Hey there! I’m currently narrowing down my university choices, and I would like to know where you guys think I have a chance of getting into.
I’ll be starting the IBDP this August, and I’ll be attending UWC Mahindra, which I think gives me a slight advantage?
-Ethnicity: Indian (female)
ACADEMICS:
-10th grade ICSE score: 95%
-SAT scores: Will take in October, expecting 2300+ based on online course scores.
-ACT: Not taken.
-General proficiency/Merit Card holder for 3 years
-Stood 2nd in my school in the NSO
-Stood first in the NCO (I wasn’t allowed to appear for the future exams because my school though it would distract me from studying for the board exams -_-)
EC’s and work experience:
-President/founder of debate club at previous school
-Attended various quizzes, including the Limca Book of Records, and made it to the national level in the bournvita Quiz contest.
-Finished first in city in the Aqua Regia quiz.
-President of Children’s Movement for Civic awareness in my previous school.
-I attended the MUN for the one year that my school offered it, but I plan to attend many more in the future.
-I run a successful website with over 10k followers, and I have been sponsored by 2 successful brands to endorse their products.
- I have had my poems published in newspapers a few times.
-I can speak 5 languages (I also speak fluent sarcasm, but idk if I should count that :P)
HOOKS:
…I’m going to attend a UWC
My cousin sister graduated from an Ivy league.
Basically, I have decent potential, but the school I went to for the past 3 years did not encourage anything but mugging up for board exams, due to which I missed out on many opportunities.
I plan to major in a science subject, and minor in an arts subject (I’ll be talking about my composite interest in my essays as well) and I’d really appreciate it if you could tell me about which universities I’ll have a chance of getting into.
It seems rather early to decide where to apply but a great time to decide how hard to study at your UWC. What I will say is that you sound like you are in a great position to excel at UWC Mahindra and apply just about anywhere. If Mahindra is like other UWC’s, it’s full of bright students and plenty of opportunities of focus on everything but academics. At some UWC’s where students are used to college acceptances that are conditional upon their final IB scores, some students tend to focus on everything but academics their first three semesters and plan to catch up for their IB exams during their fourth semester. The problem is, this timing is the exact opposite of what will broaden your options among US colleges. Hit the ground running, stay focused, and you’ll do great. Don’t and you may find yourself going to a school like Lake Forest, Luther, or Westminster, some of the schools most commonly attended by UWC Mahindra students. So stay focused.
With the great marks and IB predicted scores that you seem to be well capable of if you keep up your current level of studies, you’ll have many options. To help you focus, I’d ask around Mahindra what are typical marks, predicted IB scores, or GPA’s of students going from UWC Mahindra to some schools that interest you. Include some schools with varying degrees of selectivity so that you can see what you want to aim for or what the effects of lower grades might be on your options after Mahindra. Mahindra has sent enough students to the following US schools to give you meaningful data for past admits: Most selective - Princeton, Brown; very selective - Hopkins, Middlebury, Carleton, Cornell, Wellesley; selective - Macalester, Brandeis, Colby, Colorado College, College of the Atlantic; “i’m here for the UWC spirit” - Lake Forest, Luther, Westminster.
p.s. Don’t fall for the IB bashing at Mahindra. If at all possible, pursue the full IBDP with vigor. The best colleges see UWC and triveni as complements to top academics, not as substitutes. One reason that some colleges tend to favor students who excel academically at UWC over those who excel academically while living at home or at more traditional boarding schools is they realize that those UWC students who maintained focus on their schoolwork through all the distractions at a UWC will be unphased by the distractions at their college.