What are my chances for CalTech?

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Hi</p>

<p>So chance me for CalTech guys</p>

<p>SAT I: 2220
SAT II: Math1 780 Math 2: 760 Physics 700</p>

<p>GCSE A Levels
Computing A*
Maths A
Chemistry B
Physics B</p>

<p>Microsoft Certification
Captain Soccer Team
Table tennis Regional Champion
Internships in 2 Software Houses
Founded an NGO
Freelance work
Tech and Sports article in Tribune
1st in Kangroo international Maths competition</p>

<p>I am an International and i will require Financial Aid, so yeah What are my chances</p>

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<p>and I will be applying for Computer Sciences as first major preference </p>

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<p>IGCSE O Levels grades</p>

<p>History; A*
Islamic Studies: A*
Foreign Language(Urdu): A
Maths: A
Physics: A
Chemistry: A
English: B
Biology: B</p>

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<p>Your SAT score needs to go up. Look at the stats of their incoming class. Caltech is need aware, which means if you need financial aid, it will affect your admission chances. </p>

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<p>Your grades arent that great, your SAT subject test scores are low,you dont really seem to have done something major and you need FA…If I were you I wouldn’t rely so much on Caltech and would already start looking for other colleges.
Sorry to say this but you do not stand a chance to get in unless you do something super major or write excellent essays.</p>

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<p>By SAT II subject scores i guess you are referring to Physics? @humblefool‌ and i will be taking that again in October. Can you suggest something SUPER MAJOR like should i carry out research work or social thing?
I will need Financial Aid so i guess i only have hardly 20 or 30 colleges to chose from. How about
Amherst
Williams
University of Chicago
UC Berkely</p>

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<p>@iamzaain‌ First of all, where are you from? A lot depends on where you come from. For e.g. someone from a war torn country will have very little opportunities so your app will suffice for him/her because he/she has had a very tough life and also because Ivys love diversity.</p>

<p>Second, It all depends from person to person. By something major, I mean to say that you should do something extraordinary in your field of interest, something that makes you stand out and above the rest of the applicant pool. </p>

<p>For me, I was really interested in CS and chemistry so I did a lot of research projects, luckily I got a chance to represent my country at the Intel ISEF and my research got published in 2 national journals and an international journal (both peer reviewed). I also got through the IOITCP at my country but narrowly missed out on qualifying for the IOI. I also tutored kids in programming/web development and also trained them for various olympiads.</p>

<p>I also loved sports, especially soccer so I played soccer almost my whole school life, I got selected for a senior level club and I also became the captain of my varsity team </p>

<p>All these activities show my passion. I would not have done anything else because I do not have passion for those things and doing something just for the sake of putting it on the app.</p>

<p>Coming to your idea of doing a research project, you will have to do something novel, something that hasn’t been done before…you cannot simply get a topic from the internet and carry out that. I think it is too late to carry out a research project because, I remember that I had researched for 10 months on that topic before spending around 5-6 months actually implementing it. Anyways, try doing it.
As for social work, I think it sounds a bit cliched now-a-days.</p>

<p>I would suggest that you should do what you love and try to excel in it. Write excellent essays (start working on them now!) and get those SAT scores up.</p>

<p>Coming to the college list, I’ve heard that only 6-8 colleges are need-based. Others are need-aware. I do not know about Amherst and Williams, better ask someone else about it. As for UoC and UCB, they are great schools!</p>

<p>PS: I would choose about 10-15 colleges and work real hard on their apps. A lot also depends on where you come from. If you are from those war-torn countries, I think you should write great essays and get these SAT scores up…Ivys love diversity and that should suffice</p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

<p>To infinity and beyond! (LOL)</p>

<p>HF</p>

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<p>@humblefool‌ I am from Pakistan so yeah i guess i am good on that page. Honestly speaking you dont mostly find a Microsoft certified 18 year old developer from where i come. I did internships in start ups while my Comp Sci class mates were only busy with there school projects. I scored 100 % in annual Cambridge university’s project the thing is i have done what i was offered and what i could afford. Research is the field that i havent really explored yet.</p>

<p>With those SAT Scores what are my chances for Uoc, UCLA, UCB, Southern California and Vanderbilt?</p>

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<p>@humblefool‌ and honestly i really appreciate your help</p>

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<p>@iamzaain from what I’ve heard, asking for aid at the UCs hurt especially if you are an international applicant. I would suggest your raise it as much as you can by giving both SAT 1 & 2 once more since it will be a bit hard for you to get in as you are asking for FA. With better SAT scores and great essays, who knows? Maybe you can get into one of the Ivys if you are lucky</p>

<p>One thing that you should emphasize now on are the essays as they are very very important and some schools such as Stanford/Harvard/Yale and MIT too give a lot of importance to essays.</p>

<p>I would suggest that you should apply to Harvard and MIT too.</p>

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<p>UC’s wont give any aid because the priority is for children of California taxpayers. You would be charged full fees. You need to realize that requesting financial aid will affect your admission consideration when you apply to most schools. </p>

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<p>MIT is completely need-blind. And it isn’t a lot about the grades either. I guess you just need really good SAT scores, as far as the academics are concerned. And this might help.
<a href=“http://engineering.mit.edu/ask/how-do-i-get-mit”>http://engineering.mit.edu/ask/how-do-i-get-mit&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>And if you need any help with the essays… I’m just saying. :p</p>