Ethnicity - Indian(Male)
High School - Delhi Public School, Eldeco, Lucknow, India
International Applicant
GPA - Freshman: 10/10; Sophomore: 10/10; Junior: 79%; Senior: ? [School gives CGPA on a scale of 10 for Freshman Year, Sophomore Year, and percentage for Junior Year and Senior Year]
SAT I - 1500/1600
SAT II - Math 2: 800; Physics: 790
School doesn’t offer AP
Major Academic Awards :-
- Mathematical Genius Award 2015-2016 Sophomore – All India Rank 12; State Rank 2
- International Science Olympiad (SOF) Junior – International Rank 218 (98.77 percentile)
- Certificate of Merit from CBSE India for Performance in Junior and Sophomore Year 10/10
- National Creativity Olympiad Sophomore – All India Rank 32
Extra Curriculars :-
- MIT Launch
- Co-founder of a company to help people improve their public speaking.
- Cultural Captain of school
- Senior Prefect in School Student Council
- Made two websites for School – One for School MUN, one for School Alumni
- Freelance Graphic Designer – Worked as Head of Design at Model UNs and many others events.
- Secretary General of my school’s Model UN – Senior Year Under Secretary General of my school Model UN – Junior Year
- Played Basketball since 2012 in the school team, Participated in many District, State, National, and International Level
championships. (Bronze in Rural International Games Championship recognised by the Government of India).
- Playing Piano and Guitar for 8+ years, part of school band, participated in National Music Competitions
- Volunteered in a Mobile Eye Treatment Van that goes to villages and offers free eye care to the poor. 18 villages in the
past year.
- President of Model UN Club
Interests: CS, Physics, Aerospace
You should look at the usual cast of characters for someone with your record and interests: MIT, Caltech, Stanford, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Harvey Mudd, UC Berkeley, Rice, Georgia Tech, Rensselaer. The last two are a bit easier to get into than the rest, but they’re all top-flight schools for STEM-oriented students.
aerospace - RPI, EmbryRiddel, Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, Purdue
CS - RPI, Carnegie Mellon, NYU, Rutgers
Physics - RPI, Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, Stony Brook
*keep in mind the differences between Aerospace / Aeronautical / Astronautical
What is your budget? Hard to recommend schools not knowing what you can afford.
@123Mom456 Ah! Forgot to mention. My parents say they are willing to finance me throughout undergrad. However, I do not wish to be a burden and will look for scholarships. I do not however think that I will be able to get financial aid.
Some of the schools mention above you would probably be full pay. Don’t get me wrong I think your stats are great but a lot of kids have great stats. MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Stanford and Berkeley will be expensive. If you don’t want your parents to pay $60-70,000 per year, I would look at some of the public universities - Ga Tech, Va Tech, Purdue, NC State. Some schools that would probably give you some merit RIT, WPI, Case Western.
The schools I mentioned run the gamut from small to large, urban to rural. Do some research and think about what you want. You will do great at any school but don’t just chase after a ranking. There are a lot of great schools out there.
Good luck!
Cooper union if you get in is full tuition, but it’s costly to live in NYC. However I know Indians can make the best of living arrangements.
You mentioned in another thread wanting to be in the Northeast, I would really recommend looking at schools in the South or Midwest. The cost of living is far less, so it’ll be cheaper. Also, your chances of admission/merit aid would probably be higher. There are a lot of male Indian applicants to colleges (especially tech schools) in the Northeast, so applying to schools in another area of the country might increase your odds.
GA Tech is definitely not less competitive than Berkeley or Cornell or Rice. It’s among the most competitive for CS and aeronautical.
Also, what do you plan to do after you’ve finished your degree?
You would be returning to India after graduation, so I imagine your school and degree would have to help you find employment in India.
@Studious99 Georgia Tech is an excellent school and I don’t mean to imply that it isn’t, I should have made it more clear that I’m not talking about over competitiveness or intellectual rigor at all, sorry!
It’s more about cost and demographics… Living in Atlanta is going to be a heck of a lot cheaper than living in Boston or the SF Bay Area, and cost is a mentioned concern for OP. Also as a percentage of the student population there are fewer Asians at GA Tech than at other schools on his list (MIT, Stanford, Berkeley all are somewhere north of 30%, Berkeley was 40% last time I checked) so the ORM effect on his chances might not be as strong.
@“aunt bea” I dont know if I would immediately return back to India. I think I want to pursue a masters degree.
@apresski I wanted to be in the North East and maybe California because I have some family there. I have also heard that the south and mid-west isnt that accepting of immigrants.
Also, because I probably will not qualify for financial aid, merit aid is what I am looking for.
California will be expensive.
The California public schools (CSU’s and UC’s) are out of money and wont provide much, if anything, for merit since they have non-residents breaking down the doors to get into the California publics.
You could try the privates but they will be very expensive and competitive.
The South and Midwest are affordable options.