Chance me for HYP+MIT

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi. I'm an upcoming senior, and I aim to either major in physics or mathematics. Can you give me your best guesstimates as to my respective chances for admission at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and MIT? Thanks.</p>

<p>SAT: 2330 (800 math, 780 writing, 750 CR); taken 3 times
PSAT: 219 (will likely qualify for Semi-Finalist in my state)
ACT: 35 (36 science, 35 math, 35 english, 32 reading); taken once, without writing
SAT II: Math I: 800
Math II: 800
Physics+some other test (any recommendations?): taking this saturday
APs: Taking all that my school offers
AP Euro History: 5
AP Biology: Pending
AP American History: Pending</p>

<p>Rank: 1/130
GPA (unweighted): 4.0
Took all honors/AP's offered</p>

<p>Awards: 1st in state-wide math competition freshman and sophomore year; 2nd place junior year; Miscellaneous class awards over the years (got the math award every year); Gold on National Latin exam all 3 years (heh, sorry for the randomness)</p>

<p>Misc.: 2 (probably) Original Proofs of the Pythagorean theorem verified by university professor. 75 hours volunteering at thrift shop. 200 hours working as a math tutor. Aiding professor of physics at local university with research this summer.</p>

<p>Clubs (* denotes president): Beta Club<em>, Latin Club</em>, Knowledge Bowl (captain), Mu Alpha Theta, Honor Society, Key Club, Chess Club (I know it's all nerdy... but whatever)</p>

<p>Random Hobbies: Running, Mountain Biking, Self-taught Piano, Reading, Programming.</p>

<p>Please give honest opinions... I'm not really apprehensive, just curious as to what my chances are.</p>

2

<p>Bump please.</p>

3

<p>^ ethnicity?</p>

4

<p>^ White male.</p>

5

<p>Considering that you are white and male, and having taken thrice SAT I tests, I would think HYPM are rather reach schools for you. Since HYP are the most reputed Ivies, your chance is rather slim. For MIT, it’s probable that you may get in(but beware of the diabolical affirmative action to Asians and Whites!), if you can write original application essays.( 5 pieces of essays in all!, you have enough space to show your originality.)
so in a nutshell:
Harvard &Yale you may forget all about them. Besides, Yale is not for science-inclined students. </p>

<p>Princeton Get a try in case you may regret later. But don’t hope much. </p>

<p>MIT because you don’t have very stellar academic stats, (great GPA though :slight_smile: ) you must concentrate on your essays: try to write about your passionate love for Science&Math. Spend at least 1 month on the essays, if you really want MIT. :smiley: </p>

<p>btw, never joined in the national math/science team before?</p>

6

<p>^Harvard has score choice. So he can make it look like he only took it once.</p>

7

<p>^ I don’t get why taking the SAT 3 times will hurt me, since Harvard, MIT, and Princeton all allow Score Choice… Besides, the first time I took it my proctor cut my time short, so in reality I only got 2 real scores back.</p>

<p>And what do you mean about not very stellar academic stats? I’m not being defensive, just wondering what specifically you mean.</p>

<p>And no, I haven’t joined the national math/science team… I’m not quite sure how to even do that. I don’t know if this is a proper excuse, but I live in the South and there aren’t many local opportunities like that.</p>

8

<p>Powerful stats. Write winning essays that showcase your passion(s) for math and/or physics, and your application will be extremely competitive, especially for MIT.</p>

9

<p>^ I actually wrote a first-draft essay yesterday about my path to finding the original proof, and the quest’s ups and downs. Would this be an original topic for an essay?</p>

10

<p>

I’ve heard rumors saying that they can get all your test results if they want to. But usually they won’t take the trouble to do so. I myself, however, don’t trust the score choice thing.</p>

<p>

I mean, awards/hooks like:
Intel young scientist awards that are given to 3 persons only each time
Siemens Competition national finalist
IMO gold medals or iPHo medals&c.
these are things that can almost guarantee your admission to HYPSM (top 10 Universities at least). </p>

<p>

it depends on how you present your experience to the reader. If you come to too many details, making the essay like a short research paper then it’s a disaster. If you write about the experience and then comes to your philosophy and devotion of math, then your essay could be a huge success. </p>

<p>

sorry, don’ know you come from South.
in that case, make sure to let admission officers know that you have had used every possible opportunity you could get, then you’ll be just as competitive as other “stellar” students. :p</p>

11

<p>This may be off-topic somewhat, but what would my chances at Cornell or Carnegie Mellon be?</p>

12

<p>Probably in at Mellon. High Match/Low Reach at Cornell. I can’t give you a good guess on HYPM but you definitely have a shot at them.</p>

13

<p>

</p>

<p>That should be quite interesting–even I’d like to read it someday!</p>

14

<p>You have a good shot. Tons of applicants have a good shot.
My advice:

  • Get off this thread. There is ridiculously little accuracy to the predictions here. I was told that having no volunteer hours would ruin my chances at HYPSM. Oops.
  • Focus on your essays. Focus on yourself. Focus on WHY you want to go to these schools and what you want to do there.
  • Live.
    Good luck.</p>
15

<p>The essay is the most important part of your app, some people deny this, but I’m a 100% it’s true. Your stats are excellent, I dont know why people are saying “not stellar”. However in the end, it’s the essays that will ultimatley make or break you. GL.</p>

16

<p>I sense passion in you.</p>

<p>Harvard 12%
Yale 15%
Princeton 14%
MIT 16%</p>

17

<p>^ Heh, if those are independent probabilities, I have a 45.96% chance of getting into at least one of them. But if I’m doing an interview for MIT, and those people all have a chance of 16%, why do I have no advantage? Plus I remember hearing that 25% of 2300+ SAT’s get admitted to MIT. Plus, if I do early action there, won’t I be considered twice?</p>

18

<p>Pay no attention to RoughAnswer; his estimates are usually very poor.</p>