What's my chance of getting into top universities?

International Students
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<p>I am an Indian student…This is my resume…What is my chance of getting into top universities…
What are my chances? I need financial aid.</p>

<p>Name: Paarth Sharma
Language Proficiency: Hindi, English,Punjabi,Spanish and French</p>

<p>My High school grades:
Class 9th: All A’s except for one B+
Class 10th: All A’s except for one B+
Class 11th: Not Good grades(not even worth mentioning)
Class 12th: 5 A’s and 3 B’s
All classes were high level or AP classes.In maths(Calculus Level 1 and 2)</p>

<p>Extra co curricular Involvement:
1.Recipient For the 2008 National Talent Search Examination
2.Extensive Participation in Maths and Science Olympiads and Spelling bees on district and school levels
3.Table Tennis Player for 7 years
4.National level table tennis player
5.Finished in top 8 in 2008 CBSE nationals(in team event) and top 16 in the individuals event.
6.Finished in top 16 in 2010 CBSE nationals(team event)
7.State winner in 2008
8.State winner in 2010
9.State Runner up in 2011,2012
10.4 times district Championship
11.Intramural Participation in Volleyball,Football,Badminton as well as Table Tennis
12.Self Trained in Karate and Jiu Jitsu</p>

<p>Work Experience
1.Freelance Writer for the times of India(most read english newspaper and 3rd most read newspaper in the country)
2. Home job as a typist</p>

<p>Journalism/Publishes
1.Contributed the following stories to the times of india
Roopam Singh- The rising Star(which involved interviewing,writing story,taking photos and reporting back)
2.I still have a couple of articles to submit and a couple of stories</p>

<p>Clubs/Community Service
1.Volunteering at the Indian Red Cross Society
2.Certified member of Indian Red Cross Society by state and national Government
3.Part of music club for 3 years
4.Participated in the Justice for Akansha Peace march
5.Campaigning with school to inform people about safe driving</p>

<p>Awards,Honours , Medals and Certificates
Awarded the following Prizes on the Annual day for Following feats
1.Best Student of Class(2003)
2.Class Rank(twice)
3.Best Table Tennis Player of the year(2008)
4.One of the outstanding students in the school(2005)
5.Winner of 3 gold,3 bronze,3 silver and 20+ certificates for academic and extracurricular activities.(also a D graded certified Athlete by State Government and Punjab Sports Department)</p>

<p>Leadership Qualities
1.Table Tennis Team Captain for 4 years
2.Averaging A grade in Leadership and Resourcefulness since fifth Grade</p>

<p>Personal Records
1.Strongest in high school with a powerlifting dead lift record of 315 lbs for one rep(the only one to ever lift this much) and leg press of 550 lbs.</p>

<p>Technical Knowledge
1.Basic Knowledge in NI Multisim</p>

<p>i still have to give my sat…
any advice will be appreciated…</p>

<p>My high school curriculum was the most rigourous…</p>

<p>The Universities i am thinking of applying to are as follows

  1. Notre Dame(early action)
  2. Boston university
  3. Johns Hopkins
  4. University of illinois at urbana Champaign
  5. NYU
  6. Cornell</p>
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<p>1.Colleges understand a slight drop in your 11th grade as your focus slightly shifts towards ECs, but a huge drop is not appreciated.
2. High school ( from 8th or 9th) achievements are appreciated, not too much of the ones before that. ( you mentioned some achievement of 2003)
3.‘Averaging A grade in Leadership and Resourcefulness since fifth Grade’ a teacher or a counselor explaining this in their Letter of recommendation would be better.
4.“Strongest in high school with a powerlifting dead lift record of 315 lbs for one rep(the only one to ever lift this much) and leg press of 550 lbs.” I am not sure if this is required.
5. School level competitions don’t really portray your passion/strength in a particular EC.</p>

<p>Your school marks might hurt you . Try to get around 2100-2150 in SAT atleast, to be competitive.
All these universities seem to be high reaches for you.</p>

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<p>I’d say you have a decent shot at Boston university if you’ll go full pay. You’ll have to target 2100+ in SAT and Double 700+ in SAT 2’s to be competitive.</p>

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<p>Are you sure about NYU ? Its NYC, the expenses will be off the charts. And SATs are gonna be important, as will be the esasys. You have good ECs, just shorten the list a little, shorten it down to the most important ones.
BU i expensive as well, if you can manage the tuition part, you should get in with a 2100+ SAT score. JHU and Notre Dame can be tough. But with good SATs and essays, you might make it !
All the best :)</p>

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<p>How about illinois institute of technology???what’s my chance there??also is it a school worth applying??</p>

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<p>Thank you so much.</p>

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<p>paarth,</p>

<p>Illinois Institute of Technology is a very good tech school. If engineering or architecture is your ‘thing’, then IIT is one of the places where you want to be. It’s reputation is often underrated but I can assure you that this is a great place!</p>

<p>By the way, I have a question for you. What do you mean by high level or AP classes? I have taken Calculus 1 and 2 in my high school too but I have never heard of any university caring about it unless you study under the IB board or take AP tests.</p>

<p>Your SAT score is important to give you a ‘probability’ of getting accepted. DOn’t list any ECs before your ninth grade. Your high school grades are a bit of worry!</p>

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<p>Are you sure about Notre Dame? A friend of mine goes there, and I visited. They’re crazy-Catholics, and their whole college life is based on religion.
(coming from a high school student a few hours drive from their campus)
also, American schools appreciate extra-curricular activities a lot. Include EVERYTHING.</p>

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<p>by high level classes I meant that the courses were really rigourous( and I mean REALLY). I am an indian student and didn’t know how to define it so that’s why I said it…But I have done everything when it comes to academics…Chemistry ,Physics,Maths(including calculus 1 and 2 ) and there were many other hard chapters,Biology etc.I think you got the idea…Well actually I want to get into a good engineering school so I should apply to Illinois right?</p>

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<p>I respect every religion but I am not a very religious person anyway…SO NO to NOTRE DAME?? And thanks for that last line - Include everything…</p>

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<p>Look at the colleges’ profile before choosing them. There are basically three categories: strictly religious, religiously affiliated but not confined, no religious affiliatio</p>

<p>Your rigorous math and science curriculum will impress them. I don’t know why but they do not care about it. You must have AP, IB or any college-credit examination results to showcase that rigor. I have been in your place and have felt the same awkwardness as you are now after getting to know their evaluation of our curriculum(s).</p>

<p>Yes, apply to “Illinois Tech” but look at the college’s website and any online resources before choosing it. I like this place but I can’t guarantee that you will be. There are a lot of online college review websites that are so annoying. Don’t consider those stupid reviews.</p>

<p>And finally, Illinois Institute of Technology is nicknamed “Illinois Tech”. “Illinois” is another name for University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaigne.</p>

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<p>You say you require significant financial aid. It is unlikely that the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will offer much as it is a public university. Private schools may do a bit better as long as you meet their admission criteria. With your dip in grades in grade 11, you will need strong SAT scores to be competitive for the schools on your list as mentioned by another post. I can tell you that for Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) has less rigorous admission standards than those on your original list, however, the curriculum is just as challenging. IIT regularly gives financial aid to international students.</p>

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<p>I have been to that university’s site and I liked it but there was just one question. are there any on campus jobs available to students??</p>

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<p>Yes there are On Campus jobs available. But as an International Student on F1 Visa, you are allowed to work in US after completing the first year of your academic program. </p>

<p>Also for paid jobs you need to get an Employment Authorisation Document-EAD under OPT- Optional Practical Training. An OPT allows you to work in US for 12-17 months, while you look for job and job Sponsers after finishing your 4 year program.</p>

<p>If you take a paid job during the 4 years while you are studying that period will be deducted from Post OPT period of 12-17 months. STEM Majors are allowed 17 months of OPT while other majors are entitled to 12 months of OPT.</p>

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<p>Please suggest me some universities as well that will be a match for me .</p>

<p>CS major(artificial intelligence).</p>

<p>International student . </p>

<p>overall affordability (including room and board) - maximum 35k/year </p>

<p>SAT : marks expected 1900(thinking of giving december retake . but i dont know whether it would be worth as deadlines will pass . should i give ? )</p>

<p>Marks :</p>

<p>9th A2 grade (85-90%)
10th 92%
11th 1st and 2nd sem 71%
12th exam yet to come</p>

<p>Extracurricular record in detail :</p>

<p>Programs/Competitions/Others :</p>

<p>President of City’s Youth Club Alacrity
President of my team at BBA-Baazigar(State level competition where you have to earn as much as possible in 12 hours) earning Rs 45,000
Editor of School’s Magazine which won the Best Magazine Award at State level
Attended a 7-day Camp(RoboCamp) by Reliance through which I learned Making programmed robots .
Volunteered myself at VCCI - Gujarat’s Mega Industrial Exhibition
Qualified for Nationals in The Amateur Scientist Competition (Competition where you have to invent something new . I made a working model of an electromagnetic eco-friendly car)
Green Belt in ****o Ryu Karate
chess player from 6 years
Made a 5 minute movie - [url=&lt;a href=“- YouTube”&gt;- YouTube]Happy</a> Teachers Day | Apprehend | Idealist Productions - YouTube<a href=“My%20role%20-%20Director%20,%20Writer%20,%20Cameraman”>/url</a>
Self trained in Java and PHP
Part of University of Cambridge - ESOL Examinations</p>

<p>External exams and olympiads :</p>

<p>4th National Interactive Science Olympiad - School Rank 1
State Rank 6
International/National Rank 12(out of 22290)
5th National Biotechnology Olympiad - School Rank 1
State Rank 5
International/National Rank 19(out of 11450)
5th National Interactive Maths Olympiad - School Rank 4
State Rank 27
International/National Rank 357(out of 23150)
6th National Interactive Science Olympiad - School Rank 7
State Rank 13
International/National Rank 140(out of 13490)
5th National Interactive Science Olympiad - School Rank 6
State Rank 12
International/National Rank 235(out of 15060)
International Informatics Olympiad - School Rank 1
(2012) State Rank 1
International Rank 37
International Informatics Olympiad - School Rank 1
(2013) State Rank 13
International Rank 660
Procom Quiz Contest - Computer 88 Distinction
International Assessments for Indian schools (UNSW Global) - English Top 13 percent of 10th grade in the region
International Assessments for Indian schools (UNSW Global) - Maths Top 19 percent of 10th grade in the region
School Certificate - High above others in External examinations
extensive participant in all external exams since grade 6th</p>

<p>And i was thinking the other day . which are the schools that use a lot of innovative ways and technology in teaching . any idea ?</p>

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<p>So you are just in eleventh grade? I would say you still have a lot of time; probably around a year… So just focus on your +2 class and also a high sat score(probably around 2100+ just because you have done so well on the Olympiads),do some community service and you will have a great if not an excellent chance(IMHO)…
If you can afford 35K/year, then apply to universities that will give you just enough financial aid to afford that school…
For example: My friend was getting 13,000 off from purdue university and still he had to pay 29,000/year
So look at national universities eg UIUC, University of Texas at Austin, Purdue, UM Ann Arbor, and even Private Universities as they have a lot of endowment and can give a lot of scholarships to international students(sometimes even full ride scholarships)…e.g. Rice university(it has excellent sciences programs) etc…
So all the best and search every university extensively.</p>

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<p>These Olympiads are not recognised by US universities/colleges.
Only the official ones like International Physics Olympiad, Chemistry,Astronomy,Linguistics,Biology,Earth Sciences and 4-5 others are recognised.
These generally involve a regional selection round, a national selection round, and a training camp culminating in the selection of 5-6 students who represent India in these annual events abroad.
The 11th percentage is a bit low.
Some ECs are quite good.</p>

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<p>@paarthcmpunk . Sad to say but no i am not in eleventh grade :frowning: i am gujarat secondary board sso till now there has been no exam taken in 12th standard . Giving my 1st semester of 12th in a week .</p>

<p>That is the reason i was asking whether i should be giving the SAT in december or not ?</p>

<p>Below are a list of colleges that i think are a match to me (what are your views and more suggestions @paarthcmpunk and @hezekial)</p>

<p>stony brook
rutgers new brunswick
ohio state
university of minnesota
u of wisconsin madison</p>

<p>I also need some suggestions on safety and reach school and maybe more match .</p>

<p>Every ssuggestion should go in accordance with the 35k/year criteria . Bcos i just cant afford more than that :(</p>

<p>Moreover any answers on my question " which are some universities famous for their innovative teaching methods and technology inclined teaching methods ? " (they need not be top ranked ones)</p>

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<p>@hezekial and @paarthcmpunk Thanks for the review :)</p>

<p>@hezekial if i create a website or an ecommerce application . Can that add to my advantage . I know how to but then i dnt know whether that would be worth the time invested ?</p>

<p>Moreover also help in the questions i asked to @paarthcmpunk .</p>

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<p>I am sorry,but I don’t have much info about the colleges you spoke about or the innovative teaching stuff.
SAT in December is not really a great option, but you need to check it out on the websites of the universities you are applying too ( about ‘When do we need to receive the students’ SAT scores )
An e-commerce or a website could help, but be sure about what you are doing , as the adcoms are known to sometimes check out links to websites/blogs,etc mentioned in the application. I feel it is better to talk about the experience ( or what you learnt from it) in an essay . Just my 2 cents.</p>