<p>I am valedictorian at my high school, and I have taken challenging courses such as AP Physics and Chemistry. My GPA is 99.1% (translates to a 4.00 of course).</p>
<p>These are my test scores:</p>
<p>ACT- 35
SAT- 2380</p>
<p>(I have only taken each of these tests once by the way)</p>
<p>I am part of my school's varsity chess team, varsity golf team, and also won my school's music club award last year.</p>
<p>I have played the violin for 7 years, and have won many local and state competitions while also playing First Violin weekly in the state's most prestigious orchestra (MYSO). </p>
<p>Also, I spend many service hours serving at my local church (playing in the church orchestra) and teaching underprivileged kids the violin</p>
<p>Random Awards:
1st in State for National Spanish Exam (Spanish II 2010)
10th in State Latin Convention
State Finalist in Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge
1st place Midwest Conference Chess Tournament
Bach Double Concerto Competition Winner
WSMA Exemplary Soloist</p>
<p>Please let me know what you think of my chances at getting accepted by Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Stanford/Caltech/MIT and the lot! I'd really appreciate it.</p>
<p>You have a very good chance at HYPMS (especially Stanford given your history with sports, your stats, etc.). Caltech, however, is probably less likely to accept you, as you have done little to show a strong interest in STEM subjects other than coursework. </p>
<p>HYPM: Low reach (could be better with more specifics)
Stanford: High match
Caltech: Reach </p>
<p>Well, my team built 3-d printed models of proteins and highlighted the activation sites where drugs like paramomyocin can target only bacteria. Our idea was that particular differences in the proteins between prokaryotes and eukaryotes could be exploited, in particular, the protein responsible for forming bacterial cell walls. We were invited to the Medical College of Wisconsin to hold a presentation for doctors and professors and explain our innovative ideas. We also held a community event where we educated the locale with an easy-to-understand skit.</p>
<p>Great, congrats on valedictorian! You are surly a great applicant and I can see you getting into one of those schools. Make sure you have a great essay that takes a personal view point on something you care strongly about! Get into your feelings with it good job!</p>
<p>You have a shot at all of them, especially HYPS. Although all your stats and awards are good, your EC’s don’t show me your passion, they’re more generic. I can’t tell from your thread what you want to go into, which makes your app a little forgettable. You would have been in 10 years ago, and at a mach level 5 years ago, unfortunately the competition is so fierce now that you’re at a low reach level. Caltech/MIT are more unlikely because there’s not a lot of demonstrated science interest. Be sure to apply to some more palatable targets (what about a state school? somewhere like UC Berkley, UM Ann Arbor, or UNC Chapel Hill, all three do admits mostly on stats, and yours are exemplary) and some safeties.Chance me back? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1508050-chances-science-undergrad-new-post.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1508050-chances-science-undergrad-new-post.html</a></p>
<p>And my parents are both doctors, so I understandably am interested in Orthopaedic surgery. I’ve done a lot of shadowing at my local hospital. Obviously I won’t be receiving a smidgen of financial aid.</p>
<p>Note: I’m still early in the college app process, and am by no means an expert in this. I posted a chance thread myself, so take the following with a grain of salt:</p>
<p>You’re clearly qualified for all of them. Your scores and awards are top notch. Now it’s time, I think, to write a narrative. As a previous poster said, your EC’s sound a bit unfocused. Since you’re clearly successful in them, I would not drop any of them. </p>
<p>What do you want to do in life? Why do you want to go to HYPSM? What are you going to do there? I think you should find your passion and craft your application around that. You mentioned music as a passion, but I am inclined to disagree. If music were a passion, you would set your sights for Juilliard, not Caltech. By passion, I mean your goal. Whatever you want to do, to be, show it through your ECs and essays. You might not even have to change anything, objectively. Sometimes the trick is just to craft your application in a way that reflects this central passion…</p>
<p>Edit: Just saw your post on my thread. My SAT was not superscored. Much of this is just luck. A 2380 will not put you at any disadvantage.</p>
<p>Well, your academic stats are close to perfect, but as I mentioned elsewhere, my son had perfect stats and it wasn’t enough for the HYPSM schools that he applied to. Plus you’re Asian and Asians have even tougher acceptance odds than white kids.</p>
<p>So let’s consider your ECs. They are strong, with a diverse selection of accomplishments at the state level level or beyond: chess, violin, Spanish, Latin. This is the sort of accomplishment portfolio that HYPSM likes to see. Teaching underprivileged kids the violin is also one of those community service projects that will get you respect.</p>
<p>It’s pretty likely you’ll get the nod from at least one of these schools if you manage to tie your accomplishments together into a nice tidy package when you present yourself in your application. Your final goal is to make yourself be recognized as a person, not just a bundle of statistics.</p>
<p>Here’s the end process; try to work backwards from there: your overworked regional rep, sick of reading applications by the hundreds, sees something interesting in your app that makes you memorable. At some point, your regional rep will have 15 seconds to summarize you as a person, make a recommendation and perhaps fight or swap favors to get you in. How can you present yourself so that you “come alive” off the page as a person rather than another set of stats? If you can figure that part out in a way that matches your unique combination of features, then you’ll be golden. Good luck!</p>
This means a lot to me and my confidence.</p>
good job!</p>
. I know, there’s a lot of “us” around…