<p>First of all, I'm still a sophomore, just checking to see if I'm on the right track.</p>
<p>Chance me for: MIT, Caltech, Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, etc.</p>
<p>GPA: 3.8something UW (I know this kinda sucks), school doesn't do weighted
Rank: No idea</p>
<p>Race: Indian
Income: <$50k</p>
<p>ACT (have not taken it yet): 34 on a mock taken in 8th grade</p>
<p>APs: AP Calculus BC (Took in 8th grade) - 5, AP Computer Science (Took in 7th grade) - 5, AP Statistics - 5, AP World History - 3 (whoopsies)</p>
<p>Some important notes about academics:</p>
<p>I took Calc BC in 8th grade, subsequently did Multivariable Calc through EPGY freshman year and doing Linear Algebra through EPGY this year again</p>
<p>ECs (where I hope to stand out):</p>
<p>Team lead for an open source application with about 30 people collaborating (has been covered in TED talks)
Paid blogger for software engineering blog
Started a software company last year
Currently also running a software development company (but, its only me, no hires)
Intel ISEF Finalist
AIME qualifier
Several regional wins at Debate (first year doing it)
President of Robotics Club
I handle investments in stock/bonds/futures/options
I do fundraising and website development for a nonprofit that prevents blindness in developing nations
I run a pretty popular technical blog (Computer</a> Science, Math and Clever Dolphins)</p>
<p>I would say you are definitely on the right track… But I want to know the same thing as jimes2… How are you able to take these courses in middle school? O.o Are you an international student?</p>
<p>I’m actually not sure what I’m going to do junior or senior year because the district is no longer willing to pay for EPGY.</p>
<p>I’m actually a student in the Midwest, not international or anything. I just took a lot of math early on in elementary school (pre-calc in the summer of 5th grade).</p>
<p>If this is all accurate then I would say you have a great shot at MIT and Caltech. Keep your GPA up and get good test grades to make sure you go into the good stack, because you honestly seem smart enough to have a better GPA. </p>
<p>I don’t know how accurate it is to call your software projects a company, since it’s only you. That seems kind of dishonest. Just say you do a lot of independent software development imo.</p>
<p>I contract out a large amount of work to contractors for the company, and, it is incorporated. And, the startup I’m working on actually sells a product, so, it is more or less a company.</p>
<p>For the past few years, noteworthy “tech-schools,” like MIT, CMU, and Caltech, have been aggressively pushing technological entrepreneurship on their campuses. These colleges are now funneling millions of dollars each year to promote student tech start-ups. Your EC’s demonstrate that you will definitely take advantage of their resources in ways that (virtually) no-one your age actually can.</p>
<p>If you score at 34+ on the ACT (or a 2250+ on the SAT), you’ll definitely be competitive for ANY college. In fact, if you don’t add any new EC’s to life, you’ll still be among the top .1% of applicants in your class. I think you’ll be just fine in the admissions process as long as remain committed to your current activities. IMO, almost any admissions officer will approve an app like yours.</p>
<p>Chancing back!
Strong points: a lot of personal initiative which is good since it shows your maturity level to admin officers!
Weak:Not much team work involved in many of your activities. Maybe stress in the interview or essay your ability to work with others because that is an important character quality. For your ECs, you seemed to have focused of computer science and tech stuff which is good because that shows your interests, but you should also try a few in school clubs that are more over arching (like acadeca), since your APs and everything else seem to revolve mostly around science.
MIT (High/mid reach）
Caltech (mid/high reach)
Harvard (high reach → def need to show more well roundedness maybe with more APs in the humanities or clubs that are more general)
Carnegie Mellon (safety)</p>
<p>Engarde, I don’t know how much the violin activity says about you if you’re self taught. How many hours a week do you put into that? Are you any good?</p>
<p>I disagree with Yukihime’s assessment. I think that it is extremely impressive that you took precalculus in the fifth grade and AP Calculus BC in the eighth grade. When I think back to my fifth grade math class, I remember doing long division and multiplying 2 and 3 digit numbers together. I think that MIT and Caltech are low reaches, not high ones.</p>
<p>I don’t think violin can really count if you’re self taught…It’s just more of a hobby, not an extracurricular activity. That being said, the rest of your app is pretty strong, albeit overwhelmingly computer science/math related. As another poster said, a school wanting diversity, like Harvard, might be a high reach.</p>