Am I on the right track?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey guys,

I am a high school sophomore(Class of 21) and am leaning towards a major in computer science, economics/finance or some combination of these, with a slight edge towards CS. As a result, I am aiming for the regular top 10 CS schools(CMU, UC Berkeley, UIUC etc) where I will likely minor or double in econ/finance, and am also looking into some dual degree possibilities(such as UPENN M&T).

While I know it is quite early for a “chance me,” these colleges are obviously extremely competitive, and as such I want to know if I am at least on the right path in terms of my academics/ECs, and more importantly if there is anything I should work to improve/change. Just to put me in reference, my school is quite competitive/well-ranked(send ~20 kids to ivies/top 10 per year).

Here is a quick overview of my stats:

Academics:

Freshman Year:
-All honors

Sophomore Year:
-AP Comp Sci A
-Honors Physics(Self-study AP Physics 1)
-AP Macroeconomics(Self-study)

Junior Year(As of now):
-AP Calc BC
-Advanced Topics Physics(Equivalent to AP Physics C Mechanics + E&M)
-AP Comp Sci Principles
-Advanced Topics Comp Sci
-AP Lang
-AP Microeconomics(Self-study)

Standardized testing: PSAT(1460/1520), will take actual SAT and Math 2 next year.

ECS/Awards/Leadership:
-Model UN(Have consistently awarded at national conferences)
-Debate(Not many awards but am quite active)
-Founded a CS club at my school
-Founded a CS nonprofit outside school(teach kids how to code)
-Officer in an entrepreneurship organization outside school(organize/hold seminars on business, public speaking etc)
-Hackathons/CS competitions(Awarded at ~5 hackathons outside school)

Work/Internship:
-Work at Code Ninjas(Teach kids coding)
-Will conduct research under professor this summer(related to computer science)

other info:
-Indian(Asian) male
-No Financial Aid

Any advice regarding stuff I should do next year or even this summer would be really helpful. Again, I know this is quite early for this, but posting now means I have a chance to actually improve next year.

Thank you guys so much.

2

It is impossible to chance for such selective colleges. Many outstanding students with amazing GPAs, perfect standardized tests, wonderful ECs, etc. are rejected simply because there is not enough space for all of the very well qualified candidates.

It is great you have a list of reach schools. BUT now focus on finding match and safety schools that you love and would be excited to attend (one idea offhand might be URochester). Most people do not spend enough time on this part of the college selection process.

As an aside I would consider taking a second SAT II exam next year.

3

Right, start with safeties you like and can afford.

It’s hard to know where you stand because you omitted courses from freshman and soph year (so not the full view) and show us jr year as highly unilateral, almost all stem Self studying micro is no replacement for a true history class- etc. (Same for physics 1.) Where’s the foreign lang? Look at the courses recomended by your targets. It’s usually a lot more than just stem that matters. Read what MIT says in their blogs, for hints. Get some non-stem comm serivce. Founding a nonprofit isn’t a tip (could be done without that umbrella.)

Some of colleges you note are not as tough to get into as, say, MIT, Stanford, etc. But you want to cover your bases in the right ways.

4

You and everyone else with high stats and aspirations will be applying to those very same schools. There aren’t enough seats for all of you, so most of you will not get one. Still, you have the stats, so give it s try.

What a lot of kids in your situation forget to do is carefully pick those schools you know will likely take you, get that list together early, and apply early if you can, and show them attention. Some of those “safeties” are not showing themselves to be so safe these days. I personally know two kids who looked at UMich OOS as a safety, and were deferred, along with their EA app to MIT and it was not a pleasant 4 months following that waiting for RD replies. Certain majors like engineering and CS fill up early so if you miss securing something early, you could be left out in the cold. Don’t turn safety schools into reaches of her shut out by not taking care of them firstband with care.

5

Agree that your schedule is STEM heavy. As I noted on a prior post of yours it is critical to look at what colleges you are interested in want to see in your HS coursework – most want a more evenly distributed schedule to include 4 years of English/SS/Foreign Language. Check the recommended/required coursework for a college by googling the common data set and looking at section C for each school. Most all applicants will have all of the required/recommended HS coursework. Omitting required/recommended humanities coursework because your prefer STEM courses is not a valid reason. Also I would not waste time self-studying for AP Macro – you have plenty of APs and colleges aren’t impressed by self-studying – it does not replace taking an actual class.

6

@cptofthehouse I definitely understand your points about having safeties and I will be sure to make a list of those. Since I do have roughly a year before applications, however, I also want to focus on maximizing my chances at the top schools as well and that’s why I am asking for any advice that will help me do so.

7

@happy1 Sorry for not including the other classes in my post, but I will definitely be completing all of the required courses. As for the post, I just wanted to include the courses that would potentially stand out in applications. As for AP macro and micro, the reason I am self-studying those is because I am genuinely interested in economics and my school doesn’t offer both of those courses.

8

You need to talk to your GC about what you can do and what the school can do to give you optimal chance at the top schools. When you are at a highschool that regularly sends kids to these schools, the college counselors know that beat better than any of us can advise you, as they have all of the particulars.

You have the most rigorous curriculum, you are poised take the tests, and you are prepping for them, I assume. National Merit Scholar would be a nice designation to pick up. You want National awards if you can get them.

Work in some substance in your helping kids code and computer classes. Hopefully it’s in community service mode, that you are giving to others.

This board does best with kids without the advantages that you have. Kids who may not have the availability of AP courses that need to step out of their environs and comfort zone to meet the standards of selective colleges. Their GCs are not going to be giving them the best advice to get into these schools, so the kids have to guide the way. You have that all as a given.

9

@cptofthehouse Although we do send a fair number of kids to good colleges, the GCs at our school aren’t very helpful in actually prepping for top schools and most kids have to figure things out themselves or simply look at what others did. The reason I asked on this forum was to get a general idea of things I should do or improve on to help my chances overall.