Am I an attractive candidate?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>So here's my stats:</p>

<p>I'm an an Indian male, however I am atypical of Indians in that my mother is from the northeast and my dad is from the south, meaning two different cultures (I wrote an essay about this). I am from a suburb of Houston Texas and I go to a fairly competitive high school. </p>

<p>My grades are impeccable, I have a 4.0 unweighted, and I am third in a class of 907. I have taken 5 AP classes, 4 of which I took the AP test in (exception was Music Theory because of a conflict with Biology) and I got 5's on all of them. I am taking seven AP classes in total this , and will be taking eight tests by the end of the year (I'm taking the physics 1/2 exam). I've taken German all four years, and I got a gold medal on the AATG national German exam (scoring in the 90th percentile) and was offered a spot on the German study trip although I had to decline. </p>

<p>My standardized test scores are also very good. I got a 2350 (math 800, reading 800, writing 750) on my sat the first try and I took 3 subject tests. My scores on those were Biology 800, Physics 800, Math 1 770. </p>

<p>My extra curriculars are extensive. I've been involved in orchestra throughout high school. I play the viola I have made the regional orchestra all four years and this year I was selected to be in the Texas all state orchestra. My school orchestra is quite good, for our works in the previous years we were selected to participate in the american string teachers association national orchestra festival. In addition, my friends and i organized a small quartet that visits a local retirement home every month to play music for the seniors. I plan to send in a recording of me as part of my arts supplement.</p>

<p>Also I am heavily involved in my school's science team, and I am the president of science club. The science club competes in UIL and starting this year Olympiad as well. UIL is Texas primary organization for for academic and athletic competition. I placed 2nd in science at the district level, getting 1st place physics. At the regional level I placed seventh overall, first in biology, and second in physics. This qualified me for UIL State, the highest level of competition. There I placed 17th overall in the state. I am also Activities Chairman of our school's inaugural Science National Honor society, which performs extensive community outreach to enrich science.</p>

<p>I am also president of the German club at my school, where we teach students about German culture and heritage. I am also a founding member of the inaugural German National Honor Society at our school, another community outreach society dedicated to excellence in German. I am also in NHS, which is no big deal I'm sure. </p>

<p>Finally I do play the tabla, which is a pair of classical Indian drums. I have been learning for a little over 8 years and am considered quite good. I intend to send a supplement of that as well. Last summer I was selected to be a volunteer camp counselor at the Hindu Youth Summer Camp where I served the community by teaching several young children how to play the tabla and sing Indian classical music, as well as overseeing my own group of campers over the course of two weeks. </p>

<p>I am applying to the following schools:</p>

<p>University of Texas honors college of natural science
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
MIT
Stanford
University of Chicago
Rice
So chance me pls?</p>

2

<p>Bump</p>

3

<p>Are you guaranteed a place in the U of Texas honors college, and are you willing to attend if you don’t get into any of the other schools on your list?</p>

<p>Although I would think the odds are excellent you will be accepted to at least one of others, they are all highly selective and it’s certainly possible that a candidate with excellent academic credentials would be rejected by all of them - possibly due to so-so recommendations and/or lackluster essays.</p>

<p>That being said, you sounds like a great candidate for any of these schools, and as long as you put the same level of effort into your applications as you did on this post, your essays are strong, you have good recommendations, and you interview well, I would suspect you would get accepted to at least one of the remaining colleges on this list.</p>

<p>If the U of Texas honors college is not a sure thing, or if you are unsure you would want to attend, I would recommend you look for a couple of less-selective colleges to add to your list.</p>

4

<p>I’d say they’re all reaches regardless of who you are. I’ve known people with much better stats than you get rejected, but a friend of mine with a 3.5 UW gpa got into Princeton last year just by being lucky.
I think you’re a valid candidate for all of these schools, but make sure you have plenty of safeties</p>

5

<p>Your stats and extracurriculars look good, perhaps some more leadership? But you look like a good candidate.
You’re good for UT, rice, and chicago, but the rest are unpredictable. This is not a reflection of you but of ivy league admissions, as they are unpredictable. But you have a good shot.
Chance me back: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1703251-chance-me-princeton-yale-uva.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1703251-chance-me-princeton-yale-uva.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>Bldrdad, the UT honors program is excellent and also a safe bet for me considering I am in state. I would be more than willing to attend if none of the other colleges accept me.</p>

7

<p>@armagnavox - does the UT honors program have rolling admissions so you can get a response prior to RD deadlines? That would remove the need to apply to safeties (such as Rice and UChicago :slight_smile: )</p>

<p>I’ll disagree with SamusScipio on two points - first, UChicago is close to HYPSM when it comes to selectivity, so it’s not a sure thing. Second, you have clearly shown leadership based on your descriptions of your ECs.</p>

<p>To be honest, you come across as exactly the sort of candidate HYPSM will be looking for. While it’s true there will be no lack of academically talented Indian American males in the applicant pools for these schools, the depth and breath of your ECs are exceptional, and coupled with your excellent academic record, will give you a significant advantage over most applicants. I would feel comfortable predicting you will get into at least one of HYPSM, and likely more. :smiley: </p>

8

<p>Your chances are good for all those schools, and odds are that you get into at least one school (aside from UT)… adding more targets or safeties may do you well though just to be safe… University of Califonias, USC, NYU, BU, etc…</p>

9

<p>Thanks @BldrDad‌!
Keep em coming guys. I want more opinions!</p>

10

<p>Not to polish the cannonball, but I would sign up for the Math II test for the December sitting (is the deadline tomorrow?), just to be sure. Math II is preferred over Math I. Again, in the face of all the rest of your application, it is just polishing the cannonball (before firing). And some would say, “what’s the use in that?” Good luck.</p>

11

<p>@itsjustschool is it really preferred? Idk all the colleges I’ve asked they said that they don’t prefer either, just don’t use both of them as your two required ones.</p>

12

<p>@armagnavox, I see it is not required. I guess I confused my schools:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.admissions.caltech.edu/content/how-apply-first-year-applicant”>http://www.admissions.caltech.edu/content/how-apply-first-year-applicant&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

13

<p>If you are hoping to go to MIT or Caltech I highly recommend you take the Math II SAT subject test. First of all, its not a hard test, it is one of the easiest subject tests, and thus it is pretty much a standard. I personally feel you have the stats to have the attention of the admissions officer, and your ECs are commendable. I like that you have a few that are more concentrated than a broad range. I think personally that your ECs are pretty average though for these schools. I think you have a very good chance of getting into one-two of these top schools and a decent chance of getting into the highest caliber such as Yale, Princeton, Harvard etc.</p>

14

<p>Thanks @bailkun! I suppose they are pretty average but I’ll hold out hope.</p>

<p>Keep em coming guys. All opinions are welcome.</p>

15

<p>This is pretty darn good. You deserve to go to a very fine institute of learning, and I wish you the best of luck. HYPSM, Rice and UChic will be low reaches, and I am tempted to say high matches, but just because of how unpredictable they are, I’ll be conservative and just say that they are low reaches. </p>

16

<p>@IAmTheGOAT‌ thank you very much! Very helpful! </p>

<p>Dissenting opinions are welcome people!</p>

17

<p>You definitely have good ECs and amazing scores. Also, you have leadership and the tabla. This being said, I hope you elaborated in ur essay about the two cultures. It sounds really interesting and would lend itself to a really moving piece. </p>

<p>University of Texas honors college of natural science-match (I don’t know about the honors college though…)
Harvard-reach
Yale-reach
Princeton-reach
MIT-reach
Stanford-reach
University of Chicago-high match
Rice-high match</p>

<p>Thx for chancing me!</p>

18

<p>@IAmTheGOAT‌ - great comment! @armagnavox‌ - good luck!</p>

19

<p>Thanks @figuresk8r410‌ ! </p>

<p>Bump for more opinions!</p>

20

<p>Yet another bump! Keep going guys!</p>