<p>You will be competitive in the admissions process. You are academically and extra-curricularly qualified for any of the top schools.</p>
<p>The problem is that the vast majority of people who are applying to HYPMS are competitive in the process and are qualified. Indeed, at Yale, 90-95% of applicants are academically qualified, and yet it only has an admissions rate of 6%. If you don’t have anything that makes you massively stand out, like finding the cure to cancer, then you will still have a chance, but that chance is small.</p>
<p>With that said, since you are qualified, please, please, please apply. You never know what will happen, and you very well could get into one of the top schools. I mean, what’s the worst that happens if you don’t get accepted? You lose a little bit of money on application fees. But, on the flip side, what’s the best thing that could happen if you got accepted to one of the top Ivies? I’ll let you answer that for yourself, but it’s clear that the potential benefits of applying far outweigh the potential costs.</p>
<p>Also, if it’s not too much of a hassle, visit the colleges you’re interested in, even if they are reach schools. You’ll quickly learn what you like in colleges and what you don’t like, and it will also help you write more individualized supplementals for each college. </p>
<p>You’re on the right track. Believe me, even if you don’t get into HYPMS (and that by no means is certain), you will end up at a very good college. Just make sure you take full advantage of Junior year, which is by far the most crucial year for college admissions. Keep your grades up, pursue your EC’s to an even higher degree, try to find an internship for next summer, and, most of all, enjoy yourself. Remember, you only get to be in high school once, so enjoy the experience while you can.</p>