Marks are not everything. #BoardResult

A short thread how I cracked my top schools with average scores

My batch was the first to have 99 as the highest score (ikr it's absurd)

We were the ones who started normalising 90s in board exams

I had always maintained an average score, not getting ensnared in the rat race that my school so dearly loved

I got a 90 in class X boards with a 60 in science and 80 in math.

I pursued humanities and loved every every bit of it.

I thought I will therefore better my scores but I got the same marks in my 12th boards too

The good thing was that most unis wanted you to take part in a competitive exam for entrance and I thought there was still hope

DU cut off that year for pol science was 98% (lol as if)

I couldn't crack CLAT for a good law school because hear hear my scores were not good enough

I had to change my "life plans" and go to Loreto College under Calcutta University which relied heavily on interviews (a skill I still pride myself on)

Pol Sc became the foundation of what I do today.

Fast forward to 3 years after

My uni 3 years average didn't make the "First division" cut because well CU. They hold on to marks like mom does her Tupperware

I forgot about it till last year when I thought of applying to University.

All hell broke loose when I realised that 1st div is a mandate

With seeds of hope that the skills I had developed, the experiences I had had would suffice I decided to take my GRE and apply to ONLY THE TOP 5 POLICY SCHOOLS IN THE WORLD (I know very arrogant)

My mentor had emphasised on how I need to make sure my GRE was exemplary

But being who I am, I tanked that too.

I got a 316 (below average and definitely a death knell to all Harvard aspirations, or so I thought)

After days of being moppy, an unemployed me decided that I might as well apply.

I channelised all that I had learnt - in politics, policy, my leadership initiatives, my aspirations - into my application

Yes, I still only applied to the top 5

I poured my heart and soul into who I was - not what my marks were - into those detailed forms and essays

January 2020 I recieved my first acceptance.

By March 20th, 2020 I had received an acceptance, including scholarship, from EVERY school I had applied to - Yes even Harvard

No one was asking me my scores anymore

No one had rejected me based on boards, uni marks, or GRE

What I believe they found worthy in my application was what I got to the table.

That was so much more than some high scoring marks.

I had put blood and sweat into building my profile, into nurturing myself, developing hard and soft skills.

And that is what paid off

To all those who are disappointed with what you got, just remember that it is a tiny part of who you are or what you can be.