They are not going to do anything about this. And really, what do you want them to do? They can’t give you a different score.
If you really, really hate your excellent score then I think the only thing you can do is work next year to earn money and then take the SAT again next cycle.
How much could you realistically earn ( in US dollars) if you lived at home next year and worked for 14 months — June 2026 through August 2027?
OP- posted with love:
1- At some point, your focus and grit can become your worst enemy instead of your biggest advantage. You are coming close to that point. Perseverating about your SAT score, the laptop, taking legal action, etc. is evidence of that.
2- At some point, identifying your best option among a range of sub-optimal choices is the path forward. You are not at that point yet. You need to figure out how to get a college education in your own country (in case none of the US options work out) and then focus on making THAT happen. You’ve already done whatever needed to happen for the US plan- so stop thinking about it. It’s over, just wait to see who accepts you and if any of them are affordable. If the gap is small- see if the college will delay your admission for a year, get a job and live at home, save up enough to make it work. If the gap is big- then it’s time to choose an institution closer to home.
3-Take any country where you need language fluency(besides any languages you already speak) off the table. It is unrealistic to think that you can perform well at a university with a six month or one year crash course in a new language. You aren’t ordering ice cream while on holiday- you’d be sitting in classes next to native speakers.
4- If you can get in to a local college, and if it’s affordable- then pivot. Figure out what classes you need to take to become a peak performer– and then focus on being that peak performer. There is no institution in the world so sub-par that you can’t get an education there.
Hugs to you. Don’t become your worst enemy– focus on moving forward.
Trying to get an engineering degree in a country where you are just leaning the language seems challenging, to say the least.
I know you want a college education, rather than what you are characterizing as job training, but maybe you can have both. If you can get into and can afford your local college (in other words, it’s a safety) then you do have a place to go to college next year. And it sounds like it will help with landing a job, which most students want, even in the US.
And then you can take free or low cost courses offered by MIT and other top colleges online for the intellectual component of your education.
Not ideal, not what you want, but potentially a path forward.
Echoing what @blossom says.
And OP, despite the depiction of the US in films and television, many, many, many of us frequently have to chart a path forward for all sorts of things by choosing the best among sub-optimal options. I’m sure that’s true almost everywhere, and is also true among college students both here and elsewhere. And lots of US high school students who want what you want have to choose a local college for financial or other reasons.
If you do have local, affordable options, that’s a good thing — try to plan a path forward that will get you a good job on a field you find interesting, even if it’s not the direct and somewhat exciting path that you had hoped for.
It really depends, its a wide ocean. Almost any university locally would set me up with a 3-4k annum job (its super low considering I have to like word 4 years to pay off the debt). And its a trap to be struck in.
No way I can think of, India has a MASSIVE unemployment even with the guys with degrees. 18 year olds are really milked out in super markets, like 5 dollars a day for 10 hrs shift.
I have decent photo and video editing skills but fiverr is intensely competitive.
OP, like others here, I admire your persistence and focus. As @blossom said above, though, those same traits seem to be working against you right now.
In this thread and the original one, many of us have pointed out that the only realistic backup plan to your US college ambitions is attending college in India (with the possibility of coming to the US later for graduate school). Each time, you’ve explained why that won’t work for you — despite the fact that millions of your fellow students make it work every year.
I suggest you shift from a “I can’t, because…” mindset to an “I can, if I…” mindset. Otherwise, the most likely outcome is that you remain at home without a college education. If that’s acceptable to you (for example, if you are ok pursuing a trade or help with your father’s business, where a college degree isn’t required), that can be a perfectly valid path. But you do need to recognize that these are the realistic options in front of you.
I say all of this with good intentions, and with the hope that you’re able to choose a path that leads to a good outcome for you.
Can you contact them another way – perhaps a phone call? I know your generation hates phone calls, but it sometimes works where email does not.
This is what I asked copilot and the answer seemed like it might be a path forward. Of course, it is AI and can make mistakes, but … wouldn’t an engineering degree from a local university be an option? It’s still an engineering degree. (And just FYI, one of California’s universities that employers LOVE to hire from is Cal Polytechnic San Luis Obispo – and the employers love the student who graduate from there because they have lots of hands-on experience and many employers like that better than the more theoretical education that students from other California universities have. I also love this California university and my kid applied there. This is not a recommendation to you to apply to Cal Polytechnic San Luis Obispo – I am saying this so that you can see that a hands-on technical education is often highly valued)
Anyway, here is the CoPilot query I submitted. It provided a list of local colleges that may still get you where you want to go.
Can an Indian national living in Andrha go to a local inexpensive college without JEE and get a technical educaton in environmental engineering for a low price that will lead to a job. And how much will it cost per year in both local currency and USD and how many years for the degree.
Echoing the idea that you need to stop this obsession with the SAT laptop and move forward. Even if you had a perfect SAT score, it is unlikely that it would move the needle in terms of US admissions. And it would make zero sense to retake the exam after HS graduation – the exam is meant for HS students and nobody will be impressed by a higher score on an exam taken after HS. So that ship has sailed.
I am sorry for your situation. Attending college in the US as a student from an over-represented country needing substantial aid was always a longshot. Now it is now time to reset and look at realistic options that will allow you to move forward in a positive way.
I teach computer science in a Texas public high school, title I (poor) campus. Many of our students are from very low-income families. I have learned from them a good deal of ways to make things work. The key is to keep the goal in sight but also adapt to the path available, instead of having a narrow focus on the goal and refuse to deviate.
One approach I can think of that might work for you is to postpone degree and to go for industrial certificates for now. Every year I have students who are accepted to UT Austin but can’t afford to live away from home. They attend community colleges for free, work part-time to help support their families and younger siblings, on top of their college courses take MOOC for certificates, get better jobs with the earned certificates, earn more and save money, transfer to 4-year college to get the bachelor’s degree, etc. It’s hard work for many years but that’s how they climb up from where they’re from.
OP, maybe you can consider this option - live at home (for free), take a low-pay job to start earning and saving, take MOOC certification courses (will need to pay for the certification exams), earn the certificates, apply for higher pay jobs, earn and save more. Along the way, if you can handle the pressure, open a social media channel to document and broadcast your hard work and progress to potentially generate more income. When you have saved enough funds, go for a B.S. degree, then apply to MS programs in the US.
I just read an article about Southern New Hampshire University, which has entirely online degree programs and is an accredited university. It is also quite inexpensive by US standards. Tuition is slightly over $12k a year, per the attached pdf
Southern New Hampshire University Online
https://www.snhu.edu/-/media/files/pdfs/cost-of-attendance-25-26.pdf
If OP is going to consider US based online only schools there are a number of choices. These are immense businesses (SNHU, which also has a bricks and mortar campus, has 200K+ online students). OP should also consider the online only offerings of ASU, Western Governors, Purdue Global Online, Liberty. Some might be stronger than others for the majors OP is interested in, and I’m not sure all are within OP’s budget.
Not sure if there are ex-US online options that might be affordable, @MYOS1634 do you know?
Good point. I had previously mentioned ASU. Glad to hear about the others.
My mind has absolutely stopped working at this point I got rejected from my ED 2, the spiral is going way down. I literally can’t do anything.
I took @MYOS1634 suggestion and tried to chill and watch movies, I still have that burned out effect in me, somehow.
I don’t think the online degrees would be worth it for OP though since his goal is to leave India AFAIK, and they’d max out their previous financing, which doesn’t seem to be there anymore - they need a full ride.
Right now all OP can do is 1/focus on his Board Exams 2/look into Germany, France, etc 3/wait.
Sorry. As people said above (please reread those posts) you really need to take a deep breath and move on to look at affordable options in your country.
At this point even if admitted to a US college on a full scholarship, your family could be responsible for transportation, health insurance, books, and other miscellaneous expenses which could run into thousands of US dollars annually (and your work options in the US would be quite limited) which doesn’t sound doable.
I know you want to study in the US and maybe a RD option will work out, but competition is fierce for international students – more so for those from over-represented countries needing significant aid. You are essentially asking for a school to gift you an education which they value at about $400,0000 US dollars. Fortunately you live in a country which offers ways for you to continue your education. As you wait for RD decisions, shift your focus to finding paths in your home country. There is a lot of good advice upthread.
You’ve been told from the get go you were highly unlikely for the high end privates and to focus on the low cost. I’m sorry funding dried up but this was not unexpected.
And it likely has zero to do with your SAT.
Best of luck in what you do next year.
As I recall, he pivoted up-thread and asked about online options so it may be something that is still under consideration.
Yes, but it was at a budget that doesn’t open any US options even if online.
For example at ASU for environmental management (I know this is not exactly what he’s looking for but closest I could see) it comes out at almost $8000 a year.