Chances at Stanford, Harvard, Yale and MIT

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey! I am an international student and really anxious about admission decisions which are only a few days away! For the past few weeks, I have felt incredibly insecure and reasonably so. I really disliked the idea of chance posts, but I really want to consider this seriously in order to plan for college. I am considering applying to a few European schools in case things are not likely to work out. For one, the Harvard and MIT interview processes for students of my country are selective; they are initially waived but offered to some upon evaluation in late Feb and early March. I am still waiting but nothing has come up. I read somewhere that it may be either because you are already accepted or rejected or your application is still under review. The latter sounds unreasonable and even the former a little so because I haven’t known a single person from China/Singapore/India who got into Harvard without an interview. So I am in a mental fix and this is an outpour :stuck_out_tongue:

So, here it goes.

Income: $25000-$30000
Prospective Major: CS/Physics

Scores:
ACT: 33
SAT Subject Test Math II: 800
SAT Subject Test Physics: 800
SAT Subject Test Chemistry: 800
APs (forgot to self-report on CommonApp and MIT application) : Chem: 5, Physics C Mechanics: 5, Physics C E&M: 5, Calculus BC: 5 [We are supposed to take APs in China, but did that to skip out of introductory classes]

School:
Rank: Top 1%
Recommendations:
Counselor: My school principal wrote a recommendation letter for me instead of the school counselor. Must be very good because she was enthusiastic about it. Has known me very well throughout high school. (probably 9/10)

English: My English teacher showed me her recommendation a few days back. It was glowing, full of anecdotes and personality. (10/10)

Physics: My teacher has known me forever as a student. Probably the person who knows me best! I haven’t seen the rec, but she has a reputation for writing amazing recommendations. (probably 9/10)

Other Recommendations:
From my research mentor (President of the Polish Academy of Sciences), a social activist and a representative of the national government (related to my activities). All should be positive and additive as they all know me very well.

Main ECs:
Research Fellow, Polish Academy of Sciences - Submitted a project in applied mathematics to the Academy and was awarded an all expense paid month-long research stay to expand on the project. It was computational physics.

Research Fellow, United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and Dutch institute for Fundamental Energy Research (EuroFusion)- with the computational modeling of materials and plasmas.

Intern, Chinese Academy of Science and Brookings-Tsinghua Center

International Astronomy Olympiad 2016 - Bronze Medal
International Physics Olympiad Camp 2017
International Chemistry Olympiad Camp 2016

Volunteer at an Old Age Home - Conducted monthly art events for giving opportunities to young artists, volunteers, and musicians to engage with the elderly.
Volunteer at an orphanage - Raised money and created learning tools available to orphanages through an online charity match and funding platform.

I do a lot of art. Sent in an art portfolio along with a research portfolio to MIT and Yale. Sent only an art portfolio to Harvard.

President, School Student Council
President, Science Society
Member, Quizzing Society

I also realized that I forgot to mention my internship along with APs to MIT. I couldn’t find space for some other things too. Should I consider updating them now? It is only 5 days to Pi day Tau time :confused:

Thank you so much for your time! I really appreciate your kindness!

2

I think it’s probably too late to update MIT. I understand your concern, but I believe your SAT II’s may offset any doubts that come from the AP score omission. Be careful with these schools, though, because you’d need a substantial amount of aid and I’m not positive on their policies for internationals. I can definitely see you getting accepted to any of these schools, especially with your fellowships. (I’m not positive about the weight things like olympiad camps carry, though.)

Best of luck! :slight_smile: Chance me back? http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1966406-chance-me-upenn-ed-yale-brown-princeton-etc-will-chance-back-p1.html

3

Thanks, @writergirl0316! The camps are the last stages for the selections of national teams for the international Science Olympiads. So it’s like 20-35 top students in the country!

You are a really strong candidate at all of the schools you are planning to apply to! And yeah Yale SCEA!

4

You think Yale SCEA over Penn ED? I’m starting to consider it more seriously after reading some of the comments on my thread… I was pretty set on Penn beforehand. @hehaotim

5

@hehaotim Obviously your chances are lower for Stanford, MIT, Harvard and higher for Yale. Overall I would say you are within the feasible range of admission, but these schools are highly unpredictable and extremely difficult to get in, even more so for applicants from China/Singapore/India.

6

Your grades and SAT’s are really excellent. I know quite a few people who got into one or more of the schools that you listed with grades and SATs which were no better. However, I agree with your idea of applying to some universities outside of the USA. Both me and my daughters (many years apart) have applied to top universities both in the US and outside. Outside the US it appears that the decisions are more predictable and more based on academics, which is an area where you excel. There are some very strong universities in Europe (and Australia and Canada). Of course, you have applied to four of the very best (if not the four best) in the USA. Good luck. Do you have a financial limit in terms of what you can spend? If you have a total limit for four years which is less than US$280,000, it might (or might not) end up being another reason to apply elsewhere as well.

7

@writergirl0316 It is my opinion that you would fit better at Yale. Also, for as prospective English major, you would enjoy and integrate well with the Yale community. Yale is considered to be a highly intellectual, enriching environment for creatives in general. I, myself, love how the campus just breathes inspiration. They have great programs in languages, fine arts, history, political science and drama, all tied together within strong liberal arts ideal, which makes it a more serious choice, even more than Penn. On the other hand, Penn fills more than 50% of its class in ED, a trend it has followed for two years now. This may be tempting because there is fairly better chance that you make it. Penn has good writing communities and provisions but I have no reason to believe that Yale won’t be better. From direct experience, my friends pursuing humanities at Yale are clearly some of those most satisfied undergrads. I do not know as many people at Penn which may be a reason I am underfed about the resources and life there, although some SEAS programs and Wharton are great. Overall, it comes down to the fact that people will tell all sorts of things, as they come, and what they feel. Only you can decide. They are both great. Start with maybe considering which of the two you will attend if you got into both. Find what touches you. I would have picked Yale :stuck_out_tongue: For what you want to do, yeah, Yale! Anyday! Hope this helped more than it confused you! Best of Luck and wish me luck for all my decisions :stuck_out_tongue:

8

@juillet @skieurope @MITer94