Chance an Asian at HYPSM

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey, fellow CCers! I would appreciate a chance for top engineering/biotech colleges, or if there is anything I should improve!</p>

<p>Objective:
[ul]
[<em>]PSAT: 207
[</em>]SAT: 1960 (see ACT)
[<em>]ACT (3 sittings): 34 (34 last sitting / 32 second / 30 first) + 11 Essay (first sitting)
[</em>]SAT II (subject, score): Math II - 770; Physics - 740 (had a gap year between Physics class & exam)
[<em>]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.86
[</em>]Weighted GPA: 5.3+ (AP = 6 (max) at our school)
[<em>]Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4 out of 700
[</em>]APs (13 taken, will take 4 more): Human Geography - 4, World History - 4, Statistics - 3, Physics B - 4, English Language + Composition - 4, Calculus AB - 5, APUSH - 5, AP Euro - 5, AP US Gov't - 4, Psychology - 5, English Lit. + Comp - 4, Calculus BC - 5, Biology - 4.
[<em>]Senior Year Course Load: AP Macroeconomics, AP Chemistry, AP Comparative Government, AP Computer Science; Brit. Lit (comm. college), Astronomy (comm. college), Calculus III (comm. college); Macroeconomics (comm. college), Sociology (comm. college)
[</em>]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): none ):
[li]Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): Honor rolls, student excellence award, Harvard book, etc (all school level awards); AP Scholar and Natl AP Scholar (national level?)[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>Subjective:
- LEADERSHIP -
[ul]
[<em>]Rocketry Club: President + Founder (started end of 11th grade, will REALLY get going this year)
[</em>]FIRST Robotics: President + Founder (starting it this year)
[<em>]Science Olympiad Team: Leader + Founder (also starting this year)
[</em>]Model UN: President (restarting the club this year)
[li]Chess Club: Co-President + Co-Founder (11th + 12th)[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>- PARTICIPANT -
[ul]
[<em>]Science NHS: Secretary (9-12th)
[</em>]Mu Alpha Theta: Former Treasurer (10th), (9th - 12th)
[<em>]Key Club: Member (11-12th) (probably won’t mention b/c of application space)
[</em>]NHS: Member (11th - 12th)
[/ul]</p>

<p>- JOB/WORK EXPERIENCE -
[ul]
[<em>]Volunteer/Community Service: 500 hours, 200 if internship is not counted
[</em>]Summer Experience: Research internship at the university my dad works at (~300 hrs) (more informal - I was not listed in the research as it was not my project, I simply volunteered); volunteered at nursing home (~60 hrs); volunteered at temple (~140 hrs). Took 2 classes at local comm. college over the summer (religions, phys. ed).
[/ul]</p>

<p>Other:
[ul]
[<em>]U.S. State/Territory or Country: FL
[</em>]School Type: Large Public (2800+ students)
[<em>]Ethnicity: ASIAN - Indian (this will probably be the end of me)
[</em>]Gender: Male
[<em>]Income Bracket Range: 250k+
[</em>]Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athelete, development): Son of adult immigrants? (both parents went to college in their own country)
[/ul]</p>

<p>Other Factors:</p>

<p>So yeah... any suggestions, ideas? Would like a chance for HYPSM, but if you have the time, here's the full list:</p>

<p>HYPSM universities
Chance at getting into any one of HYPSM if I apply to all
UC - Berkeley
Carnegie-Mellon
Cornell
Duke
Emory
Johns Hopkins
UF
UPenn
UC - San Diego
Rice
University of Miami
Purdue
GA Tech</p>

<p>And a suggestion of other good univ's would be much appreciated!</p>

<p>EDIT: My counselor did say I "exhausted the school's curriculum" which is why I have to go to my community college this year to take Calc III and Astronomy and a bit more. Should I describe this on my applications?</p>

2

<p>Scores are fine, GPA is competitive but may put you at a bit of a disadvantage against a horde of Asians with 4.0s. What were your B’s in?</p>

<p>Unfortunately it looks kinda funny that >half of your extracurricular/leadership activities are all starting this year and a lot of kids will have similar activities.</p>

<p>Don’t write about your college classes on your application essays, but self-report them on coursework and send a transcript from the community college.</p>

<p>At this point all you can do is write the best essays you can and hope.</p>

<p>HYPSM universities-Reach for all
Chance at getting into any one of HYPSM if I apply to all-They are all reaches, applying to more than one doesn’t make you any more likely to get into one.
UC - Berkeley-Low reach/High Match for OOS
Carnegie-Mellon-CIT I assume? High match/low reach
Cornell-High match/low reach
Johns Hopkins-High match/low reach
UF-Safety
UPenn-Low reach
UC - San Diego-Match
Rice-Low reach
University of Miami-Safety
Purdue-Match
GA Tech-Low match</p>

3

<p>Your test scores and GPA are good, and having leadership roles in numerous clubs will certainly help. However, you’re applying to extremely competitive schools, and being Asian certainly puts you at a disadvantage. I chance you as follows:</p>

<p>HYPSM universities-Reach for all.
Chance at getting into any one of HYPSM if I apply to all- Very difficult to say since they are all so unpredictable.
UC - Berkeley-High match
Carnegie-Mellon-High Match ( Reach if apply to SCS)
Cornell-Low Reach
Duke-Low Reach
Emory-Match
Johns Hopkins-High Match
UF-Low Match
UPenn-Reach
UC - San Diego-Match
Rice-High Match
University of Miami-Safety
Purdue-Safety
GA Tech-Safety</p>

<p>Chance me back at <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1586454-chance-me-ut-austin-rice-georgia-tech-rice-wustl-johns-hopkins.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1586454-chance-me-ut-austin-rice-georgia-tech-rice-wustl-johns-hopkins.html&lt;/a&gt; Thanks in advance :)</p>

4

<p>“Chance at getting into any one of HYPSM if I apply to all-They are all reaches, applying to more than one doesn’t make you any more likely to get into one.”</p>

<p>You’re wrong though…</p>

<p>so…</p>

5

<p>Your SAT is definitely low for HYPSM; your ACT is within the mid-50% range of the schools you’re applying to. However, keep in mind that a LOT of Asians will have 35’s/36’s for the ACT and have stronger numbers overall.</p>

<p>HYPSM universities- reach for all
Chance at getting into any one of HYPSM if I apply to all- they’re all ultracompetitive; no guarantees, sorry:/
UC - Berkeley- match/high match
Carnegie-Mellon- high match
Cornell- low reach
Duke- low reach
Emory- match
Johns Hopkins- reach
UF- safety
UPenn- reach
UC - San Diego- low match
Rice- high match
University of Miami- safety
Purdue- match
GA Tech- safety</p>

<p>Chance me back? :slight_smile: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1586531-will-chance-back-chances-mit-berkeley-upenn.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1586531-will-chance-back-chances-mit-berkeley-upenn.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>You may want to add Vanderbilt to your list (you still have time to apply).</p>

7

<p>@elvis,
What do you mean, I’m wrong? Obviously, the OP has no chance if he doesn’t apply, but there is a misconception that it is a simple percentage game. With so many students applying and assuming that HYPSM select for <em>around</em> the same level of achievement with the same(or similar) pool of applicants, what causes one to get rejected or waitlisted at H may very well have the same effects at Y and P. It is very common for two students to both apply to all of them, and one student is accepted at all(or nearly all) of them and one to be accepted to none.</p>

<p>Obviously, kids get accepted to one and rejected from the rest on a regular basis, but this is a result of the colleges looking for different things in applicants. In fact, all these schools (especially M and S) look for “the right match” in applicants, so applying with a wide net in an attempt to “catch em all” will have the <em>same</em> results as looking for the few that fit what the OP is looking for and applying only to those.</p>

<p>TL;DR–admissions to these schools are independent events–being accepted to Princeton means that you were a good match for Princeton and that you would have been accepted there whether Princeton was the only Ivy you applied to or if you filled out applications to every single university on CC’s front page.</p>

8

<p>Thanks!
My dream college is MIT, and despite my initial optimism, I’m sure my stats are nowhere near what they should be for that… MIT does holistic admissions, and while my test scores might be alright, I have a feeling that they won’t be to impressed by the rest of my application… I haven’t won any major awards (state or national), haven’t built a particle accelerator for fun in 1st grade, or create a nuclear reactor to power the spaceship I built.</p>

<p>Any other suggestions? Ideas? Chances? Agreements? Disagreements?</p>

9

<p>

</p>

<p>“Top engineering” and Harvard/Yale don’t usually go together in the same sentence. It looks like you’re just looking for college prestige rather than quality of program. I’m curious as to why you’re choosing to apply there if it in fact isn’t for their overall “prestige.” You can get a better engineering education at Georgia Tech than at Harvard/Yale.</p>

<p>Just my 2c.</p>

10

<p>Your testing and GPA are decent but the only problem is that you don’t have my real interesting extra curricular so that make you stand out in an applicant pool. That might hurt a little.
HYPSM- all reaches, but would not be surprised if you got into one
UCB- low reach
Carnegie Mellon- high match
Duke- low reach/ reach
UCF- safety
Cornell- low reach
UPenn- reach
JHU- low reach</p>

<p>Don’t know about the rest. Good luck!! Chance back please? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1577460-chance-blue-devil-duke-ed-hopeful-receive-chance-return-4.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1577460-chance-blue-devil-duke-ed-hopeful-receive-chance-return-4.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

11

<p>Thanks.
Can someone help me with this problem:
I am slated to get 3 B’s and 4 A’s by the end of first semester of this year. Two B’s are going to be in Calculus III and AP Chemistry (hardest classes), and one B will be because my astronomy teacher (she failed me on a group assignment because the group leader forgot to include my assignment). So I’ll end up with:
American Literature (Dual Enrolled): A
Calculus III (Dual Enrolled): B+ (not sure if colleges count “+”)
Astronomy (Dual Enrolled): B+
AP Chemistry: B+
AP Comparative Government: A
AP Microeconomics: A</p>

<p>I did get straight A’s for my 7 APs last year, in both semesters.
Will this significantly hurt my mid-year report?</p>

12

<p>Honestly, with your GPA already lower than the top contenders at the HYPSM schools, the Bs can’t be good. But they understand this is senior year and your classes are very hard, so it’s hard to judge. Probably not enough to reverse a decision to accept you but it’ll make it harder for adcoms to come up with reasons why they should admit you out of the thousands of other qualified applicants.</p>

13

<p>Thanks. Do you mean that if I was accepted to ED somewhere, that probably won’t change, but I significantly hurt myself for RD colleges?</p>

<p>Anything I can do to soften the blow?</p>

14

<p>To be quite honest, your SAT scores are way below average to HYPSM. Not so sure about ACT but using a conversion chart its 1510/1600 CR+M which is decent.</p>

<p>But I don’t see any clear hooks. Plus your GPA is hurting a bit.</p>

<p>Good Luck.</p>

15

<p>@elvis,
What do you mean, I’m wrong? Obviously, the OP has no chance if he doesn’t apply, but there is a misconception that it is a simple percentage game. With so many students applying and assuming that HYPSM select for <em>around</em> the same level of achievement with the same(or similar) pool of applicants, what causes one to get rejected or waitlisted at H may very well have the same effects at Y and P. It is very common for two students to both apply to all of them, and one student is accepted at all(or nearly all) of them and one to be accepted to none.</p>

<hr>

<p>Of course. I said you were wrong because you posted:
Chance at getting into any one of HYPSM if I apply to all-They are all reaches, applying to more than one doesn’t make you any more likely to get into one.</p>

<p>Which isn’t true. Do you want me to explain how what you said is wrong?</p>

<p>She is in range for being accepted. Albeit she has a low chance (as does nearly everyone else), she has a chance. Applying to multiple schools increases that chance. Maybe she gets into 1 school. If she didn’t apply to that school, she obviously wouldn’t have gotten in. Do you not agree?</p>

<p>The OP wanted to know her chances for applying to all of HYPSM to get into one. If they’re all reaches, then they’re all reaches.</p>

<p>I know what you’re trying to say, you just didn’t say it.</p>

16

<p>

</p>

<p>This is nonsense.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>So in your opinion, colleges are going to reject him because another asian kid got a couple more questions right on the ACT?</p>

<p>Don’t listen to anyone here who tells you your standardized test scores are a problem. No college will even LOOK at your SAT now that you’ve taken the ACT. You don’t even have to send it. The ACT is ALL they will consider. And a 34 is an AMAZING score. Most colleges do not differentiate much between a 34/35/36. They know that the difference is just a couple questions wrong. A 34 does NOT hurt you whatsoever. It only helps. A student with a 34 and 3.9 GPA is pretty much the same as a student with a 35 or 36 with a 3.9 GPA. Colleges will not pick the latter over the former unless they have better ECs/essays etc.</p>

<p>The B’s are a problem, but if you’ve had A’s throughout high school, I don’t think it will be that bad. Maybe they’ll just brush it off as senioritis.</p>

<p>Still wondering why you’re even applying to Harvard/Yale though.</p>

17

<p>Harvard/Yale because parents want me to apply.</p>

<p>They think it might be a good idea if I suddenly change my mind about everything I have ever done in life / want to do (probably won’t). Either way, it doesn’t hurt to keep options open, I guess. </p>

<p>Total, in high school, I’ve had a few B’s (you see my UW GPA is 3.85) but I’ve had just about the most rigorous course load in the entire school last year and got all A’s - I hope that speaks for itself (should it? or is 7 APs normal?).</p>

18

<p>To quote a Howstuffworks . com article:</p>

<p>“It’s interesting to note that Ivy League applicants heavily favor the SAT over the ACT, even though all Ivies accept both. At Harvard, 98 percent of accepted students submitted SAT scores and only 25 percent submitted ACT results. At Princeton and Cornell, it’s the same story: 98 and 22 percent, and 99 and 30 percent respectively”</p>

<p>Regardless of your ACT score, such a low SAT score ~1900 would raise doubts in my mind.</p>

19

<p>Absurd, does the article show the % of students <applied> or not? If only 10% of students applying have ACT but 10% accepted do too, then what does that show? Is OP even submitting SAT?</applied></p>

20

<p>So I accidentally sent my SAT scores to MIT but they might just brush it off as a mistake due to my my ACT scores.</p>

<p>That disproportionate number might be due to the fact that a lot more students take the SAT than the ACT.</p>

<p>I do not plan on submitting my SAT to any other colleges (it was a mistake when selecting what to scores to send through the ScoreChoice interface).</p>

<p>What I’m most worried about, though, is the 3 B’s that will pop up on my mid-year report. How significantly will that hurt my chances? What can I do to help?</p>