<p>CGPA-10.0
Current class-11
SAT-2280
ACT-34
Subject of choice-Chemistry
Extra curriculars-
1.Department of Science and Technology-INSPIRE intern
2.Currently pursuing active research in characterizing MnL3n systems and their effect in drug delivery and photocatalytic reactions.I have also recieved recommendations from my Mentor and supervising professor
Mentor-Dr.Dhrubajyoti Chattopadhyay,Pro-Vice Chancellor,Calcutta University
3.Research theory recognized for funded experimentation by the DST
4.I play the flute,solo or in duet with a percussion</p>
<p>Choice of Universities-Princeton,Yale,Harvard,MIT,UCLA,Stanford and UC-Berkely</p>
<p>What do you think?Is it worth a shot? or should I turn my thoughts around?</p>
<p>For Indians applying to MIT, there is an implicit requirement - Olympiad medal(s). Very few people have ever been admitted without Olympiad medal(s). Sadly, people with award winning research have also been rejected over the years.</p>
<p>Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Stanford are extremely difficult too and they too require something special in your application - high quality, published/award-winning research and/or reaching a decent level in the ISEF/other competitions and/or an outstanding essay and so on. </p>
<p>With your current resume, you stand a decent chance at the UCs. The other schools are all extremely difficult to get admitted to. Don’t get scared, though. They are difficult for even the most talented of applicants. Good luck! :)</p>
<p>You have good but not great stats for a student from India. A lot of the schools eye how many they take from which country when it comes to internationals, and India is one of the ones that have so many applicants. So your chances are not good at those private schools Actually, kids at my sons’ schools with your stats routinely get turned down for HPYSM, so it’s not just an international student thing.</p>
<p>However, if you do keep up good grades for grade 11, I believe you stand a good chance at the UCs. You should apply to other schools as well, including 3 safeties. </p>
<p>Rik, you sound like those Bengali fellows, you must be attending those IB/Cambridge schools, am I right?
If yes, then it puts you in an even more tight spot because there will be other applicants from the very school, if you aren’t among the top 2-3%, chances go down drastically, especially for MIT (which admits only 101-111 from a pool of >3000, all well qualified internationals with crazy achievements under their belts). Your ACT score is in the median range of HYPS & MIT and above the median in UCs (remember that UCs don’t have any sort of aid for intls because they are public Universities and are meant to serve the public of USA, you’ll have to pay the sticker price which would be around $50k), however SAT is a bit low, try aiming 2300+ or 1500+ (CR+math). Also, take at least 3 subject tests and score 800 in at least one (don’t worry they are pretty easy, esp. maths lv2 and physics, all the kids I know got 780+). Also, don’t rely on you 10th CGPA, almost everyone i know got 10,all the elite colleges are familiar with grading system for CBSE and ICSE boards and will ask you whether the CGPA was board based or school based. Your ECs are really excellent, I’m really impressed, almost no one pursues academic ECs. Just hope that the adcoms are impressed as well!
<p>hello. I am from India. 4.0 gpa sat(I know its very Much low)1150 in Cr+Maths , International Chemistry Olympiad qualified ,780 in both Maths level2 and Physics,
College level course in C and Python Programming from INDIAN INSTITUTE OF technology…
Research in Magnetism and marine technology from IAPT centre…
Applying to
HARVARD, STANFORD,MIT,CORNELL PRINCETON,BROWN,USC,CALTECH,
RICHMOND,SKIDMORE,COLGATE,LEHIGH,TRINITY,GRINNELL,WPI
CHANCE ME
Founder of Student Council…</p>
<p>Newstine, lemme classify the colleges
Reaches - Harvard (very high), MIT (very high), Princeton (high), Caltech (high)
Matches - Brown, Cornell and Grinnel (all high matches)
Safeties - Richmond (very safe) , Skidmore (little safe due to its generous aid), Colgate and Trinity (both low safeties). Can’t comment about Lehigh and WPI.
Lastly, don’t count those programming courses as ECs or anything, almost everyone can write codes. India is known for only two things - the Taj Mahal and Math & Computer nerds. If you’re really serious about computers, then start your own software development or web analytics company and take the AP Computer Science Exam (to be held in May, will cost $119 and registrations deadline is early march). Also, get some more good ECs -volunteer, national level sports tournament (tennis, badminton etc.), work experience etc. Don’t forget to send in a CV with links to various projects, for example, I worked for Wiki Leaks, so I send the adcoms a link to a webpage that contained one of the source documents that i had analyzed.</p>
<p>duck007 thak you for your reply.I have already applied to all of these universities.Please tell me how to enhance my chances…my dream is to get anyone of these 14 univs…I appreciate your help…</p>
<p>@newstine, I am sorry but it probably too late to make a difference now. The SAT score is pretty low.</p>
<p>But on the bright side, you have the research, course from IIT and the Olympiad stuff. So, probably in your interview, you could share with the interviewer the reason for the low SAT scores. If the reason seems valid, they will consider you. Also, sound passionate about your research and the rest. </p>
<p>You might wonder why your brilliant GPA, research etc. wouldn’t help negate the effect of bad SATs. Even though colleges SATs are just one part of the application, low SAT scores affect the colleges’ median scores, thus reducing their ranks. The people who get in with low SAT scores are recruited athletes etc. who are very highly qualified and the colleges are willing to make that sacrifice. So, is not the case with normal applicants. </p>
<p>Another drawback is the lack of extra-curricular activities. But again, you can explain that in the interview because you must have needed more time for the rest of the things that you have mentioned.</p>
<p>In case you are not contacted regarding an interview, that is most probably because there is no alumni near your place. In that case, you should consider sending emails to each college stating reasons for Low SAT scores and lack of ECs. And, send an email only if you have a valid reason.</p>
<p>Since they start looking into apps by mid Feb, you can wait till around 5th Feb for interview information. If there isn’t any, go ahead and give the colleges extra information. Keep it short and crisp (they have enough apps to read already and would hate long additional material!) and make sure you sound passionate.</p>
<p>Well, in that case, your application has entered the cyber void when you clicked “submit” and now, there’s nothing more you can do other than pray! However, if you’re really serious about attending a US university, also apply to Berea College, it ranks 75th among LACs and it’s free to attend if you get admitted!</p>
<p>Sorry for bursting the bubble, but intls (esp Indians) are rarely offered interviews due to the lack of alums, I was somehow offered one from Harvard but i had to travel all the way to Bangalore, because the alum was only there for a few hours. His destination was Tokyo/Kyoto something and Bangalore was just a flight stop. But if you get one, I think there’s something interesting about your application i.e. founder of Student body, I mean that’s a biggie. You can tell them how you felt the need that students be involved in school administration, they’ll certainly dig that! Also, if you founded the body, you must be the first president of the body too, right?</p>
<p>yup!..Yah …I was the president …but for only a 3 months…as it was my senior year when after lots of struggle with the managing committee we made it…and for the other part how could I send the reason behind my low SAT scores…there is onw …there is huge… I am from Bengali medeium…had not spoken fluent english till class 10 …neither…written english other than school course work…I didnt know about SAT before 1 month of the exam…so how should I aproach the universities… I am having an Interview with an Alumni of Princeton Univ…
You said richmond,colgate,trinity are safety…that means …is there a chance of getting there?</p>
<p>there’s not a chance, you’re sure shot in there. When you talk to the Princeton alumni, just tell them how you overcame the language barrier, don’t forget to mention that you had to learn 2 new languages i.e. Hindi and English. That’ll explain a lot.</p>
<p>Thanks Guys! I really liked the generous help I got from the forum here! Thanks a lot…I think I’ll have to work a bit harder on ACT and I will give my SAT subject tests this year alongside SAT I… @Duck007 Furthermore I am not from any IB school or Cmabridge/IB school…yes I am Bengali and I am from a public CBSE school in Salt Lake :D…name:Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan</p>