<p>Asian (Chinese) Female from NJ
small school of about 130 people in a class
middle-class income
plan on going into Pre-med</p>
<p>Scores/GPA/Courseload:</p>
<ul>
<li>SATs: 2290 first time (780 M 780 W 730 CR)
2380 second time (780 M 800 W 800 CR)</li>
<li>SAT IIs: 800 Math IIC, 800 Chinese, 790 Chem, 730 Biology (planning on retaking bio and taking lit in October)</li>
<li>W GPA: 4.58 , shot at Valedictorian </li>
<li>AP Scores: Calc AB - 5, Physics B - 5, AP Lang and Comp - 5, APUSH - 5, AP Psychology - 5</li>
<li>Past Courseloads: All Honors + APs (5 APs junior year) --> most rigorous</li>
<li>Senior Courseload: Calc BC, AP Chem, AP French, AP Gov, AP Lit</li>
</ul>
<p>EC/Volunteer/Work:</p>
<ul>
<li>Volunteer at Local Library for four to twelve hours every week ever since summer before freshman year all the way to summer of junior year before taking on a job at the same library and working until present time</li>
<li>Volunteer at soup kitchen first Friday of every month</li>
<li>Volunteer/Internship at Rutgers University Cell Biology and Neuroscience Lab every summer since freshman year - 9 am - 5 pm Monday through Friday (planning on submitting an entry into Siemens and Intel competitions)</li>
<li>Editor-in-chief of school newspaper starting junior year</li>
<li>Student Congress: Freshman - representative, Sophomore - Treasurer, Junior - Vice President</li>
<li>Captain of Science Bowl (senior year)</li>
<li>3 Model UN and 3 Model Congress conferences - distinguished delegate award</li>
<li>Captain of school NJ Science-letes team: Bio 7th in state, Physics 15th in state</li>
<li>NHS</li>
<li>Art Lessons ever since freshman year - 1 international winning piece, 2 international second place, 1 national winning piece, 1 state winning piece, multiple local and state honorable mentions</li>
<li>Achieved ABRSM certification in Level 8 piano at the age of 13</li>
</ul>
<p>~Other</p>
<p>Essays - working on those right now, will be relatively decent I hope
Recs - one from Junior year physics teacher, one from senior year English teacher (also newspaper advisor)
Supplementals - planning on sending a portfolio of all my artwork</p>
<p>Chances at:</p>
<p>MIT Early Action
HYPS
UPenn
Caltech
Duke
Amherst
Rutgers</p>
<p>decent shot everywhere. Rutgers is obviously your safety. You have to write amazing essays to stand out though, or your chances will be a lot less.</p>
<p>Also, if you're applying to MIT EA, why not Caltech EA as well?</p>
<p>Thanks cory and Gaffe! I didn't know that you could apply to two early action schools... MIT has always been a dream school for me, and I'm applying to Caltech just on a whim, to see if I can get in. I guess what I'm hoping will make me stand out is my art (those awards), and my general commitment to everything, since all my activities started in freshman year, and I've been doing them ever since. And the essays I have done are quirky, one compares my oil paints to a small disobedient child, showing how I failed in my passion for painting, and learned from it (MIT failure question). The other (MIT who are you question) recounts my experiences of hurting my grandma's feelings by being too honest and telling her the truth about something, and thus that made me into a more tactful person who thinks before jumping in. So many people already have high scores, so I'm not really counting on that to help much.</p>
<p>^ oh right ses, I forgot about that. I heard that the female acceptance rate at MIT is 25%.</p>
<p>Also, Gaffe, with Caltech being very numbers-driven, I think she has more of a chance than "unlikely". I agree with Gaffe, except I would say "Maybe" for MIT and Caltech.</p>
<p>Thanks for the well wishes ses! I looked at the MIT admission percentages this year. It was about 45% female and 55% male. Isn't that bad sign, showing they admitted, percentage-wise, more males than females? And can someone tell me where exactly I'd need to be stronger in order to have a better chance at those top colleges? I'm guessing that there's no strong hook, or no area where I really stand out from awards and such, right?</p>
<p>^They will ALWAYS admit more girls than boys. It's a tech school. What you need to look at are the percentages of applications. It's probably 70/30, meaning that a larger proportion of girls are accepted.</p>
<p>If you want to go premed, why are you applying to MIT/Caltech? That's almost suicide unless you're some kind of freaking genius (pardon me if you are). And, also, if you really are premed, then you should consider applying to JHU as a match/low reach school.</p>
<p>Lol agree. As a pre-med Brown probably should also be on the list. Brown is like a more relaxed Harvard, while Dartmouth is a more relaxed Princeton.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for the feedback everyone! I considered Dartmouth, but one of my friends who visited the campus said that the area felt rather secluded and lonely, and I grew up in a metropolitan area, so I like the hustle and bustle more, especially in Cambridge where my uncle used to live while he went to MIT for grad school. And one of my main reasons for choosing MIT is their research opportunities directed specifically at undergrad students, UROP. I didn't make it clear in my first post that I want to go into an MD/PhD program, and that's why MIT didn't seem like a bad choice. I don't want to become a doctor for the sake of being a doctor who does it for a living; I'd really like to go more into clinical research in oncology and gain a sound understanding of the principles behind medicine - more pure science I guess. And I really do love the atmosphere at MIT, and the challenge in its courses, while suicidal haha, would probably pay off in the long run. I'm still looking into different schools, so the list up there was no way complete. My parents actually did suggest JHU and Brown; I'm just really indecisive, so it's nice to hear all these different opinions. Thank you once again for all the feedback! I really do appreciate it a lot!</p>
<p>The surrounding area around Dartmouth is outdoorsy and quaint, but the campus life itself is vibrant. There is more happening on Dartmouth's campus than most top schools so its really hard to get bored. With 4500, active, social students its hard to be lonely. Dartmouth excels because of its undergrad focus and research opportunities, therefore its grad placement is outstanding.</p>