Chances for Caltech, MIT, Princeton and more

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Colleges:[ul]
[<em>]Caltech
[</em>]MIT
[<em>]Harvey Mudd
[</em>]Princeton
[<em>]Harvard
[</em>]UChicago
[<em>]Reed
[</em>]CalPoly: SLO
[<em>]CU: Boulder
[</em>]University of WA[/ul]</p>

<p>Gender: M
Location: Washington
College Class Year: 2017
High School: Public (Good/Competitive)
Will apply for financial aid: Yes</p>

<p>UW GPA: 3.95
Class Rank – Top 10% of 450 – Don’t know more precision</p>

<p>Senior Course:
AP Physics B (C not offered)
AP Literature
AP Government
Symphonic Band
Multivariable Calculus
Science Seminar (Supervised independent study)</p>

<p>Tests
SAT: 2340 (800 M, 760 CR, 780 W)
SATII: Math IIC – 800, Chemistry – 800, US History – 780
PSAT: 228
AP: Bio-5, World History-5, Calc AB-5, Chemistry-5, Calc BC-5, English Language-5, US History-5</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:[ul]
[<em>]Science Olympiad – 4 Years, Varsity
[</em>]Knowledge Bowl (quiz bowl-esque) – 4 Years, Varsity
[<em>]Science Fair – 3 Years
[</em>]US National Chemistry Olympiad – 2012
[<em>]Full Time Summer Research Internship at Reed College Nuclear Research Reactor – 2012
[</em>]Math Club – 2 Years
[<em>]Mock Trial – 2 Years, Varsity
[</em>]National Honors Society – 2 Years
[<em>]Wind Ensemble (School audition concert band) – 3 Years
[</em>]Online classes through Coursera, edX – 2012
[/ul]</p>

<p>Leadership Positions:[ul]
[<em>]Science Olympiad – Vice President, Varsity Team Captain
[</em>]Knowledge Bowl – Varsity Team Captain
[li]Math Club – Founder, President[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>Volunteer Work:[ul]
[<em>]NHS – 10 Hours
[</em>]Elementary Science Olympiad – 50 Hours
[/ul]</p>

<p>Honors and Awards:[ul]
[<em>]Science Olympiad – 3x regional first place team, 13 regional event medals, 2x state first place team, 11 state event medals, 2x national competitor, 3 national medals (two first place, one third)
[</em>]Knowledge Bowl – 3x regional competitor, 2012 WA State 3A champion team
[<em>]US National Chemistry Olympiad – 2012 national exam qualifier, Top 150 Honors recipient
[</em>]AIME – 2011 Qualifier
[/ul]</p>

<p>Essays: Very Good</p>

<p>Letters of Rec:[ul]
[<em>]AP US History - Very Good
[</em>]AP Calc BC & Multivariable Calc - Very Good
[<em>]Counselor - Excellent
[</em>]Research Mentor - Excellent
[/ul]</p>

2

<p>I’d say you have a pretty good chance, especially at Caltech because of your many sciency accolades.</p>

3

<p>Thank you! What would you say my chances are at MIT, given that I don’t have affirmative action or the like on my side?</p>

4

<p>It is not AA that would get you in but rather a strong commitment or passion for science through a few activities where you have invested a lot of time and effort. A lot of your ECs read like a laundry list without any obvious passion for any of them. MIT would much rather you committed to a single activity and achieved some recognized level of success rather than participate in 20 and excelled at none. </p>

<p>Things like AIME qualifier is not bad but note that more than half of USAMO qualifers are rejected. Top 150 Honors recipient at the National Chemistry Olympiad is nice but be aware that quite of few of the actual medalists will also apply to MIT and even they are not guaranteed admission. Unless you are Intel winner or IMO qualifier there is just no guarantee of af admission. About a third of MIT admits do have top national/international awards, but that also means two/thirds do not. But pretty much all admits have one thing in common: they do stand out from the crowd of highly qualified applicants. You just have to think about what makes YOU stand out and focus on it. Maybe it is your summer research working with a nuclear reactor, especially if your mentor can write you a solid rec letter and you can explain why it meant something to you. </p>

<p>Remember that admission to MIT is very much the result of an assessment of your future commitment to science and technology and not just given out as some merit award. Most applicants have significant merit. That commitment to come out strongly in your application, interview and rec letters.</p>

5

<p>Thank you very much for the thorough and considerate reply. I feel that the “laundry list” nature of my post is mostly just an artifact of the medium, where everything is given equal space. Looking back on my post, though, I see you are right on all counts - it does not demonstrate passion, merely involvement. I’ll provide a little elaboration here on Science Olympiad, which I consider to be the more important than any other part of my high school experience. Most everything mentioned below is discussed to some extent in my essays, which I have worked hard to ensure that my passion for science is displayed, not just a stale list of high school achievements.</p>

<p>Each of those individual event medals, especially the national level ones, represents the culmination of hundreds if not thousands of hours of work, studying, and preparation. For example, a friend and I designed, constructed, and refined a one and a half octave bass marimba over the course of an entire calendar year. The finished product I consider to be finer in quality and sound than any other mallet instrument I have had the opportunity to play. In addition, I practiced for significant time with a second friend who had made a violin until our performance was downright musical. Meanwhile, I was fervently studying up on my physics and mathematics so that I could fluently explain all of the processes behind the sound of the instrument. The other medals represent similar time commitment and learning endeavors. </p>

<p>The reactor internship is certainly something I plan to make a strong point of in my application as well, I have a lot of good things to say about it, which I won’t bore you with here :wink: I expect that to carry some extra weight at MIT also, given that they are one of the few universities in America to possess a nuclear research reactor.</p>

<p>Your final statement on MIT not being a “merit award” I also find quite nice, and recognize. My goal in applying to all of these school is to pursue a life in science, and that is something I have been sure to bring up in my essays.</p>

<p>One last thank you for the superb reply - thinking about it has given my some good ideas on revisions and additions to make to my essays and applications.</p>

6

<p>Good luck. </p>

<p>Remember the MIT application no longer has a long essay but it still has specific questions about your passion for science where you can make your point. The interview is also important and should be used to highlight aspect not covered in the application. One important factor to emphasize is your ability to work collaboratively as no major project in science or technology can be managed alone. Your various science projects could provide examples of collaborative work.</p>