Application

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I will be applying to theoretical math or EECS programs in schools such as MIT, Caltech, Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford. This is not so much a chance thread as a critique thread; I'd like to know where I'm weak and if these schools fit, rather than if I will get into them.</p>

<p>Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Pacific Islander
Citizenship: USA (not international applicant)
Residency: Taiwan</p>

<p>Standardized Tests:
SATI: 2400
SATII: 800Physics ; 800Chinese ; 800Math2 ; 770Bio
APs: 5Macroecon ; 5Microecon ; 5Bio ; 5CalcBC ; 5Stats ; 5PhysicsC
School: Super-Competitive Magnet School (Class size: 50)</p>

<p>GPA: 4.25 (weighting:: A+(98-100)=4.3 A=4.0 etc)</p>

<p>Sports::
-2005 Reebok Above the Rim Basketball Tournament 1st place Southern Div.
-2005 DACA Swimming Team 1st place Zone 1 Nationals</p>

<p>Extracurriculars::
Individual Mathematics Competitions:
-2006 American Mathematics Competition (AMC) 10 Perfect Scorer
-2006 American Invitational Math Exam (AIME) Score 12/15 (Taiwan Bronze)
-2006 United States Math Olympiad (USAMO) Qualifier (16/42)
-2007 All-Chinese Mathematical Olympiad (CMO) Silver Medal (27/42)
-2007 American Math Competitions (AMC) 12 Score:145.5
-2007 American Invitational Math Exam (AIME) Score 14/15 (Taiwan Gold)
-2007 United States Math Olympiad (USAMO) Qualifier
-2007 Taiwanese International Math Olympaid (IMO) Alternate</p>

<p>Team Mathematics Competitions:
-2004 American Regions Math League (ARML) 4th place
-2005 Taiwan Regions Math League (TRML) Silver
-2006 Taiwan Regions Math League (TRML) Bronze</p>

<p>Other Mathematical Activities:
-Author of "Olympiad Combinatorics" published in Taiwan
-Research on Planar Algebras and the Cactus Group with Berkeley Grad School
-College Courses: Linear Algebra, Advanced Calculus, Number Theory, Graph Theory, Modern Algebra (will be taking this senior year: 1st year grad course)
-2004, 2005, 2007 Mathcamp Participant</p>

<p>Debate:
-2007 Cicero National Debate Tournament Champion
-2006 Cicero National Debate Tournament Finalist
-Debate Team (25 members) President</p>

<p>Chess:
-2007 Taiwan Chess Association High School Open Bronze Medal
-Chess Club (25 members) Vice President</p>

<p>Model United Nations:
-HSINMUN I: Main Submitter Economic Committee
-TAIMUN III: Main Submitter Human Rights Committee
-THIMUN-Singapore II: Main Submitter HR Committee
-HSINMUN II
-TAIMUN IV: Main Submitter HR Committee
-HSINMUN III: Secretary General
-MUN Team (60 members) President</p>

<p>Thanks for your time!</p>

2

<p>you're too good....</p>

3

<p>Thank you, Sheed!</p>

<p>Any second opinions?</p>

4

<p>So unless you've got this rotten personality, I can't see why any school would reject you.</p>

<p>Do you have any volunteer hours?? Because that's all you seem to be missing.</p>

5

<p>you are crazy!!!</p>

<p>drooling at your AMC,AIME and USAMO scores*</p>

6

<p>oh if you are looking for weakness
umm
i can't find any as of now...
<em>bangs head into wall for my sad sad SAT1 score</em></p>

7

<p>Billy, I worry about community service too. I've done some volunteering for clubs like Key and Interact, but I have yet to dedicate a significant amount of time to it. Can you tell me how to seek volunteer opportunities outside of school clubs? </p>

<p>Thanks for the support Billy and rainy. As for test scores, I guess I got lucky. Best of luck to you guys too!</p>

8

<p>rainynightstarz, your screenname seems vaguely familiar. Are you on AoPS? Do you go to TJ/Exeter?</p>

<p>I'm fourierseries on AoPS:<br>
<a href="http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=145771%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=145771&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

9

<p>Haha, isomorphism, you didn't get "lucky" at all. You totally deserve that score, so no need for modesty here (just have it in your essays and if you're being interviewed ;) )</p>

<p>Well, you seem like the typical Taiwanese genius (lol). You make me glad that I'm here in the states, so I'm not REALLY competing with the international kids. Hsin Tsu? Hm, I think I have some relatives there...I was born and raised in Tian Mu in Taipei, so i gotta say hi!</p>

<p>I'm pretty sure you're in anywhere, haha. The reason I have my chance thread is because there are some flaws in my number stats, and I was curious as to how much they would hurt me, but apparently, not at all, so I'm reassured. I personally don't think you have much of a "chance" factoring in your applications, just pure skill. Best of luck!</p>

10

<p>You are in at Caltech for sure. And most likely in at MIT and Harvard though there is a level of randomness. Caltech looks for the smartest math/science kids and you are definitely one of them. Good luck, but you probably won't need it.</p>

11

<p>Wow, I haven't seen an applicant this good in a long time. Those are all excellent choices, and I can't see any substantial flaws at all. Oh and I don't think you'll need volunteer hours to get into any of those schools. Since you're very likely to get into all of those schools, you should decide on college atmosphere/social life/personal fit rather than insignificant differences in academics. If you want to know which schools we think we'll fit you, you should write about what exactly you want from your college experience and how you want to live your 4 years as an undergraduate (academics aside).</p>

12

<p>Like ^ said, you probably don't even NEED volunteer work, but if you want, maybe you could try teaching English in Taiwan. If you like working with kids.</p>

<p>I'm in the US, essentially doing the opposite: teaching Chinese to Americans (though they're Taiwanese in ancestry).</p>

13

<p>lol yes i go on AoPS</p>

<p>i am one of those sad sad kids that got into AIME since 8th grade but never got into USAMO T_T</p>

<p>i got to Lynbrook High School, it's a competitive public school
<starts bragging="" for="" school="">
we got MOPers for the past 3 years
and 5-7 USAMO qualifiers per year
57 AIME qualifiers this year
1st place in like all local math contests
First AND Second in the California on AMC ( one is the team AMC A score and one is for the team AMC B score)
and 2nd in the US for AMC this year
First in CAML
First in Mandlbrot western regional
</starts>
but we only gets like 2 MIT , 2-4 Caltech people per year.</p>

14

<p>bro get of cc u don't need this. y do i have to compete with kids like u...lol jk.</p>

15

<p>Thanks for all the input, guys and girls!</p>

<p>One more concern: I probably will not be a valedictorian. In 9th grade, I was finished with high school math classes, so I decided to take classes at the university. However, the students who do take math at our school have an extra A+ to pull up their GPA (our english teacher never gives so much as an A). Since our class size is so small and everyone is so competitive, this affects my class rank slightly. How much of an impact will this bear?</p>

<p>I don't mean to come across arrogant. I've just heard that the top schools take ranks into heavy consideration.</p>

<p>@rainy: I would have gone to Monta Vista if I did not move back to Taiwan. I am very familiar with Lynbrook; your school's math superstar was my childhood friend. In fact he went to ARML with me many years back.</p>

16

<p>At this level of competition, a few ranks probably won't matter at all. I highly doubt your peers have your level of prestigious awards and results: you're perfectly fine lol.</p>

17

<p>that's sooo cool!!!! more people from our awesome bay area!!!</p>

<p>more smart people in my geographical area to compete with.. awww DARN
you talking about mr. chu?
ahh monta vista is super competitive too... blah ...but my robotics team beat theirs XP lol my best friends from miller goes to there now</p>

18

<p>Ohhh Lynbrook. I swear, everyone's from there. I know 3 kids in all of California, (I'm from the midwest) and 2 of them go there. Okay, so they're sisters, but still.</p>

19

<p>Nice stats. I was thoroughly impressed.</p>

20

<p>dude you're sweet... lol... def. caltech like the other person said</p>