Hey everyone, I’m a rising senior, and I just want some opinions on my chances at the schools on my list.
PROFILE
•Black Male (2nd gen African immigrant to be specific)
•Family Income is ~$65K
•Dad has degree from East African country, doesn’t use it anymore as evidenced by family income hahaha
•Definitely need financial aid, will be applying for QuestBridge
ACADEMICS
•GPA: 4.60 Weighted, 4.0 Unweighted, Rank 3 of 620 students
•SAT: 2290 (730 Critical Reading, 770 Math, 790 Writing) [Hope CR doesn’t hurt me, I had no $$ to retest lol]
•SAT Subject Tests: Math Level 2 (800), Chemistry (800), US History (780)
•AP Courses So Far: [All 5s] Physics 1, Chemistry, English Lang, US History, World History
SENIOR YEAR APs: Physics C, Calc BC (ashamed I haven’t taken this yet), Lit, Gov, Macro, and Spanish Lang (yikes!)
MAJOR: Aerospace Engineering (Mechanical Engineering for schools without Aerospace)
AWARDS/ACHIEVEMENTS/HONORS
•USA Astronomy & Astrophysics Olympiad – Qualified for last round to compete for spots on US Team
•Discovered 2 Eclipsing Variable Star Systems | Submitted in International Variable Star Index
•Key Club Articles published in regional Tex-O Key Publication
•National Merit Recognition (at least commended since SI is above 209, but IDK about semifinalist)
•Awarded 1st Place Key Club in Texas-Oklahoma Region
•2015 Superintendent’s Scholar (just a local PSAT award)
EXTRACURRICULARS (Sort of my weak point I guess)
•Summer Astrophysics Research at SMU (8wk Internship) - Analyzed photometric data to find variable stars. Discovered 2 eclipsing variable stars.
•Amateur Astronomy (9-12) - Personal hobby of mine. Used my own telescopes and equipment to view planets and DSOs. I’ve always shared it with family, friends, and community.
•Key Club (10-12) | (Editor 11th grade) - I was the guy who wrote and edited articles, some of which were featured in the regional publication, and as an officer I also led service events. We were awarded the 1st Place Overall Key Club for having an outstanding board.
•United Nations Club (9-12) | (Representative 10th grade, Historian 11th grade) - I was the “face” of the club as a representative, documented events as historian. We held annual UN show, which showcased world cultures. Service events like helping Syrian refugees. Love this club, had lots of fun.
•HOSA (11) - Competed in regional medical math competition, placed 4th in it. Helped me with applied math and health education. Probably won’t continue though because I’m more focused on engineering and physics.
•NHS (11-12) - Typical NHS club, honor based, community service, yadda yadda.
******There might also be another activity listed here with my involvement in the AAVSO, but I’m debating putting that for now, depends on where it goes.
ESSAYS: Working on supplements, I’ve gotten really good comments on my main essay from AP Lang teacher and some CC members, but I’ll still be editing and reviewing that.
LoRs: Physics 1 and Lang teachers. I’ve tutored for my physics teacher, she’s my favorite teacher of all time, and we’re pretty close so I’m sure that’ll be good. Lang teacher is great too, she’s HILARIOUS, and my relationship is fine with her too.
SCHOOLS:
•Stanford (Top choice, gotta dream big right?)
•Yale (Love this school though it’s not particularly strong in engineering)
•MIT (Every nerd’s dream)
•Columbia
•Cornell
•UT Austin (I have auto-admit as TX resident, but engineering school is not a safety for anyone)
•Rice
•Carnegie Mellon
•USC
•UT Dallas (Safety, Qualify for scholarship that covers 100% of aid)
How do I look? Any recommendations or advice you wanna give me?
Thanks for reading everyone!