Chance Me (Princeton, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, etc.)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I was hoping you guys would chance me for the following schools. I put them into categories which reflect what I think what my chances are of getting in. If you have any recommendations for me, please comment below.

Prospective Major: Computer Science
Prospective Minor: Data Science
Ethnicity: Indian (I know, I know)
Career Aspirations: My dream job would be to work at Microsoft or Google.
State of Residence: Virginia (hence why 5 / 13 are in Virginia)

Reach Schools (in order of preference)

  1. University of Pennsylvania (planning on applying ED)
  2. Princeton University
  3. Carnegie Mellon University
  4. MIT
  5. Cornell University
  6. Duke University

Target Schools (in order of preference)

  1. University of Maryland, College Park (not sure if this is a target for me)
  2. University of Virginia
  3. Georgia Tech (not sure if this is a target for me)
  4. Virginia Tech

Safety Schools (in order of preference)

  1. George Mason
  2. James Madison
  3. Christopher Newport

Scores:
SAT I: 1490 - retaking in August w/ essay, hoping for a 1500+
SAT II: Math II and Physics - taking in June
PSAT: 1380 (I had the flu)
AP Classes: AP World History (4), AP Computer Science (5), AP Physics 1 (?), AP English Language (?), taking AP Statistics, AP Physics C (mechanics - might self study for E&M), AP English Literature, and AP Calculus BC next year
IT / Dual Enrolled Community College Classes - Advanced Computer Math, AP Computer Science A, Computer Science AB, Database Design, Database Development, Database PL/SQL, IT Programming, Robotics I

Awards:
National Latin Exam Medalist - I have received two silver and two gold medals for taking the National Latin Exam. I am the only one from my school in its history to win the gold medal.
PACTF (tech competition) - team was in the top 100 out of 850+ teams (majority of teams were college teams)

Volunteering: Around 200 hours at various robotics competitions, STEM camps, and at my local library.

Outside Classes:

  • VASTS Online: I took an online course provided by NASA that teaches aerospace engineering. Took a semester to complete.
  • Statistical Thinking: I am taking an online course in Statistical thinking offered by Columbia online.

EC’s (Leadership in Parentheses):

  • FRC Robotics: I maintain and develop for my school’s FRC robotics team. We are really well known around the world, placing second for the most prestigious award in the world this year. We go to the world competition every year. (Lead Web Developer)
  • FTC Robotics: team won judges award at qualifier
  • App Development Club: I co-founded and run a club dedicated to developing applications. We have four teams working working on applications right now. We plan to host classes about the fundamental concepts of app development (Co-founder and Co-President)
  • Game Studio: I co-founded and run a game development studio, whose name I cannot mention for privacy reasons. We currently have plans to release a demo for the game by the end of May (Co-Founder, Operations Manager / Lead Website Developer)
  • The Coding World From a Teenager’s Perspective: I run a blog that tells of my experience in the programming world. If you want to see it, see (https://medium.com/@dylan.fernandes00). Sorry for the shameless self promotion.
  • Tech Talk With Us: I am starting a newsletter. Each week, I send out a weekly update on my projects, and a list of articles
    in technology that I thought were interesting. If you want to sign up, see (http://eepurl.com/cNC5Gv) to subscribe. Sorry for the shameless self promotion.
  • txt.exe: I am developing an android application
  • Postom: I working on developing my own programming language, interpreted to Java
  • Clients: I am also working on a website for a friend of mine’s app, a personal website, as well as for the game development studio I founded.
  • JV Tennis
2

Wow! Your stats are pretty good (from what you’ve mentioned) ad ECs are amazing! You’re definitely STEM/CompSci-oriented. I would say you have a fairly good chance of getting into MIT (but then again, it’s pretty much a matter of luck), and a good chance of getting into the other colleges. Good luck!

3

what do you expect on sat?

4

You’ll get into several of those schools, as long as your SAT is above 1500, except for MIT, you may get in there or you may not.

5

@kjake2000 I got my results back today, and I got a 1490.

6

that might not be enough for an unhooked applicant as CompSci is often an extremely competitive major.

That score should be fine for virginia tech and george mason, maybe UVA. But you want 1530+ to be competitive

7

what was your math score?

8

750

9

I think you have great grades & a very clear ec focus on cs. Definitely work on trying to bring your sat up, but other than that I think you have a really great shot at most of your schools! Ivies/MIT are difficult for everyone, but best of luck next year!

10

I think you will probably get accepted into all of these however I would definitely try to raise your SAT score as this is your weak point.

11

Your grades and ECs are good enough but your standardized test scores need to be higher.

12

@TheGr8Gatsby @admiral12 So what score should I aim for? I have taken a look at these schools, and the average accepted person has around a 1520 or so.

13

You want to aim for above the average SAT score. If you can raise your SAT to 1540 and above you should be in very good shape for most of these schools. Most of them are still very selective schools, so don’t expect to get into all of them. But, with your grades, ECs and an SAT score of 1540 and above your chances will be very good.

14

Do you have legacy to any of these schools and have you decided whether you are going to apply ED to one of them?

15

@mocktrialer5 I might apply ED to UPenn but I am still undecided. I am not a legacy (my parents were educated in a different country).

I was thinking about retaking the SAT, but I still have to take subject tests for Physics and Math. I don’t which I should prioritize. What do you think?

16

I personally have not taken the SAT physics subject test but I know from experience the SAT MAT II subject test is a breeze if you are smart and decent at math which it appears you are. You should definitely focus most of your time on improving your SAT score if you want a good chance at those schools and especially at UPenn which has a very low acceptance rate even ED.

17

Take the SAT in August. That way you can prioritize the subject tests now and then study for the SAT over the summer.

18

if you are a prospective CS student and want to go to these elite schools, you should be getting 780+ at least on SAT math section.

19

Retake your SAT and get it up above 1550 (average score for Princeton) if you can.
As it stands, you have slim chances for the first 5 schools listed

20

@collegeboundprogrammer definitely prioritise the SAT over SAT subject tests. Try to aim for a 1550 or above since this would put you above average for every school on your list, but anything above a 1500 would suffice with your great list of ECs (especially FIRST robotics competition - VERY impressive).