<p>Hey guys, I'm a junior and I plan on applying to all 5 of HYPSM next year with Princeton being my top choice. Chances for all 5 of HYPSM would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Asian Male, NJ, attending a very competitive magnet school.</p>
<p>Stats:
-UW GPA: 97/100
-SAT I (one sitting): 2360
-SAT II: Math II (800), Biology (800), Physics (800), Chemistry (800)
-AP's: 3 5's soph year, expecting 6 5's this year: Biology, Chemistry, Physics C (both), Calc BC, Micro, Macro, Statistics, Psychology</p>
<p>Awards:
-USAMO qualifier
-USAPhO Semifinalist
-National AP Scholar (expected)
-National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist (expected)
-6th Place Team at Youth North American Bridge Championships
-Twice (this year and freshman year) co-captained NJ High School Chess Championship winning team
-4th place in 11th Grade NJ Chess Championship (3rd in two previous years for 10th and 9th grade)
-TSA (Technology Student Association): 5th place at Nationals for Chapter Team, 8th place at Nationals for Tech Bowl
-5th place individual NJ Science League (Physics II), 6th place team</p>
<p>Other:
-Will be a research intern at Princeton Plasma Physics Lab this summer
-Attended Columbia University Science Honors Program
-Founder and President of School Bridge Club
-Basketball (JV this year, varsity next year)
-150 volunteer hours as TA at local Chinese school
-National Honor Society</p>
<p>Just assume that my essays and recs are generic.. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>
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<p>Then you won’t stand a chance. If your recs are not as stellar as your accomplishments, it will raise a serious red flag that you may be accomplished but asocial, and these schools are not willing to admit students who will hide in large classes and in their dorm room studying the rest of the time.</p>
<p>Of course you have strong technical stats, but you’re also Asian from a state that provides far too many applicants – it would be easy to bypass you or wait-list you. You need to supplement this list with a soft human side that makes you stand out as a person: tutor, helper, companion, friend. The concept of contributing to the community is strong with these schools – find a way to convince them that you, too, will do your part.</p>
<p>First of all, congrats on attaining such incredible grades and test scores! (and activities)
It is difficult to answer your question, however, since so many qualified kids apply to HYPSM.
Just try your luck and see what happens</p>
<p>Depends on where you apply early. You are far too science lopsided for HYP.</p>
<p>Hm… thanks for the replies!
How much of a difference does applying early make?</p>
<p>For ED schools, it can make a lot of difference since they know you are locked in if they admit you. </p>
<p>For SCEA schools, it gives them an indication that you prefer them the most. So if you have a shot at one of them, SCEA is where they get a good look at your app. Stanford rejects 80% + during SCEA and so you are either in or out with a low chance of a waitlist. MIT admit rate is proportional to their regular admit rate and so there is no actual advantage.</p>
<p>Your scores are good, but not impressive for HYPSM. In your app, I think, you should emphasize your PPPL internship. (I applied for that too! Rejected) It’s a unique part of your app and shows research experience. You have a very good chance at Princeton. I live in NJ as well, and based on results from my school, Princeton likes accomplished STEM kids and likes NJ kids as well. Stanford will be very hard to get into from this side; they highly favor west coasters. Yale will also be hard, since you seem like a very STEM focused kid, and Yale has comparatively little to offer in tech. Harvard is erratic. MIT is possible, but you’ll be up against Siemens/Intel finalists and IMO winners.</p>
<p>Objective stats are great, and ECs are impressive, but generic, especially since you attend a top magnet schools, which is a mixed blessing. I think HYP is still very reasonable even if you don’t fit with exactly what they are looking for. </p>
<p>Do you mind if I ask why you took 10 AP exams this year when you are expecting to only get 6 5s? </p>
<p>Chance back for similar schools if you want…
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1507605-chance-hispanic-2400-ivies-mit-cambridge-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1507605-chance-hispanic-2400-ivies-mit-cambridge-will-chance-back.html</a></p>
<p>@Okay124398 I only took 6 this year, those 9 that I listed includes the 3 I took last year.</p>
<p>So if not STEM, what is it exactly that separates one into HYP category? All of the competitions out there are essentially STEM-based. I can’t really think of any prestigious non-STEM awards/EC’s with the exception of TASP.</p>
<p>I missed that you are doing an internship at Princeton this year. Do you have any stats on how many get accepted by Princeton that do it? Sometimes elite internships make a difference for admissions within that school.</p>
<p>What is your intended major? If you apply for engineering and if there are only 200 seats in engineering at Yale, you can figure out the math with 4000 other Asian males asking to be admitted to engineering too. Similar limitation may also apply to Harvard.</p>
<p>@doingitbig, HYPSM are looking for people, not stats. They assume your stats are great, and they are, but if you look selfish or introverted they won’t want you. They want people who take what they learn and do amazing things with it, show leadership, are well liked by their peers, and give back to the community. You seem, for lack of a better word, cold-hearted on your app. Make sure you can combat this perception with great essays that display a human side, and rec’s that demonstrate that you work well with people in addition to being smart. I wouldn’t limit yourself to HYPSM either. What about schools that focus on STEM?</p>
<p>Harvard: Reach
Yale:Reach
Princeton: Low Reach (being native means they’ll know your school + being STEM at a humanities school helps)
Stanford: Reach (they’re really holistic, and your EC’s aren’t great)
MIT: Low Reach (your stats are your best attribute here, but again they want whole people too. You’re a little generic and not eccentric enough for them) </p>
<p>As a last thought, be sure to apply to some safeties and reasonable reaches! All 5 could admit or deny you. I think you may have a shot realistically at 1. maybe 2 out of 5,but its very possible they will all deny you for no fault of your own. Best of luck! Chance back at <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1508050-chances-science-undergrad.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1508050-chances-science-undergrad.html</a></p>
<p>All of these schools are considered a reach for anyone. And I totally agreed that if you have generic essays and LOR, your chances will be pretty slim to nonexistent. That being said, since there is no question about your grades and accomplishments, you can be the master of your own destiny with the essays, and I am sure that with your accomplishments, you should be able to get great LOR. In the end though, HYP are reach schools for nearly everyone.</p>
<p>“So if not STEM, what is it exactly that separates one into HYP category? All of the competitions out there are essentially STEM-based. I can’t really think of any prestigious non-STEM awards/EC’s with the exception of TASP.”</p>
<p>That’s the problem right there. HYPSM admission is not solely or even largely dependent on “prestigious… awards.” Most of the applicants are prestige w—es anyways, they don’t need more. As a previous poster said, they want people. And if you look like you are selfish or antisocial they won’t want you. Your objective stats already show them that you’re smart. All the USAMO awards, etc., will only marginally reinforce that same quality. But there’s more to a Harvard admit than pure intelligence. They want to know that you can positively impact the world around you, not that you can win competitions.</p>
<p>Congratulations on an extremely competitive and admirable set of test scores and academic achievements. There are not many kids who have this sort of repertoire…but sadly even that many is enough to throw off college admissions. I have to agree with the general consensus that you seem like an academic juggernaut who’s done very little outside that realm. All of your ECs are very academic (albeit strong nevertheless) and I don’t see any real emphasis on community service and giving back to society. It’s very important to colleges like HYPSM that see applicants like you to be able to differentiate one from the other. THAT is what will get you in to these. If you do that in a unique fashion I wouldn’t doubt your ability to get into all of these colleges. </p>
<p>Harvard - reach
Yale - not sure why you want to apply here…
Stanford - high reach (personally you don’t have enough character for a school that looks for a complete individual)
Princeton - reach (you’ve established yourself there already!)
MIT - low reach (your math skills will surely be impressive at MIT! – sadly I only made it to the AIME)</p>
<p>Chance me back? [Penn</a>, Harvard, Chicago and more!](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1509778-chance-new-guy-penn-harvard-chicago-more-will-chance-back.html]Penn”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1509778-chance-new-guy-penn-harvard-chicago-more-will-chance-back.html)</p>
<p>Yeah doingitbig, we have really similar stats and resumes, but I have tried to incorporate some humanities aspects that the above posters are talking about. I will PM you my resume and hopefully, it will help you out.</p>