<p>Hey guys! I'm an 11th class - soon to be 12th class - student. I have a more or less consistent 89% in 9, 9.2 in 10th, and 90+ percentage in previous secondary classes. I'm preparing to take SATs in May/June, and will take the TOEFL around that time too. My pa's in IPS, so I've been transferred a lot, but I still participated in Dramas, writing for the school magazine, debates, and stuff like that till 9th. My English is pretty good, though I do have an irritating habit of forgetting to check my mails/posts for typos. I'm also writing an article that'll hopefully come in the next Chicken Soup. And - here's the most important part - I want to go to Yale/Princeton for my UG.</p>
<p>Thing is, I'm not sure I stand a chance. I'm quite sure that if I work hard enough, I'll score well on my SATs, but I don't know if my application will be able to compete against all those perfect-scorers' application who've been preparing their applications for their entire high school lives. Me, I decided I wanted to go abroad halfway through 11th!</p>
<p>Also, I won't be able to attend the Uni even if they accept me if I don't get Financial Aid.</p>
<p>I know about Financial Aid being rare for Int'l students, and that Ivy League admissions are a bit touchy feely, but is there anything I can do to make my application look better? Or is it too late?</p>
<p>And please don't flame me. I'm just another deppressed guy asking friendly guys for advice. :)</p>
<p>Huh. I wrote a lot, diidn't I. :P :D</p>
<p>The last 4 chance threads on this forum have all asked the same question… What else should we do so as to make our applications stand out.</p>
<p>Someone make a thread regarding this. It would definitely be made a sticky on this forum.</p>
<p>
Me, I decided I wanted to go abroad halfway through my gap-year!
The point is, it’s never late. Of course, the chances are reduced dramatically. </p>
<p>We-ell, do you have any sort of achievements in any ECs or in academics AFTER 9th grade?
Tell me, what do you think is one part about your application (if you do apply eventually) that you think makes you stand out (in the sense, the major hook in your profile).
Make maximum use of the opportunities that come by in the 12th grade. Inside classroom and outside classroom. Volunteer for stuff</p>
<p>Work out something man. Great score + Average class performance + average to good ECs might get you to some very good universities but these would turn out to be either non-aid giving or non ivy league.</p>
<p>Will post more later. It’s ****in’ 5am right now.</p>
<p>Oh well… </p>
<p>itsmylife99 was in similar, well almost similar, situation as yours.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/india/976748-leaving-iit-aieee-preparation-concentrate-only-sat-stuff.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/india/976748-leaving-iit-aieee-preparation-concentrate-only-sat-stuff.html</a></p>
<p>Gravedigging helps. There are some good threads with valuable advice on the India forum. Look 'em up!</p>
<p>I am seriously done posting on this thread.</p>
<p>@compscifan: I seriously hope not.</p>
<p>The best part of my application will probably be the essays and the SAT/TOEFL score. 
Can anybody explain what ECs are?
And are there any olympiads for 12th class that give out results before november?</p>
<p>Does ECs stand for Extra-curriculars, by any chance?</p>
<p>Well, as far as ECs are concerned, after 9th, I got nothing.
Do I stand a chance of even standing a chance? :(</p>
<p>Absolutely nothing?
The chances are very bleak Kartik. Focus your attention to Indian colleges, I would sugest.
But anyway, think this through and get more advice from elsewhere.</p>
<p>Actually, ECs should begin after 9th!</p>
<p>Do you have some ECs which you could possibly stretch to show that you’ve done them during high school as well?</p>
<p>^ That could help but OP needs aid and stretching ECs to 9-12 grade might get him in * some * colleges but cannot possibly get him to ivy league or 100% aid giving colleges!!</p>
<p>As I mentioned before, my dad’s in a transferable job. I moved to a new city when I started my 9th, and in the school here, there wasn’t much focus on ECs. Also, at that time I believed that I would be preparing for IIT, so I focused on my studies. I do have some Olympiads in which I participated, and I got a very good rank in one, but these are the non-certified Olympiads.</p>
<p>Can you guys suggest a Uni good for English, English and Literature, East Asian Languages and programs, and have a good academic reputation?</p>
<p>See what I mean? I wrote “have”! I always forget checking the post/mail before posting/sending it.</p>
<p>Well, my passion is English. And I did do quite a bit for it during my high school, but nothing provable, ir entirely significant - I wrote poems, organised debates in cc periods(when it wasn’t declared a free period), studied English grammar on my own(with Wren & Martin), read tons - tons - of novels, I read some classics too. I read all the novels in the house, searching through racks and whatnot. My current passion is English, and East Asian languages - I like watching Korean movies/dramas, am a k-pop fan, and would really really like to learn Korean and/or Japanese.</p>
<p>Yeah you could write an essay about it.</p>
<p>Essay about what I did for English? I plan to, but good essays can’t make up for a lack of ECs and average scores, so I’m looking for some OPs and.or competitive exams to participate in.</p>
<p>If you love English so much, you should certainly try to get a 2300 plus in SAT!
Math and Writing part->JOKE
CR->The most difficult one out of the three sections(just my personal view). So, if you have a great command over English, try to get the best possible score. That will really mean something. :)</p>
<p>So, basically, I can only focus on the SATs, TOEFL, Essays, and get some recommendations, right?</p>
<p>And what should I do for the recommendations? I moved around so much, there’s only one teacher whom I want to ask for it, and she didn’t teach me in High School.</p>