Chance Me Please, Thank You in advance

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I am a rising senior (asian) at Stuyvesant HS. I would greatly appreciate any evaluations of my chances of getting into these colleges:</p>

<p>MIT - (EA)
CalTech - (EA)
Columbia - (ED / normal) (engineering)
UC Berkley - (Normal)
UChicago - (EA)
Cornell - (normal)
Carnegie Mellon - (Normal)(CS)
Cooper Union - (Normal)</p>

<p>Transcript Average - 93.6
Sat:
Try 1: Math - 760 CR - 660 WR - 670
Try 2: Math - 790 CR - 700 WR - 590
SuperScore - 2160 <- retake ???</p>

<p>ACT - not taken yet</p>

<p>Sat 2
Physics - 760 (taken freshman year, does it look better?)
Chem - 790
Math 2 - 800</p>

<p>AP Tests
BC calc - 5 - (only took calc AB class though)
Physics B - 5
CS - 4
USH - 4
WH - 4 - (did not take class)</p>

<p>Rigorous courses - minus the APs already mentioned:
Plasma Physics - (senior only class DUE to ION THRUSTER PROJECT described below)
AP Gov - (senior)
AP Micro/Macro - (senior)
AP Physics C (senior)
Multivariable / Differential Calc - (senior)
Software Engineering - (new class, but APCS is prereq)</p>

<p>EC:</p>

<p>Varsity Tennis - (4 years, maybe co-captain next year)</p>

<p>Usher - (1 year so far at church)</p>

<p>ZeroRobotics - (joined last year - needed APCS - first competition is senior year)</p>

<p>TA - (chinese school (junior)/ prep school (senior))</p>

<p>Morgan Stanley Internship - (summer junior/senior)-(tech department / CompSci)</p>

<p>Model UN - (soph-senior) - (didn't go to any big conferences, did direct a commitee at StuyMun)</p>

<p>Maintenance Volunteer - (church's vaction bible school)</p>

<p>Morgan Stanley Mentorship (had a mentor before the internship to talk about CS stuff)</p>

<p>Ion Thruster Project - (A group of friends and I started working on this project when we had taken an elective "Physics Research" freshman year. We decided to continue with it, and the assistant principal of Physics asked us to join "Plasma Physics", an all senior course, so that we could learn more and make progress on our project. The only thing is that we have 2-3 failed models, and nothing really to show for 3+ years worth of effort).</p>

<p>So, what are my chances of getting into these colleges and what should I do to improve?</p>

2

<p>I would say possibly raise your SAT to atleast a 2200, maybe try the ACT?</p>

<p>Other than that, possibly a Research Paper, some more projects?</p>

<p>Best of Luck!</p>

3

<p>Thanks for such advice, but do I stand a chance with the more selective colleges?</p>

4

<p>Definitely, its not a safety by any means but you’ve got a shot!</p>

5

<p>I was also wondering if I have a higher chance for ED columbia engineering or ED CMU CS?</p>

<p>Can I normal Cornell and still have a decent chance (say over 50%) of getting in?</p>

<p>And is the plasma project going to look positive or negative since I really do not have any results?</p>

6

<p>I would say go for Cornell ED since that usually helps, and I would mention the Plasma Project for sure</p>

7

<p>Even though the project “failed”, I bet you can spin a great essay out of that – colleges love that stuff.</p>

8

<p>For cornell, I was wondering if it was a good match school, as in I could get in if I miss an ED with columbia or CMU. </p>

<p>And would anyone recommend ED Columbia vs ED CMU (Computer Science)??</p>

<p>Thanks for the advice with plasma physics.</p>

9

<p>What’s your class rank or estimated percentile? You may want to retake the SAT one more time (it won’t hurt you), those schools have very high critical reading averages (and the October SAT has a notoriously generous CR curve).</p>

<p>I assume you are applying to the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon (SCS)? That means it is pretty much as selective as Caltech and MIT.</p>

<p>Otherwise, you have decent chances everywhere. </p>

<p>If you apply to Cornell regular, your chances will be below 50%; that’s how competitive the college of engineering is (and for asian males). It would be a bit above 50% for early decision though.</p>

<p>What is your top choice though? Do you prefer Columbia or Cornell? Can’t go wrong with either but have you thought about life on campus? i.e you’ve lived in NYC for the past few years (if not your whole life), do you want to stay in NYC and attend columbia (if admitted early decision) or would you prefer to try a whole different life at cornell, in a much different area (mostly rural, average towns)?</p>

<p>But really, you should apply early decision to your clear top choice and NOT based on where ED would give you the best chance.</p>