<p>I would appreciate any chances of admission to the following universities. Please do keep in mind that I am still a Junior (grade 11) in high school and thus still have the ability to diversify my resume a bit. Any suggestions/advice would be most welcome!
MIT
Stanford
Caltech
Harvard
UC Berkeley</p>
<p>Planned senior year courseload:
AP Biology 12
AP Chemistry 12
AP English 12
AP Literature 12
AP Macroeconomics 12
AP Microeconomics 12</p>
<p>I will also be taking the following courses at the local university:
Math 200: Multiple Variable Calculus
Physics 101</p>
<p>Please note that I have completed AP Calculus AB with the AP exam grade of 5.0 in my sophomore year and am currently in the process of taking Mathematics 101 at the local university with a current grade of 100%.</p>
<p>Awards:
Emerson Essay Contest (1st prize of $500)
Kwantlen Science Challenge 2013 (1st place)
Award for Academic Excellence
Various science fair/university awards</p>
<p>Extracurriculars/leadership:
Founder of the school's debate club
200 hours of tutoring French
250 hours of community service
Swimming team - 5 years
Cross-country team - 3 years
Track-and-field team - 3 years
Multiple MUN experiences/awards</p>
<p>Other stuff:
Current residence: Canada (not a USA citizen)
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: North African
Fluent in 3 languages (French, Kabyle, English), some knowledge of Spanish, currently studying Russian on my own time.
The area of study I'm interested in is mechanical engineering.</p>
<p>Mechanical engineering? Nothing about your resume screams interest in mechanical engineering, honestly. Also your EC’s are very average, especially for MIT. Remember, colleges want well rounded classes, not well rounded students (for the most part). Part of your application needs to scream passion…as far as what I’m seeing, it seems like you like language/politics. </p>
<p>Your GPA is awesome but you would have to follow that up with a 34+ on ACT or 2250+ on SAT…and write awesome essays, which shouldn’t be a problem for you judging by your writing awards. </p>
<p>Thanks for your response! I am indeed not particularly interested in that domain, I’m not entirely sure what I want to do besides being an entrepreneur in the field of technology. As I have quite a while until applications, what ECs would you suggest to round myself up and to show this passion? I shall be taking my SAT’s in the coming months so I will update them here when I get my results. I am indeed a good writer.</p>
<p>Also, as I am Algerian, I’m not sure I’m classified as black. I honestly look Mediterranean more than anything but if I can say that I’m black, more power to me!</p>
<p>Hard to chance without SAT or ACT scores. You look like a strong applicant to many schools. MIT is a reach for everyone. You will get into some very good schools.</p>
<p>I think if you want to go to MIT you need a more math oriented course load, Calculus and Physics etc. As well as some engineering or science related EC’s</p>
<p>How much math oriented can I get? I’m in math 101 at the local university in grade 11. I did calculus ap in grade 10. I’m doing ap physics as well at the moment. I’m doing the hardest courses there are at offer at my school, so I’m not sure what you mean.</p>
<p>It means getting awards at AMC and stuff like that, or president of math club or something like that. Jocan101 is right. For schools like MIT, you need things that jump off the page. The person who got in from our school last year was the head of the robotics team that won a competition, and got a very good score in the USAMO. He was also the state chess champion. If you want to do engineering, you have to do more than just courses at school. I also took Calc, Comp Sci and Physics mechanics C as well a course at Stanford, but I’m not even going for engineering.</p>
<p>I think you have a very strong resume. Your ethnicity is also a huge help. I would suggest since you have not yet taken the SAT, get as high a score as you can. For MIT, that means aim for a 2400. Take the SAT II Subject Tests in Physics, Math II, and Chemistry. Aim for 800s in all of them. You seem to be capable of this. It is not easy, as I am sure you are aware seeing your plans for your schedule next year. Take advantage of time you have this year to get your SAT IIs done as well as regular SAT. With fantastic scores here, aiming for perfect scores, you will be a strong candidate for MIT.</p>
<p>Btw, North African (Morocco, Libya, Egypt etc) are considered white, so it doesn’t really matter. I’m from the Middle East, and I’m considered white as well in the Common App. On Common App, North African and Middle Eastern are considered as white.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your very valuable advice! Any tips for the SATs? Also, if I were to say I identify with African American (I’m Kabyle), what’s the worst that can happen if they disagree? I was born in Canada by the way.</p>
<p>Nothing screams you’ll definitely get into MIT. But nothing screams you won’t either. Other posters are correct that your bullets are excellent but not very…individual? So it’s the luck of the draw. My own bullet points were not any more eye-catching than yours. </p>
<p>I think that schools will be pleased that you completed all the possible high school math classes, but not necessarily care that you’re taking a run-of-the-mill probably-not-very-rigorous college math class. If you can find something better to do with your time, (like start a math club, or do a robotics competition or pursue a solo project, or something), I think you should pass on the math class next year. You’ll probably have to retake that class at a place like MIT anyway.</p>
<p>I don’t think you have to necessarily be a math whiz. MIT has a class size of 1000, how many are going to be IMO champs? But a lot of this depends on your peers. If you go to school in the Bay Area where every other Asian boy is touting some nationally recognized math award, it’d be a lot more competitive than say small town Virginia where the local high school only offers 5 AP’s.</p>
<p>Being African American helps, and they certainly can’t deny you that regardless of what shade your skin color is. But honestly, you have a strong resume with or without Affirmative Action. Whether it gets you into that specific school is always an unknown, but it should get you into <em>some</em> very excellent institution.</p>
<p>OP is not black and definitely not African American. Maybe y’all should know what you’re talking about before you speak (Wikipedia can help you). </p>
<p>Don’t dismiss high achieving black students as “oh you’re black that’ll take you places”.</p>
<p>As for the original question, I agree that nothing screams STEM from your application. That doesn’t mean you can’t do it or aren’t interested in it. But that’s what they’ll be looking for.</p>