I will definitely keep you posted, sir/ma’am @tkoparent !
Next result is from MIT on pi day! (My dream college and well, pretty much everyone’s top choice ;p )
OK, here’s my question: did you apply to any true safeties? Schools with a good acceptance rate? Schools you can afford?
@bjkmom , I already have a guaranteed seat in the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in India through the DASA quota (They check just SAT subject test scores and nothing else…truly nothing else (No essays or extracurricular or anything of that sort), and I have a full score in the 3 subjects they check). NIT is the second best set of institution in India apart from the IIT, and I have a safe seat in the NIT.
I wanted to apply to the top US universities because I want to become a research scientist and research opportunities are pretty slim in NIT.
Instead of going to a lower college in the US, I feel it would be better to study from the second best in India.
The money I save by going to NIT, can be used for my masters and PhD in the US.
However, every child has that fantasy to study from the best institute in the world, and I am not an exception.
These top few institutes were the only ones I felt would give me the value of money I will be investing, and so I chose this particular list.
Thanks again for your interest and time.
Also, I forgot to mention, I have applied for a major in computer science (Yeah ;p ,the toughest to get).
Honestly, I don’t know many people who think this way. This might be because the idea of a meaningful education really doesn’t comport well with the suggestion of competition.
Why not Europe?
And why not other unis/colleges in the US?
Research opportunities are not slim at many colleges/unis outside the top tier in the US.
What areas do you want to do research in?
This is a simple math problem. Colleges get more applications from qualified applicants than they have seats to fill. They can’t take all of them. So being academically qualified isn’t a guarantee of admission. International students are a separate pool and they’re competing against each other for a limited number of spots. That means you weren’t rejected because you’re an international student. Some other international student was accepted instead. A lot of qualified domestic applicants get rejected too.
I’m sorry you’re disappointed. It’s important to cast a wide net when competition is so tough, but since you intentionally limited your pool to highly selective colleges with low acceptance rates you have an uphill battle. The natural consequence that comes with that choice is that you may end up with no acceptances. We always recommend that students have a financial safety on their list (a school they’re sure to get into, can afford, and would be happy to attend). Do you have one?
Yes @austinmshauri , as I have mentioned in my previous comment, I have a guaranteed seat in NIT, India, and I wouldn’t mind going there if I get rejected by every college I have applied to.
It is financially favorable as well.
@PurpleTitan , I explored my options in other countries as well, but somehow I was as convinced with their research facilities as I am with these few colleges.
@merc81 , I guess things are different in my school and community.
I have another question. How much weightage does a social cause have in these universities? How much does research paper matter to these universities? And finally, how much will it matter if I have submitted a research paper based on the use of technology to treat a world issue which is unresolved as of yet?
This research paper that I have made has direct relevance to the STEM fields I am going to pursue further research in, and it is connected to the subject I want to major in.
Sounds like you have an excellent backup if you don’t get into a US college. Good luck.
Has the research paper been published? If not then it’s a nice EC but not one that will help at schools with single digits admission rates. Even if it’s been published I don’t think one paper will tip the scale for these schools.
I’m glad to hear you have a safety. Good luck.
“I have applied to domestic colleges and I will be attending them if I get no favorable reply in the coming few days.”
This makes good sense to me. If you have good universities in your home country (and you do in India), then it only makes sense to come to the US if you can get into a school that is significantly stronger.
(re MIT) "My dream college and well, pretty much everyone’s top choice "
If you do get into MIT, be aware that it is a LOT of work for every student. I suspect from your post however that you know this, and that you are fine with this.
Good luck. I think that you still have a chance at the top ranked private schools that you applied to, and that you will do well in India if you don’t get into the top schools in the US. I do know quite a few coworkers who did their undergrad in India and then did their master’s degree in the US.
“How much weightage does a social cause have in these universities? How much does research paper matter to these universities? And finally, how much will it matter if I have submitted a research paper based on the use of technology to treat a world issue which is unresolved as of yet?”
True answer is it depends on the extent to which you show leadership, results, initiative, etc through the activities you describe. You are competing among peers who typically all have social causes and produced research.
The closest example I can provide is my son. Throughout high school he started and led a variety of both medical and housing missions throughout Latin America and India. He raised approximately $150k for one charity that he became a national leader for with 4,000 members. More importantly he founded a grass roots charity to support a segment of youth in desperate need of resources. By his senior year this charity had 12 “franchises” and was in 3 states. It has continued to grow based on a succession plan he put in place and now provides thousands of children with a variety of support through financial and material donations.
In his applications he didn’t focus on these achievements (LOCs detailed them), but instead laid out a plan to repurpose a specific recycled good into a desperately needed health resource for people in sub Sahara Africa. He included a business plan detailing resource accessibility, costs, logistics, local political risks etc… More importantly he had started the creation of the infrastructure needed to achieve his mission including mentors, government contacts and two private philanthropic and health orginazions that had commited in writting to support his plan. This charity is now up and running with the support of his colleges entrepreneurship department.
In his case as described, I think on top of strong grades, test scores, and being a very good (non recruited) 3 sport athlete his “social cause” set him apart. He was accepted at several Ivies and top 10s. He based his choice of schools on the one he thought best suited and committed to helping him fulfill his philanthropy and entrepreneurial goals.
I hope this provides some context as to what “standing out” takes at school’s such as those you aspire to. Keep in mind he also got a number of rejections so clearly other students for some schools stood out more than him. No one should expect to get into your list but instead feel blessed for the opportunity to be considered.
Once again good luck and congratulations on what sounds like a solid fall back.
Wow sir @Nocreativity1 . To be honest with you, these opportunities do not exist in the country I live in.
I don’t think I should mention the name of the country I currently am in, but it is in the middle east. I am an Indian by birth and origin, and came to this country at the age of 3.
The laws here prohibit any minor from officially having a start up or having leading any activity that raises funds (for whatever cause it may be).
Even for adults, there is a ton of paperwork required. I had thought of doing something as you mentioned, and even convinced my father to have a charitable organization started under his name, but the amount of paperwork and this it required was outrageous and eventually the idea was dropped after 2 years of working on it continuously.
I ended up working as a volunteer for an already existing charitable organization.
However, no excuses, I did not push my father enough and I am to be blamed 
It is some fantastic work that your son has done and many congratulations to him !
Thank you so much @DadTwoGirls . It will be a few tough days to get through post MIT decision if it is not favorable, but the last 3 rejections have prepared me for the worst, so I guess I will get through just fine.
Anyways, your post is very reassuring and it has lightened the overall gloomy mood I have had over the past few days.
OP unfortunately prep scholar is a really bad way to pre-determine your results/expectations at the super competitive schools. It is really a poor tool when backing out the many seats reserved for candidates who bring other things to the table. Athletic prowess the school needs. Huge donations. USA geographical and ethic diversity, income and opportunity diversity, legacy families and other categories. Some schools like UT have to meet strict guidelines for seats for certain local students as well. And Pepe scholar doesn’t know the individual majors based on application volumes and candidates in the current cycle. It’s backwards looking.
When you back these out the stat lines change dramatically. And then you add in the essay component and the vagaries of the individual committees on any given day. It is not a clean meritocracy in any way.
Also international students fare much worse as well.
Some of the schools don’t count these categories of preference as strongly. Including MIT and CalTech. So best of luck.
Prepscholar doesn’t factor in things like UT Austin having to reserve 90% (or whatever the number is) of places for instate students, or the fact that the pool for the remaining 10% becomes much more ultra-competitive than the average stats for the college. It also can’t factor in holistic admissions (I knew my daughter had higher than the 13% chance it gave her of getting into the school she got into). It’s never going to be anywhere near accurate for the single digit acceptance rate schools which get tons of statistically qualified applicants.
The sentence about not being able to do a start up as a foreigner in your country rings a bell. Have you posted under a different username in the past, in the “chance me” thread if I recall?
No sir @SJ2727 , I have not posted anything anywhere else about my college applications. I did post a question similar to this one on quora but I haven’t got an answer to that yet.
I guess, someone sharing the same lament as me would have posted it
This problem is indeed rather common and not especially identifying since it applies to
all students contemplating start ups or volunteering, in restrictive countries or dictatorships (such as most in the middle East, keeping in mind that sometimes foreigners must live in compounds isolated from the local population).
The issue is that there are truly excellent universities for CS that also admit mostly based on stats, such as UMass Amherst, or are not as unpredictable as UT* such as Uwisconsin. Others, such as Harvey Mudd, may be just as hard to get into, but at least offer financial aid.
I’m sorry that website led you to erroneous conclusions. Any university with a 25% admit or below must be treated as a reach regardless of qualifications.
*UT has about 90% students from Texas. It means ALL Americans and ALL students from the entire world try to right over the 10% spots.
I guess I was too caught up in chasing the top few colleges that I didn’t consider the bottom few of my list to a a problem @MYOS1634 .
Well, it is all learning for making a better list for a master’s degree 
Thank you!
The rankings are different for Masters degrees.
Also, grad schools admit either for terminal Master’s or PHDs with the master awarded ‘en route’.
I had another question as well.
I have got 6 gold medals and 1 silver medal for International Mathematics Olympiads and 3 gold, 2 silver medals for National Cyber Olympiad. All of these are for regional/state/national top ranks. I was ranked number 1 in school for all the years that I took part in the olympiads.
These olympiads were conducted by the Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF).
However, the certificates of these olympiads do not mention the medal received by me for any particular olympiad.
The worldwide rank is also pretty poor. It goes to about mid 1000s.
Would it have mattered if I had submitted these stats to my colleges?
My father and I had a debate on this topic. He was firm that we shouldn’t send this to colleges because the international rank isn’t great and the certificates do not mention any medal received. Eventually, I had to give in because he was adamant.
Do the colleges accept pictures of medals as proof?
I don’t know but I just feel that there are several things like this that I have worked for and they have had no use in my college application.