Chance me (UVA, UNC, Carnegie Mellon, Upenn, Cornell, Harvard)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Dear all:

I live in Fairfax County (Virginia). What do you think?

UVA (Deferred) (Just wondering)
UNC (Deferred) (Just wondering)
Cornell (RD)
Carnegie Mellon (RD)
UPenn (RD)
Harvard (RD)

Desired Major = Computer Science
Desired Minor = Finance/Business Administration

GPA (weighted) = 4.2
SAT Score = 1490
SAT Essays score = 7, 6, 7
SAT II Math = 790
SAT II Physics = 550 (There was a large family crisis around this time, I wrote a letter to the colleges about it).

I have taken 5 AP Courses before my Senior Year: AP World History, AP BC Calculus, AP Computer Science A, AP Language and Composition, and AP US History.

This year I am taking: Computer Science AB (post-AP), Multivariable Calculus (post- AP), AP Literature, AP Economics, AP Comparative Government, and AP Physics C.

I have also taken Orchestra for four years and Spanish for three years.

Activities:

Head Treasurer of Model Orchestra Board for two years
Senior Member of Model UN (ever since 7th grade)
Assistant to Lead Programmer/Mentor of Robotics Team
Last summer our team attended the National STEM Advocacy Conference in order to lobby for Every Student Succeeds Act, Title IV. We also went to the World Robotics Championships last year.
For our current FRC (First Robotics Challenge) competition, I am an assistant programmer specializing in vision processing and debugging.
Creator of CodeCville (one-day coding-fest in my school).
Creating my own club called CARE (Child Advocacy Research and Education).

Community Service/Other Achievements:

Volunteer at a retirement every Sunday since the summer of my freshman year (taken on the role as a co-manager)
I created a program called TechTalks, where I explain various technological marvels (such as Amazon or Facebook) to the residents.
Taught English for two weeks at an underfunded school in India
Did Ph.D. level Computer Science Research at the University of Virginia for a month (summer 2017)
Took a college class as well at UVA, got college credit (got an A on my transcript)
Discussed and Written Public Policy with Congressman Gerry Connolly on the state of our Education system
Wrote a bill that was noticed by Virginia Senator George Barker. Just recently I went to Richmond, Virginia to introduce the bill on the Senator floor, and it passed unanimously (very well might become a law).

Honors:

Academic Honor Roll
Engineering Inspiration/Outreach award/other awards for Robotics
Outstanding Delegation/Best Delegate and other awards in Model UN
Member of 3 honor societies at my school (including Secretary of NHS)
AP Scholar with Distinction
Participated in National Solo and Ensemble Festival for Music twice (got 1’s)

FYI:

I can speak four languages: Bengali (first language), English, Hindi, and Spanish
I can play the violin and have taught myself how to play the piano
I know three programming languages: Java, Python, and R
I previously earned my second-degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do
I am going to be the first in my family to go to college in the US.

Any feedback is appreciated!

2

How in the world did I get accepted to UVA and UNC and you didn’t!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! What were your essays on?

3

@Dankjewel My Common App Essay was my meeting with Congressman Connolly and my other essays were like an 8/10

4

You have an impressive list of achievements. I would say that you would have a good shot at getting into any of these schools. Btw im bengali toooooo

5

@Mandyhaswifi Thanks!

6

Being deferred from UVA and UNC doesn’t bode well for your chances at your other schools. Your scores are pretty average for the schools on your list, but your ECs seem a bit interesting. I can see you maybe being accepted to some of the schools on your list.

7

@MaybeHarvard2022 Thanks for the feedback! What specific schools are you referring to?

8

Why aren’t you in a foreign language class senior year? If you’re fluent in Spanish why didn’t you take AP Spanish and ace the test? Was your subject test for math in ML1 or ML2? What was the breakdown of your SAT score? What was the actual excuse for not doing well on your subject test for Physics? If it’s something crazy then that could be a problem, especially if you didn’t handle the explanation very well. Also, why didn’t you take another subject test before you applied? You had all of high school to do that so now you’re left with that low physics score. They’ll be looking at this stuff at some of your schools. Sorry, dude, just letting you know. Considering some of the things I mentioned above, I think you’ll get hosed at all those Ivies plus CMU.

9

@Arkomz Agree with @MaybeHarvard2022. although you never know for sure, a rejection from UVa and UNC doesn’t bode well for your chances at Harvard, Penn or Cornell and most probably CMU too since its compsci school is crazy hard to get into.
What is your unweighted gap?

10

@Penn95 I’m not entirely sure about my unweighted GPA but I know it is definitely above 3.7

11

Depending on your unweighted GPA, I think you are in range for UVA, Cornell, and maybe Carnegie Mellon.

Did you apply to any safeties and matches? All of the above seem like reaches. Also, the extent to which you need financial aid may affect your chances as well.

12

I suggest making sure UVA and UNC know you are still very much interested in their schools. Perhaps send in a letter of interest if you have not already with updates about your grades and ECs. You are very competitive for those schools

13

Being the first person to attend college in the US isn’t a hook. First generation is if you’re the first one to attend college, regardless where that was.

14

@xanthippe I also applied to VT, GMU and UMD

15

UNC took less than 4% of their deferrals during RD last year.

16

wait how’d you get deferred from UVA…

17

@Bohseon Excellent Question

18

May I ask what scores you made on those AP exams? Also, could you tell us specifically what grades you made in those AP science and math classes? This could be another reason for your deferment to UVA and UNC. I think you’ll get into VT, GMU and UMD.

19

^^ I second that.
My condolences for such results, but I still can’t believe that you got deferred.
In-State, taking college classes, conducting research (all in UVA), and being a first-generation hook would definitely make a behemothly large advantage. Essays and all that other stuff also make a big deal but dang. . .

(also, I think I might know you irl lmao)

20

He’s not a first generation applicant though. He said his parents didn’t go to college in the US. First generation means your parents never attended college.