<p>Academics:
chinese american at strong school in minnesota
GPA: 3.88UW (rank 4th of 450), 4.42 W (ranked 1st of 450)
PSAT: only 217 should be a semi-finalist
SAT: 2240 CR 700 M 800 W 740
SAT II: 800 Math II, 700 US History, 760 Chemistry (Do i need to retake?)
Most rigourous course load.</p>
<p>Work/Volunteer</p>
<p>I've volunteered over 300 hrs at local hospitals and libraries.
Summer internship at the University of Minnesota doing semi-individual research under a professor.</p>
<p>Activities</p>
<p>math team (captain) -4 yrs
science olympiad team - 3 yrs
Minnesota Youth Symphony (played in both the 2nd and 3rd highest levels of 4 levels) - 2yrs
School's chamber orchestra 2 yrs
Cross Country Running - 3 yrs
Track and Field - 3 yrs (didn't do it during junior yr)</p>
<p>Honors and Awards</p>
<p>Science Olympiad:</p>
<p>2nd Place in 2008 National Science Olympiad competition, 9th place too
3 Sliver medal at Regionals
Ton of invitational medals</p>
<p>Math Team:</p>
<p>10th grade:
27th in the State High School League
2nd Place in my division</p>
<p>11th grade:
6th place in division </p>
<p>Math League: 5nd Place in state this yr, 3rd place last yr, MVP both yrs</p>
<p>Passed AMC every yr since 9th grade and has taken the AIME every year. Highest score on the AIME was a 9</p>
<p>Sports: Nothing significant</p>
<p>Intrested in:
MIT
CalTech
Stanford
Cornell
UCBerkeley</p>
<p>To place UBerkeley as a safety is bordering insane (just an expression, no offense). I just talked to a friend today who was waitlisted at UPenn (a very prestigious Ivy) but was flat out rejected by UC Berkeley. Forgive me, but Berkeley is nowhere near a safety. </p>
<p>MIT: High Reach
Caltech: High Reach
Stanford: Reach
Cornell: Low(er) Reach
UC Berkeley: Reach</p>
<p>Cgar, you have really good stats, but all the schools you mentioned are reaches for even those with perfect scores and perfect GPAs. I would recommend you compile a lists of matches and safeties instead of all reaches. I am not saying you don't have a chance at any of those schools. In fact, you have a really good chance. But when people say that Ivy/Top Tier school admissions are a crapshoot, they are right. </p>
<p>Just my advice, and good luck with the admissions process!</p>
<p>The only thing that will hurt his chances for Berkeley, in my humble opinion, is the fact that he's Asian (ORM) and OOS. As far as stats go, he's easily above the average of the school. His ECs are pretty impressive as well and show his strengths. The story about your friend is a bit irrelevant, as each decision is made on a case-by-case basis.</p>
<p>I definitely agree that he needs to add more safety schools, however.</p>
<p>Let me just clarify that I don't think the OP is not qualified for UCBerkeley. It's just that calling UCBerkeley a safety is not a realistic portrayal of the university. </p>
<p>Furthermore, the class of 2013 is going to be extremely competitive and the final decisions are going to be hard to decipher. IMO, none of the top 20 universities can be considered safeties this year...</p>
<p>MIT, Stanford, and Caltech are reaches but your math/science focus should help some. You have a good chance at Cornell and very likely in at Berkeley. UCB is a public college - there's no affirmative action.</p>
<p>I agree with ivyleaguewannabe. Berkeley should never be considered a safety; with a 1 in 5 acceptance rate (same as Duke's, Cornell's, etc.), it's not safe enough to be considered a safety.</p>
<p>To the OP: I'd say all the schools you listed are reaches. However, I do think you have a great shot at all of them, and you have a good chance of getting into at least one of them, if you write strong essays, have glowing recs, have good interviews, etc.</p>
<p>Don't retake that SAT II. Here's a nice MIT article on how they view scores:</p>
<p>and just like the others said, u have as good a chance as anyone for those schools, but they are all crapshoots. u can never b sure. so i suggest adding some safeties.</p>
<p>Hey shouldnt you move track and cross country to your sports list. Just advice. And I think that you are a good candidate, not really a complete match with any of the five schools, but except for MIT CAltech and Stanford, the other two are not total reaches for you and the other three are not unattainable. Good luck on writing good essays.
Can you chance me too by the way?</p>
<p>Here is my two cents. You have good stats for GPA and your SAT scores, and your class rank looks good. All of the schools to which you want to apply are extremely difficult to get into though and you are asian. To tell you the truth, I think along with others that this fact may make Berkeley one of the hardest to get into as you really are just like every other applicant there. But that being said, your science olympiad award of 2nd at nationals stands out tremendously. I would say that you have a good chance to everywhere you apply. Just write good essays and I'm sure that you can get into about 60% of your wants. You'll do fine.</p>