<p>My main goal is MIT, and I know it's an unrealistic stretch, but I'm going to try anyway. If it is a stretch for me, please advise me on what I should strengthen in order to raise my chances at MIT. </p>
<p>Colleges/Universities:
-MIT
-Harvard
-University of California: Berkeley
-Stanford University
-Carnegie Mellon University
-University of Massachusetts: Amherst
-Any other recommended CS-strong schools</p>
<p>Unweighted GPA: 4.00
Class Rank: Top 3%
SAT I: 2320 (CR: 800, MA: 770, WR: 750)
SAT Math IIC: 800
SAT Physics: 760
SAT Chemistry: 760</p>
<p>AP's (self-study means school doesn't offer; school has about 4 AP classes that I don't plan on taking):
World History
Microeconomics OR Macroeconomics
U.S. Government
English Language and Composition
English Literature and Composition
Calculus AB
Calculus BC
Statistics
Chemistry (self-study)
Physics B
Physics C (self-study)
Chinese (self-study)
Computer Science A (self-study)</p>
<p>EC+Volunteer:
-President of a business club (3 years)
-VP of a health club (2 years)
-Founder/volunteer of a computer security training program (4 years)
-Team captain of club soccer team (playing for 11 years, captain for 2)
-Community service leader of regional Tzu International Charity Group (3 years)
-Symphony orchestra (4 years + 7 years of violin)
-Chinese school (12 years)</p>
<p>Past Work:
-Website designer (1 year)
-Physics tutor (2 years)
-Calculus tutor (2 years)
-Server support for analyzing websites under cyber-attack (5 years)</p>
<p>Awards:
-MVP for soccer
-Soccer championship winners
-National Merit (Semi-)Finalist
-National AP Scholar
-Java Developer's Certificate
-National Honor Society</p>
<p>Let me know if I am giving too much/too little, or if you need to know anything else.</p>
<p>You have the stats. Your ec’s are decent and your awards are generic aside from the cs related ones. You should really highlight your cs interest ls in your essays. It seems that unhooked applicants get into MIT through outstanding essays. Stanford is extremely random in admissions so that will be quite difficult. </p>
<p>Thanks. I’m trying to hit all the AP’s I listed, but some of the senior year ones will depend on if my school allows me to take them (the school is limiting the number of AP’s people take if they take too many, all based off a “random” lottery system).</p>
<p>You, will have a VERY hard time being admitted into these colleges, because your Asian. They have so many HIGH-QUALIFIED Asian applicants and have turned them down, Thank god I am a URM.</p>
<p>Agreed with UChicago as most of these universities want to sustain a diverse community and they are already overflowing with those of Asian ethnicity. However, MIT does enact affirmative action</p>
<p>Your not a Under Represented Minority (URM). Your a Over Represented Minority (ORM). All of the schools you have listed have VERY STRONG Asian applicants, and they have turned down 2400 SAT and 36 ACT with perfect GPA’s. Universities want a diverse class, they don’t want a whole class of Asians, or Whites they want diversity so they admit Native Americans (like me) and African Americans and Hispanics even if they are less qualified than the typical Asian applicant. Think about it, like this, if you were a Admissions director and you were reading thousands of applications a day at some of the top Universities i.e. Stanford, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton and you always get that Asian applicant who has 2400 SAT, a perfect GPA and what not you will get bored reading the same app over and over, but say if you get an app from a Native American your going to hop up in your seat and pay attention. So it helps to be a URM.</p>
<ol>
<li>All of the schools you have listed have VERY STRONG Asian applicants, and they have turned down 2400 SAT and 36 ACT with perfect GPA’s. *Only when there is a significant lack of EC’s
2.Whites they want diversity so they admit Native Americans (like me) and African Americans and Hispanics even if they are less qualified than the typical Asian applicant.
^Please refer to the Racial Discrimination Act 1975.</li>
<li>you always get that Asian applicant who has 2400 SAT, a perfect GPA and what not you will get bored reading the same app over and over
^Bored? They do admissions in groups. So if anyone says the racist remarks that you just claimed, he or she will automatically get fired.</li>
<li>get an app from a Native American your going to hop up in your seat and pay attention
^Not really. The only real help you get is that you have a certain quota for Native Americans. The Native Americans do not apply to top schools as much as the Asians do.</li>
</ol>
<p>I do know that the underrepresented will have a higher chance of getting in than me if their academics and EC’s are strong enough, but I only want to know what you think of my chances, and what I should do to improve my chances.</p>
<p>My friend went in for an interview to appeal his admissions and he asked the admissions officers what his weakest area was and guess what they said? His race. They wanted more diversity so they rejected him? I remember reading in the application that applicants will not be chosen based on race, religion, and etc.</p>
<p>No, it’s not bull. They just said it in a blunt manner.</p>
<p>1] Yes, people with perfect SAT/GPA are rejected due to their lack of ECs. However, the point is that there is a quota on the amount of Asians that are generally admitted into a top institution. This therefore increases competition. An African American with a 2100 SAT and a 3.6 GPA would sometimes be accepted over an Asian with a 2300 SAT and a 4.0 GPA.</p>
<p>2] People make this rebuttal every damn time. It’s not racial discrimination. Many Asians aren’t being admitted because colleges feel that it’s the democratic tradition to make their community as diverse as possible. Asians aren’t rejected because their Asian, but due to the fact that diversity is prioritized. Therefore, it’s not racial discrimination.</p>
<p>3] That’s true. It has nothing to do with admission officers being “bored,” per se.</p>
<p>4] What both of you said is true, it’s just that UChicago severely exaggerated his point. The point is, Native Americans are an extreme minority, and have a way higher chance of being accepted despite a marginally lower score. Of course, the question then comes down to whether they’ll successfully graduate out of said college or not.</p>
<p>CalvinTBOD, You have to admit if you we an adcom, and you read thousands and thousands of applications a day and they were your typical Asian (4.0GPA, 2400SAT) and what not. You would get bored because it is the same student but a with a different name, and top notch universities i.e. Stanford, Yale, Harvard, Princeton, they don’t get many Native American applicants and adcomms will pop up in their seat once they do receive a application from a “extreme” minority as you phrased it.</p>