Chance me - Thank you!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Thank you for taking the time to read this!

Race: Asian (Hurts me a lot because of affirmative action, take into account)
Gender: Male
Income: 140k

Class Rank: My school doesn’t rank
School Profile: A top 200 public high school
Unweighted GPA: 3.8966/4.33 (A+ = 4.33)
Weighted GPA: 4.29/5 (Unofficial, I calculated this separately. My school doesn’t weight)
APs: Calc AB (4), Physics C: Mech (4), Macro (4), APUSH (5), Lang (5) - Next Year: Java, World, Calc BC, Bio

SAT: 1560 (Will not report)
ACT: 36 Composite - 36 Reading, 36 English, 35 Math, 35 Science
ACT Writing: 11/12
SAT Subject Tests (Will not report for schools that don’t require): Math Level 2: 800, US History: 760

ECs:
Varsity Tennis: Starter all 4 years, State Champions last year, 1st Team All-Division last year (Division 1), will be captain next year
School Grant Foundation: Student Representative (1 of 2 total in the school)
Latin Club: Will be President next year
Model UN: Vice President next year
Debate Team: Varsity
FBLA: Social Media Officer two years ago
Student Ambassador for New Students
Student Technology Lab Leadership Team
Volunteer at Food Bank and Saturday School in spare time, over 150 hours combined
Had a paid internship as an engineer at a regional sized company this summer

Awards:
Biggest Award: IPPF (International Public Policy Forum) - International Round of 32 (This is a international politics debate competition - our team of 4 people were among the top 32 in the world)
Other Awards:

  • National Latin Exam - Gold Medal (Highest Award Level) x2
  • FBLA Web Design - National Finalist (top 12)
  • Brown Model UN HRC 2nd Place
  • Local Model UN 1st Place
  • Debate State Tournament, 6th Place x1, 11th Place x1
  • Local Debate Tournaments: 10+ Awards, including 1x 1st Place
  • FBLA: 1st place in state for Web Design, E-Business, Computer Game/Simulation Design, Parliamentary Procedure, other FBLA awards x10+
  • President’s Volunteer Service Award Bronze Tier x2

Recommendations: Obviously I don’t know how good the recommendations will be but I can provide what I believe will be close estimates
AP Lang Teacher - Probably 10/10. It was my favorite class and I showed it. I was one of her favorite students and also did well in the class.
APUSH Teacher - Anywhere from 7/10 to 9/10 - He was super nice to everyone and was a very energetic and passionate teacher, but it was hard to read how much he truly liked you. I did very well in the class.
Counselor Recommendation: 7/10. Unfortunately, my old guidance counselor left to take an administrative position at another school. He and I got along very well and he knew me well. My new counselor is very kind and supportive, but doesn’t know me that well so my letter will probably be pretty generic.

Essay: Again, same as the rec letters, I have no idea how good my essay will look in the eyes of the adcom. But I consider myself a very skilled writer, especially in personal essays. I would say to pretend my essays are 9/10 in quality.

Thank you again for reading through all that! With my profile in mind, please chance me for the following. Feel free to only chance me for the ones you know most about, I know it’s a long list! Also, am out of state for all state universities listed.

Cornell
Purdue (Engineering)
UVA
NYU
UMass Amherst
UConn
UT Austin (Engineering)
Boston University
U Washington (Engineering)
U Wisconsin (Engineering)
U Maryland (Engineering)
UIUC (Engineering)
Virginia Tech
U Florida

2

Everything is super impressive—grades, test scores, and EC’s. Also, I don’t think your race will hurt your chances of admission, as most elite schools that you listed are definitely looking to add greater diversity to each of their incoming freshman classes. The only thing that makes me hesitate is that you didn’t explain whether you need financial aid or not; some schools are more generous than others in that department.

3

TBH I don’t see that many STEM related ECs for someone who is potentially interested in Engineering. And recommendations from 2 humanities teachers instead of 1 STEM and 1 humanities one doesn’t make much sense. You actually seem more suited to be a PoliSci or Econ major.

UICU, Texas, and UDub will be reaches for Engineering despite the grades/test scores. And besides Math 2, you don’t have another STEM SAT Subject Test score (eg Chemistry, Physics) that demonstrates an interest in Engineering.

4

Do you have any money constraints? The $140k figure tells us little. What’s most important is what your parents are willing and able to pay each year for college. You should should run an estimated FAFSA EFC and some NPCs from the web sites of those schools that interest you. See if there are gaps between what you can afford and what the schools are going to expect you to pay.

I don’t think being Asian is going to hurt you. Having too typical of a Admissions package might.

UTAustin is a really tough one especially OOS

I would add your instate flagship school and get the application for it in early as your safety

I think you have a good list if affordability is not an issue. Get those rolling applications in very early. Many state engineering programs fill up fast. Once full, they wouldnt take Einstein.