What are my chances to get into ivies and other universities like MIT, Stanford, Caltech and Carnegie mellon for a CS Major?
SAT: 1560
SAT chem subject test: 800
SAT Math 2 subject test: 800
SAT physics subject test: 800
Highschool Grades: (in india)
9th = 98/100
10th = 92/100
11th = 97/100
12th = 95/100
which is roughly around 4.7/5.0 GPA
Took English, Math, Computer Science, Chemistry, Physics and Bio (Standard for all Indians)
Awards:
Google Hash Code Semifinalist
4 National Level Competitions won
ECs:
- Wrote 2 books on Machine Learning Theory with Python which is available on amazon
- Intern at a Machine learning startup company as a data scientist
- Intern at CRY (top 100 non profit) for 1 month as a Designer and Fundraiser
- Founded 2 Successful Startups in India
- Founded an Online Machine Learning Forum / Learning Environment with over 100k members
- Journalist at my local newspaper
- Tutored Machine learning and Programming to HS students in the summer
- Programming as a hobby - fluent with Python, Javascript, CSS, HTML, web dev, app dev, machine learning
- Launched a few apps on play store
Please let me know what my chances are at getting into an ivy
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Above average.
P.S. Just noticed that you are an international applicant from India. Status as an international applicant changes my initial assessment. Difficult to be admitted as an international in need of full financial aid.
When you were in 10th grade, what exactly do your grades look like, by subject? Same with 12th grade?
No graduate from any of these colleges is likely to have written one book on machine learning theory, let alone two. No graduate from any of these colleges is likely to be able to call him-/herself a data scientist without years of training at the graduate level. Few, if any, of them can claim to have 2 successful startups to their credit.
If you’ve done all those things, why do you want to go to any of these colleges, or any college for that matter?
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In reality its actually not as hard as you think it is.
I applied to a startup company as an intern and showed them the projects i had done in my free time from when i had learnt machine learning from stanford university’s online course and they were glad to give me an internship.
Do you mean you took Andrew Ng’s online course on Coursera? It barely scratches the surface on machine learning. Millions of people have taken it and none of them has written books on machine learning theory based on it, AFAIK.
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Are you applying for financial aid? If so, what level of need do you have?
Only HYP, MIT, and Amherst are need blind for international students, the rest will consider the level of your financial need when making the admission decision
Yes I do know. do you think I only took one course throughout the course of three years? Well of course I couldn’t possibly cover ALL the theory but it has a significant amount of theory in it which should help a lot of high school students willing to pursue machine learning as a hobby.
Also, I’ve read tons of machine learning forum posts regarding the theory where a lot of the things that Andrew thought has been mentioned there. sorry if I seem rude.
Also technically its one book which has been split into two parts
I am aware that Harvard, Yale and princeton along with MIT are need blind. and yes I do need a significant amount of aid. Im just gonna try my luck and hope I get in. (You might think a person with 2 startups must be rich but both of them are 100% free to use community service related startups. One is a startup to find jobs for domestic servants and the other one is an online competition finding platform)
I dont exactly remember them subject by subject but my math and computer science scores were pretty high if that’s what you’re asking?
These schools accept between 5% and 10% of applicants. This means they reject between 90% and 95% of applicants.
If you are that good at math, you can figure out your odds yourself. Apply and see. There are no guarantees at these schools. Amongst the rejections are a ton of extremely well qualified candidates.
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Not sad as it demonstrates the high level of competition for a place in America’s top universities. Just competing with the very best for admission.
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It’s sad because so many highly qualified individuals don’t get to experience such an opportunity just because they were a teeny tiny bit underqualified. which is sad 
To me, that means that your grades in your other subjects were low 80’s. I think you are likely applying too aggressively. I tend to let the “more knowledgable” others here talk about the $$, but sometimes the international full-pay students gain a better than average admit rate by American standards - but the process is not promising for international students with questionable academics who also need $$. Your best bet would be state schools and others who are hanging on to tests IMO. Your score might help an average if that is still a thing. I realize you may now be in the US and that won’t change my opinion. Good luck!
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I would not think of it that way. On the bright side, you can find your own college experience. I have a friend, from India, who came to the US with average grades and went to another Chicago state school and is now a hugely successful entrepreneur and developer. Be honest with yourself. You are not a teeny tiny bit unqualified, and I think you know that. You are smart, on the other hand - just your grades do not reflect your intellect.
Change that starting now and never look back.
@BootesVoid
They aren’t under qualified necessarily. The fact is…there are only so many seats in these freshman classes. The admissions folks are building a class…not just one kid.
The takeaway is…there are thousands of colleges in this country. There are tons where you can get a terrific college education. Cast a wide net and hope for the best.
Adding…if you are an international student from India, your chances of acceptance are even smaller. And that you need a significant amount of aid will be considered when your application for admission is considered.
What colleges outside of the top 20 are you considering?
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Do you mean even in need blind colleges?
And yes of course I’m not solely relying on Ivies.
I’m planning to apply to:
Carnegie Mellon
Caltech
NYU
University of Washington
Vanderbilt
UC Berkeley
Berkeley gives not one penny of need based aid to folks who aren’t california residents. You need to consider that.
NYU is costly and I don’t think they guarantee to meet full need.
CalTech is as competitive for admissions as your other schools.
Where is there a school that you can be guaranteed acceptance AND can afford to attend?
How much aid exactly do you need?
