Chances at good engineering schools? (MIT, Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, USC)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi, soon to be senior here from Oregon, I was wondering if you guys can chance me as I have no idea if I have a good shot or not (1st generation family, moved here from the Philippines summer before freshman year). Also, any help/recommendations that would strengthen my resume would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>Stats:
Weighted GPA: 4.40
Unweighted GPA: 3.93
Rank: 15/560+
SAT: 2050
ACT composite with Writing: 32
SAT II Biology: 720</p>

<p>APs Taken (Grade/AP Score)
Sophomore Year: Biology (A/5), Language (A/5), Stats (A/4), Calc AB (A/4)
Junior Year: Chemistry (A/4), Economics (A/5 in Macro, 4 in Micro), Psychology (A/5), Literature (B/4), Calc BC (A/5, and 5 on AB subscore)</p>

<p>Classes that I'll take during Senior Year: AP Gov, AP Physics, AP Enviro, Dual credit English Class, and I might take Linear Algebra/Differential Equations/Calc IV at nearby CC</p>

<p>ECs: Welcoming Committee, Federal Economic Challenge State Finalist, Filipino Club, Key Club, National Honors Society.</p>

<p>Schools I'm planning to apply to: USC, Berkeley, UCLA, MIT, Stanford, U of Washington, Oregon State, Ivy? (not sure which one though, recommendation needed). </p>

<p>So yeah, any advice would be appreciated and thanks in advance to those who'll reply!</p>

2

<p>Check out Case Western</p>

3

<p>You have a great chance at any of those Schools, im pretty sure your get into at least one if not several. Good Luck.</p>

4

<p>Sonic - will do. any Ivy recommendation?</p>

<p>dkwhtspsu - thanks for the feedback!</p>

5

<p>You could shoot for Cornell, but SAT might hurt you there. And try and get some leadership in your EC’s which would help you too. (unless you just didn’t mention them, then nvm)</p>

6

<p>sorange12 - Thanks for the suggestion, and yeah I’m probably gonna retake my SATs and gun for at least a 2150, but I want to get somewhere around 2250 or so. And no, I don’t really have any leadership ECs. What would be a good one?</p>

7

<p>What is your last name? If it is of Hispanic origin, try to apply as Hispanic. May help you in the admissions process. Take SAT IIs in Math and Chem/Physics. And why aren’t you psyched for CalTech?</p>

<p>Sent from my Nexus One using CC</p>

8

<p>ahhhh, that’s the thing. My last name’s a typical Caucasian american name (great grandfather was a war vet and stayed in the Phil. for a while, don’t know him or his family here though.), and idk what to do with it honestly. And yeah I’m probably gonna take Math II and Physics in October (would that be ok actually? like would the scores make it in time before I send my applications?). Idk about Caltech, I’ve heard it’s pretty hard to get in and I don’t think I’ll like the environment either.</p>

9

<p>Well, seeing as you’re already members of a couple clubs, you could aim for leadership positions there. And about the SAT, I was in the same boat as you a little while ago. Just keep doing practice and the points will come. Good luck! And chance me back? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1381740-stanford-cmu-duke-columbia-berkeley-chance.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1381740-stanford-cmu-duke-columbia-berkeley-chance.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>sorange12 - can you give me some tips? I saw your thread, that SAT score is pretty amazing!</p>

11

<p>Haha, sure. Can you give me the scores and writing breakdown for each section so I can be more specific?</p>

12

<p>reading: 660 (I know I screwed up some of the vocabs here since I didn’t really study for that part)
math: 710 (I don’t know how I did this bad considering I just finished Calc BC lol)
writing: 680 (got an 8 on the essay)</p>

13

<p>Ok, for reading, just read a ton of stuff, especially stuff you’re not interested in. (I know this sounds terrible, but it’ll help) And don’t think of it as something boring, just practice staying engaged and remembering what it says. And for vocab, I mean you just have to memorize it. I recommend quizlet (flashcard website, google it) and search for 100 most common SAT words and play the games, especially space race. You’ll learn the words in no time.</p>

<p>Math, I know what you mean. But a lot of SAT math is nothing like what you learn in school. I recommend going back and looking at what kind of math questions you missed and doing a ton of those. A lot of times school math is of no use and can even make you think more than you have to. Really get your mindset into SAT math when you do those questions and almost forget what you’ve learned in school except for algebra and trig and that old stuff. :)</p>

<p>Writing: For the essay, lots of people have different strategies, but this worked really well for me. I’m really into formulas so every time I wrote an essay, I’d make it a four paragraph essay. The intro would go about 1/3 of the page down. 1st body would take up the rest of the front of the page. 2nd body would take up ~2/3 of 2nd page, and conclusion would finish up the last 1/3 of the page. Always fill up both sides of the sheet completely and don’t skip any lines. Use 2 really good examples and I recommend not using personal examples cuz they can get kind of involved. Current events worked best for me. And you don’t even need a perfect 12 on the essay, but it won’t hurt for sure. Write (or at least familiarize yourself with) a ton of essay prompts cuz they eventually start repeating themselves somewhat. Find like 10 or so topics that’ll work for most prompts and have them at hand. For the MC section, you just gotta learn your grammar. I’d never officially learned grammar before the SAT and after doing so many writing questions I started seeing patterns and learning the rules.</p>

<p>Sorry for such a long chunk, hopefully you can digest it all. And remember, everyone’s different, so what worked for me might not work for you. Good luck!</p>

14

<p>wow, THANKS A TON. :slight_smile: I appreciate all the help! Will definitely try these tips and put them to good use when I start prepping. Hopefully I’ll be able to get at least a 2250 when I retake it this october!</p>

15

<p>Yeah no problem! But just remember that it’s mostly hard work and a little help from the tricks that gets you the score. Best of luck!</p>