HELP! Critical Decision

Parents Forum
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<p>Firstly, let me explain my situation. I am a 12th grader and I have aspirations to join either Harvard or MIT. I resided in California and recieved excellent academics (aside from my low SAT of 1310). Unfortunately, however, my parents were reuqired to move to Bangalore, India. As a result, I have been given the choice to either stay with a friend in Georgia or move with them to Bangalore, India. Assuming I went to Bangalore, I would probably be in the same applicant pool as the domestic applicants (because I have US citizenship). Going to a aristocratic place like Bangalore, however, I would have a lot more status. What I’m trying to figure out is what decision to make. From an academics perspective, I don’t really stand out. Thousands of applicants have stellar grades, so I assume these select universities are looking for someone distinguised by their extracurricular activities. This is where I really stand out. Below, I have provided a cutout of my resume. I would greatly appreciate any assistance. I am at a critical position in my academic career and need advice as to which way to go.</p>

<p>OBJECTIVE: Attend a four-year university and major in Biological Engineering or Biomedical Engineering. In the distant future, I aspire to be a university professor and researcher.</p>

<p>EDUCATION:
Georgia High School August 2005 – May 2006</p>

<p>California High School August 2002 – May 2005
GPA: 4.21</p>

<p>Class Rank: 1/480</p>

<p>POST EDITED BY MODERATOR: Please do not include identifying information. This is to protect your identity. This discussion is read by a large population, including college admissions officers. It is never a good idea to post information that can be used to identify you. Moderator Skyhawk</p>

<p>ACTIVITIES: Inventing and refining current inventions—I have 13 designs patent pending</p>

<p>I am in the lengthy process of converting a gasoline-powered vehicle to run on electricity by means of electrolysis (I am at 89% efficiency).</p>

<p>I have written a research paper and conducted an experiment regarding the effects of slow-rotation spinning on memory and learning</p>

<p>Botball Robotics—a NASA sponsored robotics competition in which we placed 2nd nationally; Member 2002-2005; Team Captain/Leader 2004-2005</p>

<p>Library Club; Member 2002-2005; Vice-President 2002-2005</p>

<p>Interact; Member 2002-2005</p>

<p>WORK
EXPERIENCE: Assistant, Auto store</p>

<p>Part-time position while attending high school</p>

<p>COMMUNITY
SERVICE: Interact Community Service Club
2002-2005
Spent 22 hours in various community service projects</p>

<p>HONORS/
AWARDS: Top 1% Honor Role, 2002-2005</p>

<p>High Scorer on the AMC 10 and 12 Math exams</p>

<p>Golden State Scholar, 2001-2003</p>

<p>I-STAR SUMMA Star (National Aga Khan Education Board), 2004</p>

<p>Botball Robotics, 2nd Place nationally in 2005, 1st place state-wide in 2004 </p>

<p>Science Olympiad 1st place winner, 2002</p>

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<p>If you can raise your SAT scores to at least 1450 or more you should be a great candidate for any school. Perhaps your decision on where to live should be based on where you think you could prepare the best for improving your SAT score and continuing your stellar EC work in science.</p>

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<p>Your past accomplishments are good (although I wouldn’t bother to mention 22 hours of community service, if that’s not a typo) but of course nothing is a guarantee in college admissions. (And higher SATs would put you in a much better position overall, as you recognize.)</p>

<p>What sort of educational opportunities would you have in Bangalore? Would the course offerings be available to continue to challenge you? What about your ECs, can you continue robotics or something simliar in Bangalore? How does your family weigh in on the two choices? You’ll be starting in a new environment either way, in GA or in India: which is more exciting for you? Do you have friends in either place, or do you make friends easily? How much do you value the experience of living overseas for a year?</p>

<p>Just in terms of robotics, students sometimes continue from BotBall to FIRST Robotics. I checked the FIRST website – while Chattahoochee High School does not appear to have a FIRST team (yet: there’s an opportunity to start something!), there is a team at Milton High School in Alpharetta. (The only Botball team I could find in GA is in Columbus.) But I don’t see any FIRST or Botball teams from India at all: another great opportunity!</p>

<p>From personal experience (my son is heading for MIT '09 in another week), I know that MIT in particular evaluates each applicant within their context, so if you decided to move to Bangalore, they would look at what you did with the opportunities you had available. (And yes, as a US citizen you’d be evaluated as a domestic applicant, even if you’re living overseas.) So the choice for you should be where you would feel most comfortable with the academic, extra-curricular, social, and societal atmosphere you’d be in. For some students, the chance to live overseas for a year would be a no-brainer, they’d leap on it and have an amazing experience. For others, the time required to adjust to a new environment might take away from that experience. Only you can tell what will be right for you. And make the decision in concert with your family: what would <em>they</em> support for you? Do you all agree on the choices? </p>

<p>Good luck with your decision: it doesn’t sound easy, but I suspect you can have a great experience either way you choose. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Thanks for your assistance. I have been studying in GA, however, I really don’t like the environment and have been missing my family. I’m trying to decide whether to transfer from GA to Bangalore. My family is fine with either decision, but I’m wondering how the colleges will look at my transcript (it wouldn’t show GA if I had my CA school transfer a copy of the transcript). My only fears of joining my parents in Bangalore are graduation requirements/credits and college’s evaluation of me. I haven’t heard of a situation in which a domestic applicant applies from overseas. I don’t know how the admissions officers would evaluate me. Once again, thanks for all your valuable input. Please continue your suggestions!</p>

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<p>Frankly, it looks to me like all the top schools --top 20 are so – are something of a lottery… YOu profile may get you toa certain point… but for a 2000 person class; there are probayl 4000 to 5000 with stats in the range you lay out… and even the ones that have better profile, may not be better off</p>

<p>have a back up</p>

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<p>Plenty of US citizens attend overseas schools and apply to US colleges.
What about the Department of Defense, and international schools which enroll children of business people? I don’t think you’re unique. What is different is that your four years of high school were not in the same overseas school. I think adcoms will focus more on your EC accomplishments in the context of the school you attended at the time.
I agree with posters above who suggest you try to raise your standardized test scores.</p>

<p>Oak Ridge is a well-regarded high school. The adcom for northern California will know this.</p>

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<p>I see you have been ranked number one at Oak Ridge. Would this carry over to Alpharetta? For instance, in my children’s school district you have to be a student at the same high school for 18 months in order to receive valedictorian status.</p>

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<p>Because of transfer problems (an A is 95 in their percent-based grading system) I would not have a chance at getting valedictorian there. I would be somewhere between 5 and 10.</p>