<p>What are my chances for schools like HYPMS, and CalTech, Rice, UChicago?</p>
<p>UW GPA: 4.0
SAT, taken once. Math:800 CR: 780 W: 750
Rank: top 5% in small school, ~50 students</p>
<p>AP Biology(5)
AP Microeconomics(5)
AP Statistics(5)
AP Calculus BC(5)
AP World History(5)
AP Computer Science(5)
AP US History 55
AP Physics C 5
AP Chemistry 5
AP English Literature and Composition 5</p>
<p>Senior Course: Pretty much the same, maybe a little less cause I exhausted most of the hard classes
EC's:
Math Team (Captain) (9,10,11, 12)
Varsity Debate Team (11)
Computer Science Team (co-captain) (10,11, 12)
NHS (10,11, 12)
mathcamp (last two summers)
Research project this summer
Volunteer: Assistant Coach to middle school math team. Prepares and gives lectures (10,11,12)
Jobs: 2 short summer jobs this summer, one as camp counselor</p>
<p>Awards:
USAMO qualifier for 9 and 10
Highest AIME score of 11, AMC 12 score of 138, USAMO score of 14
USACO Silver
A bunch of state/regional math awards
a bunch of regional/state awards for computer science
National Merit, AP scholar</p>
<p>Your grades and scores are excellent. Your ECs are focused but maybe too focused- is there a way to position yourself to be a little more multidimensional? Something that is not math related? Volunteer work? Sports of any kind? Any other ECs in high school or even out of high school? Maybe play up the summer camp counselor experience?</p>
<p>HYMPS: they are a reach for everyone. you are plenty talented by the numbers. See comments above about making yourself stand out from the crowd of really smart Asian men who like math and science. Why are you different or better than everyone else? Whats unique about you that makes them want you above 100s of similar applicants?</p>
<p>I’ve always just really liked math/science, didn’t bother with those things I wasn’t too interested, but I do spend a lot of time on the things that I do. Like 20 hours a week. I guess that’s kind of not working out to be in my favor now. </p>
<p>Your grades are fine, but extracurricular activities are a little weak. The reason is simple - schools like HYP select students for two reasons - either they are generally high achieving people, or they are very good at something. Qualifying for the USAMO is clearly a good achievement, but just generally short of the top achievement level necessary to be admitted to HYPMS specifically for math - each school admits relatively few math people, so you have to be in the top ~100 or so in the country to be successful there.</p>
<p>If I were you I would try to make MOP next year - that should do the trick.</p>
<p>True, but math olympiad qualifiers form only a small portion of the students recruited for their skills at math. Many participate in research that is presented at ISEF or professional journals, in addition to those heavily involved in graduate level math classes at their local universities.</p>
<p>You’ve got a lower shot for Harvard & Yale but I’d def. apply to Princeton & Stanford as reaches. I think you’ve got a good shot for Caltech, Rice, and UChicago (like 75% chance)</p>