u/TheIndian_07

Demographics: Indian male, first-gen, first in my school to apply abroad for the US, need lots of aid

Background: I grew up almost entirely in the US, moved back to India when I was 11. Parents separated at the same time, basically lost my entire life in one go. Academically and socially suffered from 6th through 8th grade, had to rely a lot on introspection because no one else could help. All this stuff is what introduced me to neuropsychology, and it's what my entire application revolves around.

Could speak but was illiterate in Hindi, every teacher accused me of incompetence and malice when I couldn't learn. New Hindi teacher in 9th actually saw me and helped, and that's what finally ended the years of regret.

Test Scores:

1. SAT: 1530 (780 EBRW, 750 Math)
2. TOEFL: 112/120 (though my being a native speaker probably means this'll be waived)

Grades (CBSE): Four years science, three years math, English four years, social studies two years, psych two years, foreign language (well, domestic language here) two years.

9th: 85%

10th: 92%

11th: 95%

12th: 99%

Class rank: 1/200

Gap Year: I've already graduated (Spring 2026) and am applying for Fall 2027. Basically giant family kerfuffle which resulted in me having to delay college and take up a full-time job. Hopefully isn't a malus.

Activities (Common App order):

1. Founder & Director — Cross-Cultural Youth Mental Health Initiative
2. Research Assistant — Adolescent Psychiatry Lab
3. Volunteer Crisis Counselor — Child Crisis Text Line
4. Independent Research Thesis: Identity Collapse & Adolescent Neurodevelopment
5. Medical Assistant Intern
6. Head Boy (Student Government0
7. Hospital Volunteer
8. Editor-in-Chief — School Newsletter
9. Academic Tutor — School Service Club
10. Customer Service Associate — Amazon (this is the full-time job)

Honors:

I know it's not too good compared to other Indian applicants, best I could do.

1. Cambridge Re:think Essay Competition — Finalist
2. Published Article — "Cultural Identity & Adolescent Mental Health," Indian Journal of Youth & Adolescent Health
3. International English Olympiad — National Rank: Top 50
4. Neuroscience Summer Program (state university, not too prestigious)
5. Research Poster Presenter — High School Research Conference (not prestigious at all)

So my essay really just talks about my background and specifically learning Hindi like a five-year-old when I was a teen, and how much of a necessary embarrassment that was. Talks about how I went unassisted during my later childhood and how I don't want it to happen to others. Not a trauma dump, more of service to others.

My counselor was also my psychology teacher as well as the licensed psychologist in the mental health initiative, so that's probably going to be a great LOR. The two teacher LORs come from my Hindi teacher (probably another great one, though her lack of English skills may underplay it a bit) and biology teacher (she didn't know me much beyond class, so this is going to be mid). The non-academic LOR will be coming from the neuropsychology professor I worked with in the research lab and summer program, so another good one I'd say.

College List:

Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Brown, Columbia, UPenn, UChicago, Duke, Dartmouth, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, WashU, Rice, Notre Dame, Cornell, UC Berkeley, Tufts, Emory, Rochester, NYU, Tulane, UMiami, CWRU, Wisconsin-Madison, Georgia State.

If you need more info, just ask!

Demographics: Indian male, first-gen, first in my school to apply abroad for the US, need lots of aid

Background: I grew up almost entirely in the US, moved back to India when I was 11. Parents separated at the same time, basically lost my entire life in one go. Academically and socially suffered from 6th through 8th grade, had to rely a lot on introspection because no one else could help. All this stuff is what introduced me to neuropsychology, and it's what my entire application revolves around.

Could speak but was illiterate in Hindi, every teacher accused me of incompetence and malice when I couldn't learn. New Hindi teacher in 9th actually saw me and helped, and that's what finally ended the years of regret.

Test Scores:

1. SAT: 1530 (780 EBRW, 750 Math)
2. TOEFL: 112/120 (though my being a native speaker probably means this'll be waived)

Grades (CBSE): Four years science, three years math, English four years, social studies two years, psych two years, foreign language (well, domestic language here) two years.

9th: 85%

10th: 92%

11th: 95%

12th: 99%

Class rank: 1/200

Gap Year: I've already graduated (Spring 2026) and am applying for Fall 2027. Basically giant family kerfuffle which resulted in me having to delay college and take up a full-time job. Hopefully isn't a malus.

Activities (Common App order):

1. Founder & Director — Cross-Cultural Youth Mental Health Initiative
2. Research Assistant — Adolescent Psychiatry Lab
3. Volunteer Crisis Counselor — Child Crisis Text Line
4. Independent Research Thesis: Identity Collapse & Adolescent Neurodevelopment
5. Medical Assistant Intern
6. Head Boy (Student Government0
7. Hospital Volunteer
8. Editor-in-Chief — School Newsletter
9. Academic Tutor — School Service Club
10. Customer Service Associate — Amazon (this is the full-time job)

Honors:

I know it's not too good compared to other Indian applicants, best I could do.

1. Cambridge Re:think Essay Competition — Finalist
2. Published Article — "Cultural Identity & Adolescent Mental Health," Indian Journal of Youth & Adolescent Health
3. International English Olympiad — National Rank: Top 50
4. Neuroscience Summer Program (state university, not too prestigious)
5. Research Poster Presenter — High School Research Conference (not prestigious at all)

So my essay really just talks about my background and specifically learning Hindi like a five-year-old when I was a teen, and how much of a necessary embarrassment that was. Talks about how I went unassisted during my later childhood and how I don't want it to happen to others. Not a trauma dump, more of service to others.

My counselor was also my psychology teacher as well as the licensed psychologist in the mental health initiative, so that's probably going to be a great LOR. The two teacher LORs come from my Hindi teacher (probably another great one, though her lack of English skills may underplay it a bit) and biology teacher (she didn't know me much beyond class, so this is going to be mid). The non-academic LOR will be coming from the neuropsychology professor I worked with in the research lab and summer program, so another good one I'd say.

College List:

Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Brown, Columbia, UPenn, UChicago, Duke, Dartmouth, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, WashU, Rice, Notre Dame, Cornell, UC Berkeley, Tufts, Emory, Rochester, NYU, Tulane, UMiami, CWRU, Wisconsin-Madison, Georgia State.

If you need more info, just ask!

the Indian Prime Minister refusing to interact with the press in your countries? Modi has not given a single press conference in his entire tenure in India. I was doubtful he'd change in the EU, and it seems I was right.

Nearly 3 in 5 Indians, roughly 840 million people, rely on the Public Distribution System (PDS) for their sustenance.

The PDS is a food security system that was established by the Government of India to distribute food and non-food items to India's poor at subsidised rates. Major commodities distributed include staple food grains, such as wheat, rice, sugar and essential fuels like kerosene, through a network of ration shops established across the country.

In addition, another 11% are covered under state schemes. Including the population covered under state schemes, 950 million persons were covered by the PDS. PDS can include both subsidised and free foodstuffs.

The government spent $24.5B in food subsidies in fiscal year 2024/25, not including state spending. This is larger than many countries' military spending, and even health and education in total for some.

And despite decades of spending on food availability, nearly 75% of rural residents and 50% of urban residents still rely on rations. In a country with a space program, prosperous middle class, and a full assortment of wealthy elite. Really, this is a display of India's inequality and giant population more than anything else.

What can be done to reduce dependency? India is one of the largest agricultural producers, and yet a majority of our populace can't meet their food requirements in only the market. The current system has many flaws, including poor quality food and rampant corruption, and yet many would starve without it.

The following are the twelve best nations judged by quality of democracy according to Democracy Matrix.

1	Denmark	0.958	Working Democracy
2	Norway	0.956	Working Democracy
3	Finland	0.946	Working Democracy
4	Sweden	0.946	Working Democracy
5	Germany	0.944	Working Democracy
6	Switzerland	0.934	Working Democracy
7	Netherlands	0.93	Working Democracy
8	New Zealand	0.928	Working Democracy
9	Belgium	0.925	Working Democracy
10	Costa Rica	0.914	Working Democracy
11	Spain	0.912	Working Democracy
12	Luxembourg	0.905	Working Democracy

Of these, seven (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and Luxembourg) are constitutional monarchies.

Does having a constitutional monarch contribute to a strong democracy? Or is this merely the benefit of social democracy? And if so, does social democracy attribute some of its success to the presence of a monarch?