Chance me for colleges please (so confused)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>International Indian student from New Zealand. Looking to apply to following schools: chance me for these schools:</p>

<p>MIT
Stanford
Harvard
Harvey Mudd
Yale
Princeton
Columbia
Dartmouth
Duke
UIUC
Cornell
Cooper Union
CALTECH
UPenn</p>

<p>///Education</p>

<p>My high-school is top 3 in the country. I am ranked 4 in my class out of 340 students.
GPA: 4/4
SAT 2 scores: Maths (2) = 800, Physics = 800, CHemistry = 800.
IGCSE Scores: Maths (99), Physics (97), Chemistry (96), Accounting (96), English (77)
AS Results: Maths (93), Physics (92), Chemistry (92), Accounting (92), English (83)
A levels: School only allows 4: I am doing A level maths elf study.
A levels: Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Accounting, AS Biology.
Tertiary Study: First year Mathematics Paper (Calculus and Linear ALgebra): Got an A grade</p>

<p>///Awards</p>

<p>2009</p>

<p>• First in school for science fair project
• LEN Science scholarship, Awarded in recognition of Excellence and Potential in Science.
• Second in physics category for year 9 and 10 (NIWA science fair).
• ASTA Bronze award for the best original research for year 9 and 10. (NIWA Science fair).
• Ranked fourth out of 196 students in New Zealand for Kumon mathematics. </p>

<p>2010</p>

<p>• Orange House Merit award. (Studentship and leadership)
• Bright Sparks highly commended nationwide (for under 16 division).
• Completion of International Kumon mathematics Program.</p>

<p>2011</p>

<p>• First in form class (class award).</p>

<p>2012</p>

<p>• Second in form class of 6B. (Class award)
• Innovation award for Young Enterprise Scheme. (Company).
• Third in the country for First tech challenge robotics (team). I was team captain.
• International Enterprise in action, Massey University $1,000 scholarship for Massey University Business School. And global enterprise challenge finalist.
• Chosen to attend the NZ maths Olympiad residential training camp.</p>

<p>2013</p>

<p>• Currently part of the Auckland Grammar Scholars group.
• Silver medal at the New Zealand International Young Physicist Tournament,
• Chosen for IYPT selection squad.
• New Zealand Programming Contest top 3 in country.</p>

<p>///Extra Curricular Activities</p>

<p>St John Cadet Program (7 years)</p>

<p>• Gold Level Badges (through training and assessment): Health, Environment, Fire Safety, Communication, and Leadership. Earning these badges included some assessment matrix, along with a formal assessment, and usually a camp or a course.
• Community Service through St John, volunteering at twinkle child foundation, and volunteer for street collections. Excessive of few hundred hours.</p>

<p>Other extra-curricular activities</p>

<p>• Amnesty International group. Currently I am part of the sub-group, and we are running a petition against women rape and violence around the world.
• Headmaster’s Welfare Committee. As a committee we run the red nose day at AGS, go to low decile schools and provide free ‘mentoring’ and we also help both international students feel comfortable in AGS.
• Young Enterprise Scheme, Company Financial Director (and global enterprise challenge). I started the company (CEO and finance director), and we earned 10,000 profit. We sold USB powered cup warmers (designed and imported from hong kong).
• NZ: ‘First Tech Challenge’, and ‘First Lego League’ (Robotics). Captain of FTC team in 2012. Team came second at national competition.
• Auckland Astronomical Society Member.
• Learning Support Tutoring/mentoring program. Maths/accounting/physics/bio (free) for those with low income, and otherwise $25 per hour for the rest.
• Indian Cultural group.
• Community service though school’s enrichment opportunities.Rest homes.
• Bright sparks 2010 competition.
• New Zealand Programming Contest (top 3).</p>

<p>Sports Clubs</p>

<p>• Previously Parnell Cricket Club A-grade.
• School chess champion in 2009.
• Eden Roskill District Cricket Association Premier team reserve and A grade team.
• Auckland Grammar School Senior A1 team.
• Auckland Grammar School Senior chess team and finalist in region.</p>

<p>Academic Skills</p>

<p>• Experience in programming with BASCOM AVR and ROBOTC.
• Gained valuable practical experimentation skills through NZYPT.
• Programming skills through NZPC competition.
• Experience in preparation of Business Plans and financial reports through YES.
• Experience in using XERO accounting software for young enterprise.
• Developed Leadership and communication skills through St John program.</p>

<p>Community Work through St John and enrichment (7 years): During the duration of the course, I spent 2-3 hours per week helping the elderly. Through my work at these rest homes, I learnt valuable skills in communicating with disabled elderly. As a gold group cadet, some of the responsibilities that I hold include taking care of the younger aged groups and teaching them some courses. Currently I am working towards my Grand Prior. </p>

<p>Tutoring Program at School: I tutor 2 hours per week for plus another 2 hours as part of the Welfare committee free tutoring service, which involves tutoring a boy Accounting, Biology and Maths. Through this tutoring service I have learnt to communicate with other boys with different academic ability, and also learnt ways to teach and understand their problems.</p>

<p>Finance Director of YES Company (Ghost): Our Company was called Ghost, and we designed a portable USB powered cup-warmer (which when connected to the USB port on the computer would keep your drink warm). As finance director I prepared all business plans, and financial statements. Through this role, I learnt ways to prepare business plans, and also use Xero accounting software. During the YES year, we had to pitch to a real investor, which gave me the experience to experience a real business environment.</p>

<p>Habitat for Humanity: This is a hand on job, where I am a volunteer. We have to go on Saturdays and help build houses. This was an amazing experience because it gave me a chance to build homes for the homeless, not by providing a gold coin, but physically building a home. This enriched me with many skills in building, and also provided me with an opportunity to help the local community.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>(Note: I only say some schools are “high reach” because they’re extremely difficult to get into for anyone; FYI, you’re extremely qualified to go anywhere!)</p>

<p>Harvard: high reach
Yale: high reach
Princeton: high reach
Stanford: high reach
MIT: mid reach
Columbia: mid reach
UPenn: mid reach
Dartmouth: mid reach
CALTECH: mid reach
Duke: low reach / high match
Cornell: low reach / high match
Cooper Union: low reach / high match
Harvey Mudd: high match
UIUC: safety</p>

<p>You need some more matches, but if you were to apply to ALL those schools (wouldn’t recommend it), you would surely get into at least 1/3 of them.</p>

<p>Good luck with the application process! :)</p>

3

<p>Do you have any standardized testing scores, such as the SAT or ACT?</p>

4

<p>Wow… Yeah take the sat or act</p>

5

<p>um, yes forgot to put SAT1 scores: 2230, and will retake the SAT again. DOes this influence my chances as mentioned above (worsen or better)??</p>

6

<p>Thanks!! Need to work on application now. =D</p>

7

<p>What is your intended major? I keep seeing posts on here asking for chances on ALL the ivies + MIT + Stanford, but I don’t understand why even one bit. Is it because of prestige? Regardless of your chances to get into these schools (you seem to be a competitive candidate), you really need to narrow your list down. I can guarantee you that if you’re applying to all the Ivies, you haven’t done your research. Almost all the schools have completely different educational and geographical environments, and they’re not all going to be perfect for the major you choose (which is why i’m curious as to what you intend to major in).</p>

8

<p>Truust thats a good point. The thing is that I want to do Engineering and either specialize in electronics/robotics or finance and management. So research wise: Stanford, MIT, seem to standout the most. But then again I would have pretty low chances for those universities. BTW stanford offers management engineering as a major. Harvard, because I want to specialize in business/finance in the future. Problem being I really want to go to MIT or Stanford as they seem to have everything I want…but they are super super hard to get into.?</p>

9

<p>You have really good stats. I’m just wondering why you didn’t put Georgia Tech or University of Michigan down as options.</p>

10

<p>Will you need financial aid?
If so, cut out UIUC and Caltech from your list.
If not, include Michigan and Georgia Tech as suggested above.
Your odds are very good, i.e., you’re sure to make it to the final cut. But by the final cut, almost all the schools on your list have three times more people than they can admit, and ALL of them are super-qualified. So your odds are 1 in 3 no matter what. The only thing that may trump things a little is if you qualified for an international math or science competition, or ranked in the top 5 nationally for something (anything).
You need to look for schools you can afford and which you wouldn’t mind attending beside the ones on your list, which have a 30+% admit rate.</p>