I’m a Asian Junior who goes to a competitive public school in California. Around 1000 people in the US apply and only around 50 people get accepted. RSI puts the cap for the number of California students at 5. That makes this program extremely competitive and prestigious. But apart from my essays (which I understand are extremely important), are my stats good enough to put me above the competition, even if they consider applicants holistically?
4.00 UW ; 4.18 W GPA
Note: My school does not offer AP courses to freshmen and sophomores.
Stem Courses currently taking: Calculus BC (at my local university), AP Physics, AP Chemistry, AP Computer Science
PSAT: 1430 (680 Reading, 750 Math) - recommended for RSI is 700 Reading, 740 Math so not bad
Chinese SAT: 750 - self-taught Chinese in 6 months (was born in US)
Currently an intern (w/ professor) at local university researching Quantum Physics and Stochastic Control
Extracurriculars:
- Started a non-profit toy business (after creating a new toy product) that uses the leftover money for charity
- FIRST Robotics Competition World Championships Qualifier Team
- Captain of NASA Space Settlement Competition Team
- Captain of Toshiba Exploravision Team
- Captain of “Campfire” story-based app development team
- Dave Wittry Memorial Programming Contest (selected)
- Staff writer in school newspaper (competitively selected from top ~5 in class)
- Astronomy Club (Secretary,Treasurer)
- Board Game Club (Secretary) - led integration of special-ed kids into the club during lunch
- Model United Nations (4 years)
- California Scholarship Federation (similar to National Honors Society)
- Computer Science Club
Awards: Youth of the Month (represented my entire school), Pride of the Pack, Principal’s Honor Roll, 20+ Outstanding/Commendation MUN Awards
Community Service: ~ 100 hours so far