Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Current senior at a very prestigious public high school
Major: Computer Science (minor probably in Applied Math or Stats)
Background (to explain a lot of the stuff below):
In sophomore year, I was hit by a lot of anxiety because students were bothering me in my chemistry class around the start of the 2nd semester. As a result, I got subpar grades (low 90s, high 80s) for most of my classes, along with a 70 in chem (I had a 55 at the 2nd marking period and needed to work furiously to pull it back up).
In junior year, I managed to overcome my anxiety and ace all of my classes. I got a 96 overall avg the first semester, and 95 avg the second. This brought my GPA up 2 points. I did not sign up for any AP courses junior year, however, since during soph year when we were selecting our courses I was scared I wouldn’t be able to handle the pressures of APs. (Pretty big mistake, I know.)
Anyway, continuing with the stats:
GPA: 90.52 unweighted (low, for reasons above) (our school doesn’t offer weighted)
Coursework:
- I switched from Precalc to Honors Precalc during 2nd semester junior year, due to my good performance 1st semester.
- I did not take any APs prior to senior year, as explained above.
- For senior year, my school limited me to 3 AP courses due to my low GPA.
- This semester, I am taking AP US Govt and AP Physics C.
- I also signed up for AP Calc AB this year, since my math avg was below the 94 cutoff for BC (I got 99 and 95 in math junior year, but an 85 in soph year 2nd semester).
- However, I managed to replace it with Multivariable Calculus after talking with the multi teacher and explaining that I had self-studied all the regular calc material, although BC is usually a co-req for multi.
- I also managed to get into Systems-Level Programming even though I hadn't taken AP Comp Sci (which is normally a pre-req for that) by showing him I knew the AP CS material. Systems is supposed to be harder than AP CS.
- I have not taken any AP tests. I asked the math dept head for a waiver to take the Calc BC test last year, although I wasn't taking the course, but he said no.
- Maybe it doesn't matter because college decisions will be out by then, but I am expecting to get a 5 when I take the following tests next June for college credit:
- Calc BC
- Comp Sci
- US History
- Other noteworthy classes:
- 1 semester of writer's workshop, aka creative writing (junior year). I chose this in place of the English class they place you by default, and I really liked this class.
- Web design (senior year)
- Swimming (junior & senior year)
- Math Team (all 4 years)
SAT Tests:
- New SAT 1540, CR/W 740, Math 800, Essay 15 (I’ve heard the essay isn’t too important for some schools, including CMU)
- Math II 800
- Physics probably around 780-800
- Planning to take SAT USH, which I will likely get a high 700s score on
- Also planning to take SAT Chem to show colleges that I've rebounded from that poor grade in soph year
Extracurriculars/Hobbies/Passions:
- Member of NYU Math Circle since Fall 2015
- Member of Columbia University Science Honors Program (CUSHP) for high school students, since Fall 2015
- Member of Red Cross since this March: volunteered 40 hours within 3 months from Mar-Jun
- Attended 10-day writing camp at Skidmore this summer
- Attended 1-week actuarial science camp at LVC this summer, to decide if the actuarial profession was a good fit for me
- Currently developing an Android app (still very work-in-progress, I doubt I can finish it in time for EA application)
- Contributes to a widely-used software project run by Microsoft. Was contacted by a Microsoft employee who offered a mentorship with one of the software developers behind the project.
- Likes to tutor other people
- This summer, I tutored my younger cousins for a few weeks for the SHSAT test in New York City
- Recently joined the Writing Center at my school, where I will have face-to-face sessions with other people and critique their essays
- Planning to join afterschool tutoring for comp sci
- Swims/goes to the gym on weekends
- Likes to read
Other Achievements:
- Scored high on AMC 12 and qualified for AIME; scored 6 on AIME
- Self-studied all calculus material over 6 months by watching through the entire Khan Academy video library on calc
Recs:
Junior physics teacher, junior ush teacher, (out-of-school) CUSHP student teacher
College Visits (for demonstrated interest):
- Northwestern, summer 2016
- RPI, summer 2016
- I go to an NYU program (see above)
- URochester, April 2017
- CMU: July 2017 info session/guided tour, Sept 2017 (a week ago) on-campus interview
- I was pretty nervous during the interview (it was my first one).
