Hello, I am currently a junior in high school looking at west coast schools and some east coast. Specifically: Stanford, UCBerkley, USC, CalTech, UCLA, MIT, Dartmouth, Yale, UChicago, Northwestern. I know that is a lot of schools, but purely based on statistics my chances of getting into at least one are relatively high (so I hope). Here are my stats:
GPA: 4.75 weighted (4.0/4.0 unweighted)
Rank: Valedictorian of class of ~800
ACT: 34 (35 superscore)
SATIIs: scheduled for this Saturday
APs: So far 3 5s, by the end of High school will have taken 13 APs
ECs: 3-year Varsity Cross Country, 3-year varsity Track and Field, Captain of Cross Country, Math team, NHS, Chinese club, Math and Chinese Tutor, “leadership/school improvement club” , Chinese Honor Society Member, and Club that supports student wellness.
My curriculum is heavy in the sciences with 4 years of Engineering (PLTW), 1 year of AP Computer Science, and all other AP sciences taken, along with math up to Multivariable Calculus. Despite being heavy in the sciences, I have taken the heaviest coursework for all other subjects as well that are offered at my school. I have also become fluent in Chinese over during my time attending high school thanks to a month abroad and skipping some courses to higher levels of Chinese. Along with this I am currently in talks with XC coaches at MIT and Yale.
My main questions are:
- Would you recommend any other schools for me?
- Should I talk to other schools about running there?
- Should I try and find a research opportunity or volunteering opportunity for this summer?
- Would you recommend Early Decision or binding EA for any of these schools?
Thank you for all of the help!