Chance for 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>]
[</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 - 740; Physics - 670 (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): Top 1% (class size: 700, school size: 2900+)
[<em>] AP (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 ):
[</em>] 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?)</p>

<p>[/ul]</p>

<p>Subjective:[ul]
[li] Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): </p>[/li]
<ul>
<li><p>LEADERSHIP -
Rocketry Club: President + Founder (started end of 11th grade, will REALLY get going this year)
FIRST Robotics: President + Founder (starting it this year)
Science Olympiad Team: Leader + Founder (also starting this year)
Model UN: President (restarting the club this year)
Chess Club: Co-President + Co-Founder (11th + 12th)</p></li>
<li><p>PARTICIPANT -
Science NHS: Secretary (9-12th)
Mu Alpha Theta: Former Treasurer (10th), (9th - 12th)
Key Club: Member (possible future committee chair, 11-12th)
NHS: Member (11th - 12th)</p></li>
</ul>

<p>[<em>] Job/Work Experience:
[</em>] Volunteer/Community Service: 500 hours, 200 if internship is not counted
[li] 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).[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>Other[ul]
[<em>] U.S. State/Territory or Country: FL
[</em>] School Type: Large Public (2900+ 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
UC - Berkeley
Carnegie-Mellon
Cornell
Duke
Emory
Johns Hopkins
UF
UPenn
UC - San Diego
Rice
UM
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>HYPSM: reach
UCB: match
Carnegie Mellon: match
Cornell: low reach
Duke: low reach
Emory: match
Johns Hopkins: high match
UF: safety
UPenn: low reach
UCSD: low match
Rice: high match
UM: match
Purdue: safety
GA Tech: low match</p>

3

<p>Thanks! I am a bit new here; what does “low/high reach” and “reach” mean?</p>

<p>And given my stats, considering I’m Asian, that doesn’t look all that bad! Any tips? Will it look like I’m trying to pad resume with the clubs I’m starting this year? (If so, I can condense 3 of the clubs into one)</p>

<p>EDIT: And “high/low” for match?</p>

4

<p>Low match is closer to safety, while high match is closer to reach. Low reach means it’s close to a match, high reach means practically impossible.</p>

5

<p>Anyone else agree with scderek? (just trying to get perspective, nothing personal) Anyone else have suggestions?</p>

<p>Personally, I thought HYPSM was a very high reach for me, this does bring me some solace (I can’t chance for my life).</p>

6

<p>HYPSM is a high reach for everyone, so no one can accurately chance people on it. We can only judge whether or not a person would be a strong applicant - nothing’s guaranteed.</p>

7

<p>I agree with scderek. You’re very qualified. However, keep in mind that HYPSM are all extremely competitive. They’re reaches for everyone. You’re qualified to attend them, but they get thousands of applicants who are as qualified or more qualified every year. I would apply to them if I were you, but keep in mind that they are still reach schools.</p>

8

<p>I understand. I have nothing else to do on the weekends for the next… 3 months! So I’ll be working on those apps all day long.</p>

<p>What about MIT EA? It is the only college that I have been considering applying to EA (also my top choice). Are there any other (non-restrictive) EA colleges that would be good to apply to?</p>

9

<p>I’m not positive, but I think all of those schools on your list (barring MIT) are ED or SCEA. I don’t know what you’re looking for in a school, though, so I can’t really give good recommendations for others that have nonrestrictive EA.</p>

10

<p>Your uw GPA is okay although not great. Your ACT score is good but your SAT2 scores are a bit low for top schools particularly for engineering.</p>

<p>HYPSM universities: Reach
UC - Berkeley : High match
Cornell : Low reach
Johns Hopkins : low reach
UC - San Diego : match
Rice : Low reach
UM : High match for CoE (GPA below average, ACT at 75%)
Purdue : match
GA Tech : match</p>

11

<p>Thanks for the advice!</p>

<p>I will be studying like *%$# for the SAT IIs in October - will try to get Physics score to 700s at the least, and hoping the Math II goes to very high 700s - 800s even.</p>

<p>I <em>am</em> taking 7 college-level courses this year, and I do plan to get A’s in all of them; that should work out for the GPA.</p>

12

<p>math2 and physics are among the easiest to get 800 in SAT2. For top schools, try to get scores at or above the 90 percentile for each SAT2.</p>

13

<p>We have the same PSAT!</p>

<p>That’s about it lol.</p>

<p>I agree with the above postings about your chances. Btw, how did you take so many AP’s already? I keep getting astounded by these people with 10+ AP tests meanwhile in my school you can take 2 by junior year at most, with no ability to take the tests without taking the class.</p>

14

<p>Our school allows us to take as many APs as we want (at our own risk - if you don’t pass, your grade is dropped down to honors credit). I talked to my guidance counselor to get permission to do APs that normally are for higher grade levels. </p>

<p>Having teachers pitch in their recommendations that you can handle the workload really helps with that.</p>

15

<p>Bump for more chances.</p>

16

<p>To be honest, your test scores and grades aren’t that great, especially for an Asian. An SAT II Math IIC score of 800 (or at the very least 790) is expected at the very, very top schools. However, your ECs are definitely nice.</p>

<p>HYPSM: high reach for each school, but for getting into at least one of them, high match
UC Berkeley: match
Carnegie Mellon: high match
Cornell: low reach
Duke: low reach
Emory: match
Johns Hopkins: low reach
UF: safety
UPenn: reach
UC San Diego: low match
Rice: high match
UM: high safety
Purdue: safety
GA Tech: low match</p>

17

<p>Thanks. Assuming those SATII scores go to 790+, how would that change the chances?</p>

18

<p>Looks a little bit to me like you founded a bajillion science clubs senior year haha</p>

<p>Otherwise, what others have said: test scores a bit low, but other stuff looks solid. Don’t get your heart too set on HYSPM, but you have a really awesome chance at really great schools on your list such as Cornell and CMU.</p>

19

<p>One test score isn’t everything, so each school will move at most one subnotch from what I had previously (e.g. high reach to reach, low match to high safety, etc.).</p>

20

<p>Thanks. Is the SATII Physics score also a bit too low?</p>