<p>I don’t see a huge difference between a 33 and a 36. It’s 3 points which was due to luck…</p>
<p>@OP, theres more schools than HYP and Columbia. I have to second a poster before me, and predict that you get rejected from HYP and columbia. (just being honest) </p>
<p>
^everybody thinks they can do this. everbody tells you do this. But it rarely happens. Usually an essay will not get you accepted at these top schools unless it is REALLy that good. Adcoms read like 25,000 essays on the same question, what are odds you get one in the top 10? (1/2500)</p>
<p>
^lol, theres a huge difference between a 33 and 36. Not much difference between a 2350 and a 2400. But is there a big difference between 2180 and 2390? </p>
<p>Make sure to apply to a good range of schools, don’t go top-heavy/ivy-heavy on your list of colleges. And why do you want to go to HYP? Is just because of the name/prestige?</p>
<p>I would say there is a 50 percent possibility that you will get into one of these colleges. What are your matches/safeties?</p>
<p>Any other comments?</p>
<p>I agree that you’re a competitive applicant, but PPs are right - there is nothing about your application that stands out from the typical HYP applicant. Everyone has a 4.0, and everyone has research. Write a compelling, unique essay, and show passion about your prospective major (not pre-med - that’s not a major) or EC</p>
<p>Your GPA is a bit low. From what I’ve seen on Naviance/other websites that chart the actual stats of students accepted/rejected/whatever, HYP all have average GPAs of about 4.79-4.9, so although there is a <em>possibility</em> 4.6 would cut it, it’s not a great chance.</p>
<p>But hey, it won’t hurt to try!</p>
<p>P.S. Honestly, soo many kids who apply to HYPSM do summer research. This summer (before my senior year), I’ll be working with a (literally qualified as genius) Neuroscience doctor/researcher finding my own protein pathways/neuro transmitter connections involved in epilepsy. But then again, sooo many HYPSM hopefuls do similar things, so there’s a good chance I won’t get in, even with my other stats. </p>
<p>A friend of mine in the senior grade at my school did absolutely BRILLIANT research last summer, won a bazillion prizes for it (though not INTEL), wrote brilliant essays (according to all the guidance counselors and every other teacher who read them), is ranked in the top 5 of their class of ~400, has a pretty tragic backstory (his father died in one of the <em>major</em> US plane crashes of the last decade) that although not written about in his essays was addressed elsewhere, was very active in many different clubs/varsity sports teams/ community service projects, and also had superb SAT I/SATII scores. But guess what? He was rejected from MIT and wait listed at Princeton. It’s hard to tell with those super-top schools, really. (Though he did get into Duke and quite a few others).</p>
<p>EDIT: I’m sorry, I meant to say GPA averages of 4.69-4.8</p>