Chance the INDIAN STUDENT

hotshot101
Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:05:11 +0000

U guys are smart enough to understand tt MIT, Stanford, Princeton, etc are the IITs of US. Fact of the matter is tt even a person who got 97%in board exam is not guaranteed a direct admission in IITs.

Basically Us uni’s are similar in this account. Even if you have perfect scores in SAT, fantastic ECs, admission is not guaranteed. Take my best friend (a year older) for example, he got 2400/2400 for SAT1 and 800 for maths level 1 & 2 and also Physics. His Ecs were exceptionally good. He helped out in prisons, taught maths and English to poor students, was a member of UNICEF and helped out in various events organised by them. He did everything possible. Last year he applied to MIT, Stanford, Yale n Princeton (with no financial aid), and didn’t get into any. He wasted 1 year n went to Berkeley this yr.

the point is tt there is no point in asking us to chance anyone cause there is no way anyone can tell you what is enough what is not.

About the financial aid issue, US uni’s are filthy rich. They give aid to many students. But the problem is that they are not so generous towards international students. Mainly because they noe tt are many smart influential people with millions dollar in their bank account who are gonna apply to their uni. so they will think a trillion times before giving admission to a person who needs financial aid, but will not hesitate in giving admission to a person who doesn’t need financial aid (provided you have the marks). For Ivy League you mainly need bank balance-no brain rich brats are gladly welcomed.

Lastly there are uni beyond MITs, Stanfords, etc.

Try looking at public universities. Some are good, comparable to the top few. Not necessarily as good as MIT but nonetheless their degrees are valuable.

For example good uni for engineering include:
-Georgia Tech
-UC Berkeley
-UCLA
-Purdue (don’t underestimate this uni)
-University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
-University of Michigan- Ann Bor

The best part of these universities is that most give financial aid based on merit. And I’m sure since you are thinking of applying to MIT, Stanford, etc, you are smart. Hence getting a scholarship is also not a big deal. Because unlike MITs and Other top unis, ur academic achievements are better appreciated here.

So think before applying. Any comments are appreciated.