u/Lab18bke

Demographics: Male, Indian, Low-Income (<$8k/yr), From a Semi-Rural City, Attend an eh Private CBSE School. First Generation.

Intended Major(s): Computer Science / Applied Mathematics

ACT/SAT/SAT II: Not taken yet, but I consistently get a 32-33 in the ACT mocks now. [Don't like the SAT much]

UW/W GPA and Rank: 93-95% typically in every exam; No weighted system in CBSE; Ranked 1 out of 160 kids. [I'm Sophomore year right now.]

Coursework: No APs/IBs/DEs.

Awards:

1. State Arybhatta Ganit Challenge Winner (State Maths Competition)
2. 2x TALLENTEX Rank 100 (National)
3. 3x School Academic Excellence (School)
4. State Physics Olympiad Rank 3
5. Zonal Excellence for Entrepreneurship.

Extracurriculars: 

1. Founded a Software Agency; Served 40+ clients; Helped businesses scale and go online; Recurring Revenue of $3XX/month.
2. Freelance Developer; More than 65 orders completed and average rating of 4.9 stars.
3. Non Profit; Builds, Hosts Websites for Small Businesses; 9 businesses impacted; Proven growth of upward of 22% in sales over a 3 month Analysis Period.
4. Peer Tutoring; Help my friends understand hard topics with fun explainations to help them with scoring higher in exams.
5. Care Taker for Both Parents suffering with Major Health Issues.
6. Independent Learner at ModernStates; Seeking Math rigor outside school.
7. Local Software Internship at a Small Datacenter; Managed all of their infrastructure: 3 nodes, 20GbE internet, Hosted Containers; Helped monitor uptime, install packages, update software, technically assist users.
8. Hosted 2 Hackathons; had 70+ people attending; raised $300 in prize money to give to winners; mentored the winners with a roadmap to start on what they should do (as a suggestion).

Essays/LORs/Other: My Personal Statement would be around showing that the truest reflection of my life can be found in the folders on my laptop, not my photo gallery. LORs would be decent ish - probably from my Maths Teacher (7-8/10), English Teacher (5-6/10), Datacenter Owner (10/10).

Schools: (not guaranteed yet, I'm still a Sophomore but yeah)

ED UPenn (prolly)

Rest RD:

MIT, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Caltech [Very high reaches but I think it's worth taking the shot]

Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, Duke [Most of them have high full-aid packages]

Then, there's Liberal Arts Colleges: Grinnell, Williams, Bowdoin, Reed, Denison, Whitman, Swarthmore, University of Richmond, Amherst.

Outside US: [NUS, NTU @ Singapore], [HKU, HKUST @ Hong Kong], [KAIST, POSTECH @ South Korea]

Note: I do have a small sponsor for some stuff. She can do $10-20k/yr and I can do $2-3k/yr from my side. Expected EFC is around $15-20k/yr. Still need huge aid for $70-80k/yr schools but yeah its still something.

15.

Started my small Software Agency in November 2025 with nothing but AI, skills and a roof over my head.

It all stayed dry. I was getting no traction, no clients. Negligible earnings.

But I kept showing up and trying my best. I slowly got clients, slowly started to earn.

Clients came in. The work got better. The reputation, reviews started racking up.

Now, I'm at 30+ reviews, making decent money ($2XX-$3XX) from something I started myself, and I've built it all by myself, while being from a semi-rural area and from a lower-middle class family.

I built a reputation, place of my own that I could've never expected at 15.

And the craziest part is that it doesn't stop. The work has helped me get some small internships: which I believe is solely because I had built things that worked and had stuff to show.

Still 15. Getting started.

November 2025 to Now wasn't easy, but it wasn't tiring either, it was motivating.

Not saying I've made it. Just proud of how far I've come. Always striving to do better, building something meaningful, following that "not typical" path, and shaping a profile that keeps my insatiable hunger for software, computers well-fed.

Demographics: Male, Indian, Low-Income (<$8k/yr), From a Semi-Rural City, Attend an eh Private CBSE School. First Generation.

Intended Major(s): Computer Science / Applied Mathematics

ACT/SAT/SAT II: Not taken yet, but I consistently get a 32-33 in the ACT mocks now. [Don't like the SAT much]

UW/W GPA and Rank: 93-95% typically in every exam; No weighted system in CBSE; Ranked 1 out of 160 kids. [I'm Sophomore year right now.]

Coursework: No APs/IBs/DEs.

Awards:

1. State Arybhatta Ganit Challenge Winner (State Maths Competition)

2. 2x TALLENTEX Rank 100 (National)

3. 3x School Academic Excellence (School)

4. State Physics Olympiad Rank 3

5. Zonal Excellence for Entrepreneurship.

Extracurriculars: 

1. Founded a Software Agency; Served 40+ clients; Helped businesses scale and go online; Recurring Revenue of $3XX/month.

2. Freelance Developer; More than 65 orders completed and average rating of 4.9 stars.

3. Non Profit; Builds, Hosts Websites for Small Businesses; 9 businesses impacted; Proven growth of upward of 22% in sales over a 3 month Analysis Period.

4. Peer Tutoring; Help my friends understand hard topics with fun explainations to help them with scoring higher in exams.

5. Care Taker for Both Parents suffering with Major Health Issues.

6. Independent Learner at ModernStates; Seeking Math rigor outside school.

7. Local Software Internship at a Small Datacenter; Managed all of their infrastructure: 3 nodes, 20GbE internet, Hosted Containers; Helped monitor uptime, install packages, update software, technically assist users.

8. Hosted 2 Hackathons; had 70+ people attending; raised $300 in prize money to give to winners; mentored the winners with a roadmap to start on what they should do (as a suggestion).

Essays/LORs/Other: My Personal Statement would be around showing that the truest reflection of my life can be found in the folders on my laptop, not my photo gallery. LORs would be decent ish - probably from my Maths Teacher (7-8/10), English Teacher (5-6/10), Datacenter Owner (10/10).

Schools: (not guaranteed yet, I'm still a Sophomore but yeah)

ED UPenn (prolly)

Rest RD:

MIT, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Harvard [Very high reaches but I think it's worth taking the shot]

Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, Duke [Most of them have high full-aid packages]

Then, there's Liberal Arts Colleges: Grinnell, Williams, Bowdoin, Reed, Denison, Whitman, Swarthmore, University of Richmond, Amherst.

Outside US: [NUS, NTU @ Singapore], [HKU, HKUST @ Hong Kong], [KAIST, POSTECH @ South Korea]

heyy. ill keep this short.

im a sophomore year student from India. cbse curriculum. im applying to uni's in fall 2029 for either applied maths or cs.

my current ec's are:

1. software agency with 40+ clients; recurring revenue of $3XX/m; helped businesses go online, improve retention and sales.

2. freelance developer with more than 65 orders completed; maintained 4.9 star average rating; average order value was $30-40.

3. local non-profit initiative that builds, hosts websites for small businesses and helps them with going online, automations and retention. 9+ businesses impacted; proven growth of upwards ~22% in sales.

4. peer tutoring my friends

5. independent learner at modernstates to seek rigor outside school. [cbse curriculum isn't that hard]

6. care taker for both parents [both are impacted by major health issues in their life]

7. local swe internship at a small datacenter (managed all 3 nodes they had, helped monitor uptime, fix issues, software updates and technical assistance to clients)

so, yeah what would be your opinion on my extracurriculars? are they good? any suggestions, if so, i appreciate them.

also, im Indian, applying for one of the most competitive demographic and major combinations, all while requiring full aid since i come from a poor, rural family, does that impact me positively or negatively? since i've heard colleges measure things we've done in context to opportunities, resources available to us. i've done most of my ec's thru opportunities i made for myself.

and about academics: ive been scoring 32-33 in the ACT practice tests. are they good enough? any tips to improve on English? i consistently get a 36 in math so that isn't an issue.

hi. I'll keep it short.

sophomore year rn.

cbse (india) is my board.

i wish to transition to an American curriculum for my junior and senior year.

what's a nice online high school that is good? and probably also hosts fun stuff and some extracurriculars.

cost?

scholarships?

i can pay around $2k/yr max (that's what my agency makes)

hi. gonn keep it simple, straight.

citizenship: indian

major: systems engineering / computer science

academics: freshman year - 93%, expecting 94% ish in sophomore. (max rigour, cbse)

around 130 in the Duolingo English Test and a like 1510+ in the SAT.

ec's:

1. founder, developer @ an agency that aims to make software accessible. revenue is ₹20,000 to 30,000 per month as of now ($200-300). served more than 40 clients and helped them grow their business.

2. freelancer at multiple discord servers. average rating of 4.9 stars, done over 65 orders.

3. hosted countless minecraft events to have fun with people. reached more than 100 people and managed technical sides including plugin development, system administration for the server.

4. care taker for cancer-survivor dad and mom with chronic neck issues.

5. hosted over 9 hackathons. distributed over $400+ in prize money. mentored the winners to grow their projects to large scales.

6. played school-level tennis and was the school team captain.

I'd be an FGLI too.

awards:

1. 2x national scholarship winners, once ranked 289 and once like 728.

2. Aryabhatta Maths Challenge State Winner.

3. Countless District Maths, Science Olympiad Medals.

4. Won a lot of school awards including for Extempore, Spell Bees, Web Design Competitions and one time Student of the Year.

expected financial contribution could be around $20k/yr, rest should be aid.

the schools I wish to go to: mit, Stanford (mit Stanford are just "dreams" but you never know unless you try)

harvard, cornell, Princeton, Columbia, UPenn, Caltech, Purdue (if I only get into Purdue per chance, I'd be able to take out a loan for the remaining ~$25k/yr), UC Berkeley, Grinnell, Amherst, uchicago, johns hopkins, northwestern.

yeah. advice is appreciated. if your just gonna be salty deep down your heart, please skip the post. true, reasonable criticism is accepted.

93% freshman, expecting 95% sophomore. (in sophomore rn) cbse. school doesn't offer ap's and I will take SAT in jr year or so (there's no AP and sat center in my State so will do when it's a good time and i'm prepared) I'm consistently scoring above 1500 in practice sat's tho. Indian male. FGLI.

extracurriculars:

1. led and develop at KrystalStudios making ₹30,000 per month on average and aiming to lower software barriers.

2. have freelanced at multiple places and have over forty five-star reviews.

3. tutored my peers with byte-sized lessons like some minutes to help them understand hard stuff (almost daily)

4. volunteer tutor for offline kids and have taught to like 20 of them.

5. summer internships at some small companies to help them grow and land in more sales.

awards:

1. top 300 in freshman year for a national test

2. state top 10 maths.

3. usaco gold

4. More state level Olympiads with some medals.

essay will be about showing the true reflection of my life being from my folders on my laptop that is the client projects and the messed up names for everything.

list of colleges: mit, Stanford, harvard, Princeton, upenn, Columbia, duke, umass amherst, Georgia tech, ucla, uc Berkeley and now for other countries: hkust, nus, ntu, kaist.

hi. i'm in my sophomore year.

indian, male, entrepreneur.

grades:

91% in freshman (like a 3.8-3.9 GPA)

expecting 93% in sophomore.

ranked 1st out of 160 kids in my grade.

ec's:

1. i run a software development agency that aims to lower the barries for accessibility to software dev services. have served over 30 clients and netting around $200-300/m avg in revenue.

2. i've freelanced at multiple discord marketplaces and have gotten 40+ 5-star reviews for my services.

3. i've participated in multiple school-level competitions like extempore, web design competition, spell bee and won a handful of them.

4. i've tutored my peers in "byte-sized" lessons helping them grasp on harder concepts.

5. volunteered to improve community engagement in multiple servers and helped community owners see improvement in activity.

awards:

1. state #30 in maths

2. national top 300 in a scholarship (freshman year)

3. academic excellence award from first grade till ninth (tenth unannounced yet).

4. won multiple school-level olympiads.

5. also awarded the Spell Bee Winner in my school.

i'm low-income, first-generation college student.

i kinda wanna get into top / good american colleges to study, research computer science and create software that becomes as accessible as language, technology as easy to use as it gets. peace. [colleges in my mind are like: MIT, Stanford, da Ivies, top Liberal Arts Colleges, Georgia Tech, UIUC, UT Austin, UC berkeley.] (a full-ride is a good one but if i end up getting into no colleges with full aid but get into one of the publics, i can go there with a loan.)