Chance at HYPSM/top colleges!?

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 (will not send - see ACT)
[<em>]ACT (3 sittings): 34 (34/32/30) + 11 Essay (first sitting)
[</em>]SAT II (subject, score): Math II - 770; Physics - 740 (will retake)
[<em>]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.85
[</em>]Weighted GPA: 5.25+ (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)
[</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?), National Merit Commended[/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>]Chess Club: Co-President + Co-Founder (11th + 12th)
[<em>]Science National Honor Society: Secretary
[</em>]Mu Alpha Theta: Former Treasurer (10th), (9th - 12th)
[/ul]
- PARTICIPANT -
[ul]
[<em>]Key Club: Member (possible future committee chair, 11-12th)
[</em>]NHS: Member (11th - 12th)
[/ul]
- 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:
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. Should I describe this on my applications?</p>

2

<p>You dont have a hook if both your parents went to college…plus your income bracket is 250k+ and you’re Asian. That’s opposite of having a hook.</p>

<p>You stand a strong chance at all the schools you listed except for HYPSM obviously. Those schools are reaches for anybody. I’d probably only apply to MIT and Stanford if you want to go into a strong engineering program.</p>

3

<p>Thanks! Bump for more opinions.</p>

4

<p>As far as chances at HYPSM, you could assume a relatively low % chance of getting into each of them (say 7%), then take the complement (93%), raise that to the 5th (70%), and get the complement of that (30%) to see a rough estimate of your chances of getting into at least 1, but that assumes that their admissions are more random than they are (it’s better than nothing, though).</p>

<p>Also, are you combining your ACT scores, or are the scores you list all from the first sitting? Some colleges will only consider the highest overall score you got on a particular sitting, so if that score is a decent bit lower, you might consider retaking the ACT.</p>

<p>Besides that, your rank, course load, and EC’s are all really good. While some schools might not give you credit for classes you take at community college, taking them shows initiative, and taking a class like Calculus III before college will definitely be advantageous.</p>

<p>And make sure you check out the Computer Engineering rankings at :[Best</a> Computer Engineering Programs | Top Engineering Schools | US News Graduate Schools](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/computer-engineering-rankings]Best”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/computer-engineering-rankings)
It’s based on graduate programs and the methodology is based on a survey, but it’s still a pretty good guide for undergrad stuff. The rankings might surprise you, for example, Harvard is ranked #22, behind Georgia Tech and a laundry list of other state schools. Obviously Harvard’s reputation could trump a school that’s ranked only slightly better, but just know that HYPSM isn’t always best.</p>

<p>Obviously HYPSM and ivy league schools are reaches for anyone, but I’d say you’d have a pretty good chance of getting into one depending on the nature of the ACT scores you listed. You have a good chance of getting into the other schools listed, but Berkeley is pretty tough to get into if you aren’t a California resident.</p>

<p>Hopefully this was helpful, and sorry for any typos.</p>

5

<p>Thanks! I got a 34 on my third sitting. 34 superscored. Its a slightly higher 34 when I list all my scores, and my essay jumps from an 8 to 11.</p>

<p>Should I send/list all scores? Or just the third one?</p>

<p>Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk</p>

6

<p>Bump! Could use more opinions/replies.</p>

<p>Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk</p>