Chances at CIT, MIT, and Stanford

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi guys, I'm new here and looking for honest opinions for my chances at CIT, MIT, and Stanford. Feedback on what I can do to improve my chances is also welcomed!</p>

<p>Basic Info
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Asian
Location: Michigan
College Class Year: 2013
High School: Public</p>

<p>Scores
GPA: 3.93 unweighted
Rank: 28 out of 376
ACT: 33
SAT: Math-720, Reading-630, Writing-770 (will retake because I know I can get 800 on math)
SAT II: Took Math IIC, Chemistry, and Physics recently and pretty sure I will receive at least 700 on all three</p>

<p>Academics
Freshman:
Honors English 9 - A-/A-
Early World History - A-
Physical Science - A/A
Biology - A/A
Honors Precalculus - A-/A-
German 2 - A/A</p>

<p>Sophomore:
Honors English 10 - A/A-
U.S. History - A/A
Chemistry - A/A
Physics - A/A
AP Calculus BC - A/A (5)
German 3 - A/A
(studied AP Computer Science AB independently and received 3)</p>

<p>Junior:
AP Language - A-/A
AP Government - A/A
AP Chemistry - A/A
AP Physics C- A/A
German 4 - A/A
Dual-Enroll: Multivariable Calculus and Differential Equations earned
(studied for AP Computer Science AB again and probably did better :D)</p>

<p>Senior (tentative):
AP Literature
AP German
other required electives
Dual-Enroll: Linear Algebra and something else
(will study AP Statistics and AP Macro/Microeconomics)</p>

<p>Awards
AIME Qualifier, 2006, 2007, 2008 (scored 6 on all of them I think)
Business Professionals of America - Java Programming
-3rd in state competition, 2007
-12th in national competition, 2007
-1st in state competition, 2008
-3rd in national competition, 2008
Michigan Mathematics Prize Competition top 100, 2007
United States Physics Team semifinalist, 2008</p>

<p>Won many awards for piano in middle school but quit in high school--should I mention that to colleges?</p>

<p>Extracurriculars
NHS member
Ultimate Frisbee Club member
Captain of tennis team
Vice-president of Business Professionals of America club
Math Club founder and president
Member of church praise team and also a small group leader/counselor</p>

<p>Job
Been working at Kumon Math and Reading Center since summer of 2007</p>

<p>And that's all! If anyone could evaluate my chances and make suggestions I'd be happy to hear them. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>all schools you mentioned are reaches...
your ranking and SAT's aren't that great, but Calc BC in sophomore year and all those math/programming awards are definitely impressive (but then you're asian, so idk).
u don't sound that unique to me, but, you still have a good chance of getting into one the schools you mentioned.</p>

3

<p>Thanks, anyone else?</p>

4

<p>I agree with adamonkey
However, you need to keep in mind that CIT, MIT, and Stanford are reaches for everyone who doesnt have a hook.</p>

5

<p>What exactly is a hook? Something very unique?</p>

6

<p>1st in state is definitely good.</p>

7

<p>what's CIT?</p>

8

<p>CIT is Caltech</p>

9

<p>i think ur grades are a bit detrimental as well as ur standardized test scores (ppl who go to these usually pwn math in the SAT I and SAT II easily).
Ur 2 national competitions is pretty good, and ur physics team semifinalist is a huge help. I'd say its a crapshot, because u show some definite strong ECs but weaker core material (grades, tests, rank)</p>

10

<p>Yeah my rank in my school is kind of low. Our school doesn't weight the GPA, and a lot of students take easy classes and have 4.0s. Will colleges weight GPAs and recalculate school ranks, or does the school just send the unweighted school rank?</p>

11

<p>colleges recalculate GPA.
@ OP, how do you have a 3.93 when you have gotten all A's?
and cgar, why is OP's grades 'a bit detrimental'. They look pretty impressive to me!</p>

12

<p>I have a bunch of A-'s which are 3.7 :/</p>

13

<p>ohh.. i wouldn't worry about that too much though.
Colleges recalculate, and A- = A</p>

14

<p>Which colleges recalculate?</p>

15

<p>Well that's 7 semesters of A-'s. I mean it's not bad at all, its just that thats a lot of A-s...but if your school is reputable for really tough classes, then in context they look fine.</p>

16

<p>Improve your SAT's....I say you have a decent shot!</p>

17

<p>@ aspasp-
all colleges recalculate.</p>

18

<p>Do you guys think I should try to raise my SAT score or just submit my ACT? Does it matter which score I submit?</p>

19

<p>Honestly, the advice on this board scares me.</p>

<p>The OP has seriously sub par stats for all three schools and no outstanding ECs. How can anyone actually type in the words good chance?</p>

<p>Sorry OP, I mean this in the moist respectful possible way but if you look at the common data sets for these 3 schools your chances are slim to none. Your course load was weak, your SAT scores far too low and class rank barely in top 10%.I don't think a URM with all this would get in.</p>

20

<p>newyorka,you missed the ball. How would being an AIME qualifier, winning piano awards, and being distinguished at the state and national level be not outstanding? His stats are absolutely not supbar, his ACT is a 33 which is in the top 25% for Stanford and in the middle 50% for Caltech and MIT. Furthermore, he sports a 3.93 UNWEIGHTED and his rank is sort of low due to the fact that his school doesn't weight gpa. If his school weighted gpa he'd be in the top 10 most likely. Moreover, I don't see how taking AP Calc BC as a sophomore is a "weak courseload". Although I would certainly not say he has a good chance (no one really does) in the same vein I would definitely not say his chances are slim to none. To the OP, I hope your essays/recs/other "soft" factors are good and I wish you luck in the admissions cycle.</p>