Asian American chance for Harvard

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I've decided to early for Stanford and then regular Harvard and Princeton. (I considered earlying MIT but decided Stanford was probably a better choice to early)</p>

<p>Ethnicity: asian american (korean)</p>

<p>GPA: 3.997 Unweighted (one a- in history elective freshman year ... grrrr)
SAT: 800 M 780 V 740 W, retook for 800 M 800 V 800 W
AP: Calc BC, Stats, Phys B, Bio, Chem, Micro
Self studied AP: Macro, Environmental, US Hist, World Hist
(All 5's on ap exams except for us history (4) and environmental (4)</p>

<p>SAT II: 800 M 800, WH 770, USH 800, Chem 800, Phys 800, Bio 800</p>

<p>MATH:
3 time USAMO (most likely going to make it this year as well), scores 10+, 15+, 30+ (for anonymity)
3 time AIME qualifier (Scores 11, 14, 13)
AMC 10 National winner in sophomore year
AMC 12 National winner in junior year
USAMTS Silver (freshman year), USAMTS gold (junior year)
4 year math team, and captain this year</p>

<p>Music:
All eastern band (alto clarinet 2nd chair)
all eastern orchestra alternate (on viola)
3 years all state / regional band
2 years all state orchestra (10, 11), 3 years regional orchestra
4 years school marching band, band, orchestra
various ensembles scattered throughout high school (string quartet in 9th, musical accompiment orchestra in 10th)</p>

<p>Athletics:
jv football (9)MVP, varsity football (10, 11), captain/MVP 11th grade
varsity fencing (9,10,11) (epee), 1st place state, Rank A09 fencer, C09 in foil
2nd place summer olympics div 2, 4th place junior olympics
varsity track (9,10,11)</p>

<p>Science:
invited to US Chem camp, Black MOP, RSI, Phys camp, international linguistics team in junior year,
Phys quarterfinalist (9,10, 11), semifinalist (10,11)
Science Olympiad some awards</p>

<p>And I am doing intel with a pretty original mathematics idea; my instructor says that he thinks I will at least be a semifinalist.</p>

<p>Student Gov:
treasurer (9th)
(ran for president and failed in 10th), gave up 11th</p>

<p>misc/etc
2140 hours of "community service", where community service is really just working at my dad's small business without payment</p>

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<p><em>bump</em> Can someone reply?</p>

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<p>awesome mth award
i can only get into the AIME
never got into the usmao
I think u might have a decent chance which very much depends on your essays
thx for your reply for my post</p>

4

<p>Wow. Probably in at all.</p>

5

<p>You’re a strong candidate. The challenge now is to make yourself interesting and more than a math/music geek in the application. Write about football.</p>

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<p>Really good, but I agree with talking about other things so you won’t appear to be another asian that is good at math.</p>

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<p>@hmom: I can’t really write about football. It’s easy to get onto the varisty football team in my under-average sized high school, and honestly, our football team isn’t a very good team. We haven’t made it to states in years and our record for the last three years was losing. </p>

<p>Thanks for everyone who replied. </p>

<p>I have to add something that probably will add a sharp negative tone to my application:
I got into a fistfight last year with someone on the football team who said something very insulting to me and we got suspended from school for 3 days (ironically the 3 days before I retook for a 2400). My teachers were kind of shocked after they heard that I had been suspended and many wanted to talk to me in private, which felt touching. They couldn’t believe such a well-behaved and often-quiet kid would get into a fight outside of school. So anyways, for the three days of my suspension, i just SAT studied at home… I’m actually worried about the suspension on my high school record. I hope it won’t kill my chances, since everything else is decent. And yeah, my friends called me crazy for retaking the 2320, but oh well.</p>

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<p>In writing an essay, often you will not want to write about what you’re good at. They can see that in your rank/scores/awards etc. It could be quite interesting, for example, to write about being on such a team and what it taught a usually high achiever.</p>

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<p>@hmom: Could you comment on the second part of my last post (about my suspension / fight)?
I suppose its an interesting idea to write about what being on a weak football team taught me. I never really felt as if it was my fault because it’s a team sport; oftentimes I put the blame on other members of the team. But I suppose it humbled me a bit.</p>

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<p><em>bump</em> Can someone reply please? Consider post 7 in the reply.</p>

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<p>yay good job, now you just need some luck</p>

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<p>O wow… If all that can’t get you into the school you want, I don’t know what can…</p>

<p>Good Job!</p>

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<p>WOAH AMC national winner??? wowww!!! this definitely sets you apart from all the other asian math geeks :slight_smile: I feel like you have a veryyyy good shot at all of those schools</p>

<p>as for the whole suspension thing, it shouldn’t look too bad on your record. there’s a section in the common app to explain that sort of thing- just say that you were stressed about having to take the SATs and made a one-time mistake, etc etc. good luck!!</p>

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<p>@fuzzyfire: Oh… I was planning not to mention my suspension at all (let it just be on my high school transcript) and maybe, just maybe the admission officer might overlook it or not see it. The only problem is if my rec. teachers mention it… which I hope they don’t.</p>

15

<p>Write your essay on the fighting and the suspension and what it taught you about yourself. That is really the only flag on your app so take it head on. </p>

<p>Have you been in contact with the fencing coach at Stanford? They have a strong team but you should be recruitable, I would think. BTW, how do you get 4th place in fencing? They always have 3T at NAC/JOs.</p>

<p>Also, I see in one of your other posts from last week:</p>

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<p>How do you win an MVP in 11th grade when you’re just starting your junior year?</p>

<p>and that you play the piano along with the viola and the clarinet? You are one superhuman that needs no sleep.</p>

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<p>well, on the common app it asks you if you’ve ever been suspended/expelled/other disciplinary action, etc etc… and you press yes or no in the choices and then there’s a little box for you to explain it underneath. so um… yeah…</p>

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<p>From your post on 9/13/09</p>

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<p>your post above:</p>

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<p>So which is it? Doing or done?</p>

<p>Please don’t waste our time. We are here in good faith.</p>

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<p>Lol, its clear that this guy has definitely made up most of his qualifications.
If you search through the perfect scores for AMC as well as the semifinalists
for the US Physics Team, there are no profiles that match this person.</p>

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<p>Just in case you’re real, do not use the essay to talk about your suspension. Use the essay to demonstrate something positive about you.</p>

<p>Write a letter addressing the suspension and send it in as a supplement. </p>

<p>It will hurt. At any school accepting under 10%, they will use any small point to narrow the field. Address it well.</p>

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<p>Wow. Top-notch applicant. Surely among the nation’s strongest. Although nobody is a shoo-in at such competitive schools as Stanford and Harvard, you’ve got as good a chance as anyone else. I’m sure you’ll get into one of those schools, and they’re all excellent.</p>