I was on Arts.
(meme) What have you decided? Engineering or medical?
Humanities.
As it's said in India.
Have you parents ever pressured you for science?
So hello everyone, today I have someone who is an inspiration to all the students
who want to be at Stanford and he is gonna share the hardwork it takes!
So hi Manu, you don't need an introduction but can you please introduce yourself?
Hello Harnoor! It's my pleasure to meet you
And like, I am very excited to meet you
and the first thing I would say in my intro is that I am a big fan of yours!
And... Everything comes after that.
So my name is Manu Chauhan and I have applied..
to the US and I have got admission in Stanford University
and I will be beginning my studies in the fall of 2021.
And I studied in a philanthropic institution called Vidyagyan School
which is run by the Shiv Nadar foundation.
It is a charity or foundation which is undertaken by
Hindustan Computers Limited which is like a great tech company in India.
Indeed!
This is one of the best foundations.
I have seen that it has made it possible for so many students
who didn't ever dream to be in abroad.
They reached there!
So would you like to share a bit about your organisation...like
what kind of students are there and how you reached there from your background.
Okay so, my background.. isn't very strong.
My father is a small insurance salesman in a village.
I belong to a village that is
21 kms far from my main city Aligarh.
My father was a small insurance salesman....So
we didn't have a great financial condition. So I studied in a government school.
When I was in govt school, I wanted to participate in lots of extra curricular activities.
Sports and stuff like that.. But
Just due to my financial conditions, I could not...
Whenever I had to think about participating in any activity that interests me,
I had to look at my financial condition.
So, in class 5th, my father came to know that
a school has been running on a foundation which
is for rural meritorious and underprivileged children.
So my father filled up the form for that.
He also made me prepare for that. It had two rounds of tests.
There was an interview as well and I was selected.
So everything completely changed in class 6th.
Like now, I could participate in anything!
Everything was taken care by the school authorities.
Amazing!
Now, I really want to share with students the hardwork it takes to be at Stanford.
Starting from 8th-9th grade...
Can you describe how a day in the life of a Stanford aspirant looks like?
So I was in class 8th when I actually dreamt about Stanford
and US universities.
So I was sitting in my school's ampitheatre and I...
I was watching a documentary on one of my seniors
So this senior went to the US for some exchange program.
So that day I really got motivated like, this is what I want to do...
this is where I want to go and...
So in class 8 I made my mind about Stanford and other US universities.
So I started preparing myself mentally from class 8.
Like understanding this whole application process..
Because this complete US application process is very subjective.
You need some time to completely understand it.
They check you personality traits in this process.
So it takes too much time. I started researching about it since class 8th.
There is a quote that if you want to cut wood, you will have to sharpen the axe..
So I did that work from 8th to 10th.
I read classic novels, like...
Most of the students of my generation are not interested in classic novels...
They are interested in Chetan Bhagat and other contemporary writers.
I started their label of English by reading those classic novels.
Also, the US mathematics is quite different like..
they way they solve problems is quite different from India or CBSE.
I was preparing for CBSE as well as from US point of view,
SAT preparation, knowing ownself, all these had started in class 8.
The real work starts from class 11th... of appearing for SAT, deadlines et cetra.
So from class 11th I gave 5-6 hours to this for 2-2.5 years.
Everyday!
My school routine used to start from 5 a.m.
We wake up around 5-6 a.m. and after doing our needs
we finish school at 2. After resting and playing sports
I used to sit a 6p.m. in the evening.
After taking breaks for dinner, 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. in the night!
So that was it... because I like to study during the night as I feel more productive
I also want to advice this, that people think they need to study in the morning
or they need to do this or that... study during the night..
But there is nothing like that... What the body suits,
you should do that.
If I start studying during the morning, I think I will never be able to study.
Definitely indeed!
Most of the students don't know how much time they should dedicate to SAT
and essays come in the way as well
also you have your school's studies...
So, how many hours?
So how many hours after 2 p.m. do you dedicate to SATs and how many hours to college essays?
So I dedicated around 2-3 hours for my regular school studies
for CBSE board preparations and other examinations
Like 4-5 hours to SAT
and when I was preparing and writing my essays,
I was back at my house
So I could give more number of hours to it because
of the lockdown due to Covid in 2020.
So I could give more time to essays, self introspection, retrospection etc
Amazing!
And I forgot to ask you about you major in Stanford or you haven't decided maybe?
Right now, I have international relations and Economics in my mind.
But I am like... If you are in class 12 in India, you are not aware of these things
As I was saying during class 11th and 12th in CBSE, we only know 5-6 subjects
Like these are the subjects...
But when you go to college, you get to know that there are many subjects
There is a big world to explore!
Right now, I only have international relationships and economics in my mind
But denfinitely I am open to exploring things and exploring myself and my interests.
Right now, I have international relations and economics in my mind..Major.
Awesome! You took commerce in 12th right? Or was it arts?
No.
I was on arts.
Humanities.
Which is called humanities in India...
In our school they called that arts maybe.. Or was it humanities? I forgot...
But many parents tell their children to take science only.
This happens today also.
Have you parents ever pressured you about science or...
My parents didn't put pressure on me because I was on the top 1% of the class
They knew like, "He's good. He must have interest."
And that's why they didn't say anything.
But yes, this mentality is there. The village I live in has the same mentality.
If I tell someone that I don't have science, I have arts
then they are like.. "Oh! That means you are intellectually backward!"
But I think it should be changed.
And as you know, essays are very much important. Like, you have to start months in advance.
So in this complete introspection, how did you come to know that
what stories to include and what stories not to include
because you are indeed one of the most inspiring children
So you may have got so many stories to share...Like activities...
So how did you figure out which activities to include.
Firstly you can share what activities you did and how did you pick among them?
Okay so... The first thing I would tell is that I am a state level Table tennis player.
So I was very much interested in Table Tennis.
And I also did a research under a professor of Shiv Nadar University
There is this professor in Shiv Nadar University. I cold emailed him and...
and I told him my research idea.
And I was following his research for 2-3 years...
so I realized that this idea could work. So I gave him my idea.
He was very much interested and he wrote a research paper
which is going to be published soon.
The research was about aegism in rural India. And I belong from rural India.
So this is about aegism in rural India and its psychological effects
To know its mental and physical effects
and to understand the background, we wrote a research paper on aegism of 4-5 pages.
This was a major activity of mine. Along with that I was playing Table tennis as well.
Other than that, I participated in a lot of youth education conferences.
I also represented India in a youth education conference.
I also participated in a lot of world level MUNs.
These were some highlights... There are others as well but
like, I also initiated a club at the school
for debate and stuff like that... So
And one more thing...
The most important thing... which is connected purely to my heart
is that I write short stories and publish them online.
I continued that as well. I used to write blogs
and wrote short stories - fiction.
So, that interests me a lot!
What is your blog? I'd love to check out and share.
Now, out of these, which activities did you choose for Stanford questions?
How did you decide which to pick... Like...
Like, is it basically statement of purpose
or you have to pick up activities for specific questions?
Like, what was the process? Because they share the questions 6 months earlier, right?
As the deadline is in September, they give the essay questions 6 months ago, right?
So you can prepare... So
Can you give a general idea of the questions
and how did you pick activities to share in the essay.
The prompts are all different
but generally the US application prompts focus a lot on
your personality.
Our society keeps a lot of expectations from us...
so somehow we start associating our identity to that expectation.
The society creates an ideal identity of ours
"This is a ideal identity... You should be a doctor. You should be this and that."
We start thinking of our ideal identity as our real identity.
You need to omit that out during the application process or essay writing.
Those type of promts are given... Like what's meaningful for you?
What is the most important thing for you?
Which thing makes you curious intellectually?
Prompts which are connected to your academics as well as personality.
So I would say those who are preparing for the US, they should know themselves first.
When they will give 4-6 months of time they will know themselves.
"Am I really the person I think I am or other people have provoked me?"
If you will know yourself well, then you will understand
which activities to put and which to not.
Indeed.
Totally agree... And next is
like...if you wanna share your scores.
Do you think SAT scores matter?
Yeah, so...
This Amy be optional now but I will say that SAT scores are always important.
It has always been important.. When I was appearing,
the SAT scores were very much important.
My SAT score was 1470
out of 1600.
And in TOEFL I got 115.
So...in optional.. Since it's optional students should give it, right?
For sure. I personally think they should.. Because
they have to stand out among international students.
The application process is always difficult for international students.
The admission rates of Harvard and Stanford that we see on Google
isn't the reality for us.
That's for the domestic students.
As we ask for scholarship and all that jazz so
the admission rates decrease on its own.
So we should do everything that's possible.
Wave in your hand and feet everywhere!
Hahaha! Totally agree.
Yup, now let's talk about financial aid.
So you can say that now, any middle class student in India or
even lower than that can afford.
So, the details you filled to apply for the financial aid..
How did you fill up the form? Which profiles did you read?
I think you need to apply for CSS profile...
and Common App
So what are the information, students should have ready in their hand
to give it to the university?
As you said there is this CSS profile for the financial aid,
there is Common App too.
And your important certificates such as income certificate or...
These are very much important.
People do not know what happens in the CSS profile...
So your father's income...
and your family's, they break that down.
Like how much you have spent on what.
So the CSS profile tells you how much money you are spending in which activity?
By this, they will get an estimate of how much you will spend on your education.
Or whether you can afford or not.
So adding to this, certificates are important.
Other than that, they also ask some other things like...
if you go to University of Pennsylvania, they ask for a similar thing as the CSS profile.
They have some other documents which you have to fill like CSS profile.
So there aren't much documents that are needed.
There are just a couple.
So they just ask... They won't ask you to convert INR to USD, right?
They don't calculate in USD, right?
If you are doing the CSS profile then its INR only.
But if they have a specific process then you have to convert into USD.
CSS profile uses INR only... This is what I recall..
Awesome!
So, in short, to apply for financial aid
its just one check mark and basic information.
- It isn't a big deal, right? - Yes.
It depends on the merit...
At the last, that's what matters.
And last few questions that I wanted to ask you about the application
I have seen people who apply- They just fill out as much info as possible.
They add additional information as well.
Like, "I have done courses on Coursera as well..."
"I have done this and that"
So, is it good to show off?
Should you give 110% information and show off? Or not?
Because too much information is also a dangerous thing!
You are absolutely correct. Putting out a lot of information is not worth it!
So, first of all I would like to say that
for example in Common App, they ask you the number of hours.
Number of hours and number of weeks...
So, simply if you can decide with this,
that how much time you are devoting to US.
Because the extra curriculars
are knowing your personality.
You can only know your personality when you put in an ample amount of time.
So include only those things which you have already given 4-5 years.
If you put activities that range in a month's time, how will they know your persona?
Exactly! That's an amazing tip!
I mean... Indeed!
If I realize about my application, I have added lot of things which I left after doing couple months.
It shows that you are not passionate about it!
Passion is something that you keep doing for a long time!
Personality basically is knowing what is going on your mind.
And the only thing that will go through your mind will be something that is prolonged.!
We can become aware of that!
It's a very basic tip
but if you try to add a lot of things, the examiner understands...
"He's trying to show off."
I will say that take the essays very seriously.
This is going to be my pro tip.
Take the essays very seriously.
So thank you so much Manu. It was a pleasure to be with you.
And I am sure this video will inspire thousands and millions of students
who want to be at Stanford as well.
Thank you so much.
Thank you Harnoor! Thanks for having me here.