<p>The last thread got really cluttered so I wanted to make an updated version.</p>
<p>Asian male
Income 35k
Northern California resident
First generation to go to college</p>
<p>ACT: 36
Math II subject test: 800
Chemistry subject test: 800
Physics subject test: 780</p>
<p>GPA: 3.98 u/w, 4.5 weighted. 11 APs by end of junior, 17 by end of senior</p>
<p>AP tests: taken 11, gotten 9 5's and 2 4's</p>
<p>ECs:
Participated in prestigious summer research program, did research at a local university the summer before
Founder and president of tutoring club at school
- counselor knows all about it, will write LoR focusing on this topic. Got the principal and admin actively involved, growing this into a school-wide program
President of the regional chapter of a statewide student-run non-profit organization
- ran a fundraising event to collect sleeping bags for the homeless, raised about $1000 dollars
Student President at a school for children with mental disabilities, 4+ years
Captain of varsity science bowl
Coach at Science Olympiad, got a couple regional awards
Playing on Varsity Academic Decathlon for 4 years, league champion for 3
Teach Chinese at local church</p>
<p>Siemens Semifinalist 2014!
Will have completed ~1000 hours of community service by end of 2014
AIME Qualifier
Few regional science bowl/science olympiad awards
Gold Presidential Volunteer Service Award x3 (250+ hours / year)</p>
<p>hey! congrats on siemens im a semifinalist too!!
here’s what i think:
cal, ucla, washu, harvey mudd - possible
ucsd - safety
mit, caltech, columbia cornell, harvey mudd, etc. - reach --> However, I would be very surprised if you didn’t get into at least one because you are a very competitive applicant and definitely on the higher end
Good luck! </p>
<p>I think you have a really good shot at almost any schools, even HYPSM. For you, especially, since you’re so mathy/sciencey, it’s going to come down to your essays to tip you over into the admit pile. Since you’re so accomplished in science, they will probably not be expected extremely literary essays, but if you can really polish those essays well and show your personality, I don’t see why anyone would deny you. I think you’ll get into everything but Stanford, MIT, Caltech and the Ivies easily, and of the remaining 7 schools, maybe around 3-4 of them? This is assuming you have outstanding essays and LORs. Good luck!</p>
<p>I would say only Harvard, Stanford and MIT are real reaches for you. You have great test scores and extracurriculars so you should be set as long as your essays aren’t terrible.</p>
im a semifinalist too!!
</p>