Im an Indian international student, Class 12
94 % predicted grade in class 12
69% in class 11 (I missed an exam because I had to shift schools and this is explained in the lor’s)
96% in class 10
90% in class 9
Need based Financial aid needed
<6k$ P.A.
SAT: 1550+ (going for aug SAT)
AP exams:
5/5 - Phy1
4/5- Chem
4/5 - Calc AB
3/5 - Stat
Activities
Won the silver medal at the state level.
One of the top 500 highschoolers in india at the national level of VVM exam(largest research exam took by 300k students)
Won the third place at the ISRO WSW Quiz competition which was held at a National level
Co authored a Published Research paper on different AI and Computation algorithms predicting student dropout.
Vice President of Student council in class 11
Co-ordinated the student body to help host multiple events including the national Chess, National carroms and National Debate Competetions in the school.
Won Multiple Debate and Declamation competitions at a Regional and Zonal level.
Received the “A” Certificates from the national Cadet Corps which helped train discipline and leadership.
Another research paper to be published which is going through the process. Working on a third Paper on education in India and the financial discrepancies involved in it.
Worked for 300+ hours as a Teacher in underprivileged local schools and helped bridge the gap of education through powerpoints and demonstrations.
Worked 250+ hours to Produce and Curated thousands of MCQ’S , make powerpoint presentations for Edutel technologies which is a company contracted by the government to provide smart education to tribal schools.
Co founder and the Drummer of the School band. Led the band to play at multiple charity fundraisers for organisations which help to repair neglected schools of the city.
School team for chess. Played at both regional and zonal levels to represent the school.
Member of the school’s football team.
This is another perspective of my profile.
I want to apply as a Sociology major and then get another major in physics or completely shift to it.
Im targeting the top LAC’s of USA with Amherst College as my ED choice.
Is this a sensible plan of should I rethink it? Also please recommend good colleges other than amherst for ea where I might have a good chance.
You should choose a major that is of interest to you. Really, that’s your pick.
As an international student from India, please understand, there are no sure things for admission for a student who needs a full free ride in the United States for college.
What do you plan to do after you get your bachelors? It’s very very likely that you will be expected to return to India once your degree is completed. A student visa is just that…a visa to be a student here.
These schools are highly competitive for admissions. The acceptance rate for international students is roughly half of the published acceptance rate…which is in the low single digits.
Are you a tippy top student in India?
You should also be looking at affordable colleges in India, and possibly some places in Europe.
Combining sociology with statistics or data science would be a very usable major with several professional fields (demographics, insurance, risk assessment, community health, crime prevention..)
If you score 1500+ on the SAT (keeping in mind only 1% do), you can add a few more colleges that would be interested in having students with that area of academic interest and your qualifications, though your financial need may be too high a barrier for them: Mount Holyoke, Dickinson, Whitman, Skidmore, Grinnell.. Some public universities may have full rides for international students with high test scores and your academic achievements but it’s uncertain (those which do, are likely to want to restrict those since the current administration is so against internationals.)
You’re a very qualified applicant. You also happen to apply from an over represented country, need a lot of financial aid, and in a period where the US government is absolutely hostile to internationals. So, odds aren’t in your favor - but shoot your shot at Amherst ED. No one can predict whether it’ll work but do your very best and if you have any question ask here and definitely send your essay to one of the website’s official essay readers.
You could apply to Sciences Po, a highly ranked French college specializing in Economics, politics, and social science whose main competitor, LSE, doesn’t offer similar aid AFAIK although it’s worth it to inquire (deadline for scholarships is early November for Sciences Po, not sure for LSE).
Personally I want to pursue a field in quantum computing. But im open to any other fields like sociology (it all depends on the payment). But yea physics majors is what I want to do.
Quantum computing is vastly different from sociology, and both differ significantly from physics.
It sounds like you don’t care what you study as long as you get to study in the US. But you do need to care since you’ll most likely be back in your home country after graduation. Which field do you see yourself working in long term?
You won’t be able to do that at many schools.
And the elite private schools that can provide aid to students like you, they don’t accept by major. Not to mention: they can see right through bait-and-switch attempts like what you’re planning.
Not at all, I am not risking the money invested just to lead a relatively bad life at USA. Physics majors is necessary for a masters in quantum computing isn’t it?. That’s exactly what I wanted to know, whether this thing which is widely asked to use in social media useful or not.
I’m not an expert but at my son’s university, it seems like a lot of undergraduate students interested in quantum computing are studying electrical engineering and computer science. They are just taking physics courses along with their EECS degree. That is what my son is doing. But it seems that students also can get there from math (taking additional courses in physics and computing), or physics (with additional courses), or even chemistry (with additional courses).
Thank you for your guidance. I was planning to do the last part where I would study physics and comp sci and then go for a masters (in quantum computing).
If you are planning to do a physics major and also take courses in CS, you should just be sure that your college or university allows non-CS majors to take full advantage of the CS courses that would be relevant to your plans.
At many universities where CS is a popular and oversubscribed major, non-CS majors are very restricted in what specialized CS courses they are allowed to take (or they may only be able to waitlist, and wait to see if the courses fill).
Alright I thought that it would be possible to get a minor in cs but looks like i was wrong. But hey I just want to know if my profile looks weird for physics because that’s pretty much what everyone feels after seeing the “social stuff” in it.
It’s fine to have lots of “social stuff” that you did in high school. Your high school courses and extracurriculars don’t have to be all tailored specifically towards your college major. Colleges understand that high school students have varied interests and are still exploring.
I think what matters more is probably your senior course schedule. What math and science courses are you taking this year?
I have Math, Physics, Chemistry, English as my subjects for both 11th and 12th. I’ll give AP Physics 3a and 3b, Calc BC at the end of the year because my 12th grade stuff would cover a bit of it and id have much time after the school’s final exams which would give me a 2-3 month window for self prep.
Do you mean the two AP Physics C exams? (I haven’t heard of an AP Physics 3…)
Haven’t you already taken the Calc AB exam? Or was the score you listed in the original post a predicted score? Or do you mean Calc BC?
Colleges will not see your 12th grade AP exam scores, so the actual exams are only going to be useful for course credit and placement (if they even take these specific AP exams for credit and placement). But they would like to see you taking courses at your high school that are at least at the rigor level of these exams.
All of what you predicted were right . Im sorry, yea physics C exams. And Calc BC.
Indian curriculum has good rigor but I don’t know if this is taken in account because all my competetion to the United States would be having similar grades or better too.
My school doesn’t offer AP exams but it isn’t a big deal to prepare for them myself.
I am pretty sure that Amherst College does not admit by major. Your chances of acceptance will not depend upon your major. However having an application with essays that sound sincere and genuine might help your chances.
I am more familiar with MIT but I am pretty sure that the two schools are similar in this respect. At MIT they use whatever you say is your intended major to match you with a freshman year academic advisor. That is all that they use it for. Then at the end of your freshman year you pick any major that you want (limited to majors that the school offers). I am pretty sure that Amherst College is the same in this regard.
Whether quantum computing will turn out to be lucrative or non-existent by the time that you get far enough to have a career in it is something that I would not be able to predict. However, there are careers in physics, and a lot of the coursework would be the same for perhaps the first two years of university, if not all four years of undergraduate study. For any physics major it would be a good idea to take quite a bit of physics, math, and some computer science. This is assuming that a school allows non-CS majors to take CS courses (which was allowed where I went to university, but might be restricted at some schools).
One last note is that your ECs do not need to match your intended major. For example on your list of ECs I see a research paper that uses some AI and computation algorithms and chess. These are good ECs for a wide range of potential majors, particularly for anything in the “TEM” part of “STEM”.
Quantum computing is a very niche field and it’s relatively new, therefore it’s very research heavy.
Not many schools allow you to do QC as an undergrad. The University of Maryland, which is one of the leaders in QC research, is one of the few places that lets you do a minor alongside a CS or CE degree.
Unfortunately, UMD will not be affordable for you as they won’t provide any aid. But see if there are other schools that offer a similar option.
Thanks for the insight, however I was planning to do qc in my masters. Also, should I even think about what I’m gonna do at the masters level because I’m supposed to get a hold of it while I do my bachelor’s. Any suggestion could be of great help
. Im sorry, yea physics C exams. And Calc BC.