indian competitive exams (like me) ( I do know of other people too , who are not in this forum)</p>
<p>It is certainly manageable, if you plan well, and follow the plan ( and not waste too much time).</p>
<p>Your timeline can look something like this.</p>
<p>Summer-</p>
<ol>
<li><p>SAT Subjects</p></li>
<li><p>SAT -
You can take the June SAT if you are taking Subject Tests in May.
Else, take the September SAT and try to ace it ( Will save you the trouble of wasting time reading for the SAT in November)</p></li>
<li><p>Prepare a college preliminary list.</p></li>
<li><p>Since most of the essay topics do not change, you can create an account on CommonApp and check out the essays required by colleges you are planning to apply too. Some of the essays repeat ( Extracurricular one). These essays can be written in the summer, when you are free ( Along with the CommonApp essay). This will help you focus on college-specific essays later ( along with boards, and JEE prep.)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>After August,</p>
<p>JEE prep.
Boards prep. ( 1st term exam marks are very important)
Getting transcripts, letters of recommendation , and preparing college apps.
College essays</p>
<p>I too am in the same boat, though i am sure of a under 2k rank in IIT :p</p>
<p>Your plans also depend on what colleges you consider worthy i.e. will you attend only if you get accepted from Harvard, yale, princeton, MIT or the like. or are you willing to take admission in something like purdue, RPI, UCs, UMD or UDUB. Both ways if you attend an engineering college with less than 50 ranking (See US News Report) you are bound to receive an education that is better than any indian college /university.
If money is your criterion then dont worry, if university considers you worthy they will shower you with Aid and merit scholarships( I didn’t qualify for need based but i did get merit)</p>
<p>And like the others have said before, there is no “plan B”.</p>
<p>I appreciate all the advice you guys have given. Thanks a tonne. If it wasn’t for this I’d be all bundled up. @hezekiel thanks a tonne, great advice! Can I please private message you? I have a lot of questions and you seem to be just the right person to talk to. 
</p>
<p>Go ahead ! </p>
<p>i’m stuck in this dilemma too…i really want to focus on US undergrad schools,nd my father thinks so too…but i can’t get my mother to understand that i don’t want to do iit…im going to a coaching center which i think is a total waste of money…help meeeeee… [-O< </p>