Chances at MIT / Caltech (Undergraduate)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi!,
Im a junior student in California and have a 3.6 GPA, (my school is well known for 0 grade inflation and rigorous classes, this means <em>4.0 is the ceiling</em>). I am only taking AP Physics B and PreCal-H this year. If I were to take AP Calculus, AP Physics B, Honors English, and Honors History next year (senior), and apply for college AFTER senior year, would my chances be decent If i made all A's in these classes? My SAT and ACT scores are pretty good and I might be able to max them. For my out of school things, I am the captain of our schools computer engineering robotics team, I play in out of school band, and I play piano (quite well, best in our school). On top of that, I have a small company in software and electronics, have inventions, and know more than any person should know about EE and CS. My biggest concern centers around if colleges would be willing to 'ignore' my junior year to some degree...</p>

<p>[To Clarify Out Of School Activities]
Jazz Band
Robotics Team Capitan and Creator
Piano (And other instruments)
Software and Electronics Company
Inventions
Study of EE and CS</p>

<p>**I have over 130 hours of community service</p>

<p>What are my chances of getting into MIT / Caltech, and what can I do to improve these chances?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>Any other recommendations for other good EE/CS engineering schools would be appreciated too!</p>

2

<p>Well, what are your test scores? Some other good schools would be Stanford and U of C (Berkeley).</p>

3

<p>^^ yes. we need to know your test scores to get a better gauge. However, you're company sounds very interesting, and I bet adcoms will look into that :)</p>

<p>How will your rec's and essays be? Those, I think will be very important. A teacher can, imo, gauge a student's passion/curiosity/maturity fairly well. So, pick teachers that can show you in the most positive light. </p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

4

<p>well what do you mean you have good test scores, what are they, and if youre in precalc as a junior, youre below the curve at those places</p>

5

<p>^^^ I would consider my math background about average, and I'm taking AP Calculus (AB) as a junior, then BC as a senior, as well as AP Stats as a senior. For you to be "average" you would probably have had to taken pre-cal in your sophomore year. At least that's what I'm doing...</p>

6

<p>^that's not average in most cases...most top 25% kids take Alg2 sophmore year</p>

<p>of course, when you're talking about caltech and MIT, it's a bit different</p>

7

<p>lol, I don't think I'll call spratleyj's math background to be average. That's definitely above average. </p>

<p>Caltech/MIT will consider your math classes (or whatever other classes) in the context of what your school offers. So, if your school does offer AP clac, or other higher classes, you probably won't look TOO good if you have taken really really easy ones.</p>

8

<p>Yeah, when I said average I meant for schools like MIT & Cal Tech...</p>