The Indian Thread (TiT) # 14 - Page 101

vampiro · 09-11-2005, 11:14 AM

how would say three years (2000+hrs) of community service look on my app.

aaron56 · 09-11-2005, 12:09 PM

depends on how you spent those 2000+ hours i think. more than the hours... it is the deed that counts. for example helping out at the public library for 100 hours is looked at differently from using the same time working at an old age home. u get the idea.

in any case 2000+ hours would at least show that you've been doin sth besides academics too..

nycmom369 · 09-11-2005, 03:05 PM

thanks for everyone's replies.
She does not intend right now to major in Science. She is looking at Journalism, so thought Columbia would be best for her, but I am hoping to change that to Finace/Economics/Business.
did all of you know your majors before you applied? anyone switched majors after starting school? if so, which year?
Any idea on what kind of grades (ICSE %, SATs, HSC, etc) are reqd to get into HYPSM? What about Columbia, or NYU?
I am seeing somewhat conflicting postings, some saying 92% in ICSE and 2200+ SATs, others saying anything over 80% ICSE is sufficient for Ivies.
I realize that ECs, essays and other factors can change that, but given all other things being equal, would like to get opinions on minimum required scores, in order of importance for Ivies?

eg. #1 priority - ICSE: 80%+
#2 - SAT: 2200+
#3 - HSC: 85%+
#4 - midterm exams in 11th and 12th: 80%+

thanks to all!
btw, this site and thread are great! so nice to see focused achievement-oriented Indian kids!

Joethemole · 09-11-2005, 09:51 PM

you know, they teach us at school that you shouldn't let your parents mold you into what you want to be.

i'llbeback · 09-11-2005, 09:53 PM

^ amen... ...............

nycmom369 · 09-11-2005, 10:07 PM

haha...but the unwritten parents' rule book is slightly different.
still you know we will always give in in the end. but it's worth a try...

ronty007 · 09-12-2005, 04:26 AM

Thanks Sachit and Vampiro for ur advices...
Vampiro, is it a good idea to apply ED at Stanford? Where r u applying as ED?
And one more thing, since I switched my school after 10th, so should I get one recommendation each from booth the schools, or the school where I spent my last 2 yrs?
I am still looking forward for the Admission Essays... Adides, Sucharita, Illbeback, help me out plzz!

vampiro · 09-12-2005, 04:30 AM

aaron how will they look at all those hours
half at a charity home with oldaged and poor children
half at a school teaching at their facility for underpriviliged children.
I mean cummon people 2000+hrs should be something grand and I'm not joking I intend to carry a certificate stating this when I go for interviews.

vampiro · 09-12-2005, 04:35 AM

well ronty. According to me applying ED anywhere is waste. Instead intl's should hold back their applications for RD and make their essays stronger. I am not applying early anywhere.
Get the reccs from the teachers who know you best from whichever school.

SHABIN · 09-12-2005, 05:18 AM

Behind the Persian veil and American perception
By Manish Chand

Teheran: A casual stroll across the streets of Teheran is enough to explode the myths of a fundamentalist Iran awash with fire-spewing ayatollahs lording over the country and its women forced to live a life of denial behind the veil.
Teheran, for one, is a bustling modern metropolis buzzing with life and pulsating with a million desires that no hejab (the traditional veil worn by Muslim women) can hide and no propaganda can camouflage.
The average person may not have a lavish lifestyle, but neither is he starving or begging, as is the case with many in developing Asian countries.
Refreshingly, there are no beggars to be seen at traffic cross-sections that are so much a part of the urban landscape in India.
The infrastructure of good living is quite impressive, but it depends on which part of the city you live in.
The rich and the bright live it up in north Teheran, which is dotted with plush shopping malls, chic cafes and trendy lifestyle stores.
Down south, life is tough with an unending stream of migrants exerting a strain on the area’s limited amenities.
The Americans may hate Iran for its nuclear presumption, but Iranians are not yet ready to reciprocate this animus. And, no, Iran is no rogue nation, as the American propaganda machinery makes it out to be.
On the contrary, most Iranians come across as fundamentally decent people aspiring to have a better life and lifestyle, albeit not necessarily a Western one, and are proud to be bona fide citizens of a centuries-old civilisation.
Most Iranians sincerely believe that the new regime headed by the 42-year-old Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is right in pursuing a nuclear programme, and many of them think that the nuclear bomb is the best bet against a possible American invasion.
And, no, women are not ghettoised or kept forcefully under the veil. On the contrary, they live a fairly liberated existence, with the freedom to work or do anything for that matter, as long as they wear the mandatory headscarf.
Unlike in many Islamic countries, they can drive and roam freely at night.
The fairer sex has, in fact, found clever ways to skirt the patriarchy’s diktats: one can find young girls wearing jeans and designer clothes under their demure hejabs.
In the privacy of their homes, the protocols of restraint fall and even reading “Lolita’’—an erotic novel by Vladimir Nabokov that narrates a middle-aged professor’s affair with a teenage student—is no crime.
“We know how to live with the mullahs,’’ says Miriam, a 20-something girl who loves reading TS Eliot and Iranian poets like Sadi and Hafiz with equal ardour.

Times Of India

sachit · 09-12-2005, 06:31 AM

no probs ronty.

yeah, i agree with vampiro, no point applying ED anywhere.
I suggest you get the recs from ur new school becuz IMO colleges want to know abt the "present you", not what you were 3-4 years ago.

im looking forward to essays from oldies too. c'mon guyz help us out. sample recs etc would b added bonuses.

aaron56 · 09-12-2005, 09:35 AM

vampiro: 2000+ hours IS impressive. but in *my* view, doesn't do much by itself. community service is *sort of* secondary to extracurricular activities in most colleges. so you should have extracurricular activities as well. where the 2000+ hours can be useful is in writing an essay about your experience and what you got out of it... it will highlight your commitment to community service and at the same time show something else about you tht the rest of the app won't.
with extracurricular activities, colleges know what they are dealign with. but with community service you have to let them know. don't take my word for it though.

i hope i make sense

asaatvik · 09-12-2005, 10:46 PM

well i think ED doesn't make sense but EA sure oes b/c it doeesn't involve a commitment to matriculate at that Univ.

vampiro - i think if u start now, u can probably get damn good essays ready by Nov 1st. Remember: Applying EA does have a slight advantage!

btw, i'm applying EA to Stanford

sachit · 09-13-2005, 04:17 AM

can anyone please tell me the difference between early decision and early action!!

asaatvik · 09-13-2005, 04:20 AM

ED involves a commitment to matriculate at that Univ if u r offered admission whereas EA does not