Chance me for Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, UMichigan, UC Berkeley, GA Tech

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello, please chance me for getting into these colleges for engineering. I am a first gen american asian male, however I do have a more diverse background having lived in Turkey. My intended major is chemical engineering (although I’m not really sure what kind of engineering i want to do and will very likely change my mind). I come from a competitive school district in southern california.

GPA: 4.25 (weighted)
Class Rank: N/A

SAT: 1550 (18/24 on essay)
SAT subject tests: chemistry-800, math level 2- 800, physics-800, World History-700 (should I submit History?)

All my classes besides foreign language are honors or AP level. The lowest grade I got was a B in Chemistry Honors (had a hard teacher, I actually found AP Chem to be a breeze after this class. However I’m a bit worried about how this will look due to me looking to go into chemical engineering) However, my grades definitely have an upwards trend with me ending with 5As and 2A-s junior year compared to 2B+, 3A-, 2A freshman year.

Senior course load: AP English, AP Government & Politics, AP Physics C, Multivariable Calculus/Differential Equations , Contemporary History, Introduction to Electonics, Environmental Science

ECs:
Science Olympiad (9-12): I have placed in events at state level. While I am not a formal officer, I have had leadership roles in team events
Debate (10-12): I have placed at regional tournaments. I am also the team’s elected treasurer.
Current Events Club (11-12): I am the president of this club. It is a laid back club where we discuss current events (I lead the discussions) and perhaps engage in some friendly debate that I would moderate.
Summer Research at local univeristy with Engineering Professor (Summer before junior year)
Tutoring at my local Library (9-10): In tenth grade I was leading a small group of other high school students besides myself tutor
Volunteering at my local community center (11-12): I stopped tutoring in libraires and started helping underprovelaged kids at my community center. Definitely felt like I was making a bigger difference as the kids at the librairies sometimes didnt need my help and were already profeccient/rich kids who didnt need free tutoring. I dont just tutor but organize activities and really help nurture kids to enjoy STEM. The manager of this center is also writing me a letter of rec and I’m sure it will be great.

These are my main activities, but I have also participated in red cross club (9th grade only), chemistry club (10-12), I have been a 4H Camp Counselor one summer, and I play tennis at my community’s local club. I also worked in a science museum (unpaid) one summer.

Awards:
Congressional Award Bronze Medal
Various Debate & Science Olympiad awards
National AP Scholar
possibly national merit semi (I got 1470 on PSAT junior year)

Teacher Recs
AP BC Calculus (should be very strong as we had a good relationship and I was one of if not the best student in his class)
AP World History (average)

  • So what do you guys think? I realize there will be lots of people with greats stats so do you think I have enough to stand apart? Also should I submit the World History Subject Test?
2

Your scores are definitely in the range for these schools, but I would definitely not send the world history score. Most colleges only require 2 subject tests anyways, and world history is not related to your major. As for your ECs, you do a lot (it’s awesome that you do so much in your community) but I’d take special care in how you order them on your common app. Write the ones that are most important to you towards the top, because there’s a high chance the admissions officer will probably not read them all.

3

What is you uwGPA?

4

anxiouswreck thanks so much for your response! billcsho my school doesn’t report unweighted gpa but if i calculate it myself it is a 3.80

5

Your stats look great! Your sat and subject test scores are really high (even with history, as you don’t need to submit it). If you get national merit semifinalist, that will be a big boost. All the schools are attainable for you, with only Cornell being slightly harder, as lots of students similar to you apply as well. If you can write an essay related to one of your EC’s, it will help a lot.

6

Thanks, also what do you guys think are some good safeties/match schools for me to apply to for engineering? Cost isnt a problem so feel free to mention in and out of state schools.

7

What is your unweighted GPA? If I am not mistaken, that is what Michigan and Berkeley look at.

8

3.80

9

Your SAT is good, while your GPA appears low for most of the schools on your list. How is your class rank? If your HS has no grade inflation at all, it may be fine. For instance, the admission average uwGPA was 3.87 at UMich last year.

10

yah my gpa is a little low, but thats mostly due to a terrible freshman year. I also show a strong upwards trend.

11

Upward trend is good. UMich used to skip freshmen grades in GPA calculation, but that has been changed when they resumed GPA recalculation several years ago.