Chance Me: CS/AI SEAS RD

Applying to AI (Cognitive and Computer Science) and SEAS (Computer Science)

Basic:

  • Race/Sex: Asian (Indian) Male
  • Income: 150K-200K
  • GPA: 3.95/4.0 UW, 5.01 W (my school has a different scale, 4.45 on the standard scale)
  • SAT Superscore: 800 Math, 730 ERBW, 6/6/6 Essay
  • SAT Subject Tests: 800 Math 2, 730 Physics
  • Rank: 3/157 (my school doesn’t officially do rank so I can’t submit, this is just what people told me)
  • School: small public/magnet school with some STEM focus in Connecticut

Note: One caucasian female from my school has been accepted ED to CAS for environmental science.

Courses:

  • 9th: PLTW Intro to Eng, Foundations of IT (required), H English, H Bio, H Alg 2, H World History, Spanish 2 (school doesn’t offer honors languages), Health
  • 10th: Middle Ages and Pre-AP Early US History, AP CSA, AP Statistics, H English, French 1, PE, H Precalc, H Chem
  • 11th: French 2, AP Calc, Web Design, Visual Basic, AP CSP, UConn AP Physics 1, APUSH, PLTW Principles of Eng, H English
  • 12th: UConn AP Government, AP Physics C, Robotics, PLTW Digital Electronics, French 3, PLTW Eng Design and Dev, Multi Calc and Lin Alg, H English

Note: PLTW courses give college credit, and I take multivariable calculus, linear algebra at a community college after school. UConn courses give UConn credit and we are allowed to take the AP exam.

AP scores:

  • 10th: AP CSA (5), AP Statistics (3)
  • 11th: AP Calc BC (4, 5 AB), AP CSP (5), AP Physics 1 (3 but may report my UConn grade which was a B), APUSH (5)

Awards:

  • AP Scholar w/ Distinction
  • Honor Roll for past three years
  • Math and Science department awards
  • Math Team MVP (twice)
  • Young Musician’s Festival (YMF) Gold Cup (twice)
  • Korean Martial Arts Black Belt 1 (2016)

Extracurriculars:

  • Boy Scouts of America (Star Scout, Troop Webmaster) 9-12
  • Martial Arts (black belt, instructor aide) 9-12
  • Piano (weekly lessons, participate in recitals like YMF) 9-12
  • National Honor Society, Science National Honor Society (member, seniors only) 12
  • Mu Alpha Theta (founder, president) 12
  • School math team (captain in 11 and 12) 9-12
  • Programming club (founding member, co-president) 11-12
  • 400 hours of volunteering with organization coaching younger students for math/science competitions, proceeds go to charity in India
  • 140 hour paid summer internship in local government technology management department

Essays:

  • Common app: I have one draft about Rubik’s cubes but I’m working on another draft about my parents being immigrants
  • Penn supplement: CS and CogSci and how I can use it in robotics to benefit people, research in GRASP for drones and how it inspired my own projects with robotics, also about Wharton and how I want to start a robotics company

Recommendations:

  • AP Calc/AP Stats teacher (9/10): definitely good since I’ve gotten As in both classes, maintained a good relationship since 10th grade, and I still come to help out in his class
  • Honors English 10/11 teacher (8/10): pretty good as well, since he likes me and I’ve done well in his class
  • Other recommendation possibly: employer at my summer internship wrote me a really good letter about my work in the office and how I adapted well

Thanks for the feedback!