Chance me at Stanford, MIT, Caltech

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey guys, I'm a Canadian citizen living in Washington State. Currently, I have "International Student" status, but I think I'll be getting a Green Card by the end of this summer. The "hook" in my application is probably the things I've done in math. </p>

<p>My biggest worry is my 3.85 GPA. Also, I'm Asian.</p>

<p>My volunteering isn't that great either (no tutoring for inner-city unprivileged kids for me). </p>

<p>Lastly, I'll have trouble getting two good recommendation letters. I'll probably have 1 good one, but the 2nd one will probably be ehh (not many of my teachers like me).</p>

<p>Any concerns are welcome.</p>

<p>Stats: Male, Asian, Junior
Major: Computer Science
Schools: Stanford, MIT, Caltech</p>

<p>Objective:</p>

<ul>
<li>SAT: just took it yesterday, probably ~2200</li>
<li>GPA: 3.85 (maybe a 3.87 after this year)</li>
<li>AP / IB courses: AP Computer Science, AP Calc AB/BC, AP World, APUSH, AP Physics B, AP English Lang, AP US Gov, IB ITGS, IB Math HL, IB Further Maths, IB Chinese, IB History, IB English, IB Physics HL</li>
<li>Finished IB Diploma program in 11th grade</li>
</ul>

<p>Extracurricular (mostly math related)</p>

<ul>
<li>5th place in Canada in 2012 Canadian Math Olympiad</li>
<li>2011 USAJMO Winner</li>
<li>2011 MOSP attendee</li>
<li><p>2012 USAMO qualifier</p></li>
<li><p>2010, 2011 Washington ARML team member</p></li>
<li><p>Swim team from 6th to 10th grade</p></li>
<li><p>Piano from age 5 to age 17 (a bunch of awards and stuff)</p></li>
<li><p>On a pretty successful Vex Robotics team</p></li>
<li><p>Probably going to do an internship at the University of Washington in Computational Biology over the summer</p></li>
<li><p>Teaches piano and math, volunteers at church</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Summer Activities:</p>

<ul>
<li>9th grade: SIMUW at the UW (a 6-week math program)</li>
<li>10th grade: MOSP and Mathcamp</li>
<li>11th grade: Bio Internship and some startup company thing</li>
</ul>

2

<p>Excellent chance at MIT and Caltech. Good chance at Stanford.</p>

3

<p>What’s your weighted gpa and class rank? Hopefully you’re at least top 5%. If that’s the case and if you write fantastic essays, then I would say you’d be mid-reach at MIT/Caltech, although Stanford might still be a high reach. It’s not that your stats/ECs aren’t good enough, but these schools have so many mind-blowing applicants</p>

4

<p>No sports awards? I think you have great stats but they are always looking for something that makes you out of the ordinary.</p>

<p>Also, the stereotype is that Asians are good at math and piano and some admissions people will dislike you for that. </p>

<p>Just my two cents :)</p>

5

<p>MOSP will get you in. However your SAT needs to be above 2250.</p>

6

<p>I’m not sure what my weighted GPA is, and I think that my school doesn’t report rank anymore.</p>

<p>Sports awards… hmm. Does swimming varsity 9th and 10th grade count? I also swam districts and state but athletics vary so much from state to state that I don’t know if that is of that any use. Also, I quit swimming in 11th grade because I was too busy.</p>

<p>A big concern of mine is that admissions officer might not even know what MOSP is. MOSP was what was gonna be the “something that made me out of the ordinary.” Man if I got into RSI I would be set 0_0 (too bad I got rejected).</p>

7

<p>Also, is my 3.85 GPA of any concern? This might be a topic for a new thread, but personally I believe that ECs should be weighted less than GPA and class rank in admissions. I know people whom I can almost certainly say will be more successful than me in college, because of their work ethic and overall hardworking-ness, and it reflects in their GPAs. Some of them don’t have the most outstanding ECs… but shouldn’t admission officers choose people based off their ability to succeed in college?</p>

8

<p>Fellow RSI rejects high five <em>in a bitterly sarcastic tone</em>. I honestly think that both of the highly technically focused schools in Caltech and MIT will be 100% conscious of MOSP and Math Olympiad, and I would say I’m almost positive that Stanford will too. I would say that your math accomplishments are superior to many I have seen, and that will get you in to one of your schools. Yes, a 3.8 and 2200 will hurt you some, but I think that your math accomplishments more than make up for that.</p>

<p>The teacher recommendation issue is something that may not hurt you in college applications, but really in terms of professionally, learning how to communicate well, be engaging, and get people to like you is really a valuable skill to learn (not coming from experience, but from word of mouth). </p>

<p>Based on your “Discussion Question”, EVERY college lists that GPA and Class Rank are the most vital source of Info. for admissions decisions. EC’s and service are secondary, and are really vital only at the top level of schools where nearly all applicants are strong students. </p>

<p>What is funny is that I’m sortof as much your antithesis as I can be as a fellow Hard Science student (either Engineering or Physics). I’m the typical High GPA, High SAT Asian-American (Indian), but I have no awards or competition level math or physics (unless you count qualifying for AIME lol). But heck, we both still got rejected from RSI, right? </p>

<p>I wish you the best of luck in college admissions which I’m sure will go well for you.</p>

9

<p>My one suggestion is to write a good, creative, different essay, particularly for Caltech. My S is a junior there and even though he had fantastic stats he is convinced his essay is what got him in. Good Luck!</p>

10

<p>LOOOOOL. How would they not know what MOSP is? I hope your joking, it is one of the most prestigious awards.</p>

11

<p>I went to a Caltech campus tour a couple months ago, and I talked with one of the admissions officers. I mentioned that I went to MOSP that summer, and I don’t think she knew what it is =P I sure hope you’re right though.</p>

12

<p>Wow how is that possible?</p>

13

<p>When the admission team gets together to review the applicatans they will know (they have a somewhat unique admissions procedure so I would think they will know or find out).</p>

14

<p>I read that MIT accepts around 80% of MOSP attendees, so it sounds like as long as you have great grades, test scores, and havent screwed up, you are basically in.</p>

15

<p>hey duckeys!!</p>

16

<p>Duckies are cool :)</p>

<p>MIT - low reach/reach
Caltech - low reach (Caltech doesn’t heavily consider race)
Stanford - reach</p>

<p>Your application seems to be strongest in mathematics. I think that in terms of your ‘qualifications,’ there is no question. Your standardized test scores and math results place you solidly in a very elite class of students. Elaborate more on your work with the Robotics team. What did you do with them? What did you learn? What resulted?</p>

<p>Swimming at a high level is always a positive. Do you have a good reason for quitting?</p>

<p>If your interests are primarily CS and math (and perhaps AI/robotics), why do a biology internship?</p>