Hi all,
I sent in an application to Caltech in November (EA) and plan on sending applications to Stanford and MIT in January (planning to major in CS). These are my reach schools, so I’m not counting on getting in by any means, but I’m hoping I could get some feedback on my stats and maybe advice on what to highlight in my applications.
Academics/Test Scores
Note: my school does not offer honors courses or report class rank.
SAT: 1560 - 760 RW, 800 Math
GPA: 4.27/4.33 (unweighted, translates to some As and mostly A+'s)
AP Coursework & Exam Scores: 10th grade - self-studied AP CS A (5), 11th grade - AP Chem (5), AP Physics C: Mechanics (5), AP Calc AB (5), 12th grade (in progress) - AP Micro/Macro, AP Calc BC, self-studying AP Physics C: Electricity & Magnetism
College Coursework: Summer after 10th grade - Statistics (3 credits), 11th grade - Computer Science for the Liberal Arts (3 credits), Fundamentals of Computer and Information Science (3 credits)
Extracurriculars
This is where I think my application falls behind. I involved myself in a lot of STEM-based extracurricular activities during high school, but few had any formal leadership positions and I often focused more on schoolwork than activities. I also do not have any individual awards or recognition at the state level. I included the longer descriptions from my Coalition Application instead of the Common App ones to provide more detail.
Clubs:
Robotics Team, 9th grade - present
Lead Programmer
Average of 5 hours per week, 38 weeks per year
As a member of my school’s Robotics Team, I have written robotics code for use in STEM-based community outreach events, annual FTC tournaments, after school meetings, and an associated course in 11th and 12th grade (Nexus: Robotics).
Individual Distinctions
I have served as the lead programmer on my team from fall 2018-present.
Computer Club, 9th grade - present
Competition Participant and Club Organizer
Average of 2 hours per week, 34 weeks per year
In Computer Club, I was part of a team competing in 2-4 CyberPatriot cybersecurity competitions yearly. Last year, we made the semifinals. In 2019, we competed in PACTF, another cybersecurity event. In weekly meetings, I worked on various coding projects
Individual Distinctions
Played a leadership role in organizing meetings and helping new members learn coding skills starting Senior year.
Scholar’s Bowl, 9th grade - present (Quiz bowl)
Team Member and Varsity Player
Average of 4 hours per week, 30 weeks per year
I was on the JV team from 2017-19 and on Varsity 2019-present. I have participated in 7+ tournaments per year. Achievements of teams that I have been on: NAQT 1st place 2018-2020, VT-NEA finalists 2020, National Academic Championship participants 2020.
Individual Distinctions
Total scoring on the Varsity team ranks in the 80th percentile of all players since 2001 so far, and 58% of this total is from competitions between September and mid-November of 2020.
Math League, 10th grade - present
Competition Participant and Club Member
Average of 1 hour per week, 25 weeks per year
As a member of CVU’s Math League, I attend weekly practice meetings to prepare for multiple regional competitions (“meets”) each year. The competitions involve timed tests on subjects in advanced math, arithmetic, algebra, and geometry.
Individual Distinctions
Earned a perfect score on an advanced math test in the first meet of 2020
Paid Work:
Freelance Web Development, 10th grade - present
Average of 5 hours per week, 10 weeks per year
Through Fiverr as well as independent advertising and contacts, I performed technical maintenance and built software for 11 freelance development projects, strengthening my programming and interpersonal skills.
Access CVU, 9-11th grade
Technology Tutor & Teacher
Average of 2 hours per week, 23 weeks per year (not including planning work)
Through Access CVU, I offered technology tutoring to the local community and taught classes on Java and web development from 9-11th grade (I am still working with Access CVU, but now as a volunteer - this is listed separately).
Individual Distinctions
Developed curriculum for, and taught, courses on web development and Java
Young Hacks Academy, 10th grade
Junior Instructor
40 hours per week, 1 week per year
Assisted elementary and middle school students with learning to code on the Scratch platform and helped to supervise outdoor activities.
Aviation Deli, 10th & 12th grade
Deli Worker
40 hours per week, 12 weeks per year
I worked at Aviation Deli during some of my school breaks, where I cooked & prepared sandwiches, salads, wraps, and grill items.
Volunteer Work:
Access CVU, 12th grade
Technology Tutor & Teacher
Average of 2 hours per week, 7 weeks per year (so far)
This year, I am offering technology tutoring and teaching classes on databases, machine learning, and web development as a volunteer. As of November 26th, this service has totaled approximately 11.5 hours.
Individual Distinctions
Developed curriculum for and taught Database Design & Programming course
Academic Leadership Council, 12th grade (sort of like my school’s version of NHS, but with a service requirement)
Member
Average of 1 hour per week, 6 weeks per year (so far)
I am working towards at least 20 hours of academic service this year (as of November 26th, I have about 6.5 hours) by taking a leadership role in organizing Computer Club. I was able to enter this program by fulfilling a GPA requirement.
Background
School type: Medium (~1200 students), rural/suburban
Race/ethnicity: White/hispanic
Other Info
Below are the couple of paragraphs I wrote for the additional info section. To summarize, I have worked on a variety of programming projects throughout middle and high school. During high school, I participated in an independent learning program to study computer science in more detail.
Programming has been an important creative outlet in my experience, and I have been writing code for various projects since 2015 (and uploading it to Github since 2017). I have gained experience in Java, NodeJS, GoLang, Flutter, React, HTML5, and Python through projects including a membrane wave simulator, a Java web framework, a machine learning algorithm & control hub, and a social networking site. Whether I am doing so for coursework, upon request by clients, or simply for fun, I have poured countless hours into these projects. Over 34 pieces of said software are documented on my Github page, and they total more than 36,000 lines of code.
Quite a bit of my learning around programming and computer science has taken place through my high school’s Nexus program, where I studied topics in machine learning, app development, algorithm design, and more. While I participated in this program, I documented my development weekly through writing and images, which can be found on two blog websites listed below. The 2020-21 blog describes my current progress in a project to generate art using machine learning techniques, and more posts will be added as time goes on.
Github page: [Link to Github page]
2020-21 Blog (This year’s Nexus: Arts and Nexus: Math courses): [Link to blog]
2018 Blog (9th and 10th grade Nexus Seminar courses): [Link to older blog]
Again, I don’t expect to get into any super selective schools, but I’m just wondering if I have any chance. My target schools are UW and Georgia Tech, which I think I have a decent chance of getting into, but feel free to let me know if I’m wrong.