<p>Still kinda confused as to why Berkeley would be a high match/low reach. @gomdorri @IVCUSA11 @spiritkoi I did sports, culturally active with organizing talent shows for the Indian community, good at school, and officer of 2 school clubs. It’s not amazing, but the one EC I consider amazing should make me look pretty interesting. Right?</p>
<p>@gomdorri I retook because I thought I could get a perfect (Parents would’ve bought me a car if I did, but I didn’t >_>)</p>
<p>If you don’t mind me asking, which league team are you a part of?</p>
<p>A genius, really? OP is obviously smart, sure, but no Ivy is any kind of match! You’re bound to be disappointed. </p>
<p>@HPolymer I played on a local Diamond level team (name not gonna be disclosed because it might reveal the area I live). We played at a Gaming Lounge (Grid if you’re wondering) at one of their tourneys. We won first round 3-1 (Against gold/plat), second round 3-0 (I don’t even know how silver players got into 2nd round), 3rd round 3-2 (Diamonds as well, very close), and finally we got stomped REALLY hard (sub-20 losses) 3-0 against LMQ. It was brutal.</p>
<p>@bodangles Yeah… I think I’m gifted/smart, but I’m no genius. Just a regular dude tryna make a difference in the world. Y’feel?</p>
<p>Yeah, I gotcha, was just taking issue with the one very optimistic poster! You’re clearly very intelligent, with that resume.</p>
<p>@bluberaptor haha well lmq is the NA challenger champ atm</p>
<p>@HPolymer They were monsters. I played AD Carry and I was 0/5 by 15 minutes against Vasili. His positioning, mechanics, and micro is so ridiculous. We ended up surrendering all the games (One game ended up 36-4)…</p>
<p>If you got Tyson to write you a letter that would help you a lot.</p>
<p>Otherwise all Ivies are a reach for you.</p>
<p>I have only read a few of the posts above, but I have a few comments to make to @blueberaptor.</p>
<p>Before I began, let me say I know very well who Neil deGrasse Tyson is - as that is what you have used as your defesnse to most above posts. Secondly, I am sure we both agree that with your current math and physics knowledge you most definitely did no actual astrophysics research. “Number crunching” does not count. That is what accountants do, and I am sure most people are capable enough to “put numbers in the super computer.” Also, you have ignored most of the posts aimed at you. You asked for others’ opinions and then you ignore them due to your predetermined mindset. If you already think you will get into all of them, then there is no point posting on this forum. By the way, CalTech is not even close to a “match” - it is not for most people. Your statistics are good, but so are those of most of applicants. They use extracurricular activities to distinguish them - your’s are fairly weak. Along with that, why would Tyson write you a recommendation letter if he has barely known you for two weeks? </p>
<p>Certainly doesn’t hurt to try but I recommend you add a few more less-competitive schools to your list. And I also know who Neil deGrasse Tyson is.</p>
<p>income bracket: 840k. ■■■, what do your parents do for a living?</p>
<p>Hi! I read through your post, and unfortunately, I don’t think you’re “super competitive” for HYP. Right now your biggest hook is having interned for half a month with Neil deGrasse Tyson. That’s cool and everything, and I’m sure that the admissions officers will feel the same way, but that’s pretty much the extent of the influence it’ll have on your decision. Even if he could write you a letter of recommendation for two weeks’ worth of work, I’d think that a letter from a teacher a student’s had for two years would hold more weight. </p>
<p>I’m assuming you’re from SoCal because you mentioned Irvine. Southern CA is crazy competitive. You’re going to have to polish your app a little more to stand out. How do you stack up compared to the top kids in your school? Your city? Your entire region? </p>
<p>I wrote a little more, but I have a feeling you’re only listening to what you want to hear, so I’ll let you keep on doing that. You’ll find out for sure in a little less than a year anyway. </p>
<p>Good luck! </p>
<p>I agree with all that @Coriander23 has to say. Number crunching and a recommendation letter from someone who knows you for two weeks - albeit is very famous - will not help a lot. </p>
<p>@Coriander23 I’m ranked second in my class. Got the highest SAT score in the city that I live in (Which spans 4 schools each with 800+ in each class). @wannabefeynman I agree that CalTech is a huge reach, and yeah, I know it’s not very impressive to work with 2 weeks. I got carried away and I apologize. I have some other EC’s here that I didn’t think would be that impressive, so I didn’t list them
I placed 3rd at the Stanford invitational parliamentary debate this year. Raised $5000 for Let It Be (Helping kids cope with terminal cancer). Lead a talent show in my Indian Community. Tutoring 4 kids for free out of my own good will. Worked at a Kaiser Permanente Hospital and earned 400 volunteer hours. Gold Level Key Club member. President of Computer Programming Club which also helps kids pass the AP Comp Sci Test as we don’t have that course at our school.</p>
<p>Also Tyson really grew really fond of me. We shared a similar interest in many things, and he appreciated my passion for learning about our Universe.</p>
<p>@bluberaptor
No problem. I only read the first few posts and not the ones were you stopped being so defensive. </p>
<p>Your schedule seems to be your biggest hook (I’d say even bigger than the Neal deGrasse Tyson bit because that was a one time gig, your AP load shows stamina imho). I know other applicants will have similar loads but it doesn’t hurt you to have that many APs (You’ve taken more than my school offers!).</p>
<p>I’d say your biggest worry should be the ECs since colleges won’t want a study-holic who doesn’t get out much (no offense). </p>
<p>High Reach- Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Cal Tech, Harvard
Reach- Cornell, UC Berkeley, Brown
Likely- Vandy, Amherst, UCLA
Safeties- UCI, USC, UCSD</p>
<p>Chance Me!</p>
<p>I’d say you have a pretty solid chance! Just write good essays!</p>
<p>The ivy leagues seem like a reach but all of the others look like matches to me…
Chance me:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1639442-chances-for-nyu-bc-rochester-case-western-reserve-university-gwu-and-wake-forest-university.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1639442-chances-for-nyu-bc-rochester-case-western-reserve-university-gwu-and-wake-forest-university.html#latest</a></p>