Hi all! Am a little worried about how certain factors might affect my chances and would like to hear what some of you guys think.
Demographics: Chinese male from Long Island. Single, though high, income household (250,000+)
Intended Major: ECE
SAT: 2160 (660 CR, 800 Math, 700 Writing), one sitting, not sending
ACT: 36 composite (35E, 36M, 36R, 36S), one sitting, only sending this
SAT II: Math II - 800
Physics - 800
Weighted GPA (school is a little weird and runs on a 4.4 unweighted scale): 4.27
Rank: N/A
AP:
10th grade
Bio (4)
World History (3)
11th grade
Calc BC (5)
Computer Science (5)
Physics 1 (5)
Language (4)
US History (3)
Senior Year Course Load:
AP Eco
AP Gov
AP Chem
AP Physics C
AP Lit
AP Stats
Symphonic Band
Calc 3 at Stony Brook
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Commended Scholar
Extracurriculars:
Math Team: top scorer in school every year since 9th grade, top scorer in AMC 12 in school as well, various other placings
Quiz Bowl (co-president): top 8 in Long Island league, won a tournament with teams from tri state area, hosted own tournament
Science Olympiads: nothing special, one 7th place and one 2nd place medal in regional competition.
Math Honor Society: nothing special
Varsity Tennis: 9th and 10th grade
Varsity Badminton :11th and 12th grade
Band/Symphonic Band: I play an uncommon instrument if that matters (tuba)
Job/Work Experience: Worked as a camp counselor summer going into senior year. I actually think this will be the distinguishing part of my application as I will also be writing my common app essay about it.
Volunteer/Community service: 15 hours each summer at my church since 7th grade, though I didn’t do it this summer
Summer Activities: Going into 11th grade, I did a computer science program at Brookhaven National Lab. Going into 12th grade, I worked.
Essays: writing essay on my experience as a camp counselor, not the stronger writer, so I’m expecting 8-9/10
Teacher Recommendation: should be 10/10 or 9/10 for both
Counselor Rec: should be 9/10
I think the strongest parts of my application are my test scores and my job as a summer camp counselor as I feel like not many applicants have that experience.
I think the parts that might hinder my application are my (relatively) low GPA, poor leadership, mostly generic ECs, and the fact that I have a twin brother also applying (RD). His GPA is much higher and he has more leadership, but he doesn’t have the same job experience as me so I’m not too sure. My fear is that I will get deferred so that they can compare me to my brother.
) I think having such a high order math: multivariable calc will definitely help. Also, being an ORM, I feel like playing the tuba and having a twin will actually work FOR you. Have you considered Ga Tech? I know that’s really far relative to Long Island, but based on past results and people from my high school (in Ga), I think you would pretty much match!