Chances at Duke, JHU, Stanford....the usual as it goes here

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>So i'll simply do the usual I suspect....I'm a now a Senior at a pretty competitive high school in the Bush state. What are my chances at schools like Stanford , MIT, Duke, etc. I would like to major in either biomedical engineering or economics...or both if possible!!</p>

<p>So Here it goes:</p>

<h2>Basic "Number" Stats</h2>

<p>SATI-- 720 Math/660 Verbal (don't put too much emphasis on numbers as you can see)
ACT -- june 20th i believe?
SATII's-- Chem-- next week
Math IIC-- next week
Physics--next week
GPA-- not too sure maybe 3.7 or 3.8? don't really worry too much about that stuff
Class Rank: top 10%, 50 or 40 something out of 600
AP-- chem and csci still awaiting...
Courses: all AP's</p>

<h2>EC's</h2>

<p>-President of Robotics -- 3 yrs.
-Co-President of JETS -- 3 yrs
-VP Chess Club -- 3 yrs.
-Mu Alpha Theta - 3yrs.
-Philosophy Club -- 2 yrs.
-President Science National Honor Society....one of the few honor societies that doen't require service hours...rather, volunteering for the sake of volunteering -- 1 yr...just started
(As you may note... I can't truly put four years given that I haven't really started senior year.)
-Japanese Style Karate-- 11 yrs (started at the age of 5) third degree black belt
-Electric/Acoustic Guitar -- 5 yrs going on 6, lead guitarist in my band
-Don't believe in service hours...so i can't say I have a bagillion hours, but i do volunteer
-UIL Science Team...took first in state this year!!-- 3 yrs
-Orchestra -- 6th through 10th
- Science Olympiad Team Captain-1 yr
-USA Computational Olympiad- 2yrs
-Peer Tutor in Physics and Chemistry</p>

<h2>Awards and Honors</h2>

<p>-Siemens Westinghouse Semifinalist -- 10th
-Siemens Westinghouse Regional Finalist - 11th
-BEST Robotics Competition: Best Robot – 10th
-BEST Robotics Competition: Most Elegant Robot – 10th
-BEST Robotics Competition: Best Engineering Notebook – 10/11th
-State BEST Robotics Competition: Most Robust Robot – 10th
-Houston Science and Engineering Fair 2003: 3rd Place in Physics – 9th
-American Society for Quality Award – 9th
-American Physical Society 4th Place – 9th
-One of five students in region invited for a research internship with Nobel Laureate Dr. Robert Curl – 9th
-Invited by Rice University to complete research with the Condensed Matter Group – 10th
-American Physical Society 2nd Place – 10th
-Overall Best Physics Project in the Region – 10th
- Silver Team Invitation in USA Computation Olymiad
-Rice University Award for Creativity and Ingenuity in Scientific Research – 10th
-MIT Lemleson Group and The Partnership for America’s Future: I was one of six students across the nation chosen as a Student Board of Director – 11th
-Invited to attend the Quarknet Program – 11th
-Accepted to complete research at the Texas Center of Superconductivity on thin film coatings for protective coverings – 10th(summer)
-I have over 40 awards in UIL Math and Science competitions – 9/10/11th
-Texas ATM math competition: 6th place in Power Team Competition and 4th Overall- 11th
-I was personally invited by the head of Jet Propulsion Laboratories to present my research on tactile actuators in an International Smart Structures and Materials conference sponsored by SPIE – 11th
- I was recently accepted as an intern at IBM Labs in NY
- Junior Academy of Sciences Second Place Engineering
- Bunch of sci. olympiad awards in regional and state level...but not nationals :(</p>

<h2>Research Projects -- a.k.a , my life....hehe</h2>

<ul>
<li>A Self-Induced Generator based on Non-Radiant Mediums- 7th - 9th</li>
<li>A Comprehensive Study on Expedidtive Acoustic Cooling - 10th summer</li>
<li>A Novel Approach to Degradative Chemical Clean-Up using Acoustic Cavitation - 10th</li>
<li>Development of a Tactile Actuator using Dielectric Electroactive Polymers -11th summer</li>
<li>Image Definition and Enhancement through Machine Learning and Psychophysics -- 11th...this project attracted the attention and ultiimately a publication by Prof. Bill Freeman a computer vision researcher at MIT --11th</li>
<li>Definite Information Holding Risk Management: A Minimalistic Approach to Risk Aversion-- 10th-11th...this project was a simple theory i developed and tested in the field of game theory and ultimately economics
-I am about to start my research at IBM this summer and it should be something quite interesting!!</li>
</ul>

<p>I hope to do a lot more research in college .....!!!</p>

<p>Thanks for reading this guys. I truly appreciate those of you who put time and effort in actually writing laudable responses!</p>

2

<p>anyone??...i can't decide if I should ED to Duke or just take my chances elsewhere...any advice would be good</p>

3

<p>All of those schools are reaches given that your SAT scores are quite a bit below average and you are just top 10% of your class. </p>

<p>Add JHU for a great biomed program easier to get into than the others. Still a reach, mut a more realistic one.</p>

4

<p>i see...so the schools i'm trying for consider sat and class rank more than research and awards...i really don't know how these schools work in their selection process</p>

5

<p>I hadn't read your awards. They are good. Still, your SAT scores are an issue. Really focus on raising them and you'll be in great shape.</p>

6

<p>Well, the point isn't that your chances will increase if you get higher SAT scores. Duke loves high SAT scores. YOur research is really good, and your a 1380 is really good too, but you would have a better chance if your scores were higher (even with all the research, some colleges weigh the test TOO much).</p>

7

<p>Did you go for RSI?</p>

8

<p>i did...but i didn't get accepted. I really respect CEE's decision though..the student's who got in are truly amazing!! I took the ACT and if all goes well....would that "raise" my chances? The truth is I understand that the SAT and stuff are really important...but I feel I shouldn't really spend weeks of my life preparing for a test that won't matter in a few years, lol. But still....i understand, SAT's are important.
However, with these flawed "scores" how are my chances given all my other stuff?</p>

9

<p>I think you will have an excellent chance regardless of SAT. There are exceptions, and you can qualify for that...MAYBE</p>

<p>hmmmm, i wonder how muych researhc you have to do to get accepted to that program..dammm</p>

10

<p>You're wrong about the SATs. How you do determines where you will be accepted and that will effect your life as a whole. It's not silly to focus on them for a few months.</p>

<p>I think you got a big hint of how colleges will respond in not being accepted to RSI. With your awards and stats they liked, you would have been a shoo in. Study for the tests!</p>

11

<p>zagat, wasnt there a kid on this board a while ago, who got accepted with like a 1360, with less research, and lower than "recommended" PSATs? The only thing that stood out from his application was his reasons of why he chose the subjects he selected...</p>

12

<p>well...as I said...i'm just waiting for my scores on my sat's and ACT, so if I do well...then YEAAHH!!...but if not, then I suspect I shall study as zagat suggests</p>

13

<p>"Don't believe in service hours...so i can't say I have a bagillion hours, but i do volunteer"</p>

<p>I'm a bit... surprised at that statement. I don't know how much that will help. Perhaps I misinterpreted, care to elaborate?</p>

14

<p>and zagat your rather naive comment... "I think you got a big hint of how colleges will respond in not being accepted to RSI," is a bit of "think-before-you-speak" type thing. I'm not sure if you are familiar with RSI, but only about 50 kids around the nation get accepted...I mean no offense...I'm just saying. And you MAYBE right, but I doubt it could've been on e thing like the SAT's and class rank...</p>

15

<p>well I enjoy volunteering, so I do it...i'm just not into getting hours for volunteering that's all. I don't understand why you could be surprised though</p>

16

<p>I am very familiar with RSI. What do you think it was? Frankly, if I were an adcom, I would take someone like you over a lot of 1600s. You have achieved in a practical sense. The problem is, many Intel and Siemens finalists and winners also have 4.0/1600/val/5s in 10 APs. That's your competition. Your scores are a good 100 points below average at most of your schools. That may just be too much.</p>

17

<p>that makes sense...i guess you have a pretty valid point now that I understand your view</p>

18

<p>My nephew went to RSI 2 years ago. He's now at Caltech. All of his RSI buddies went to MIT, Caltech or an ivy. Colleges will be considering you among this group of science stars. They only want so many.</p>

<p>With the work you must have put into your research, raising your SAT scores should be a piece of cake!</p>

19

<p>hahaha...i wish it was that much fun...but with these standardized tests, I just can't seem to think like a "tester," but i guess that's just because of a lack of practice...</p>

20

<p>what is RSI?</p>