Hey guys, I’m a senior and I’m about to apply! I’d love to see what you guys think my chances are based on my profile:
Background:
First generation college student
Asian that goes to very competitive high school. High Income bracket.
Academics:
GPA (Unweighted): 4.0 - Valedictorian
SAT: 1540 (740 Reading/Writing / 800 Math)
SAT Biology: 730
SAT Chemistry: 780
SAT Math 2: 800
SAT Physics: 800
AP Tests: Physics 1, Statistics, Microeconomics, Computer Science: All 5s
National Merit Commendation
Extracurriculars:
Software Development Business Founder: make apps and websites for businesses with 5 digit contracts.
Nonprofit Founder: Created a nonprofit to teach CS to underprivileged youth in rural countries. Raised over $5000 and built computer labs for underprivileged students.
Software Engineer Intern: The youngest (and only high schooler) software engineer intern in at a top tier unicorn startup.
School App Developer: Built an app for my school with over 1,200 users, endorsed by all clubs/school officials on campus
Inventor: Have a provisional patent pending under my name.
President of School Business Club
Awards/Competitions:
2 time Hackathon Winner out of 300 participants
1st and 5th place at DECA Internationals out of thousands
Internationally top 10 at MIT Launch Clubs
International Finalist for the Conrad Challenge
National top 10 Software Development Technology Student Association
Letters of Rec:
8/10 - My AP CS teacher
8/10 - My Physics teacher
7.5/10 - My Marketing teacher
Supplemental: 9/10 - My mentor for my software dev internship
My Colleges List:
Harvard
Stanford
MIT
UPenn
UIUC
All UCs
Georgia Tech
University of Washington
UMich
Columbia University
Would love to get your opinions on what my chances are looking like and any advice for my list of colleges!
Dude you are a literal god. I mean it. You have good grades but you’ve actually made a difference in your community and the world. You might not get into your top choice college (cuz everything is a crap shoot these days), but you will get into a really good school. Consider applying to CMU for their CS program too.
LOL that’s redundant: at last count there are 287 “unicorn startup” companies and all unicorns are definitionally ‘top-tier’. Do you mean that it’s one of the handful with general name recognition?
And since I’m being picky, I’ll point out that your 4th EC is an example of your 1st.
More seriously, why don’t your academic referrees rate you higher than a B? and why are you submitting an unnecessary 3rd teacher reference that is essentially a C? For the schools you are aiming for you want recommendations from teachers who think that you are an extraordinary student- a genuine stand-out amongst the students they have taught. I’m not just poking you here: it is a real question.
What’s your intended major, that will help in the chances for some of these schools. And yes, do not submit the third recommendation, you only two teacher plus GC.
Stats: Great job! I would just submit the Math and Physics Scores. The others will only hurt you and cannot help.
ECs: Holy cow! You are basically industry ready my dude! You are very CS oriented based on the internships and nonprofit you made. I would note, however, that it will all come down to the recommendation your employer gives you. It can either make or break your internship.
Awards: The only thing that I think stands out is the MIT Launch award and possibly the conrad challenge. The hackathon win won’t help too much since 300 participants is not very large compared to 2000 or so at other hackathons in nation (ex. PennApps, MHacks). Same thing with the TSA award. The competition is slightly prestigious but won’t garner too many “bonus” points.
Chances:
Harvard - reach
Stanford - reach (your entrepreneurial side may help though)
MIT - reach
UPenn - reach ( your business stuff may help)
UIUC - low reach
All UCs - UCB and UCLA reach, UCSB UCSD matches, rest are safeties
Georgia Tech - high match
University of Washington - if you want to get in directly (reach)
UMich - match
Columbia University - reach
Not much. It helps most in a context of a student whose overall background is clearly more challenged. You can check each college (search name of college + college data) to see what their official policy is (Harvard helpfully says that it is ‘considered’- same as everything except class rank, level of interest, religious affiliation and state of residency, which are ‘not considered’).
I agree with @collegemom3717 First gen is not really outstanding. I would just like to clarify that first generation means that your parents have never attended college. It does not mean that they haven’t been to a college in the US. I am not saying that you are not first gen, just simply clarifying for anyone else.
None of the parents with college education and high income family in great school district typically don’t go together. If OP is truly the First Gen that would be a huge deal IMO, because he/she would be competing in a different pool. HYPSM like to publicize every year how much they increase in their freshmen class the students from non-college educated families.
I agree with @collegemom3717 It’s just one factor. It won’t get the person with a 27 ACT and 3.0 GPA into Harvard. It’s more for deciding between a few candidates which one was more disadvantaged and overcame it.
