Not sure about my major and university

[Guest Shrivaas Sadagopan]

Hi there.

I am currently a Grade 11 student, and have taken the following subjects:

• Math HL
• Computer Science HL
• Physics HL
• Economics SL
• English - Lang. and Lit. SL
• French Ab Initio SL

I'm planning to major in either Computer Science or Applied Math, but am not sure as to which I should pick. I want to become a developer, and am aware of the fact that Applied Math can help my programming skills immensely. In any case, I am planning to follow up with a Masters' in the other subject.

Right now, I'm targeting MIT and the other Ivy League Universities. I'd be extremely helpful if you could share some tips on getting in. Currently, I am learning Japanese and Hindi by myself, and am going to start learning French from Monday. Does becoming a polyglot somewhat enhance my chances of getting selected? And are there any other universities which you can recommend? Other universities I am considering applying to include NUS and NTU (Singapore), UCLA, UC Berkeley and the G30 University in Nagoya, Japan.

Also, while I am an Indian, I am a native speaker of English, and am right now not fluent in any other language. Do I need to take the TOEFL, or is the English SL enough to demonstrate my competence?

 

[ebu]

All I do know is that English SL is enough to demonstrate your fluency in English.

 

For American universities, you need to take SAT and preferably SAT II in maths and physics.

[Guest Shrivaas Sadagopan]

Thanks a lot. So, what's the difference between taking SAT II in Math A and Physics A and in Math B and in Physics B? 

Edit: You can take 4 HLs?

Edited July 25, 2015 by Shrivaas Sadagopan

[kevG]

lol you took the same hl's as me...

 

also just to clarify, as you are indian, you are not a native speaker of english (since you're indian, simple as that. pretty sure india's primary language is not english) so yes you need to do the toefl/ielts. trust me, i had to do it and i've been in an international school since grade 1. ielts/toefl is very simple as it is just a proficiency test, you should easily able to get atleast 7/9 in ielts or 100/120 in toefl if you are confident with your english(i got 8 on ielts with minimal preparation. i would suggest you to take ielts rather than toefl cause you can apply to more unversities using the ielts)

Edited July 25, 2015 by kfernando1

[Emmi]

If you want to be a developer, study computer science. Although applied math isn't a bad choice per say, you'd get a lot more experience with programming and theory as it relates to computing on a computer science program.

Now, getting into the schools you listed is very very hard. Getting in is more than just having awesome grades. You also have to have a nice list of extracurricular activities where you demonstrated a good amount of commitment and leadership, have glowing recommendations from teachers, and be able to write awesome essays. Schools like that don't want someone who just has good grades and nothing else, you have to have all that. And even then, it's luck of the draw because there are so many people like that who are applying that they can't possibly take everyone (which doesn't mean anything bad about you!) Demonstrate interest in something, and get very involved in it. It can be anything, but bonus points if it relates to what you want to study. Pick a few of these activities. If you've done them for a while (>2 years or so) it looks good. You also need very good scores. Being from India, you're going to have some bias against you, and your SAT or ACT score needs to be very high (granted, it has to be anyways for these schools, but especially so for you). It may not be fair, but it's how admissions sees these applicants. You need to aim for at least 2250 for the SAT and 34 on the ACT to stand a chance.

I would apply to some other schools, in addition to the ones you listed above, that while still very good, are slightly easier to get into than schools with 8% admission rates. The good thing with computer science in the US is that it's pretty standardized across most programs, so regardless of where you go you'll be learning approximately the same thing (the only difference are things like teaching quality and resource availability) and if you do well, will have no problem finding employment later. I'm not sure if this holds for places outside the US, but it's the case here.

(also, MIT isn't in the Ivy League As the case for Stanford, which also has a very good program.)

Being a polyglot probably doesn't increase your chances of getting admitted, but it is certain interesting and can't hurt if you mention it in your application.

[cjy]

lol you took the same hl's as me...

 

also just to clarify, as you are indian, you are not a native speaker of english (since you're indian, simple as that. pretty sure india's primary language is not english) so yes you need to do the toefl/ielts. trust me, i had to do it and i've been in an international school since grade 1. ielts/toefl is very simple as it is just a proficiency test, you should easily able to get atleast 7/9 in ielts or 100/120 in toefl if you are confident with your english(i got 8 on ielts with minimal preparation. i would suggest you to take ielts rather than toefl cause you can apply to more unversities using the ielts)

He is a native English speaker. If he doesn't speak any other languages, his native language is English. 

[kevG]

nah mate

he's an indian passport holder

even if he only speaks english he still has to do ielts/toefl

[harihrrnn]

 

lol you took the same hl's as me...

 

also just to clarify, as you are indian, you are not a native speaker of english (since you're indian, simple as that. pretty sure india's primary language is not english) so yes you need to do the toefl/ielts. trust me, i had to do it and i've been in an international school since grade 1. ielts/toefl is very simple as it is just a proficiency test, you should easily able to get atleast 7/9 in ielts or 100/120 in toefl if you are confident with your english(i got 8 on ielts with minimal preparation. i would suggest you to take ielts rather than toefl cause you can apply to more unversities using the ielts)

He is a native English speaker. If he doesn't speak any other languages, his native language is English. 

 

 

Even Im an Indian,. Every Indian passport holder has to write a English proficiency test to get inside abroad collages specially for UK,US,Australia because only if you get the required points they will let you in..!

IF you say yourself as a native speaker of English then you should be British or a white american or else you have to write the test.

And even writing the test is not a big deal.. because it is very easy. as kfernando1 said you can easily score a 7/9 in ilets..!

[harihrrnn]

 

 

 

lol you took the same hl's as me...

 

also just to clarify, as you are indian, you are not a native speaker of english (since you're indian, simple as that. pretty sure india's primary language is not english) so yes you need to do the toefl/ielts. trust me, i had to do it and i've been in an international school since grade 1. ielts/toefl is very simple as it is just a proficiency test, you should easily able to get atleast 7/9 in ielts or 100/120 in toefl if you are confident with your english(i got 8 on ielts with minimal preparation. i would suggest you to take ielts rather than toefl cause you can apply to more unversities using the ielts)

He is a native English speaker. If he doesn't speak any other languages, his native language is English. 

 

 

Even Im an Indian,. Every Indian passport holder has to write a English proficiency test to get inside abroad collages specially for UK,US,Australia because only if you get the required points they will let you in..!

IF you say yourself as a native speaker of English then you should be British or a white american or else you have to write the test.

And even writing the test is not a big deal.. because it is very easy. as kfernando1 said you can easily score a 7/9 in ilets..!

 

Because non-white Americans aren't native English speakers?

I checked with several UK universities (Oxford, LSE & some others) and for instance Oxford doesn't require a proof of English proficiency if you get a 5 or above in either English B HL or any English A course/level. Some unis might require it; some won't. A lot of times a good/decent grade in your IB English class could do the  job, but I believe it depends from uni to uni. (Keep in mind that this is based off the info I received from UK Unis. US might be (or probably is) different.)

So check with the unis you are applying for.

 

yes many universities even let go if u take a 4 in HL english or a 5 in SL engkish. But it differ with the u\universities im trying for UBC canada, for studying there we must write a english proficiency test. So as you said it differ for universities.