Trying to make my Asian parents proud(haha…)
Demographics
- US citizen
- State/Location of residency: (NY)
- Type of high school (public high school, competitive, sends about 10-15 students to T20s, also sends quite a few more to schools like UC Berkeley, UMich, Carnegie Mellon, etc.):
- Gender/Race/Ethnicity : Asian, Indian male
- Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.): None
Intended Major(s)
Data Science, Computer Science
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
- Unweighted HS GPA: 3.9
- Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.44
- Class Rank: ~top 5%
- ACT/SAT Scores:
SAT: 1580
Coursework(took almost all APs + Honors, I only missed AP World History and AP Lit)
(AP Chemistry(5), AP Physics C:Mech(pending), AP Physics C: E+M(pending), AP Calculus BC(pending), AP Lang+Comp(pending), AP Stats(pending))
Taking Multivariable Calculus, AP Econ(Micro+Macro), AP Comp Sci, AP Gov, AP Bio, in Senior year
Awards
- Quiz Bowl National Qualification
- International award for a startup/organization competition(not as prestigious, but did win money + is legitimate competition)
- 2x Trivia Team State Champion/Runner-up award
- National Data Science Competition Award for being in a top (redacted) percentile
- Should be National Merit Commended, since my score is above the previous year’s cutoff by a good number, I have a pretty big scholarship/award still pending prior to the ED deadline that can replace it, although I may not win. Also studied for an Olympiad, missed the cutoff by one point.)
Extracurriculars
(Will not go too far to avoid being doxxed. Also, the years in parentheses are for how many years of participation, not leadership)
- Quiz Bowl Team(Co-Founder, Captain, 11-12) - Led team to Nationals in our first year(did not compete because of COVID restrictions), organized 12+ hour long weekly practices, featured in school + regional newspapers for our growth and accomplishments, also in the process of building our website from scratch, also writing some essays about it
- International CS-related non-profit(Founder, Lead Organizer, 11-12) - Relatively new, decently big impact, we actually do have a bunch of cool accomplishments(not a fluff activity), applying for 501c3, writing essays about it(favorite activity!)
- Trivia Club/team(Captain, 9-12) - Won the award mentioned above
- Outside of School Speech/Debate Club(VP, 9-12), organized some decently sized speech and debate events, designed an app that allows my debate club to organize+function better in the future
- JV/Varsity Sport(JV Captain, 9-12) - self explanatory
- Political org/club in my school (Board member, 10-12)- organized some pretty cool events, led a coding team to design our website, increased membership
- Data Science related research internship at a state university - I’m probably going to put it higher on my list
- Internship at a small CS company - also probably going to put it higher on my list
- A Coaching + Mentoring program for my sport - coached + mentored younger students through my sport(listed above), raised money to a local government-sponsored non-profit, had a personal letter written to me by the non-profit
- 50+ hours of volunteering at a hospital
Essays/LORs/Other
I am in no position to rate my own essays, and I only have some drafts written down right now. Does anyone have any suggestions for essays on the common app? My recommendation letters from my counselor and teachers are strong, since I have connections to them through my extracurriculars. I’ve also built a great bond with them as well, and I expect to have some good recs. I also have family connection with Cornell(although it is unfortunately not a legacy connection), and I have wanted to attend Cornell for quite a while now.
Cost Constraints / Budget
Will apply for financial aid, but decently well-off
Schools
Cornell (ED), Columbia, Duke, Northwestern, UPenn, Carnegie Mellon, Umich, a NY state school, University of Pittsburgh, Washu, Vanderbilt, UCLA, UC Berkeley,
Still looking for some more schools, praying that I’m not delusional