Chance Me – Prep Schools (Recurring 10th Grade Entry, Strong ECs, Moderate academics, No awards)

Demographics

Status: International student
Country: India
Current School Type: ICSE
Applying For: Recurring 10th Grade entry (Fall 2026)
Special Factors: None (not legacy, not first-gen, not recruitable athlete)


Cost / Financial Aid

Applying for FA: Yes
Need-based aid required: Yes (significant aid needed)


Academics

Class Rank: 3 / 54
Course Load:
ICSE 10-subject curriculum:
– History & Civics
– Geography
– Mathematics
– English Literature
– English Language
– Hindi
– Physics
– Chemistry
– Biology
– Commercial Applications

Rigor: Taking the full academic load available. Grade’s for all the subjects are A’s and A+’s


Standardized Testing

ISEE: Expecting around 75th percentile (waiting for official score)
(Did not have tutors or formal prep.)


Awards

I do not have traditional school awards. My extracurricular work is project-based (research, macro strategy, sovereign-risk modeling, entrepreneurship), which typically does not fall under award-based systems. My impact is demonstrated through the depth of my projects and the audiences they reach.

Extracurriculars:

1. Founder – Independent Macro & Sovereign Risk Research Group
Created a macroeconomics and sovereign-risk research platform producing multi-factor models, market frameworks, and geoeconomic analysis. Work has been reviewed and read by hedge fund PMs, global strategists, and senior banking leadership.

2. Sovereign Risk Project
Built a long-term model that looks at how countries handle debt and economic stress. Built in collaboration with an ivy league PhD student.

3. Independent Macro Newsletter
I write a newsletter about markets, global events, and economics. It gained a small but professional readership, including people who run banks and investment firms, most notably partners at banks such as goldman sachs and JPMC.

4. Entrepreneurship – Compliance Technology Project
Built a Python/SQL-based documentation platform used by hundreds of people for visa-related compliance workflows. Improved accuracy and success rates for high-risk applicant categories.

5. Academic Mentoring
Tutored a commerce/economics student from 40% → 71% within two months through customized curriculum design and exam-strategy training.

6. Writing & Thought Leadership
Featured multiple times by Linkedin’s news division. Writing has reached over 150,000 readers globally.

7. Quantitative Trading: Built structured derivatives strategy; 800%+ total return over two years; focus on liquidity regimes, macro cycles, cross-asset dynamics.

I kept this section vague, and didn’t include all of my EC’s for privacy’s sake.

Essays / Recommendations / Other

Essays: Very strong and unique.
LoRs:
– Math and English teachers know me very well; expect excellent letters.
– Additional professional recommendation from a hedge fund manager who knows my work closely.

Applying to the top schools, including but not limited to: Taft, Phillips Academy, Phillips Exeter, Hotchkiss, NMH, etc.

Questions for CC Users

– Based on my profile, how competitive am I for these schools?
– Are there additional schools that fit my academic interests and financial aid needs?
– With a ~75th percentile ISEE, does the rest of my profile compensate?
– Any feedback on strengthening areas before interviews?

your ISEE scores might be low for the type of schools you’re applying too, especially as an international student.

I wouldn’t worry as much about the ISEE. If you get above a 70% you’ve demonstrated that you can do the work. People with lower scores than that still get in if they have a great story.

Your job is to make your story compelling. Not in a “I’m really great and you’d be lucky to have me” kind of way, but in a “Here’s what I can bring to your school” backed by examples of how you have impacted other places you have been excellent. Said differently, it’s not about how excellent you are, but what what impact you can have on the community you’d be entering.

3 Likes

Wow that’s really insightful, I hadn’t thought about it like that.

This is so helpful, thank you so much!!