Stand out in the application pool

International Students
1

I am an Indian studing in India in the CBSE syllabus.
Here are my stats:

9th - 9.2
10th - 9.4
11th - 70%
12th - 95%

SAT 1 - 2300
SAT 2 - 2400

ECs are great
I don’t need financial aid
I am the co founder of small company a couple of friends started. We build and develop and websites and apps for clients all around the world

Now I wish to stand out of the application pool when applying to the American universities
I am planning to write AP CS and SAT 2 French to stand out . What do you think?

2

You cannot create a stand out application with test scores.Colleges look for your continued passion and interest in whatever you do.The admission to US colleges are not number based.Its holistic .What do you mean by EC’s are great.

3

Taking French SAT 2 will definitely make me a bit unique won’t it? And what about AP? Which one should I take?

4

Look my point is I screwed up big time in the 11th grade and now I am willing to do all that it takes. I am also working really hard for SAT 1. I want to get 2400. I believe it’s possible if I put my full concentration and time. So please guys, guide me. :slight_smile:

5

Firstly please write all your ECs down as ECs are a major contributing factor to admission criteria. Secondly, believe me just taking test does not make an applicant stand out. Checl the general ‘What are my chances’ thread and you will see the number of tests that people take. The SAT is ALOT about luck. Sometimes the best prepared too do not get the scores they achieve, so dont rely on the SAT. U really need to list down ur ECs so that people could help u better.
Which city do u live in??

6

Unless you have an extremely lopsided score (say 700 in Math), I definitely wouldn’t retake the SAT. A 2300 is good enough for any college.

7

I live in Chennai. What about AP?

8

AP is good but nothing to ‘set you apart’. Everyone takes APs.
Whats the problem in listing ur ECs?

9

Ok so which AP should I take? And I don’t think many Indians take APS. My ECs are good but nothing different.

10

So ya just list ur ECs man -_- Take all APs which you think you can. It depends on your intended major. What do you plan to take?

11

Electrical engineering / CS or a joint major in both.

12

Take Physics both, Calculus and Computer Science at least.

13

And believe me the only thing that can make u stand out is an EC. Thus, list them here so that people can guide you on how you should improve them. This is literally the last time I`m saying this

14

No. This will not make you stand out. In fact it will make you blur more into the background. Here is one way to stand out:

  1. Gather information on as many students from your school/city and see what they boast regarding ECs
  2. Whatever is boasted about, turn around and do something completely DIFFERENT

Taking AP tests and scoring well on them is not a standout achievement, as I’m sure just about all high tier students from India do the same.