Chance an overly ambitious indian [international, computer engineering and robotics]

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Demographics

  • Gender: Male

  • Race/Ethnicity: Indian (International, UAE-based)

  • Type of School: Private CBSE Curriculum

  • Full Pay (No Aid)

Intended Major(s)

Computer Engineering, Robotics

Academics

  • Class 9 Grades: Mathematics (A1), Science (A2), English (A2), SST (A2), Hindi (B1)

  • Class 10 Board Score: 82.6% (Mathematics: 95, Science: 86, English: 81, SST: 80)

  • Class 11 Grades: 84.4% (Mathematics: 94, Computer Science: 93, Physics: 75, Chemistry: 79, English: 81)

  • Class 12 Predicted Score: 93.6% (Mathematics: 95, Computer Science: 96, Physics: 92, Chemistry: 91, English: 94)

  • SAT: 1460 (670 ENG, 790 MATH)

  • Duolingo English Test (DET): 150

  • AP Scores:

    • AP Computer Science Principles: 5

    • AP Precalculus: 5

    • AP Computer Science A: 4

    • AP Calculus AB: 4

  • Harvard Summer School :

    • Intro To CS with Python : 98.5%

    • Intro To Ethical Hacking and Kali Linux : 97.5% (Got LOR from the Prof)

Extracurricular Activities

  1. Co-founder, CEO, Lead Developer & Programmer, (edited by moderator) non-profit developing desktop/mobile apps and browser extension to fight procrastination using AI technology; 25+ interns, 700+ users.

  2. Lead AI/ML Intern, (edited by moderator) Worked on a brain tumor detection model utilizing deep-learning techniques for medical image analysis. Achieved 96% accuracy (benchmark 90%+).

  3. Team Lead, FIRST LEGO League, Unified Robotics, and World Robot Olympiad Led school team to national finals in all three competitions. Unified Robotics involved working with 2 students with disabilities in Special Olympics.

  4. President, School Math Club Coordinated student projects for Club Expo; led the planning and execution of Intra-School Math Expo for grades 6-12. Other Club/Activity 12 School, Break 8 hr/wk, 15 wk/yr Continue

  5. Participant in YES Fellowship, Yale Entreprenurial Society (YES) Gained industy exposure and experience in startup development. Won first place ($450) in pitch competition for Zeriux Labs procrastination app idea.

  6. Participant, Cambridge Centre for International Research (CCIR) & ThinkingBeyond CCIR: real-time low-light image enhancement for robotics (published Nov. 2025). | BeyondAI: satellite trajectory prediction and collision detection.

  7. Participant, Harvard Undergraduate Venture TECH Program (HUVTSP) interned at Rayfield Systems (energy management startup); created prototype of a wind energy prediction AI model with high accuracy (Rsquared=.997).

  8. Team Lead, New York Academy of Sciences Led the development of an AI deepfake detection model and invited feedback from the NYAS community, which helped us improve accuracy from 92% to 95%.

  9. Participant, Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations : In the Future Entrepreneurs Program, I worked with peers to simulate building a startup and learned how ideas are developed into ventures.

  10. Chess Team Member and Club Founder, Ranked top 5,000 in India among active players (FIDE 1600); represented school in tournaments; started chess club for free play & intra-school events.

Awards/Honors

  1. Led team to the Create Apps Championship finals for Best Youth category (Top 12 out of 4800+ teams) - International

  2. CBSE UAE U17 chess champion ā€“ qualified for Indian national finals (including nonresident Indians) - National, International

  3. Led my team to FIRST LEGO League national finals and won Silver Medal in Innovation - Regional, National

  4. National 11 AI Olympiad (International Olympiad Foundation) UAE national finalist (Top 8) - National

  5. Unified Robotics national finals: Regional Best Presentation award, Top 3 in Technical Round - State/Regional, National

LORS : Ethical Hacking Prof (Harvard Extension School) and Research Mentor (Uni of Cambridge)

School List

  • Harvard University (RD)
  • University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) (RD)
  • University of California, Berkeley (UCB) (RD)
  • Cornell University (RD)
  • University of Southern California (RD)
  • Yale University (RD)
  • Rice University (RD)
  • Dartmouth University (RD)
  • University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) (RD)
  • New York University (NYU) (RD)
  • University of Michigan ā€“ Ann Arbor (EA)
  • Northwestern University (RD)
  • Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) (ED-Rejected)
  • Duke University (RD)
  • University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) (EA)
  • University of California, San Diego (UCSD) (RD)
  • University of California, Irvine (RD)
  • Brown University (RD)
  • Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) (RD)
  • Purdue University (EA)
  • University of Wisconsinā€“Madison (EA)
  • University of Maryland (RD)
  • University of North Carolina (EA)
  • UMass Amherst (RD)
2

My two cents is that as a full pay International, that is way too many schools. The ā€œworstā€ cases are the meets need/need blind for International colleges, where being full pay International doesnā€™t help, and the practical effect is more competitive admissions for full pay Internationals. But at the colleges which are either need aware, or simply have no International aid at all, the data I have seen suggests you are mostly not really at a disadvantage versus comparable domestic full pay/OOS students.

3

well i have already applied to these, infact i had started very early and had perfect time management so that I didnā€™t scramble for any deadline. I also think my essays due to the amount of time spent, are high quality.

what would think about my stats/ my chances at these schools.

What would realistically be my results?

Iā€™m really skeptical about this entire process and that I might not get into any good colleges.

4

Harvard admits just over 300 of 16k internationals. When Purdue 4200 of 15000 so for international, itā€™s just tougher. Full pay helps. Penn State has an 64% acceptance rate for intl so I imagine it will happen. But canā€™t be 100% sure.

Your SAT is a bit low so the rejections so far make sense. And more will come.

Why did you apply to UNC ? They donā€™t have the major. CS yes but not CE.

Normally Iā€™d say a Penn State can happen but I think you need a few more less selective schools, just in case, that are still taking apps.

A U of Kansas is a PSU sub but admitted 585 of 614 international apps. U of Arizona 5300 of 9200. Thereā€™s many more like this - you want to find schools still taking apps, that donā€™t preference early apps thereā€™s lots but you chose very competitive ones Into is hard but your SAT would make most of these tough even for a U.S. student. The ones that would work might not for international.

Ps - there are hundreds of good colleges hundred, for CE and/or robotics. There are 18 accredited for robotics - from Anderson U to U Hartford to WPI. For CE, over 300 - most of them are good.

I imagine you get into PSU but if you have concerns, there are MANY others near assured that will provide a similar education and are still taking apps.

Good luck

5

For your EA applications, you should already know for Purdue by mid-month, for UIUC, Wisconsin, and Michigan by the end of the month, and for UNC by the first week of February. Forget about these - our opinions are irrelevant, and itā€™s too late to change anything.

The same is true for any of these colleges to which you have already submitted an application, especially in the deadline has passed.

Once you have applied to a college, the only persons whose opinions matter are the Admission people, and, for better or worse, theyā€™re not on here. The best thing for your mental (and physical) health is to forget about an application once you submitted it.

Have you already applied to all of your RD colleges?

1 Like
6

I think you canā€™t get in unless you apply, but you need to have caveats and safeties.

The schools will want your cash because a lot of the universities are making decisions based on budget and space availability. Thatā€™s your big issue for the Publics on your list, like the UCā€™s. Remember that these are public universities funded by the state taxpayers.

There is a lot of political pressure by the state taxpaying residents, of these state colleges to admit more in-state university students. Priority goes to California residents.

Being a founder or a developer of a club, has been so overdone and isnā€™t something that the admissions committees are gravitating towards.
They all want to know if those clubs are going to continue or if the student is just going to drop them the minute they get to university.

These schools look at admissions in a holistic vein and consider ā€œwell-roundedā€ individuals in long-term community events. But what do I know? Iā€™m not on an admissions committee. I do have friends on the UCā€™s and private school admissions.

The top 10 schools are basically full with: Olympic level recruited athletes, children of philanthropists and celebrities, Under represented students. Legacies and world renowned social activists.

There are so many students applying to these few universities, from your country, with the same exact majors and clone activities, that the schools have their pick.

Every year the top schools create a class that has a theme. No one knows what that is until the applicants reveal who they are. Youā€™ve already applied; all you need to do is wait and find out.

7

I donā€™t really have the competency to judge the relative competitiveness of your credentials, but I agree you might want to add two or more Likely colleges just to be sure.

Iā€™d personally recommend you consider Iowa State. Great engineering college, popular Computer Engineering major, and has rolling admissions. 2250/3290 Internationals admitted in the last CDS cohortā€“again I donā€™t know enough about your credentials to be sure, but I would guess you would be quite competitive there.

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8

the entire list of applications are already sentā€¦

i understand that these opinions do not matter. But i would love to hear these opinions though.

9

Congratulations on your achievements. I canā€™t chance you. Some of the schools you applied specifically ask for teacher letters of rec, which it seems you donā€™t have. Maybe the Harvard extension prof, but I assume that was online? I do not know whether they will penalize you for not following directions or not.

Good luck.

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10

If you were a U.S. citizen, but you arenā€™t, Iā€™d be ok with your list because youā€™d get into PSU. Wisconsin and U Mass toss up and UMD / Purdue unlikely but not impossible. The rest no.

If you are ok with PSU, Iā€™d say your list is fine. I still feel that even as an international - since you want opinions.

But if you want definite choice, Iā€™d find a few more ā€˜safe.ā€ You donā€™t need to now - some guy can apply until May 1 or later. Iowa State was another solid rec. thereā€™s probably 50+ more. And thereā€™s lots of money hungry privates.

11

i havent mentioned it, but yes i got an LOR for my Math HOD and CS teacher and had them submitted.

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12

It appears as though you have used all 20 common app slots. If you did want to apply to some less-selective universities, there are some which are still taking applications and some may have their own admissions application that you can use.

13

I understand why you want this. However, itā€™s very easy for this to become the focus of your spare time. You re in the last semester (or whatever type of terms your high school has) of high school, and there should be a long list of interesting and fun activities that high schools have for Seniors in the last part of the year. There are also likely a bunch of high school things that you havenā€™t done yet.

If you are thinking of tossing another application or two for colleges that have higher acceptance rates (and that you like), thatā€™s also OK, since the colleges on your list have very low acceptance rates for CS.

My point is - remember to breathe!

Good luck!

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14

the only interesting/fun things in the Indian curriculum at this time of the year is EXAMSā€¦

I have exams in a couple days, and Iā€™m just skeptical and wanted some real feedback from someone that isnā€™t my parents who are overly hopeful.

15

Do you have options in your home country, or other ex-US options?

Good luck on your exams.

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16

i applied to some UK universitiesā€¦

Edinburgh,KCL,Bristol,Machester,Southampton

Im pretty sure my application is quite competitive there since my G11 grades arent counted

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17

Looking at this list, the easier schools to predict are near the top of your list, such as Harvard and Cornell. These are of course high reaches with acceptance rates for international students somewhere around about 1% or maybe 2%. You are a competitive applicant to these schools, but so are the large majority of other applicants.

The more interesting schools are near the bottom of the list, such as U.Mass Amherst and Purdue and Penn State. These are very good universities and I think that your chances of being accepted somewhere are quite good. I have worked with a lot of graduates from U.Mass Amherst, many of whom were originally from India, and they have all been very good coworkers. The best of them are very much on the same level as the best MIT and Stanford graduates who I have worked with. I do not think that these are safeties, but I think that your chances are quite good. UNC, U.Maryland, and Wisconsin are definitely not safeties. They are excellent schools if you get in.

I find it hard to predict whether you will get an acceptance from this list. I think that you probably will, but I do not think that anything is a safety. I do think that this is a list of schools that are very good. If you get just one acceptance from this list, and assuming that you can afford to pay for a full 4 years there, then you will be at a very good university in September.

If I had to take a wild guess, based on this list, my best guess is that you are likely to end up at either Penn State, Purdue, or U.Mass Amherst. If any of these come through for you, then you will be at a very good university and will get a great education. Wisconsin, UMD, and UNC are similarly excellent, and are at least realistically possible.

Best wishes.

Finally, assuming that you do get accepted to one of these schools, go there, and do well, do be aware that you are very likely to need to return to your home country or at least somewhere outside the US after graduation. My understanding is that the high tech industry in India is doing very well right now. I have worked with many excellent coworkers particularly from Bangalore. The best of them are again excellent. I expect that you can do very well there, or in UAE, with a degree from one of these very good universities in the USA.

18

Please edit this entry to remove the name of your app. It took me five seconds to find your identity.

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19

None of us can say for sure, but my educated guess is:

Youā€™ll probably be accepted by Wisconsin-Madison and UMass

Purdue - toss-up

UMD - would also have been a toss-up/leaning possible in EA. However, RD acceptance is hard

Unfortunately, I think all the other schools are low probability. Itā€™s good that you have other good options outside the US.

Good luck.

20

I think youll get into 7 of the schools listed. Congratulations on your achievements and good luck!

I predict yeses from

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)

University of California, Irvine (RD)

Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) (RD)

Purdue University (EA)

University of Wisconsinā€“Madison (EA)

University of Maryland (RD)

UMass Amherst (RD)

1 Like