<p>Hello,</p>
<p>First off, I’m sorry about the length of this message. But I’ve made it as short as possible.</p>
<p>I’m a 21 yr old male from India. All I want is to enroll myself in a Neuroscience program in Fall 2012 at one of the top liberal arts colleges in the US. And I need some advice/suggestions from you folks to get to this objective.</p>
<p>Here’s the story:-</p>
<p>I graduated secondary school in 2007 here in India with 86% in the Central Board (which translates to 4.0 GPA according to the conversion offered by WES). I wrote SAT three times and the following are my scores in them:-</p>
<p>05/2008, SAT Test</p>
<p>630 Reading
670 Math
260 Writing </p>
<p>12/2007, SAT Test</p>
<p>570 Reading
690 Math
680 Writing </p>
<p>05/2007, SAT Test</p>
<p>540 Reading
700 Math
530 Writing</p>
<p>So far so good. Right after secondary school graduation, all I wanted to do was Physics. So I applied to one of the best colleges in India and got in there. One word to describe my experience there - pathetic. I hated it. So I decided it had to be somewhere else if I had to become a competent scientist. So I decided to go to the US. I wrote the SAT and vigorously applied to the Universities that were in my reach. I got into many of them and owing to its good scholarship, I chose to go to The University of Alabama in Huntsville (or UAH). So, in the fall of 2008, I first set foot in America and I had the time of my life. Everything was great right from the professors to fellow students to my job. I even got a job at the National Space Science and Technology Center round the corner from the residence hall i was in. Pretty much everything was great! </p>
<p>The sad part:-</p>
<p>Just when everything was going great for me, I started having early symptoms of some mental ill-health. I was feeling fatigued, lost enthusiasm for things and all the joy evaporated. I thought it was depression and it was odd that this had to happen at a time like this. I just ignored it and went on doing what I did albeit inconveniently. Then after 2 semesters, in June of 2009, I went home to India to visit my parents and there I visited a good psychiatrist. He diagnosed me with Schizophrenia. At first I didn’t believe it. I always thought Schizophrenics would be violent and delusional and psychotic. But later I learnt that there are two sets of symptoms for Schizophrenia - positive and negative. The positive ones are the ones that we see in the media - delusions, hallucinations etc. I had the not-so-flamboyant negative symptoms which include fatigue, emotional blunting, ambiguousness, facial expressionlessness, lack of self-esteem, blunting of social skills etc. That was in 2009. [Btw, I’ve improved a lot after the treatment, therapy and medication. I’m still on medication.] The doctor who diagnosed me advised that it is not wise to live on your own when you have this condition and so convinced my parents to not let me go back to the US for Fall 2009. I was devastated…mostly because the alternative was to either sit at home or attend that pathetic college in India. Against my will I somehow managed to get back into that pathetic college. And I’ve been here since 2009. I’ll be completing my term in this college in about a year (2012). </p>
<p>The Present:-</p>
<p>So now, I’m starting my application process for the colleges in the US for Fall 2012. My interest has shifted from Physics to Neuroscience and I really want to be in a small size private liberal arts college where teaching the undergrads is given the top priority and it should also be good enough for me to engage myself in some serious research. Another reason why I prefer Liberal arts colleges is that they seem to have need-based financial aids. You see, my family cannot afford to pay more than $22000/yr for the whole cost of attendance (which includes my flight ticket to and from US.)</p>
<p>My accomplishments meanwhile:-</p>
<p>A natural question from anyone would be “what the hell have you accomplished in your time since graduating secondary school?” </p>
<p>I have to admit my scores here in the college I’m in right now are very poor basically due to my rebellion against the quality of education that I’m getting. I cannot honestly show my college transcripts from here to impress anyone or even expect them to let me into their college. But I have done some extra-academic work or rather in the process of doing them:-</p>
<p>1) Since I hate the Indian education system so much, I started a website that acts as an online journal that deals with the issues that the Indian education system faces. You can check it out at [Stop</a> Manufacturing Us!](<a href=“http://www.stopmanufacturingus.com%5DStop”>http://www.stopmanufacturingus.com)
2) For the past year, I’ve been writing a book about the Indian education system, observing its problems and offering solutions. BTW it’s not a rant. It’s a decent book written in a neutral tone. Right now this is the most meaningful endeavor I’m engaged in. I hope to get it published sometime this year or next year.
3) I have a great letter of recommendation from the researcher at the National Space Science and Technology Center for whom I worked for almost a year when I was studying at UAH. He vouches for my innovative thinking skills and quick-learning abilities.</p>
<p>I just started looking for colleges and I’ve shortlisted the following:-</p>
<p>Amherst College
Bates College
Reed College
Williams College
Colorado College</p>
<p>Now I want to know these things:-</p>
<p>1) Considering my SAT scores, GPA, my status as an international student and my recent accomplishments, what are my chances of getting into any of these colleges? I would love it if I got into even one of these colleges!
2) Owing to my poor performance here, should I hide the fact that I’ve been attending college here in India? I know that it is unethical to hide the truth but considering my circumstances I prefer to get myself into a good college over being ethical. I know that the next question would be “what would you say you did all this while if you weren’t attending college?” Well I could lie and say that I’ve been writing this book full time or I could say that I’ve been recovering from my illness. Again I choose to be unethical over not getting an admission in one of my dream colleges.
3) Should I let them know that I have Schizophrenia? I know they need an explanation for transferring from UAH to their college after a long time. Should I let them know the real reason? Will there be stigma against Schizophrenics?
4) Should I choose to go in as a transfer student (transferring my 31 credits from UAH) or should I apply as a freshman? I ask this because some places don’t have enough scholarships for transfer students and I’m not sure but maybe I’m at a disadvantage if I apply as a transfer student? Please explain the details of either choice here.
5) Should I look for safety schools? What safety schools should I apply to?
6) Should I rewrite the SAT? I know that the scores are valid for 5 yrs but should I rewrite it to better my chances? What’s your advice?
7) What is the ideal course of action to get into one of the colleges in my shortlist? I don’t care what I have to do to get into one of the colleges in my shortlist, I just want to get in! you’ve got to help me with this one!
8) Can someone please be my guardian angel in this complicated mission to get college admission?</p>
<p>Again I’m sorry about the length of this message. But I really need some good ideas, suggestions and help.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>