<p>Schools at the top of my list are UChicago, Harvey Mudd, Stanford and MIT. Will the lack of "leadership" in my ECs mess me up? Also I am worried my passion for math won't exactly shine through in my app...</p>
<p>School Type: MA Public
Ethnicity: Asian/White
Gender: Female</p>
<p>PSAT: 69CR/80M/78W - so, probably NMSF
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9 at the moment, school doesn't weight
AP’s including next year: European History, Biology, English, BC Calc, Latin, Physics; expect to do well (4's/5's) in all of them except biology
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): a few national latin exam gold medals</p>
<p>Extracurriculars and such
Art: Multiple weekly classes/workshops/clubs, comic strip making, graphic design and illustration jobs for my school and friends (DEFINITELY submitting an arts supplement wherever I'm applying... assume it will be good)
Music: weekly piano lessons for 10 years, also bass and singing in a chemistry-themed band
Math/Science: TEAMS engineering competition junior and probably senior year, Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics (probably, or maybe just working in a lab this summer)
Theater: writing, directing, teching, and set-designing for major school productions year-round
Sports: Tennis team fresh/soph year, helped start a quidditch team at my school but not in charge of it
Volunteer/Community service: Various soup kitchens, tutoring at the middle school</p>
<p>Hard to say, since you don’t have your SAT scores yet. What’s your class rank? If you’re worried about your passion for math not showing, write about it or enter more competitions. AMC 12? Math II Subject Test? AP Calc BC? Good scores on those show a passion for mathematics.</p>
<p>Really, it’s hard to call it at this point; UChicago seems like a pretty good bet, depending on the art supplement; Stanford and MIT are tough as hell. I was rejected from Stanford EA. The lack of leadership qualities might harm you, but if you want some easy coins in that jar, you can always be the founder of a club at your school (plenty at my school have done it); that requires no popularity and it shows initiative. If you’ve directed school plays, however, then that is some leadership.</p>
<p>In this competitive world, however, you might fall into the category of Asian math geniuses that play piano, but…eh. It’s a hard caste to break. Can’t do a whole lot about racism in big schools these days. Get those SATs in, and good luck to wherever you apply!</p>
<p>Hmmmm thanks. I don’t think it’ll be too hard to prove I’m not in the asian-piano-player caste. I don’t live a very “asian” life at all, actually, I just happen to be half-Indian. I guess as long as my essays are really good…</p>
<p>I don’t tend to do well on the AMC, but hopefully I’ll have a stellar math rec and a couple more accomplishments by the time I apply.</p>
<p>On another note d’you think I could get into the NHS if I applied?</p>