<p>Hey everyone.</p>
<p>Here are some details about me:</p>
<p>Nationality - Indian
Gender - Male</p>
<p>I went through a CBSE high school. While not as internationally recognized as the IB or not as supposedly tough as the ICSE board, CBSE is supposed to be quite demanding and intense.</p>
<p>Class 10/Sophomore Year - 95.4%
1. English - 91
2. Sanskrit - 99
3. Math - 98
4. Science - 95
5. Social Sciences - 94</p>
<p>Class 12/Senior Year - 87.4%
1. English - 95
2. Computer Science - 95
3. Math - 86
4. Chemistry - 84
5. Physics - 77</p>
<p>SAT Reasoning Test - 2280/2400
1. Math - 780/800
2. Critical Reading - 770/800
3. Writing - 730/800</p>
<p>SAT Subject Tests - English Lit: 760/800 and Math (Level 2): 790/800</p>
<p>TOEFL - 120/120</p>
<p>Extra-curricular activities:</p>
<ol>
<li>A total of 4 first prizes in debate/extempore/speech events in high school.</li>
<li>Participated in the school's Table Tennis and Soccer teams. Have certificates.</li>
<li>Very, VERY highly ranked in two international-level Olympiads - one English, the other Cyber (by a privately-run organization, though.)</li>
<li>Doing a writing internship with AOL India at the moment. Will be doing it for some time.</li>
<li>Am teaching street kids in an organization. Will have logged in 50hrs by the time applications are due.</li>
</ol>
<p>I plan to study English there, by the way.</p>
<p>So, thoughts? Please be honest!</p>
<p>Interesting, tho better have an explanation for those senior grades. They are going to hurt your chances.
The other stuff is great. I say 50-50% depending on your essays and how you link your experience to your future plans.</p>
<p>I agree with the poster above. You have a shot, but its not great. Also, Williams and other elite colleges have notoriously difficult international admissions. Write an amazing personal statement.</p>
<p>Sigh. Well, what else can one expect from the supposedly best liberal arts college in the US?</p>
<p>i mean, i’d say youre in their range of typical applicants. </p>
<p>you have very, very strong test scores and may well get in with an outstanding personal statement, just like the other poster said. that’s much easier said than done, obviously, but i’d approach your essays by justifying why williams, specifically, is a great fit for you and by using example(s) to show what makes you unique and amazing. i’m sure they have a lot of competitive international applicants fighting for the same spots, so this last part may be critical.</p>
<p>honestly, though, you seem like a very smart guy who will do great anywhere. i’d check out middlebury and amherst if you’re looking for other lac’s that are need-blind for international students.</p>
<p>Thank you so much!</p>
<p>At the risk of sounding vain, I’d say I’m a good writer. I own a blog wherein I’ve been posting stuff for the last year and change. I’ve always participated in writing competitions and such. And I have a strong topic in mind for my Common App essay. I’ll let you read it when I’m done with the first draft :)</p>
<p>Oh, and BTW, Middlebury is need-aware for international students. You got my hopes up for a second there :(</p>
<p>Do not write a personal statement about Williams. Pay attention to the prompt: you look through the window… And your common app essay of course cannot and should not be about a particular school. That said, I agree that you need a well written, interesting essay. Your extracurriculars are great, especially your work with street children. Your test scores are great too. Grades, not so much, but not bad either - since few people in the USA will know your school, it would be (maybe?) useful for your rec. letter writers to include an explanation of the grading system used in your school, and especially your relative rank. If the school doesn’t rank then your letter writers should say whether in their view you are among the best 5%, 10%… etc in your generation.</p>
<p>Apply early decision if you are keen on Williams. It still has a greater interest in international students than similar LACs. Until 2 years ago Williams had need blind admissions for internationals (unique college to have that) but after the market collapse this ended.</p>
<p>yeah, you definitely wanna stick to the prompts. my apologies for suggesting you should write about williams when it’s not what they ask for- i dont know what their supplement is like</p>
<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>Thanks for the help again 
</p>
<p>I know my grades aren’t great. In fact, I haven’t even posted my Junior Year grades here and they are the worst - 78.4%. Now, in the Indian education system, it’s par for the course for Junior Year grades to be much lower than Sophomore Year (because the school holds the exam in the former, whereas the board holds it in the latter) and the rigor of my workload increased DRASTICALLY, but that still doesn’t excuse my low score.</p>
<p>But the thing is, I’m going to address this in my Common App essay. Junior Year started with a death in the family and a fracture in my right (and dominant) hand. I was meek and picked a workload my parents thought was best for me and, surprise, was neither passionate about it nor talented in it. I’m going to write my essay on how all these things debilitated my performance a great deal but they also taught me stuff (even if it was the hard way) and how they helped me grow was an individual. And that’s how I’m going to find a spot to explain my uptick in Senior Year scores.</p>
<p>I don’t want to sound vain but I am very fond of writing and, some would say, good at it too. This topic is very close to me and I’m confident of pulling out a great essay.</p>
<p>Now, about the Williams supplement I really don’t know.</p>
<p>Bump, please? Would like more opinions - esp. after the post I made above this.</p>
<p>Be creative in your supplemental essay. The window prompt can pretty much be used to introduce anything you want to talk about, in an interesting way. It can be a physical window, or a symbolic window to another aspect of you, etc. Write about something that is important to you, emphasizing what makes you unique and why the person reading it should like you. If you are going to use your common app essay to explain your grades, maybe use the supplemental essay to expand on something you do really well in or are proud of. Good luck!:)</p>