Chances in schools that'll pay for my education.

Chance Me / Match Me
1

From India, 19 (year lost due to spinal injury)
From a govt. (under)funded school. Not much to boast about, but made the most out of it.

Academics:
10th- 9.2 CGPA (out of 10)
12th- 91%
Took the testy of an alternative board (legally, and registered): 97th percentile.
Have always been a good student. Interested in environmental sciences, would like electives in electrical/CS.
As I do not belong to a very good school, no exposure to Olympiads etc until it was very late.

ECs:
Represented my investigatory project on ‘Mangroves: About, needs and conservation’, at regional and national levels.
Was part of the British Council initiative ‘DREAMS + TEAMS’. One of the few in the whole city. Helped underprivileged children and organised events.
Have represented my club and state, at national level in Cricket (It doesn’t count I guess)
Complained and stopped a base of the navy from releasing toxic wastes in the sea (without treatment), and the surrounding mangroves. Made some enemies. No regrets. I am serious about the environmental issue.
Regional level athlete.
Have won a nation wide painting contest in my age group.
Won another contest, when my painting was regulated as a mail stamp for 3 years.
Attended many conferences on invitation, with many renowned artistd, actors, sportspersons, businessmen etc. Included olympic athletes, multimillionaires, and award winning artistes.
We didn’t have a drama club etc, but I excelled whenever I had an opportunity. (Eg camps etc)
Am a (very) good orator. Have participated and won various debates, extempores etc.
I also practice cardistry, illusion, and close-up magic, and am pretty good at it.
Community service- Have closely worked with disabled/specially-abled children and have letters from the organisation.
Was a regular contributor to the school yearbook (we call it magazines).
I had been the school secretary, vice captain, and the captian in sophomore, junior and senior years of my high school.
I was also warded the "Mr. [school name] award, and the SOTY award in my senior year.

Hobbbies and interests- Cardisty, illusion, Ophilogy, reading, and environmental issues. Have tought myself almost everything I know, and am a self taught ambidextrous person.

I am really dedicated and interested towards what I’ve mentioned, and am confident about myself.

Your help would be appreciated heavily. (:

edit: background- father’s a govt employee. doesn’t earn much. Under10,000 US dollars. Lost my mother when I was 2 or 3. Sister’s doing medicine. (just for a perspective. I don’t know if it makes any difference.)

I’ll be taking the SAT this october and expect a really good score.

2

No one will be able to tell you a range of schools without an SAT score. You should come back when you get your scores back. Also, do you already have a list of schools that you want to apply to that give financial aid to internationals? Or are you looking for help with that?

3

I’m hoping for something around the equivalent of around 2200+ (the older SAT system).
As far as i know, the five Ivy colleges offer need blind admission, and caltech offers aid, but it’s not blind.

I’m looking to get an idea about whether my resume is good enough for the likes of MIT, Harvard, Caltech or not! You know, it’s better to put efforts whether I’ll have better chances. Please not, that ECs in India are not very prevalent. If they judge me by teh standards of my country, I think I should be doing pretty well. But compared to my American counterparts, I am not very poistive.

Any extra information would be very helpful, since I am looking to concentrate more on my studies here. And if someone provides easy info to me, it’ll be a bonus. (:

4

“As far as i know, the five Ivy colleges offer need blind admission, and caltech offers aid, but it’s not blind.”

Need blind isn’t your concern; it’s meeting full need, whether need-blind or need-aware. Google “meet full need international students” for various lists on the topic.

5

Thanks for the feedback.

Also, what do you think about my profile? Is it competent enough?

6

You can’t just guess at your SAT score, you need an actual score to get chances. No international student has a great chance, to be honest. You are pretty solid, but the competition for the small number of international spots at top schools that will meet need is very intense. So all are reaches. If you get in, great. But have a backup plan you can live with.

7

Yep! I understand. Thanks for your advice. (:

8

The issue with the Navy releasing toxic waste sounds interesting. Try to play that up. As others have mentioned, no one can give you an accurate idea of your chances without test scores. Be sure to consider the ACT as well.

Also, if you’re really interested in environmental science, don’t apply to Caltech or MIT. Caltech has no such major and MIT only offers environmental engineering.

9

Have a look at Reed College; they offer Environmental Studies and meet full need of internationals (but only to 20-25 of 200-250 applicants).