<p>hey guys, so as you know, making it to a top-tier US college is not every indians cup of tea.
one of my acquaintances told me that its about how you made it large that matters! like since getting into a top tier college is very VERY competitive (if India is considered altogether) , the adcoms see the one of the "how-i-made-it-large" factor or the extraordinary thing u did which was not so common compared to the rest of the indians.
so what extra-ordinary thing or the unique factor in your application that u think made a great difference?</p>
<p>…come on guys, it might help us 17’er to reason out things!!!</p>
<p>Chill…We still have 364 days 5 hours 45 minutes to go till decisions. 
:eek:
Talk about being nervous :p</p>
<p>yeah, we do. :P</p>
<p>Ok…I have been following the admission trend for the past year. The general requirements between Indian students and American Students isn’t really different. These are the things I would rate in order of priority
- GPA, GPA, GPA (ie, your school marks in your 10th/11th - shoot for over 90%)
- Preferably be in the top 1-5% of your class
- SAT scores (> 2200)
- SAT2 subject scores (take as many as possible) …try to score upwards of 700+
- Extra curriculars - show you are more than a number, if your school has any clubs, get involved…Else seek out anything in your town…(charity organisations, volunteering). Again, dont do it just for colleges. Do something that really interests you.
- If you are into music,dance, sports - that is a good way to show you are well-rounded.</p>
<p>Now to the Indian specific stuff. I find that kids from the well known private schools have an edge. But more so, if your school has historically sent kids to the US, that is a plus factor as the adComs are familiar with the schools. Also some of these private schools have better extra-curriculars available as well.</p>
<p>Another word of wisdom - apply to a variety of schools. HYPMS is not the only ones, be realistic and yes, CC is great, so once you are ready to apply, use the chance threads. I find a lot of students (both Indian/american) apply to a lot of reach schools and then wonder why they didnt get in.</p>
<p>Last thing - be aware that financial aid is very competitive for international students. So be realistic with the money factor and discuss with your families. And check out the Results thread of the top schools if you really want to see the ‘wow’ factor of the big schools.</p>
<p>I think parent2016 has covered everything very accurately!</p>
<p>My 2 cents of advise:</p>
<ol>
<li>Involve yourselves in extracurricular activities/ sports/ leadership activities that YOU LIKE, without compromising on Academics. </li>
<li>Try to finish your Standardized Tests earlier before the 12th pressure starts. And take these test seriously, because Tests and high school grades both matter equally.</li>
<li>Plan your schedule in a way that can give you plenty of time for Essays! Essays are a very important and they give you an opportunity to show the adcoms your passion and diverse interest.
4.High prestige private schools in India do have an edge because they give opportunity for extracurriculars and leadership, but you can get admitted to a top school even if you are not at a top private school. For that you have to make those extracurricular and leadership opportunities by yourself! But I am sure may of you 17ers, 18ers can do it!</li>
<li>Do’t apply for FA except for certain need blind Ivies and certain need blind LACs, if you don’t want to hamper your chance of admission. If you can’t afford without FA, some public universities are cheaper and also excellent(like Gtech), and you can give APs and get credits for them! According to me, that is indirect FA/Scholarship.</li>
</ol>
<p>To add to above.</p>
<p>The Essays
These play a crucial role as well. I feel they have to be simple yet powerful, should be able to convey your personality, passions, your learning - not I did this so this happened but rather a situation and your approach to handling the situation, your observations during the course of your life that have left a lasting impression, it could be family, friends, teacher, neighbour, or somebody you met during your travels, your challenges…
So essays are a big opportunity to put a ‘face’ to the application.
And they have to of a 17-18 year old.</p>
<p>And the LORs, so need to network with your teachers and help them to
be able to present you beyond numbers. So from making a request to
giving them enough time, are the things to be kept in mind. </p>
<p>And the ECs like the above posters mentioned have to those which
interest you and from those which you give time to and take away life
skills for real. Get involved.</p>
<p>As far as I am aware of, almost all schools have Cultural clubs and activities like MUN, a great platform to develop skills like debate, public speaking, learning to do research, be aware of issues around the world, team work, building self confidence, sometimes there is travel involved, which again is a great learning experience of being able ton adapt and adjust. </p>
<p>Almost every school in Delhi offers a student exchange program beginning class 8/9th, the ones that have foreign language in their curriculum. I say that based on my experience. So I am pretty sure schools in other towns do too.</p>
<p>And like fall2016parent said,</p>
<p>The College list is very important,</p>
<p>20 percent should be Reach/High Reach</p>
<p>70-80 percent should be a Matches</p>
<p>20-30 percent should be Safeties.</p>
<p>This will help you manage your expectations in the admissions process. And it will ensure that you set ambitious goals and also give yourself some back–up options.</p>
<p>thanks a ton u all!
it gave me a picture of the do’s and must do’s.</p>
<p>one question?
my friend suggests to choose a less popular major and one admitted, changing the major is not difficult at all! comment??
also, when a college gives u admission, it gives you according to seats available for the particular major or the total number of seats available for undergrad?</p>
<p>@rew, you should ideally write what major you are interested in - the adcoms will know something is up if you put Creative Writing as your intended major but your essays are about how much you love Computer Science (I’m exaggerating but the point still holds).</p>
<p>Many schools put on the application itself that the intended major holds no bearing on your admission chances - if they say it, it’s TRUE. You can write undecided for all they care. Those private liberal arts schools don’t care about your major except to validate and pinpoint your interests. (Ivies, Stanford, MIT etc.) They don’t admit X number of CS majors, Y number of Polisci majors etc.</p>
<p>However, if you blatantly lie, it WILL go against you. How could it not?</p>
<p>At some unis (state schools usually), you’re admitted to a department. So you could be admitted into the Engineering Dept at Berkeley. Here they do have quotas for the number of students in the department, and some depts are more competitive than others. you are not admitted to the uni per se, but to the specific department. It’s probably harder to switch into a new department, but easy enough to switch between two similar majors in the same department.</p>
<p>Ultimately, don’t lie. If you lie, being passionate about your true interest in the rest of your app becomes risky.</p>
<p>so, taking an example of an ivy, they give you admission based on the department? or they give u according to the TOTAL number of seasts available for the whole undergrad courses?</p>
<p>rew, Most universities give admissions based upon total places available in their undergrad. As speachy rightly said that you should not cheat the adcoms in such a way, they are more experienced, there must be something in their system that protects such things.</p>
<p>On a side note, the number of seats available is not the real question, just focus on your application now, start working on your essays now for what its worth. :)</p>
<p>As speachy sid, Don’t lie!
HYPSM give admission to the university and you have to decide on a major in freshman or after freshman year. In your application, you have to just mention your interest!
Colleges like Berkeley, GTech, UIUC, admit you to a department and that is why you have to choose a College/Department you want to study in. Think what will happen if you lie, get into admitted to other low demand branch and then you can not get it changed to dept. of your interest, what will you do?
It will be too big a risk! </p>
<p>Another point: In your application, you are supposed to show your passion for the branch of your interest through you essays and list of activities/olympiads etc. If you change the subject of your interest, how will you be able to do that?</p>
<p>My advise would be, “Just be yourself and never lie”</p>
<p>uhuh! thanks all.</p>
<p>Haha @rew that is the opposite of what I said - ivies, Stanford and MIT usually don’t care!</p>
<p>[But two ivies - Cornell and UPenn - are different in that they have “schools” that you apply to. Some schools are highly specific (Hotel Mngmnt @ Cornell, Wharton @ UPenn), but others encompass a large variety of majors (School of Arts & Sciences).
Cornell and UPenn are like state universities in that you have to apply to a single school, and get admitted to the school, not the university.]</p>
<p>At state schools, it is also VERY difficult to switch “up” into a high-demand department like Engineering since the students are more competitive and there are more core requirements. </p>
<p>All universities WILL care if you write a low demand major like Slavic Languages only to talk nothing about it in your app, but instead about how much you love Economics/EECS/etc. It looks weird.</p>