Hello all. I live in India and about to apply to US colleges in about a year as an international applicant. I have always been in the top 1% throughout my high school grades. I have tried to indulge myself in almost all types of activities which were available outside the classroom. I have taken pre-college classes during my 7th, 8th and 9th grades( high level STEM subjects including Bio). I have participated in intra and inter school competitions and held leadership roles in class, group and house activities. When I was younger I also performed a few stage skits and dances in front of large audiences.
In other words I involved myself in everything that was possible and available. Unlike in the US where students can take up summer jobs, do internships in various places, or indulge themselves in other activities, such opportunities are not available here in India. If they were I would have loved to do some sort of an internship or perhaps be a research assistant.
All top colleges give equal preferences to students irrespective of their nationality and background, which is very good (and fair). But do these admission officers think about the opportunities that is available in the US and that might not be available elsewhere?
Your answers would be of great help. Thanks.
PS: I have not yet given my SAT for which I am preparing. I also plan to give the SAT II, TOEFL and AP.
The international admissions officers are well aware of the opportunities that are and aren’t available to students in other countries. Don’t worry about that. You will be compared to students from your country, not to students from the US.
And please, please, please learn this: You have not yet taken the SAT.
In the US, teachers give exams, and students take them.
Why do regional differences in word choice matter?? My Canadian math prof said “zed” often instead of “z” (zee). No biggie. Life goes on. Nobody’s going to be confused by “giving tests” instead of “taking tests” or other common Indianisms like “marks” instead of “points.”
British students in America: you may no longer use “bloody” as an intensifier. Someone might think you’re actually bleeding!
“But do these admission officers think about the opportunities that is available in the US and that might not be available elsewhere?”
Yes. You will be competing for admission against other Indians, not Americans.
Thanks for the help. Its really good to know that we’ll be competing against students from the same country.
@bodangles happymom just wants to help the OP with American English. If people who are familiar with the usage of “giving the test” on CC then they understand. Some people may not understand. I was an international student too and when I saw “giving” the first couple times I had question marks in my head too.
See here:
http://www.beatthegmat.com/give-an-exam-or-take-an-exam-t41401.html
@coolweather Why do they have to learn American English? India learns British English. OP is obviously fluent.
Are we so unable to understand that sometimes people are from other places that we have to beat the “maths,” “colour,” and “jumper” out of them with a stick?
My friend in India knows Bengali, Hindi, and British English. No problem, just learn another one at age eighteen! “Please, please, please” change your regional dialect for us dumb Americans.
^ Don’t start a cultural or intellectual war here. People are just trying to be helpful here.
I am speaking from a standpoint of an immigrant who has lived in the US for more than 30 years and has spent a lot of time to correct my English so that I can communicate better with other people in college and at work. I learned British English before entering the US.
This is an American forum that has the participation of many students from other countries in the world. I am sure that many international students don’t understand English dialects, especially students who are still trying to improve the TOEFL scores to enter US universities.
With regard to “give the test”, British English does not have that usage either. This is more different than some variations in pronounciation.
Simple answer. No. This entire post is based on the incorrect notion that all Americans have the same access to opportunities. Why should you, an international student who has the privilege of even considering going to university in a different country, be given an advantage over students who come from impoverished American neighborhoods who could very well have fewer opportunities than you?
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Nowhere in the original post did the poster ask for a discussion about American English vs. British English. Please confine responses to the questions posed.
@CaliCash, before you sound off, please read OP’s entire post, not just the (slightly misleading) title.
@katliamom I did. I was responding to this in specific:
@CaliCash, then your answer was both a non sequitur, and incorrect. Because that wasn’t his/her question. The question was whether admission committees take into account the lack of opportunities for ECs in India, opportunities enjoyed by Americans. And the correct answer is “yes.”
@katliamom So I shouldn’t respond to what the OP writes and I should only respond to your interpretation of what they said?
The OP made a hasty generalization and assumed that all Americans have more opportunities than Indians. I responded to that. If the OP has fewer opportunities, that will be considered. But saying that he is automatically at a disadvantage when it comes to resources because he is not American is wrong.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
@CaliCash @katliamom Once again, the OP is not asking for a debate, and it seems that you are both saying the same thing.
One cannot generalize that every American student has access to these fabulous EC opportunities any more than one can say that no Indian student has access to these opportunities. So, the question really is, “Will colleges take into account the EC opportunities which are available (or not) to the applicant?” And the answer is yes.
Thank you moderator.
You need to sit for the SAT and do well in it. And I must point out that many of the Indians at my school and elsewhere have distinguished themselves a lot by by looking for opportunities instead of having someone point out their existence to them.
Also, no matter what your qualifications are, international students are generally at a disadvantage if they apply for financial aid.
Where’s the fairness in US colleges which receivie US taxpayer subsidies, giving equal preference to int’l students v domestic students?
@GMTplus7 You’re talking about state schools, bud. State schools never give international students any kind of scholarship, like ever. The private institutions can do whatever they want.
I think even state colleges do give a few merit scholarships(however few it is) to internationals, they do not have Financial Aids to internationals.