Hey! I'm from India, and know next to nothing about US unis, so I have no idea what chances I have of getting into MIT, Stanford or Caltech...I'm not going to apply to any other colleges: if I don't get into one of these, my options are the IITs in India...
ACADEMICS:
I just finished grade 10.
My final ICSE board (all-India public exam at the end of grade 10) percentage was 97% (That's one of the highest in India, I was even featured in all the local newspapers
...)
Courseload:
The ICSE is the toughest in India till grade 10, and I'm preparing for the IIT entrance exam now, so my course load in Physics, Chemistry and Maths is extremely challenging (eg:- We were taught differential equations in our first week)
My school doesn't offer APs, but I'm planning to study independently and give the following exams next May -
AP French
AP English
AP Macro+Microeconomics
AP World History
AP Biology
Actually, I'm not sure if AP exams are even conducted in India (I called up College Board but they told me to check back in Jan) , but I'm studying these in any case, because they're very interesting...
SAT scores : 770 Math / 710 Cri Reading / 640 Writing . Total = 2120 (I know that's really bad, but I was having a really bad day...plan to give it again, aiming for 2350+)
SAT IIs : Haven't given any yet, but plan on giving Maths, English, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, French...
Other academic achievements:
Gold medal in the national ASSET (Assessment of Scholastic Skills through Educational Testing), which is supposed to test how much you understand of what you have been taught, as opposed to how much you remember...
Certificates of "General Proficiency" from school every year since 6th grade
ECs:
I'm really into quizzing, have participated in and won many many inter-school, and a few national level quizzes.
I was elected Vice-Captain (in 9th grade) and Captain (in 10th grade). (My school is divided into houses, each with a captain and vice-captain. The houses compete with each other in inter-house competitions, for which the captain and vice captain have to select participants and train them...so I had to help students debate, play basketball, conduct experiments etc etc...we actually had a competition every week, so I spent a large part of my time on house activities) In addition, the Vice Captain and Captain are part of the school student council.
Best Pupil award - given to one student at the end of 10th grade (just before you leave school), for extra-ordinary achievements in school. In my case, it was because of the quizzes, student council, debates/recitation (I won Best Speaker in many competitions), my grades and an interview in which they tried to ascertain my leadership potential.
I have also received the IAYP (International Awards for Young People, formerly known as the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme in honour of its founder) Bronze and Silver awards, for which I had to prove 150+ hours each of social service, sports, two skills and also had to attend four camps where we were taught survival skills and rock-climbing, rappelling, river-crossing...
I've won several awards for JAVA programming, I'm planning to give the SCJP (mid-level JAVA certification) exam.
My biggest passion is math, though I don't think that shows much in my application...I actually taught myself calculus from Wikibooks after 9th grade, because I hated not being able to solve so many problems...it just gives me a sense of power when I know I can find out the exact answer to complex situations so easily...
In any case, sorry for the loooong post...I just want to know your opinion on my chances in MIT, Caltech and Stanford, which I prefer infinitely to the IITs (the male:female ratio at IIT Bombay is 10:1!!! I don't want to be so outnumbered!) Thanks in advance!!
PS - I'm not applying for financial aid at all...
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