I have 4.0 UW and 4.6 academic GPA in the hardest classes at my school and 8 5’s on AP exams. Basically, I am solid academically and counselor’s LOR will say so.
But I lack strong individual awards (STEM Olympiads, Science Research Competitions, etc.) because I’ve focused on marching band (where I am trumpet section leader and is 18 hrs/week), robotics (where I am programming lead and is 8 hours/week), and soccer (highest ranked player 10th in JV, regular player in varsity). I also am part of organizations that help spread STEM and have numbers to prove it.
Doing these time consuming activities combined with rigorous academics have left me with little time to shoot for T5 tier awards. I have great awards (made very selective regional band, got PVSA gold for 250+ hours, National Merit, and an AP award). These are great, but are they Stanford or MIT admit level? Probably not.
I could have gotten USACO Gold or AIME if I had been less involved with other activities. My question is, should I have done less ECs so I could have gone for more awards, and is having strong awards usually necessary for T5s if you are an asian male from the bay area applying for computer science?
OP- you can “do everything right” (top scores, top grades, top awards) and STILL not get into your top choice college. And what can you do about it now???
Like every other kid in America- you need solid match and safety schools.
I know kids who have run themselves ragged doing Science Research Competitions (very time consuming btw) and given up on activities they truly love (which sounds like marching band for you) and then they end up at one of their “not top choice” colleges and feel like their HS years have been stolen from them.
Don’t look back, look forward. You are clearly a fantastic student and any college would be lucky to have you.
This is my second post in a row where I am giving the same recommendation.
You should read the “applying sideways” blog on the MIT website. While this blog is aimed at MIT admissions, the same approach is appropriate for other top universities in the US. The point is that you should do what is right for you, and do it very well. This approach is exactly what I did that did get me accepted to MIT (but many years ago). Much more recently the same approach, but with completely 100% different ECs, got one daughter accepted to a very good DVM program where she is studying right now.
It sounds to me as if this (“do what you want to do, and do it very well”) is what you have already done. This is the right thing to do. Keep it up.
Then look for universities that are a good fit for you, keep your budget in mind, and make sure that you apply to safeties.
Also, congratulations on your great academic work to date. It sounds like you are doing very well.
“T5s” are not a homogenous group. Each has its own expectations, values, institutional priorities. If you didn’t evaluate those differences and shape your applications to address how you fit the school and the school fits you, that should be your greatest concern. Colleges don’t want cookie cutter. Hopefully your essays, LORs and interviews created a narrative that explained your choices and your future direction.
And your years in high school doing things you love to do, are every bit as valuable as years at what you call a T5.
Make sure you find a school that fits you and don’t worry about fitting yourself to a set of schools. I know your environment may prioritize getting into T5’s but you can be happy at literally hundreds of schools, many of which also have a prestige factor, if that is important to you.
Continue doing the EC’s that are rewarding for you and don’t have regrets. Again, those top awards are not necessary- but with or without them, chance are slim for everyone so make sure you have other schools to love.
You are a well rounded & well qualified college applicant, but do not limit your sights to someone else’s version of “top 5 schools”; find the top 5 schools which match your interests and resources.
My kid’s classmate went to Harvard. He was passionate about politics and spent most of his free time doing stuff related to that. He probably did get some kind of community awards, but none such as you describe.
Do what you enjoy doing. Stay on top of your grades. That is the best you can do.
Are you a junior looking for advice on how to pull together a college list? You have a very well rounded portfolio and should look to focus on how to pull all this together over the summer into a coherent package that reflects “you” - not the something else that you did not pursue. There are several very competitive universities outside the T5’s, and they expect a solid application package , especially the “Why us” essays . My ORM son from NJ (interested in engineering ) focused on UMich, GTech, Purdue etc. with stats and EC’s similar to yours.
Apply broadly . Even with the T5’s, you will need to see which ones fit your interests. Best of luck to you!
Just one last thing…there are kids with your stats in at ‘top 5’ but more turned down.
These kids are also rejected at schools ranging from Tufts to UNC and even this week in CS amazing kids with your GPA and 1500 SATs are claiming rejection at schools like UMD (given certain majors).
And there are kids like u at probably every flagship in the country. Alabama has 900+ NMF qualifiers etc. yes they go for free tuition and housing. Other schools offer great deals too
The point is…like everyone says….you should have your top schools if they interest you…those are your reaches. Then you need targets…which depending on the major might be that #30-60 or 70 and then a safety that you could love and afford !! A guaranteed entrance that hits the budget and you can get giddy about.