Chance me, please. MIT EA, Harvard EA, and Cornell.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Gender: M
Location: Mississippi
College Class Year: 2016
High School: Public magnet
High School Type: sends many grads to top schools
Will apply for financial aid: Yes</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>GPA - Unweighted: 3.80
Class Rank: My school doesn't assign rank.
Class Size: 150</p>

<p>Scores:</p>

<p>ACT: 34 Composite, 33 English, 32 Mathematics, 36 Reading, 35 Science, and 8 Writing.
SAT II Math Level 2 (IIC): 690
SAT II Physics: 700
PSAT: 99th Percentile (Can't remember the number score)
A.P. World History: 4</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Significant Extracurriculars:
Beta Club
Spanish Club
Physics Club
Drama Club
Choir</p>

<p>Leadership positions: </p>

<p>Science Bowl Captain
Volunteer/Service Work: 2 years with Angle Food Ministries
5 Summer Mission Trips
8 years of volunteering for VBS every summer
3 years with my congregation's food bank
Habitat for Humanity
5 years of Memphis Work Camp</p>

<p>Honors and Awards: </p>

<p>2nd place team in Mississippi Science Bowl
5th place individually in Mississippi Science Bowl</p>

<p>Colleges of Interest:</p>

<p>Massachusetts Institute of Technology (EA)
Harvard University (EA)
Cornell University
Carnegie Mellon University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Virginia Tech
Mississippi State University</p>

<p>Significant Courses:</p>

<p>Freshman Year:</p>

<p>Gifted English I: A
Biology I: A
Gifted Art: A
Football: A</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:</p>

<p>Gifted English II: A
A.P. 2D Art: A
A.P. World History: A
Spanish I: A
Trigonometry: B
Pre-Calculus: A
Theatre: A</p>

<p>Junior Year:</p>

<p>University English I: B
Math Modeling: A
University Calculus I: A
General Chemistry: A
Cellular Biology: A
University Advanced Mechanics: B
Advanced Waves, Electricity, and Magnetism: B
Spanish II: A
U.S. History: A
Choir: A
Drama: A</p>

<p>Senior (Next) Year:</p>

<p>Programming I & II
University English II
Creative Writing
University Calculus II
Calculus III
Differential Equations
Discrete Mathematics
University Statistics I
University Statistics II (If I can fit it into my schedule)
A.P. Calculus-Based Physics C
Modern Physics
Organic Chemistry
Biochemistry
Economics
American Government
Choir</p>

<p>I'm hoping that my well-rounded schedule, drive for math and science, my ACT scores, and my community service (which I have more random 1 day things for than I listed) will help outweigh my lack of leadership opportunities. I'm going to retake the ACT one more time to shoot for a 35 or 36 and I'm retaking my SAT subject tests because I'm not happy with my scores. If you have any advice or criticisms for me, I'd love to hear them. Thanks.</p>

2

<p>Miss State - what? Definitely, definitely in. With the top, top scholarship they’ll give you. 99+% unless they practice bizarre yield protection.
Georgia Tech - most likely in. Top school + above average ACT (35 would be even higher) means you probably will get merit aid. 80%
Virginia Tech - in/safety. 90%
CMU - high match, most likely. 60%
MIT EA: Going to be a tough sell, but I would suppose you would have a good shot. 30% maybe.
Harvard EA: Unlikely, but anything’s possible. 15%
Cornell: mid-reach, around 40%</p>

<p>Chance me back?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1168046-thread-has-interesting-title-ill-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1168046-thread-has-interesting-title-ill-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>Note that you can’t apply to both MIT and Harvard early.</p>

4

<p>Silverturtle, Harvard and MIT have Early Action not Early Decision. Unless I missunderstood, Early Action is just an earlier application date; it isn’t a binding agreement to attend like Early Decision.</p>

<p>Stevenf, thanks for your input. By the way, I didn’t have doubts about MS State. I left it on there so I wouldn’t look like an idiot with no back-up plan.</p>

5

<p>Well I’m pretty sure that either Harvard or MIT is early action-restrictive which means you can’t apply early to any other schools if you apply early on one of them (hope that makes sense) which is why you can’t apply to both of them early.</p>

<p>EDIT: <a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_action[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_action&lt;/a&gt;
This will help.</p>

6

<p>^ Actually, isn’t just Harvard SCEA?</p>

7

<p>

</p>

<p>Harvard has Single-Choice Early Action, meaning that you are prohibited from additionally applying early elsewhere.</p>

8

<p>Thank you for clearing that up. I guess I will apply for MIT EA and Harvard in January.</p>

9

<p>Not sure what major you are applying for. If you’re applying to engineering, the B in Trig and in physics like courses are not good.</p>

10

<p>Dr Google, I only got a B in Mechanics. The B in waves was supposed to be an A, typo. I’m planning on majoring in either Physics or Electrical Engineering, and I’m fairly certain my grades in Pre-calculus and my Junior and Senior math courses will overshadow my B in Trig, as will my hopeful A in AP Physics C.</p>

11

<p>Your numbers are fine, but extracurriculars are very weak. I wouldn’t get your hopes up for Harvard/MIT. That said, cornell & CMU are mid reaches, and you are into the others, so not all bad news.</p>

12

<p>For someone with a “drive in math and science,” your SAT IIs aren’t very good. A 690 is about the 55th percentile for math II and your 700 physics is around the 65th percentile. In general, I wouldn’t say that’s bad or anything considering that many people taking subject tests are particularly good at those subjects, but definitely on par for Harvard or MIT if you’re applying for engineering or something science related. Good luck retaking them :). For math II I found that putting the programs from Princeton Review into my graphing calc helped a lot.</p>

13

<p>I know not to expect MIT and Harvard, but stranger things have happened. I’m focusing my optimism on Carnegie Mellon.</p>

<p>I really don’t know what happened with my SATs. I usually do well on standardized tests as evidenced by my ACT and PSAT. I really hope I was just having a weird day. I’m retaking them in October, which is pretty much my last chance.</p>

14

<p>you can’t apply to both MIT and Harvard Early Action because Harvard has restrictive early action. also, you won’t get into either one of those most likely, so you shouldn’t waste your early application on one of them. You have crappy ECs and bad subject test scores, but you do have one advantage going into this and that is your place of residence: Mississippi. You add geographic diversity to any prestigious college that you apply to in the north. What you should do is apply early to CMU, which gives you a higher chance of admission there, and you will likely get in. You could also do this at Cornell. good luck!</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1168613-chances-congressional-page-columbia-ed-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1168613-chances-congressional-page-columbia-ed-will-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;
chance back</p>

15

<p>AnonymousStudent, I realize that I’m not likely to get into them. I’m applying early to MIT because it supposedly helps chances of getting in. Carnegie and Cornell would indeed be better bets, but they both do Early Decision. I don’t want to apply Early Decision to anywhere for financial reasons. I need to see my financial aid and scholarships before I decide where to go.</p>

16

<p>In terms of difficulty of admission, the general trend would be:</p>

<p>Harvard > MIT > Cornell > CMU > Georgia Tech > Virginia Tech > Mississippi State</p>

<p>With Harvard, MIT and Cornell (Engineering I presume) all being highly unlikely (32 Math, 690 Math IIC and 700 Physics put you at a large disadvantage for all of them). I know several people from my HS going to CMU, and let me tell you it is simply on a lower level than Ivy plus schools – you have a decent shot there.</p>