What are my chances of getting into MIT, Stanford, Harvard, Princeton and UC Berkeley?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I’ve applied to MIT, Stanford, Harvard, Princeton and UCB.

Here are my stats:

SAT: 1390 (Yeah, that test really went quite bad, owing to some personal circumstances, but hope that the college admission officers won’t take my application down because of it)
SAT II: Perfect 800’s on three SAT Subject Tests (Mathematics + Physics + Chemistry)
TOEFL: 107 (27, 27, 23, 30)
Class 9: 92% marks (ICSE)
Class 10: 96% marks (ICSE)
Class 11: 95% marks (CBSE)
Class 12: 93% marks (CBSE [first trimester; I’m a High School Senior])
Other Awards and Recognitions: 13 international ranks in olympiads, 8 national ranks, 6 state ranks, and 8 district ranks (I’m talking about some of the major ranks, worthy to be noted; mostly in Top 10 for internationals and nationals, Top 3 in State, and Top 1 in District)
Extracurricular activities: I have a bit less record in this field, but here’s what I have done so far. I’ve voluntarily worked as a tutor for some of my fellow classmates and juniors. I’ve worked on a number of science projects, including building robots or demonstrating some of the most important science principles (I could not submit a maker’s portfolio, again owing to some personal circumstances). I’ve also participated in a number of sports events, winning a number of medals at school and district level.
Work Experience: I’ve got a work experience of four years as a published writer and author worldwide. I now have my own team of about 250 international writers and hope to open a company soon (though some really close person will be handling this team once I go for studies in US). I’ve also worked as a freelancer (I guess it was about 3 - 4 years ago).
AP: I am currently enrolled in six AP courses (1 chemistry, 1 mathematics, and 4 physics), and shall be giving their examinations this year.
Some other achievements: Having a keen interest in computers and coding, I’ve prepared two websites for a company. One of the websites is a blog style (http://sparkinlist.com/) and the other one is for the company’s main business (I can’t provide its link publicly, but can surely tell that its a quite complicated one and manages all of the company’s workflow online).

I’m looking forward towards majoring in Computer Science from one of the above-mentioned universities.

Do you guys think I’ve a chance of earning admission into one or more of the universities I’ve applied?

PS: I’m a bit worried, mainly because I haven’t participated in any research work yet. They’re simply uncommon in India, and almost no one knows that you can participate in researches when still in high school. I was even working on an app development project (it was a personal project), but was quite discouraged by almost each of my relatives, saying that making it live (and a bit famous too ) might be too costly for my family to bear, and I might not be able to handle thefts of my application, if I managed to get it live. Yet, I’ve worked as a leader, have taken a number of risks and decisions on my own, while working as a team leader of more than 250 writers. Ohh, and maybe I did not mention this above, I’ve trained them personally to be able to always develop the content that they have been asked. Also, I’ve managed to change most of their lives, since most of them belonged to that section of society that had its talent unused and unpolished. Almost each of my writers is now working full-time for me, and earns a decent five-figure salary (in US Dollars).

2

The 1390 SAT is going to hurt, no question about it. As an international student you are essentially competing with the best students in India or international students in general. An even more competitive pool of applicants. You’ve done some interesting things but you’d be positioned better with stronger grades and an SAT above about 1500

3

How are you enrolled in 4 AP physics courses. Are you taking AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, AP Physics C E/M?? If so, why?

4

I think it’s unlikely that you get in, on the basis of your SAT alone. International admits for the schools you’ve mentioned are borderline impossible. A 1600 SAT and 100% average won’t get you in. It’s impressive that you’ve had success as a writer and managing a (writing?) company, but I don’t think that will be enough for these colleges, especially as an international admit and as a CS major; these are the hardest colleges in the world to get into, and you’re applying to the hardest major, as an international admit from one of the hardest countries to be admitted from internationally. Good luck, but I think you’re unlikely.

5

I’d say yes to MIT, and maybe Harvard. Maybe Princeton. Stanford is a crap shoot for anyone. Good Luck!

6

Unfortunately not very likely for any of the schools based on SAT scores. Most internationals are outright rejected even with national/international level awards and South Asian applicants to the top schools are literally a dime a dozen.

@preppedparent-sorry but OP is not likely to get into MIT and Harvard/Princeton are not maybes even for the best US applicants. All the schools are high reaches for anyone especially for a CS major.

OP, you might be better off considering UIUC or Georgia Tech based on your numbers.

7

I beg to differ. He’s ranking in Olympiads and helping others around him raise their SES. The universities aforementioned like that profile. I still think you have chances, but as always you should cast a wide net.

8

Admissions are a crapshoot and you should try to cast a wide net, but stranger things have happened. There was a kid from my son’s high school this year deferred from Princeton REA-he was a Siemens finalist, NMSF, almost perfect SAT scores, volunteer tutor for math/sciences for underprivileged kids, the likely class valedictorian, and key member of school volleyball team that won the state championship in their classification. So Princeton should have liked that profile, but he was deferred.

OP should have a backup plan and not pin his hopes on HYPS level schools. I think he is likely rejected from all of the schools.

9

Chances are incredibly low for all the schools above due to their low acceptance rates, and that you have a 1390 SAT. Remember, colleges list the test scores as “very important” and no extracurricular that YOU have can outweigh it.

10

Hmm, while looking at the responses to my query, I was thinking a bit about their holistic review process. Won’t they be considering my application just because of a bit low SAT scores? I mean, “If we disregard the SAT - I scores, my application looks quite strong. Will they not be going through the whole of my application just because of a bit low SAT scores?”

11

@VenomBuds Yes, I’m enrolled in a lot of Physics. I love tackling challenges, and I love studying each of my subjects. That’s the reason behind me being enrolled in a lot of Physics AP courses.

12

@Hamurtle @bubblepop12444 I appreciate your comments regarding my chances of getting accepted into the universities I’ve applied, but I also noticed that almost each of these universities are looking for students who are eager to and have the potential to change the world (in other words, have an impact on the lives of other people in positive way). Don’t you think that they’ll consider all the other things I’ve done so far (I’m referring to my professional and academic career I’ve built in the past few years)?

13

@ProGenius The problem is that the truth is admissions only care about that once you have a high enough SAT/GPA. Your SAT is very low, as others have said, and you’re international. That makes it extremely tough for you to get in. 99% of applicants accepted will have a higher SAT than you — that is just the fact. If you look at the common data sets, they value SAT pretty highly. Good luck man.

14

@ProGenius Can’t you get into Computer Science at IIT Kanpur ? Your SAT I scores are sub par and you have no hooks to get into HYPSM. There will be tons of applicants (mostly Asian Americans/ORM) with perfect score and similar ECs.

15

@ProGenius

What you don’t understand is that even though they read applications “holistically,” there is nothing in your ECs or background to make up for the incredibly low SAT score. You are well below the 25th percentile of scores applying to HYPSM. At these schools, even the division one recruited athletes are scoring significantly higher than you. You’re even at a disadvantage applying CS from as an ORM male.

Also, there is nothing in our application that shows that you have “potential to change the world.” That exception only applies to people like Malala. Frankly, colleges are ACADEMIC institutions and if you don’t pass their academic thresholds, you have no chance, especially at HYPSM.

Many applicants, from China and India, create these “companies” and then exaggerate the extent of their work: in fact, if you go on international threads on CC, these “companies” are quite common since students know that its harder to verify information internationally. College are not dumb. Unless you were published in state/national magazines, they will see your company just as they see the ones they get every year from international students.

If you’re going to argue with everyone else on this thread who are trying to give you rational advice, you might as well just wait until decisions are released.

16

@ProGenius I would not put all my eggs into HYPSM. Did you get into UCB (EECS) early notification ? My DD has much higher SAT scores than yours and she has applied to a wide range of schools in US. I do not see that you have any “potential to change the world.”