Chance a Country Bumpkin

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Wow, I can't believe I'm actually making one of these.</p>

<p>MIT
Stanford
Caltech
Harvard
Berkeley</p>

<p>Before you dive in - there are 3 AP courses offered within a 60 mile radius of my school. So, I've (attempted to) compensate by taking courses at the nearby junior college. 100-level is just your standard introductory college course, at the J.C. Concurrent denotes a junior college-issued syllabus being taught at the H.S. itself.</p>

<p>Objective:</p>

<p>SAT I (breakdown): 2250 - 760 Reading, 760 Math, 730 Writing (probably won't send)
SAT I superscore (breakdown): same
ACT (breakdown): 34 - 35 English, 34 Math, 34 Reading, 32 Science (will retake in Sept.)
ACT superscore (breakdown): 34 - 36 English, 35 Math, 34 Reading, 32 Science (see above)
SAT II: Math II 720, Physics 670. Yeah, I know. Precalc teacher forbade the use of graphing calculators; physics class was a complete joke... Anyway, I took a supplementary 100-level physics course at the junior college this summer. Expecting a big boost in both scores. This is my biggest issue right now. Any comments are certainly welcome.
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: School doesn't weight. (We offer 0 AP courses).
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/30.
AP (place score in parentheses): Comp. Sci. A (5) (self-study)
Senior Year Course Load: 100-level Spanish, concurrent English, 100-level Gen. Chem, concurrent Government, 100-level Calc I & II, Senior Seminar (application/scholarship hour)
Number of other top-school applicants in your school: 0. In the past ~15 years, my school has sent one to Harvard and one to Oxford.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NMF Likely, ISEF Finalist 2011, 1st place national FBLA (tech-centric event), State Track 800m 13th, State Track 4x800m relay 16th, State Quiz Bowl 2nd 2010, 3rd 2011</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
RMTS (kinda like Duke TIP, summer 8th-9th), Church server, reader, musician (guitar), youth group guitar & volunteer hours (Special Olympics, etc.), Student Gov't 4 years (Head Boy this year), FBLA 4 years (Pres. this year), community service groups, NHS secretary, etc. Precalc peer tutoring 90 hrs., briefly shadowed networking company last summer. Varsity football past 3 years, basketball past three years (small school). Won top individual award at regional math competition (6~7 schools). Won small-school-division team math competition, larger region.</p>

<p>Electrical engineering research - ISEF. New Comp. Sci.(networking)-related project in the works. May/may not submit to STS and/or Siemens, depending on time.</p>

<p>Board member of a new recycling startup in my area (applying for official nonprofit status soon). Have applied for state & local grants to grow & promote the project. Raising awareness throughout area schools; sorting out stinky recyclables. :)</p>

<p>Work Experience:
For the last three summers, not counting this one, I've worked at an agricultural research facility (only kind we have down here). Part manual labor, part scientific research. Awesome job. 5 days/wk, 5 hrs/day (during that time).
Designed & implemented a website for an area hotel.
Provided general tech & networking support for same hotel.</p>

<p>Will be seeking LoRs from Precalc & History teachers, and possibly my pastor.</p>

<p>Other:</p>

<p>Intended Major: Elec. Eng./Comp. Sci. Still not sure which.
Dates: MIT EA for sure, Caltech possibly EA, others RD
State (if domestic applicant): Mountain plains region
School Type: Public (~130 in H.S. Town of ~650).
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Legacy@MIT (means nothing, as it should be). Rural area?</p>

<p>Congratulations on reading all of that. Glaring weaknesses are the SATII scores right now. After having taken physics at the college, and having used a graphing calculator, I hope I'll be in better shape. Your thoughts are most welcome.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>If you don’t get in to at least one of those colleges I will ***** a brick</p>

3

<p>^ Seems pretty optimistic, lol.</p>

<p>Forgot a few things first time around. Anchored the 4x800m team at state. Won the People’s Choice award at state science fair (one awarded to a H.S. project).</p>

<p>Any thoughts on EC focus? I’m wondering if they seem too scattered.</p>

4

<p>You are like guaranteed to get accepted to Berkeley. My friend is going there and she was an ok student.</p>

5

<p>Was she in-state? I thought UCs give preference to California applicants. I have no idea, though.</p>

6

<p>UC’s do give preference to California applicants, but you’re app is very solid. I’d give you a good chance for Berkeley, but the rest of the schools are crapshoots for everybody. You seem well qualified, however, and I could see you getting into at least one. Good luck!</p>

7

<p>You should try a few “safeties”-possibly your local state U?</p>

8

<p>I’ve got 'em. Three in-state; still deciding between two for my top safety pick.</p>

9

<p>Honestly I think you have an excellent shot at these schools, with particular emphasis on Harvard & MIT. MIT because they show a notable preference for research, and Harvard because they are starved for engineers- they are spending billions per year to build their engineering school and good students are necessary. Your ISEF award should go a long way there. (small town status certainly does not hurt either).</p>

<p>The others I am a bit more iffy on, but your overall stats are excellent. You must retake the subject tests however - yours are very low for these types of schools. It’s the only hit to an otherwise very good resume.</p>

10

<p>I agree with snipersas. You definitely have a good shot at all of those schools, but you should definitely retake the SATIIs. I think you have a better shot at Berkeley than the others. I’ve heard that for UCB if you have the scores and stats, then you’re in whereas for some other schools it’s more random.</p>

11

<p>Duly noted. Think I forgot to mention that I’ll be retaking MIIC & Physics in October. Barron’s Math II should arrive today, and I’ve got my J.C. physics textbook (Serway & Vuille’s College Physics, 9th ed.) and SparkNotes to go from. I’ll be getting PR’s physics book for the practice tests.</p>

12

<p>If berkeley doesn’t accept you, then there’s something wrong with their admissions officers.</p>

<p>You have a pretty good chance with all the rest, should get into at least 1-2, but still, there are a lot of very strong students applying for the same schools, best of luck to you.</p>

<p>Chance back?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1189227-chance-my-friend.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1189227-chance-my-friend.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

13

<p>Any thoughts on the ACT? Forgot - 11 essay. Got the 34.25 blues. :frowning: I’m retaking in September, though. Science is the biggest issue.</p>

14

<p>Hate to necrobump this thread, but I figured it’d be the best place to ask. Due to scheduling issues, I might not be able to take 100-level Spanish 1st hour. I’m already making two round trips between the H.S. and J.C. I’ve taken three years of Spanish through the H.S. (of questionable value), and it’d be Spanish I at the college. I’d be working on my ISEF project in lieu, and possibly self-studying for AP English Comp.</p>

<p>Schedule: ???, concurrent Government, 100-level Gen. Chem., concurrent English, 100-level Calc I & II, and Senior Seminar (application/scholarship hour).</p>

<p>Thoughts? Will it negatively impact my chances? I know course rigor is the first thing colleges look at…</p>