Chance Me for Duke, Harvard, MIT, Yale, CalTech, JHU, Brown, Cornell, Stanford

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

SAT I (breakdown): 580 RW 800 M
ACT (breakdown): 36 M 32 S 29 R 30 E
SAT II: Math 2: 800 Phys: 730 Chem: 620 (wont sen)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.5, (4.0 for math and science)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): unranked, but I’m smart
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc: 5, Phys C: 5, Chem: 3, Bio: 4, APUSH: 2 (wont send) APLit: 2 (wont send) AP Micro: 4, AP Macro: 5
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Linear Algebra, Multivariable Calculus, Organic Chemistry, Differential Equations, Group Theory, Combinatorics, Neuroscience, Modern Networks
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): 2-time IMO qualifier, 5-time AIME qualifier, 4-time USAMO qualifier, Top 10 HMMT, Honorable Mention Moody’s Mega Math Challenge, 1st place County Spelling Bee

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Math Club President, Math to Kids Presidents, Algebra4You President, Founder of Non-profit for those who are lacking in math resources
Job/Work Experience: worked at kumon and aops
Volunteer/Community service: picked up trash for adopt a highway
Summer Activities: tutored math for kids
Essays (rating 1-10, details): wrote about my IMO experience (2 times), 8/10
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: english teacher: 6/10 (was a active student but got a bad grade)
Teacher Rec #2: multi teacher: 10/10 (helped with IMO so he knows how hard I worked)
Counselor Rec: 7/10 (don’t know her so well)
Additional Rec: none
Interview: none

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: applied mathematics
State (if domestic applicant): north dakota
Country (if international applicant): usa
School Type: public (large)
Ethnicity: asian
Gender: male
Income Bracket: >$150K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): IMO, mainly the concentration in math

Reflection

Strengths: math
Weaknesses: english and chemistry

2

Seeing as you’re an Asian male, that means it will be even tougher for you. The glaring problem I see are your test scores. A 1380 and a 32 aren’t gonna get you into those schools no matter what. You have to bring them up to at least a 34 and 1520 just to have a chance. Plus your EC’s don’t really show a deep commitment to anything stem related, and unfortunately even though your school doesn’t rank, “i’m smart” won’t really be a considering factor.

3

but is IMO not good enough?

4

Also isn’t math part of STEM?

5

It is but you gotta remember that there are gonna be kids applying to a lot of these places who have literally devoted months of their lives to stem projects such as programming, robotics, creating games, and so many other things that simply being a math president may not stand out enough. However, I must have overlooked the fact that you are from north Dakota, which may actually help your case significantly.

6

since basically nobody lives in north Dakota, that might make you more desired in terms of regionality to colleges. I would just say bring those test scores up and your chances increase dramatically

7

IMO qualifier means that I’m top 12 in the nation at math, is that not enough? https://www.imo-official.org/

8

If you are an IMO qual, and 4 time USAMO qual, then you do not fit the standard mold of everyone’s feedback. You are clearly superior in terms of mathematics capabilities. You should be admitted to some schools now based on your math skills alone. However, to stand a better shot, you should shoot for higher SAT/ACT.

9

What country are you from?

10

“unranked, but I’m smart” Ok, but clearly your grades and test scores do not demonstrate that. There is a very big discrepancy between your academic qualifications and your ECs. MIT, CalTech (for sure), and JHU place a lot of weight on academic credentials so you definitely do not have great chances there. At the other schools, your ECs and academics show a clear spike in math, which at first glance may look good, until they realize how “angled” the spike is. As much as you excel in math and science, your academic qualifications in the humanities are pretty poor. This will definitely hurt your chances, especially as an Asian male since you once again present yourself as a stereotypical Asian male applicant with a heavy focus in STEM. I know the above colleges do not want “well-rounded” students but would rather take in an applicant that excels in one area, but your case is extreme, and these colleges would usually like their applicants to be very good in all subject areas, but outstanding in one particular one. As much as your achievements are outstanding, the fundamental aspects of your profile, your GPA and test scores, are pretty dismal so unfortunately I would have to say your chances are pretty slim. I also think it is unwise of you to not consider some more safety or match schools to apply to; I would not want you to be one of those students with great potential who ends up applying to only elite schools and does not get into any. You should be thinking about some safety schools to apply to in case; I think your state schools would be a good option. Good luck! I would appreciate it if you could chance me back here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1995754-chance-me-low-gpa-rank-cornell-rice-wash-u-ucla-etc-p1.html

11

In recent years, there have been no IMO participants from the US who hail from North Dakota. If you’re going to lie, at least make it more reasonable. :stuck_out_tongue:

12

Totally agree with @tripledouble2000 in that you need to be a bit more well rounded and pick more safeties, saying youre smart and then not backing it up with amazing stats doesn’t put you in the greatest light. And yeah, I looked up IMO participants from the past like 5 years, and @HoloTheWisewolf is right, no one from North Dakota has participated in it.

13

@HoloTheWisewolf I know almost IMO participant from the USA so hes definitely lying. Only one person fits his criteria of being a 2x imo participant and he didnt qualify for usamo 4 times. He qualified it more than that…

14

lmaoooo this dude is wildin

15

I’m planning on taking the SAT again, what RW score should I shoot for, like would a 630 be good?

16

@euler19, Are you actually a 4-time USAMO qualifier, and a 2-time IMO participant? This implies that you are a U.S. citizen, and likely on the team again this year. I don’t see any of the participants that match the description you’ve provided…

17

Perhaps the OP wants to hide his personal information for privacy reasons. An Asian in the Dakotas is as common as hen’s teeth and I’m sure that he would be written up in all the local papers if he was in IMO. So perhaps he’s from another state.

Nevertheless the AP scores in some of the other science subjects is really low and he should shoot for 700+ on the SAT R/W.

18

I didn’t make it this year. :frowning:

19

If you want into those schools and you are as good at math as you say, you need a perfect score on math and probably at minimum a 700 on RW. A 630 will only put you at 1430, which makes you uncompetitive.

20

@euler19 For the schools you have indicated above, 630 is not nearly close to “good”. You should aim for at least 700 or above to even be competitive.