<p>and what makes a great application essay?..any ideas on how long it should be?</p>
<p>It can, but it depends on which school and what those shortcomings are. No essay can make up for a transcript full of C’s and D’s. But if you have A’s and B’s, and perhaps 1 or 2 C, a compelling essay can open doors to many selective schools (perhaps selective LACs?), as long as everything is fine.</p>
<p>Your essay should be 650 or fewer words in length. What makes a great application essay? Answers to that question will vary, but I think the main thing is that the essay should make an impact on the reader, and it certainly should not sound contrived.</p>
<p>They have books/online resources that are a compilation of great application essays.</p>
<p>thank you</p>
<p>My transcript had a number of Cs and even a D or two on it, and I still got into a couple of selective LACs as an aid-seeking international–for whom acceptance rates at those schools hover around 10%–and was waitlisted at a very selective university, largely because of my essays, which I think were the most memorable part of my application. That’s what my counselor said, at least…</p>
<p>Read the book “On Writing the College Application Essay”. The author, a former admissions officer at Brown University, gives you a good idea as to what makes a good, compelling essay. </p>
<p>@ghostt i have A’s at everything at my school…but i am an international student…but i have a penchant for essay writing,though i have no idea on what should be in a application essay…could an great essay get me the ivies?</p>
<p>@saif235 thanks for the advice</p>
<p>I’m not sure what you mean by ‘the Ivies’, but if there is a significant shortcoming in your application, the answer is probably not. There are many other universities in the States. You should do more research and assemble a college list that reflects that.</p>
<p>Since your grades are good, I assume your weakness are your test scores?</p>
<p>@Ghostt i have not given the tests yet. I gave some free practice tests on the college board site and scored 2300+ in both. And I am a national level tennis player,having won a couple tournaments and represented my state in all the categories right from u-14 to u-19…but apart from tennis I didn’t pursue any other activity in that manner…played football(soccer) for 6 years…but never got to state team…does that along with a good essay give me a good shot?</p>
<p>^ You should definitely write a great essay -but not to make up for any shortcomings, since you don’t have any. When it comes to EC’s, colleges prefer quality over quantity, and with national-level tennis, you definitely have the quality. They’d rather see one or two meaningful EC’s than a long list of stuff you couldn’t care less about.</p>
<p>@Lilliana330 thanks for the encouragement…but thats only one excellent extracurricular activity …and in the posts I seen this site you see students with medals,hours of charity work, and students who are leaders of various clubs…how the hell do i begin to compete with that?..i was throughout school a top 5 student,who loved all sports,excelled in one…but i really didn’t give a damn to anything else…i didn’t wasn’t a leader anywhere except on the field…and that too not on any clubs or anything(except for tennis)…plus i am an international indian whose parents can’t afford more than 25k a year…so i guess i’m pretty much doomed…but i will apply everywhere…planning on early action to stanford and regular decision to all others…and some lower ranked ones too as safety</p>
<p>@michaelite Well your odds are decreased as an international, but not because of your activities. Your level of involvement in tennis is considered a type of leadership & surpasses any club presidencies/etc. </p>
<p>“excelled in one”</p>
<p>You’ve done the one thing admin. officers look for in EC’s lol</p>
<p>“plus i am an international indian whose parents can’t afford more than 25k a year”</p>
<p>That covers full living expenses at any college + a bit of tuition. If your SAT scores turn out as your practice tests, you could qualify for full tuition scholarships at many colleges. You’d also be competitive for schools which meet need for international students, although they’re a reach for everyone.</p>
<p>thanks for the info…i’ll give it my best shot</p>
<p>Stop worrying. You are in a much better position than many, many aid-seeking applicants. With top grades and 25k/year to spend, you could go to many schools, like The University of Hong Kong, which is no doubt a fantastic school (and if you have parents who/you are obsessed with rankings, you could check out how well HKU fares). Unfortunately, from the Indian guys that I do know who were admitted to/attend S, I must say that you will probably not get into Stanford (and not only did those guys have amazing, international awards, they are also full-pay). A great essay could potentially put things in your favor but it is likely that it won’t given the competition–at least at S (your accomplishments are impressive, but S is just at another level, especially for Indians; I’d say that if you were from Mali, Stanford would probably give more attention to your application). Instead, I recommend you add more options and look into liberal arts colleges. Although these schools are less selective than S for intls seeking aid, the competition is still very high: the odds are 10% or below for aid-seeking internationals. At Kenyon College, an LAC of which you may have never heard, the admission rate was around 3% this year, which is the same rate as that of MIT. </p>
<p>I seriously do not understand why you are obsessed with the Ivy League schools. The Ivy League is an athletic conference. A person who is happy at Brown could potentially hate Columbia (I cannot tell you how many times my friend says “I HATE LIT HUM!”, a required course at Columbia), and vice versa. There are so many amazing schools out there. Just be realistic, apply to as many schools as you can, but realize that if you don’t get into HYPSM etc etc, it’s not the end of the world.</p>
<p>Also, understand that it’s not necessarily inability to pay that makes it difficult to get into S or any other need-aware school; it’s rather that the competition is just incredible. I seriously doubt that S’s adcom would pass up an applicant they REALLY like just because the applicant needs aid (despite the fact that S spends a meagre amount on international aid, unlike its peers). I, for one, decided early on in the process that I didn’t want to bother with the risks and the competition associated with applying to S and other schools. I limited myself to LACs and one top university (and a top uni in Australia, which was my safety school), and this approach worked out just fine. You can take any approach you want as long as you understand the risks and “chances” associated with it.</p>
<p>@International95 i know its a pretty long shot…but stanford is my dream college…and i believe you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take…i’ll take that risk if only to know that I tried…also i’ll apply to cheaper public universities like UT Austin …i am not obsessed with the Ivy League,i just obsessed by stanford and mit…as are so many students around the world…on a scale of 1-10 how would you rate my chances for S?..and i know with my school marks I would most probably make it to nanyang,national university of singapore,or hku…but from what i’ve heard the good US universities provide much more to your life than just education…i doubt i would get that in the Asian universities…would a perfect score at sat and the subject tests greatly enhance my application?(i have two months to go,so who knows i might get lucky)…and thank you for your input.</p>
<p>Apply to Stanford, then. But applying to all Ivy League schools would be a little naive. I do not ‘chance’ people, but I will say that Stanford is a 1 for nearly everyone. Have you ever thought about why you are obsessed with Stanford/MIT? Both these schools have amazing science programs, but there are certainly many other schools that offer superb science programs as well. My point is that you should not get fixated on any selective school as it could end badly. Instead, think about what you want to study in college/what you want to get out of it. You would realize that there are many schools that could help you get what you want.</p>
<p>‘but from what i’ve heard the good US universities provide much more to your life than just education’</p>
<p>From my point of view, the most distinct feature of American higher education is the liberal arts college, not necessarily the “good US universities”. I have to wonder whether UT Austin would be better than HKU for you–both of these schools are big universities and cannot offer the same experience as that offered by a small LAC, although they do offer different experiences. The American system encourages you much more to become a “well rounded” person by having you fulfill general education requirements (courses in history, music, art, English, etc) than its British/Asian counterparts (although some of the students I know at British unis do this on their own). But this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply to schools outside America. Mind you, though – UT Austin is very selective indeed, with an acceptance rate of below 25% for international students. I would hardly count it as a safety school.</p>
<p>Although data suggests otherwise (your admission chances at Brown increase proportionately with your SAT scores, but it is likely that the majority of applicants with those high test scores also have really amazing accomplishments outside of the classroom), the SAT score cannot make your application, but it can certainly break your application. So while the difference between a 2200 and a 2400 won’t be emphasized in admission committees, low test scores would trigger serious concerns.</p>
<p>PS I think you were looking at in-state costs for UT Austin. For an out-of-state student, which certainly includes internationals, the cost of attendance at UT-Austin in the year 2013-14 was around $46k. Can you afford this?</p>
<p>no i could certainly not afford $46k…but with some financial aid i might see it through…any ideas for good safety schools for cs?..i am obsessed becuz of their prestige…other colleges may just be as good education wise,or quality of campus wise,even might come close placement wise…but their is a prestige associated with HYSM that makes them very desirable in every corner of the world…even in India,they are quite famous,while UT Austin being perhaps just as good in all respects or UM, or even UC Berkeley are quite rarely heard of…i’ll take some risks…but i’ll certainly apply to safety schools as I don’t really think my chances for them are good at all</p>
<p>I don’t know how HKU even came into the conversation, but I’d much rather go there than to UT Austin. I don’t think UT Austin is worth four years in the States.</p>
<p>Honestly, the more I read your posts, the less convinced I become you’ll write a great college admissions essay. Your reasons for applying seem unfocused and unexceptional, and your ability to articulate them is questionable.</p>
<p>In any case, I don’t know how to say this in an inoffensive way, but Harvard and Stanford aren’t likely to be impressed with yet another math-oriented Indian boy ‘obsessed’ with their ‘prestige.’ I suggest you start thinking about your values and where you want life to take you, and see how the universities you so badly desire would fit in with your ethos and life ambitions. Emphasis on the ethos.</p>
<p>That ^. And UT Austin does not offer aid to international students. Berkeley is quite rarely heard of? Interesting. What is your exposure to these universities? Friends from high school?</p>
<p>@International95 i know Berkeley is among the best in the world…and it be great for me if I get there…but yes I don’t really know much about them apart from the internet or my peers…and thats why I’m on this site,to know and to have exposure about what to expect in the US…I honestly don’t know much</p>
<p>@Ghostt my reasons are quite clear…i am one of the best students of my school…the Indian education system in shambles,I want to escape the rut and do something worthwhile…so I am exploring all my options…hell, I don’t even come from a big Indian town,so all my info. comes from the net…I know what I like,and just to let you know I’m not a maths obsessed typical Indian kid…but yes I want to get to S or M because I have heard a lot about them,I explored a lot,read a lot about them…and felt that if it was in my hands,that is where I want to be…I also know that I have a near zero percent chance of getting in…and yes I’m slightly unfocused,i don’t know what my goals are…I love coding and i love physics…I am a sports fanatic…and I don’t know what I’ll end up doing,where will i be…and you know what,a i expect that after 4 years in a great college I would have an answer to those questions…my life ambitions-there are somethings i would love to be,but my personal belief is that predicting where you’ll be in distant future is life weather prediction during monsoon…the factors involved are so much that you almost never get it right…i want a college that would equip me to face the world,to help me know what exactly I want of life and make the best of my talents…and this might seem a very narcissistic statement to make,but I’ve rarely encountered kids as as good at me at things I like the best…that might be because I’m a small town kid with very little exposure to the rest of the world…and so I want to know what i’ll be up against and how will I know that if I don’t have peers who could classify as the finest in the world…and answer my question,how does a clueless outsider like me decide where to go except by the opinions of those around him…or internet ranking…or “prestige”…I won’t get to visit these campuses before admission(which I’ll be lucky to get)…so i count on you guys to help me out…</p>