<p>@ ajay: You’re into open source? *impressed. I’m a confirmed user of Open Source, but I’m far, far from being able to actually develop it. :)</p>
<p>into Open Source? I consider myself open source! (ok bad joke) Yup mate, been there for 4 years. I have worked with lotta teams, VLOS, Gentoo, Ubuntu :)</p>
<p>I wanted somthing of my own so I made it. Just a 8 mb ISO. Boot from and it and it installs current Debian Etch Release with educational packages!</p>
<p>I’m not going to pretend I understand most of that. :p</p>
<p>oh in laymans language </p>
<p>Put in the disc</p>
<p>Forget it for an hour</p>
<p>Come back</p>
<p>System Ready!</p>
<p>With XGL (3D Effects) :D</p>
<p>I m completely clean bold at this matter…</p>
<p>That is why I think this is the only thing that will get me to the Ivies…i guess so :)</p>
<p>It might ajay, but as a word of advice, (I’m not being patronizing here), you’ll need to do some major work on your essays. From what I’ve read in my interactions with you, that’ll be possibly the weakest part of your application. Start early, get advice, either from CC, or in real life, and check your grammar a hundred times. </p>
<p>Again, not being condescending, (sorry if it comes off that way), but that’s really the part you need to focus on. :)</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lawkc3jH3ws[/url]”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lawkc3jH3ws</a> <— This is what my system can do!</p>
<p>Shrivats : I agree with you. No Hard Feelings! :)</p>
<p>Hey shri, I hav a question for u…</p>
<p>We use ‘‘might’’ for sth which could hav been but it is not and we use ‘‘may’’ which is unpedictable…isnt it??..</p>
<p>issacnewtion u might want to have a look at that video. Its pretty good! :D</p>
<p>Well that’s the way it is really. (I’ve never been a doyen of formal grammar), but luckily for me, I’ve got an intuitive grasp of English. If it ‘sounds’ right to me, then it normally is, and hence I’ve never had to really read Wren and Martin and other comparable texts. (But then I think at times in Shakespearean English, so then, I’m a bit weird. :))</p>
<p>The video seems to represent Vista…but the loads of spinnin screws the video…</p>
<p><em>agrees with Shrivats on way too many things</em> I don’t do formal grammar myself (truth be told, I looked through Wren and Martin in the ninth and it scared the hell out of me), but I flatter myself that my English is decent enough (at least, when I’m not being ridiculously colloquial and saying ‘wot’ and misusing unfortunate punctuation marks). :D</p>
<p>And I’m not saying anything about the Indians on the MIT blogs, since I’m not technically in that pool (and you all hate me for it, I know. 
But seriously, the UK pool can’t be that tiny, and they have a grand total of 3 British undergrads, so it might not be as much of a blessing as one might expect. Anyway.) – I do think the number of truly competitive Indian applicants (with good essays, since those matter like crazy) is rather low. A lot of people apply for the hell of it – case in point, my next-door neighbour, who has even less chance than I do (being somewhat lacking in the brain department. Yes, I’m arrogant.).</p>
<p>Finally, I’m back from Bio, and it was *horrific<a href=“‘taungya%20cultivation’?%20What%20the%20heck?”>/i</a>, but at least I won’t have to study it again (unless I get into MIT). :D</p>
<p>*Thinks that being called arrogant is his preserve alone :)</p>
<p>I’m of that view too really. I think if you come right down to it, removing all the unqualified candidates, the UK and the India pool would be comparable. The India pool’s just more intimidating because of the numbers. (You’re forever afraid that because there’s so many, you’ll be lost in the crowd)</p>
<p>I’ve looked at Wren and Martin, once…</p>
<p>I opened it, inhaled the musty odour, saw a line about the post predicative and its influence on gerunds, and decided that I’d never look at it again. :)</p>
<p>(Is there a post-predicative, and does it affect gerunds? :))</p>
<p>Hopefully though, the vast number of applicants thins out if you move beyond HPMS (I can’t see many Indians applying to Yale, the engineering programme would put them off). </p>
<p>JHU, Duke, Northwestern, Rice, I think these receive far, far fewer applications. (Though of the same quality, only without the chaff)</p>
<p>I think this is the most appropriate thing I can say: “Lies, damned lies, and statistics”. :D</p>
<p>Really, numbers mean nothing, and the size of the Indian pool be damned, if someone deserves to get in they will. At least, that’s how I look at it.</p>
<p>(And, er, I have no idea about ‘post-predicative’ – the most I can think of is ‘predicate’. I dislike formal grammar, honestly.)</p>
<p>& that isn’t much comfort (the fewer apps thing) for me – I applied to MIT, Stanford, and Princeton, and none of the others you mention. I do think Caltech gets fewer than MIT at least, though (well, obviously! The undergrad class is tiny.), which is somewhat comforting (since I’d pick Caltech over MIT, I think).</p>
<p>Mine is more or less the same case…just saw Wren n Martin once (in IXth) n it scared me off…consequently, I decided not to look at it again…</p>
<p>As for most of the Indian applicants, there is only one thought in my mind…
<em>Stares at the blog area</em>…Sheesh wat a racket…</p>
<p>And I will choose Stanford for it has the best environment n almost least no. of students…</p>
<p>Ah Caltech, I think you mean Pasadena University. (ducks here :D)</p>
<p>I thought of Caltech, long and hard, but it seemed just, too tech for me. (And how that corresponds with me applying to MIT I’ve no idea :))</p>
<p>Also I think 5 essays had an effect on me. (After applying to 14 colleges, the prospect of writing so many more essays was just that last straw)</p>
<p>I suppose also my background’s not what Caltech’s looking for. All my EC’s are in literary spheres, which I think has something at least to do with where I study, but it would put me more or less out of contention for Cal.</p>
<p>Oh and yes, I’ve got Physics tomorrow. *smiles. (And the World Cup’s begun) *grins.</p>
<p>And I’ll soon finally hear from colleges. *ever heard of the Cheshire Cat? :)</p>