I literally skimmed through your post because I seriously can't stand what you've been saying. Let's ignore Malala and your views on her. I will not have that debate with you because I honestly think you are very naive.
Lets look at why you were not able to get in to Oxford/Cambridge...and I'll base this off the information you've given me.
Let's make a few things clear...starting extra curricular activities in Grade 12 is not enough because university applications are due by December of that year...Semester for all schools starts in fall Aug/Sep...that is 4 months of you doing "stuff"...that will not get you in to Cambridge. Sorry. They look at what you've done since grade 9. So yeah, that's one area you were clearly lacking in your application. It also matters what extra curricular activities you were involved in...(debate team, tier 1 athlete, not-for-profit volunteer, student club founder/leader, etc..)
Top universities DON'T only accept people who have international fame/recognition. This is where you're wrong. All universities, specially the top ones, maintain a DIVERSE incoming class each year. Let me break this down for you....
1) If Harvard has an incoming class of 200 students...and this is the breakdown of the applicants:
- 400 Caucasian applicants
- 100 Black Applicants
- 350 Non-Asian Asians (Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankan)
- 350 Asians (Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, etc.)
- 200 Latin Americans (Brazilians, Argentinians, Mexicans, etc.)
Out of these 1400 applicants, you will be fighting for 50 spots that are open for Non-Asian Asians meaning anyone who is Indian, Pakistani, Afghani, Iranian, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Nepalese). Your direct competition for a spot is with students who share your
ethnicity. You are going up against Indian kids who a very tough competition. . The only time you will not go up against your own ethnicity is when you're an "Under Represented Minority"
So you were basically compared to All non-asian Asians during your admission process and you didn't make the cut...why? Because there must have been more students from your ethnic background that had a better application. You really are at a disadvantage because Indians have flooded all the best universities in the world and you just can't compete with them on the nerdy stuff. What you need to separate your self from the desis is unusual extra curricular activities...
This is the same process used by all top universities. There are many different websites where you can actually read up on many very qualified candidates from around the world getting rejected because they were either White or Indian. (
www.poetsandquants.com,
www.wallstreetoasis.com,
www.gmatclub.com - these are some websites that actually lay out the admission criteria for all top schools (these are related to business schools but I'm sure you can find more on whatever your field is)).
And to debunk your international recognition/fame theory...I'll give you a few examples..
1) Mark Zuckerberg - hailed from a very poor Jewish family, no connections, no hi-fi college prep high school, got a scholarship to Harvard because he learned to code at the age of 15
2) Barack Obama - Grew up in Hawaii, no money, no fame, never met his father, got a scholarship at Columbia because he was a community leader who helped the homeless (at age 18)
3) David Rubenstien - his dad was a post office worker in Maryland, lived in one bedroom house with a family of 8, got a full ride to Duke and U Chicago because he was the smartest kid in Maryland (literally)
There are many others. These are some famous people who became famous after turning 30.
And for full disclosure I applied to Columbia, Cornell, Upenn and got rejected from all 3 not because I wasn't famous but because my application was weak compared to other people of my ethnicity. If I have to explain to you how Universities go about deciding which students to include you're already behind the game.
