Chance me-perfect SAT/PSAT, unsure of ECs

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>I think...we should all take a chill pill. If the OP is/was lying, then he won't get into them schools we're judging him for, so I really don't think it matters either way. Regarding string theory -- what's wrong with the independent project? It doesn't sound to me as if the OP was saying that he was shedding light on some new facet of the idea or making some revolutionary discovery; merely that he was interested.</p>

<p>But seriously, Intel prize winners do projects (alongside professors) regarding string theory; it can be done and has been.</p>

<p>And uh..."I got a 35 on my ACT" second time around with a perfect SAT and being irritated = perfectly understandable. I mean, it's that one off from being perfect; just like how a 99 is annoying because it reeks of "almost but not quite." He never said it was a bad score.</p>

<p>Geez. OP seems like a pretty decent kid. You sound a heck of a lot more elitist than he does.</p>

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<p>There is an easily obtainable solution to this problem:
1) scan your transcript so we can see it
2) screenshot your SAT/ACT scores
And all will be resolved!</p>

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<p>hey guys,
how much better do you think a 2400 SAT and 36 ACT is from a 2300 and 35?
like does it honestly make that much of a difference? (not a rhetorical question I actually wanna know)</p>

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<p>No. It does not make a difference at all.</p>

<p>Haha, it's just irritating!</p>

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<p>Sweet chances. And I agree with taggart. What's wrong with dvmp29? High schoolers can do projects on string theory without fully grasping every nuance in the field. the OP never claimed to understand string theory inside and out. He just did an independent project related to the topic. Get over yourself.. jealousy bites. Seriously I've seen a lot of annoying CC posts but that one made me want to kill a small animal.</p>

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<p>"me want to kill a small animal."</p>

<p>lol</p>

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<p>Yea, I hate how people throw around the phrase "Elitist" so much - and often wrongly. There's a big difference between a elitist tone and elitistism, and arrogance.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Geez. OP seems like a pretty decent kid. You sound a heck of a lot more elitist than he does.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Ok, yes you're right I'm super elitist, way more elitist than the OP. You win.</p>

<p>Pray tell what on earth did I say that came off as "elitist"? </p>

<p>Every single one of your points, Taggart, is bogus. </p>

<p>
[quote]
And uh..."I got a 35 on my ACT" second time around with a perfect SAT and being irritated = perfectly understandable. I mean, it's that one off from being perfect; just like how a 99 is annoying because it reeks of "almost but not quite." He never said it was a bad score.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Wrong, read his posts again. Read the context again. </p>

<p>It's one thing to get a 35 on the ACT and go "Ahh damn I'm a little annoyed at myself but oh well."</p>

<p>It's an entirely different thing to get a 35 on the ACT and go "Wow I am so disappointed in myself I am retaking the ACT immediately on April 12th!"</p>

<p>
[quote]
But seriously, Intel prize winners do projects (alongside professors) regarding string theory; it can be done and has been.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>The Intel Science Talent Search is one of the most fraudulent, bogus competitions out there. Here's how it works - a bright student enters into the lab of a professor, usually through connections. He or she then essentially copies a past paper that the professor has written - providing 0 innovative insight. </p>

<p>I've seen it time and time again. Three intel science talent finalists from my region have "clawed their way up" by this method. </p>

<p>Honestly, if you would allow me to consider my samplings to constitute a "random sample" I'd be happy to do the math for you - figuring out whether or not I can reject the null hypothesis of "Intel Science Talent Search finalists do not copy from their respective professor's papers" but I don't think we need to go to that. Maybe you'll take my word for it, or maybe you should look up the papers yourself and search through the publication lists of the appropriate professors.</p>

<p>Or maybe next time you could try to read the posts a little bit better instead of calling someone "elitist" for no reason at all.</p>

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<p>By the way for anybody interested, here's what I came up with for this years intel science talent search finalists.</p>

<p>1st place; submitted a bioinformatics and genomics project to the Intel Science Talent Search that focused on identifying stage II colon cancer patients at high risk for recurrence and the best therapeutic agents for treating their tumors. The standard method of characterizing tumors relies on visual information, including size, degree of metastasis and microscopic structure. Shivani's 50-gene model for predicting the recurrence of colon cancer instead uses gene expression profiles to link multiple genetic events that characterize various tumor types. She created her model using two public data sets containing 125 patient samples and coupled it with clinical data to plot statistically significant survival curves. She then used her model to identify drugs that may be effective in treating stage II colon cancer. </p>

<p>-I did not look into this one</p>

<p>2nd place; completed a two-year study of the long-term effects of exposure to pyrethroids, commonly found in household and agricultural pesticides, for his Intel Science Talent Search project in environmental science. Graham had become interested while helping his grandmother in her tomato garden, and subsequently designed two novel experiments to investigate the possible effect of pyrethroids on breast cancer and neurodegeneration. </p>

<p>-legitimate from what I can see because I did not find any such topic/paper from his advising professor</p>

<p>3rd place;focused his research on developing new types of solar cells for his Intel Science Talent Search project in chemistry. Brian synthesized extremely thin and fragile films and verified his results using scanning electron microscopy techniques. His films consisted of interfacially polymerized combinations of porphyrins and phthalocyanines - plant-like photosynthetic materials found in nature that are photoactive and photoconducting - both properties of functioning solar cells. Brian's novel polymer films responded electrically to light indicating that they could act as solar cells and may be a less expensive option to today's silicon-based solar cell technology, and help meet increasing demands for renewable energy.</p>

<p>-fake/fraud (just a replica of a past paper the professor wrote)</p>

<p>4th place; submitted a mathematics project to the Intel Science Talent Search on problems in combinatorial geometry. A lattice polygon in the plane is a polygon each of whose vertices has integer coordinates; such points are called lattice points. Katie gave a proof of a conjecture of S. Rabinowitz, that a convex lattice polygon with nine vertices cannot have exactly eight or nine interior lattice points. </p>

<p>-did not investigate this one</p>

<p>5th place; studied the use of novel efflux pump inhibitors (EPI) to improve the efficacy of antibiotics against multidrug resistant bacteria for his Intel Science Talent Search medicine and health project. One way bacteria disable antibiotics is to use an efflux pump mechanism to expel the antibiotics from their cells. Eric tested a compound known to disable a simple efflux pump in S. aureus on a more complex pump in E. coli, a nonpathogenic bacteria. The compound was not initially effective because it could not penetrate the E. coli membrane, but Eric found that a modified form of it, diosmetin, could enter the E. coli cell and effectively disable the more complex pump.</p>

<p>-fake/fraud (just a replica of a past paper the professor wrote)</p>

<p>6th place; studied dark matter and the controversial galactic rotational curves for his Intel Science Talent Search physics project. Dark matter, which is theorized to make up 25 percent or more of the universe, emits little or no detectible radiation but exerts observed gravitational force on stars and galaxies. To avoid the complications of modeling matter in the physical fourth dimension, David's calculations were conducted in a fifth dimensional model, allowing him to mock-up galactic rotation models without describing visible matter. His results showed that Einstein's General Relativity Theory, in principle, could modify rotation curves without including dark matter. Fourth dimensional calculations, in contrast, support the existence of dark matter. </p>

<p>-fake/fraud (just a replica of a past paper the professor wrote)</p>

<p>9th place; combined her interests in animal behavior and environmental science for the zoology project she submitted to the Intel Science Talent Search. As a participant in a statewide survey tracking Odonate family populations (dragon flies and damsel flies), she decided to collect additional data to discover the nature of population distribution and its application to conservation policy. Field research was conducted in two undisturbed wetland habitats with varying levels of vegetative cover, where catch-and-release means were used to assess Odonate behavior in relation to their habitat. Her findings indicate that - regardless of vegetative coverage - females are more likely to remain in adjoining meadows and males within wetlands, suggesting that both habitats are crucial for the survival of the entire Odonate population.</p>

<p>-legitimate from what I could see. I did not find a similar research paper from her advisor. </p>

<p>I found more fakes from people who made it to the top level from our region (did not place though). I did not look into ranks 7 through 10 (with the exception of rank 9) because I got bored at that point.</p>

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<p>Bogus? Hardly.</p>

<p>One of my acquaintances came in top ten Intel. He's currently enrolled in Harvard and is one of the most brilliant people I have had the pleasure of knowing. Independent project on tracking satellites or something of the sort with the same efficiency as NASA. Anyhow, you've missed my point in that there -are- people (high school students) out there who do fine with genuine research. Who's to say the OP isn't one of them?</p>

<p>I understand that you have your doubts; that's fine. No one has asked you start taking the OP's word as the one true word. From what I've read, he's made a simple inquiry, and expect a simple answer. It's pointless to throw down accusations of "NO, HE'S LYING." If such stats are falsified, then the OP won't get into whatever school he's projected to get into. Simple as that. No need to get offended.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Bogus? Hardly.</p>

<p>One of my acquaintances came in top ten Intel. He's currently enrolled in Harvard and is one of the most brilliant people I have had the pleasure of knowing. Independent project on tracking satellites or something of the sort with the same efficiency as NASA. Anyhow, you've missed my point in that there -are- people (high school students) out there who do fine with genuine research. Who's to say the OP isn't one of them?</p>

<p>I understand that you have your doubts; that's fine. No one has asked you start taking the OP's word as the one true word. From what I've read, he's made a simple inquiry, and expect a simple answer. It's pointless to throw down accusations of "NO, HE'S LYING." If such stats are falsified, then the OP won't get into whatever school he's projected to get into. Simple as that. No need to get offended.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>The reason why I called your claims on me "bogus" is clealry supported by the fact that you're now making false implications about my posts. You're implying that I "doubt" his stats. Wrong....totally wrong. </p>

<p>I believe every single one of his stats. I fully believe he is doing everything he is doing. I never said I didn't.</p>

<p>This is why I said your claims were bogus - you're not reading properly.</p>

<p>If you carefully examine what I wrote, you'll notice that this is essentially the only thing that I said-</p>

<p>I said that in the strictest sense of the word, it's not possible to do an "independent project" on a topic like "string theory." Why is this? The reason is as follows:</p>

<p>When you want to do an "independent project" in the strictest sense of the word, you are implying to the admissions committee that you are going to do one of the following:</p>

<p>1) Provide some sort of innovative insight into the topic at hand, regardless of how small or "trivial" that insight is. Any sort of innovative insight will do.</p>

<p>2) Conduct an actual experiment regarding the topic at hand and report your results. Talk about if your results are in line with current theories or not, and explain why you think they are or aren't.</p>

<p>You already agree that case 1 is not the case - "It doesn't sound to me as if the OP was saying that he was shedding light on some new facet of the idea"</p>

<p>Case 2 is impossible. I trust that you already know why. </p>

<p>If he wants to go out and learn about string theory as much as he can, I think that's just fine. Don't call it an "independent project" though. Don't give it special recognition beyond what it actually deserves.</p>

<p>If I go off and learn as much as I can about butterflies - reading as many books as possible, learning as many mechanisms as possible, and then I write a "research" paper about it (research paper as a school would define - doing outside research on things that are known and reporting what you found out), I'm not going to go ahead and call this an "independent project on Butterflies" and put it on my application. We do this sort of thing all the time in high school.</p>

<p>Teacher: "Ok class it's time for your term papers, I want you to pick one of these topics, research the topic fully, and write about it"</p>

<p>This is the sort of thing that you would read up on your own and then you would put under "interests" or something on an application. Then, it's something you could bring up during an interview. That's all I'm saying. </p>

<p>This is why I talked about the fact that there are numerous other people who read up on matters like this. The difference is they don't put it on their application as an "independent project," because it's not.</p>

<p>Now, as for the rest of what I said. I called him elitist because of the following: It's blatantly obvious that is stats give him as good a chance as anybody of being accepted to any of the top schools. </p>

<p>Chance threads are honestly for people who should be clearly "in the middle" or "borderline" when it comes to matters like this. </p>

<p>When you take the most rigorous courses possible, when you surround yourself with 5 times as many activities as the typical applicant (with leadership positions in a few), when you have such a broad, wordly experience as this person does plus virtually perfect test scores (there's no difference between a 2400 SAT and a 35 ACT versus a 2400 SAT and a 36 ACT) - it's just...obvious.</p>

<p>When you go around talking about how disappointing a 2400 SAT plus 35 ACT is to the point where you say you are going to "take the ACT again," that's just ludicrous.</p>

<p>If his counsellor told him to retake the ACT after getting a 35, then his counsellor...well we now know why he or she grew up to be a counsellor instead of trying for more scholarly pursuits, to put it lightly.</p>

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<p>"One more thing -</p>

<p>This whole "Oh I got a 35 on my ACT I'm so disappointed in myself"</p>

<p>It doesn't make you look very good. It makes you look like an arrogant <em>*. I'm just letting you know this for your own benefit. Unless of course you want to look like a cocky *</em> to people around you.</p>

<p>This entire thread reeks of a level of elitism that I've honestly never even seen.</p>

<p>It's one thing for someone to brag about having such great stats that give him or her such great chances of getting into a place like Harvard. It's something entirely amazing for someone to talk about such great stats (on an absolute scale) and then act like they are nothing or just "average" or that near perfect scores are something to be "disappointed" in. You're not being modest - you're being arrogant." -dmVP29</p>

<p>Would you prefer me to say "Yeah, I have ridiculous stats, I'm such a genius, I'm so much better than the rest of you"? Because that seems to be what you want...but I don't feel that way, so I don't say things like that. I don't consider myself to be extraordinary or particularly unique--we all have individual strengths. Some people are brilliant athletes, some are talented in the arts...I have a strong mind. That's it. I'm no better than anyone else, I just have a particular talent which is stressed on this website. I would look average at best on a forum dedicated to discussion of athletic abilities. </p>

<p>I was disappointed in the ACT score because I failed to attain my goal. My goal was quite high, but even so, is it that bad to be disappointed in myself?</p>

<p>"It's an entirely different thing to get a 35 on the ACT and go "Wow I am so disappointed in myself I am retaking the ACT immediately on April 12th!"" -dmVP29</p>

<p>I took the ACT and got a 35 as a sophomore. I thought I was done. My college counselor told me to take it again, so I agreed. It was hardly the way you described it.</p>

<p>You don't seem to understand the independent study concept at my school. Essentially, it's an avenue for students to pursue a subject that isn't ordinarily offered in a class. You have to secure a faculty sponsor, write up a detailed proposal, complete the project, and make a presentation to a faculty panel. It shows up on my transcript as a graded class. It's a perfectly legitimate item to put on my application.</p>

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<p>I don't really think there's much more to discuss in this thread. It's gone off topic, and if the OP is looking for chances, it's pretty obvious that we can't say more than "you've got great chances".</p>

<p>If you wanted us to give some constructive criticism, then you'll see that you already stated yourself that you have "weak" ECs. I don't really know what more you want to know from us about your chances. Clearly you're above the average applicant, and clearly HYPS have unpredictable admissions tactics.</p>

<p>Chance threads are pointless. Work hard, apply to the colleges you want to attend, and hope for the best. Chance threads are only a way of gaining some sort of "hope" and "assurance" that you can be accepted (although I know that wasn't your intention).</p>

<p>Anyhow, you seem to be a brilliant student, you've got great credentials, and I wish you the best of luck for the future :)</p>

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<p>it seems that you've done 10 times more than enough to get into all of the top schools in the country. now, i don't think this is fake because the details you give are too intricate... midwestern kid with perfect scores and all of these awards is fantastic- although i might agree that some colleges want to see a lot of effort in a few concentrated interests, but thats besides the point when you have what you've got. now all that memorizing and studying can get you in anywhere, but you really need to be fully matured and capable as a real human being to be successful after college.</p>

<p>i would say that now is the time to truly know yourself and get to express your personality to colleges, Stanford will definitely accept you EA... i don't think you should apply to schools after that as a courtesy to other applicants who don't have your stats...</p>

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<p>I agree with dvMP. I engage in independent research (mostly theoretical stuff), and I enter a lot of science competitions. All of my competitors have advisers w/ Ph.D's working in labs. Some of these kids just wash beakers and take the professor's work as their own. In fact, one girl next to me at a science fair (no joke) used "we" to describe EVERYTHING she did.</p>

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<p>No offense, but I shoot trolls. </p>

<p>I honestly don't know what you want us to say after seeing those stats... </p>

<p>I'll just make cow noises. </p>

<p>Harvard: Moo...
Yale: Moo...
Princeton: Moo...
Stanford: Moo...
Dartmouth: Maybe... If they don't think the above will take you.
UPenn: Maybe... If they don't think the above will take you.
UNC: Rejected, courtesy of the Tufts syndrome...
Pomona: Rejected, courtesy of the Tufts syndrome...
SMU: Rejected, courtesy of the Tufts syndrome(x2)...
UT at Austin: Rejected, courtesy of the Tufts syndrome(x 4^45)...</p>

<p>MOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</p>

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<p>CI180, PM inbound.</p>

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<p>khaki, I responded to your PM. If you feel my proof is legitimate, feel free to mention that here...I could do with some backup haha. </p>

<p>Gryffon: Do you really think I'm that likely to get Tufted?</p>

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<p>I agree with Gryffon. With statistics such as yours, it'd be a miracle if you were accepted anywhere unless you took drastic action immediately to improve your odds. I understand your trepidation, given your dismal record, and I completely empathize with your uncertainty about admissions. In fact, I'd estimate that only 0.005% of college applicants are in a worse position than you. With a bit of luck, though, you might just eke out an acceptance, somewhere.</p>

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<p>yeah sorry to say this but a community college seems to be your best shot</p>