<p>im a student from india. im going to finish high school in a month. i got 95.6% in tenth standard and am goint o give my 12th standard boards in fifteen days. i want to take a year gap and study for sat. i want to apply to yale, harvard, stanford, princeton, etc. i am god at sports and have also won competations in school for extempore, essay writing, story writing etc. during the gap year i plan to learn a language, do a diploma in dance, and work. do i have any chance of getting in these schools? also i wish to score above 90% in my upcoming exams. is it enough?please suggest ways of optimising my chances to get through! please help!</p>
<p>Back from my hiatus! :)</p>
<p>Crunchiemunchie, you ask an exceedingly difficult question. Chances threads are always precarious and you should take all opinions and advice with a pinch of salt - including this one. Your X Boards percentage looks impressive, but it is important to keep in mind that US colleges don’t look at things in isolation. How did you do in 11th grade? How were your 12th pre-boards results? (a good indicator of your XII boards, with an adjustment of course).</p>
<p>Your gap year ambitions seem really prolific and should work to your advantage. Also, can you elaborate on “go[o]d at sports”. Colleges always look at academic athletes favorably. Are you taking a gap year because you came to the decision of applying to schools in the US late? </p>
<p>Think of it this way: everything in the past 4 years has been an opportunity for you and colleges will see how well you made use of those opportunities. However, the thing that works in your advantage is that you are allowed to ‘sell’ yourself to colleges. You are allowed to ‘make’ your own application. Take advantage of that fact.</p>
<p>In the end, “is it enough?” No one can tell you that, because no one knows.</p>
<p>What should you do to get into Princeton and Harvard?</p>
<p>Apply there.</p>
<p>Hi, I am just wondering if owning a your own advertising business make you unique and give u a better chance considering everything else of pass the line and good? I did lots of internships and charity to show my enthusiasm for business, but im not sure if its enough cause i didn’t win any awards. Thanks alot!</p>
<p>thanks tizil7. but my chances of getting admission abroad are done for. i got involved in an accident during my exams and as a result my percentage is going to drop to 80% (around). i did clear all exams but i missed a couple of papers due to which im not going to get the top result or anywhere near.
yes, actually i did plan on taking a year off because of lack of information oin the SATs and i really wanted to make it happen. but i guess now it isn’t possible. thanks anyway.</p>
<p>^That won’t affect your chances at all! Adcoms will understand…after all they’re human too!</p>
<p>Explain what happened and you can actually use the accident to your advantage! They would be happy to see that you’ve coped up and not let an accident stop you from pursuing your dream.</p>
<p>It is definitely not impossible, dont give up hope…</p>
<p>I know someone who got waitlisted at Chicago with a 33 in english dude. Just don’t give up hopes, explain the accident. After all this is the best part about the American system of admissions, they consider every single thing, not just some numbers and ranks…</p>
<p>So all the best to you :D</p>
<p>^“they consider every single thing” is also the worst part of the American system of admissions…im not trying to discourage you,but they will actually be finding reasons to reject you,not admit you.</p>
<p>@crunchiemunchie im sorry…believe me,i was in no way trying to discourage you…i was just mentioning that i donot agree with @ph34k in some opinions…if you are talented,you’ll be acccepted nevertheless…</p>
<p>thanks a lot guys, im actually a lot more motivated now to give it a shot. im hoping that my academic mishap would be the only weak link in my application. i am still applying next year and am currently focussing on entrance exams here.
obviously, i cannot say that i am a hundred percent confident that i would get admitted abroad but its worth a shot. i agree, the best part is we get to market ourselves.
now my query boils down to- should i risk taking a gap year or should i go ahead with a college here and apply next year? my focus school is definitely yale as they have a great humanities program and something just draws me to that school!</p>
<p>Personally i think that showing your personality in the college essay is very important. I mean IVYies get tons of students with 2400 on their SATs applying every time its important to show who you are besides your grades.</p>
<p>GDluck crunchiemunchi</p>
<p>Transfer admissions are even more difficult than Freshman admissions. If you get into IITs, it is a different matter.</p>
<p>@akashdip- That is true, the system there takes everything into account… I was once denied a major scholarship because I fell short of one mark! It is not true that colleges will first find reasons to reject you; even in order to do that, they need to know more about you and hence will be going through every thing in your application first. In reviewing applications, obviously the amazing ones will stand out… This is how they make decisions. And when classes are small and people, who are qualified, more, only then will they start finding reasons due to which the applicant should NOT be accepted… </p>
<p>@crunchiemunchie- Apply, give it a shot now… And yes, maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea, if you apply for freshman admissions next year, while attending college here… As p25 pointed out, it is extremely hard for people to transfer without legitimate reasons… That’s how I applied… And now I am attending UMass…</p>
<p>thanks ph34k and PAPbiz 
a lot is left to work out for me, including my health problems because of which now my parents are dead set against me applying 
but im still hoping for the best!</p>
<p>does anyone have any idea as to which ec’s are preferred or something along those lines?or is it more like doing whatever you want?</p>
<p>high SAT and GPA</p>
<p>@crunchiemunchie- do the latter. Take up activities which you love… Of course pursuing some activities will most likely be solely for college admissions, but take up mostly those which you really feel like doing :)</p>
<p>what about you guys? which colleges are you applying to? or for some people which colleges have you been accepted to?</p>
<p>I am heading to UMass most probably…</p>
<p>Heading to Princeton!</p>