<p>im only going to be a junior but i want to see if im on the right path...
I dont have alot of things that are really important so ill make it pretty short...</p>
<p>STATS
SAT: 2240 (780 M/700 R/760 W)-one time (should i take again?...im kind of on the border...)
SATII: 800 Math II
APs: three 5s, one 3 (in CS dont know if it hurts for MIT...)
GPA: 3.95 UW, like 4.3 W with 5.0 for AP classes</p>
<p>ECS
Math club (guareenteed president)
Key club (like 30 hours volunteering, amybe over 40 by next year)
Volunteering at hospital (25 or so hours)
Science Research
Model UN
Tennis Team (cant play college)
Orchestra (cant play even high school but you dont have to try out for it =P)
Science Olympiad</p>
<p>AWARDS
USAMO qualifier (maybe 2xqualifier next year with USAMO HM or winner lol...)-how sad if you look at my sat score for math lol
3xAIME qualifier
ARML team high scorer (on best state team)
Geography Bee
SO awards (not that important im guessing?)
Bunch of smaller math/science awards (including first places in regional competitons)...
probalby National AP scholar and National Merit SF next year (couldve gotten this year if i was junior, taking atleast 9 APs)</p>
<p>I dont have many awards but how do you think USAMO helps my chances (especially for top math/engineering colleges such as MIT)</p>
<p>How will my chances improve next year if I make Siemens Semifinalist (im working on a research project).</p>
<p>Also, any suggestions on what I should do junior year to improve my chances thanks (im really interested in science/math-should i concentrate on USNCO/USABO?). Also, what impact does making RSI have (do i have a good chance at RSI right now). sorry if this sounds like im purposely trying to do these competitons to improve my chances, i want to do something that i like as well as i think ill be successful in</p>
<p>Colleges (what i think)
Harvard-reach?
MIT-match (even now?)
CalTech-match?
Princeton-reach
Yale-high reach?
Duke
UPenn
Cornell
Northwestern</p>
<p>Well, you have very good grades and scores, but you're just like any asian. It is clear you are passionate, and your focus is in math/science, but colleges also want some interesting students that will bring diversity to the campus. However, since you got USAMO, i don't know if you even need to be unique. I would say low reaches at MIT, HYPS, and Caltech, and ur fine for the rest.</p>
<p>yea geo bee was 8th grade but i just couldnt think of any other important awards to put down</p>
<p>but i made it to state in geo bee (nearly nats) and also made it to state in mathcounts 2x (some teammates of mine got top 57 nats) but i dont know if colleges care much? i was looking at a common application and it seems like it only cares about 9th grade and above (it even specifically says please list and explain some of your accomplishments form 9th grade and above), but since some of those awards are kinda relavant from middle school, how should i put them down? thanks</p>
<p>has anyone had that situation^ (like with national spelling bee)</p>
<p>yea i know that mit and caltech are not matches for me...i was kinda hoping for that my awards matched what the university was looking for (since ive seen many threads about saying how big usamo is for caltech and mit and how they even ask for amc/aime scores on applications), but personally, i know i still need to do a lot more to get in.</p>
<p>and oh yea what do you guys think about SAT, should i take again? I dont wana sound like one of those people that gets really high but not perfect and complains about it and sounds pathetic, but with my score, i dont know if its considered top tear level for top schools like HYPSMC...any thoughts? (if i had gotten 2300+ i would definetly not be taking it agian)...the problem is if i take it agian, ill have very good shots to get 800 in M and W but I dont think my CR will improve much...infact i was surprised i even got a 700 (i usually got 650-700 on practice tests)</p>
<p>and do your AIME scores matter at all (since MIT asks for it)? like do they differentitate betwene a 7 on AIME (just passing) and a 14 or so on the AIME (near perfect), or do they jsut care if you passed AIME or not? because 7 and 14 are big differences, i think more people make Black/BLue MOP then get 14+ on AIME...</p>
<p>yeah in middle school i made it to nationals with a history paper that i wrote. it was kind of a big deal and i was wondering if i should put it down as well.</p>
<p>I'd retake the SATs as its superscoring and thus you're guaranteed the 700 for CR. Of course I'm far from a expert so definitely ask someone more experienced as well.</p>
<p>Colleges (what i think)
Harvard-high reach
MIT-high reach
CalTech-reach
Princeton-high reach
Yale-high reach
Duke - low reach
UPenn - low reach
Cornell - IN
Northwestern - IN</p>
<p>If you make it to siemens finalist, get a medal on USAMO and make it to RSI, you stand a good chance of getting into MIT and Harvard. Right now, you don't have any particular hooks. a laundry list now, i must say.</p>
<p>not really, USAMO is a hook...only 70 or so sophomores made it last year</p>
<p>its surely a lot more impressive to get that than the other olympiads (the other ones, their names skew it a bit...)</p>
<p>if you can get USAMO winner, obviously youll get into MIT (no winner has every been rejected, atleast not at my school or what ive heard from classmates)...but thats basically impossible...i dont think you should try and get that, you should try and concentrate on less prestigious things but ones you probalby have a better chance to achieve and what suits you.</p>
<p>but again just making it isnt a guareentee but its obviously a good start and it is a fact qualifiers have an advantage... many usamo qualifiers with similar stats (maybe better) to you have been rejected..so dont just stop there...also many people who havent even heard of usamo have made it to mit...its not the end all for mit.</p>
<p>umm havent been on but just to save another thread ill just bump this...</p>
<p>anyone else?</p>
<p>oh yea and how important are national awards like National AP scholar and National Merit Semifinalist?</p>
<p>and do you have to take ACT for top colleges?</p>
<p>oh and what do you mean middle school doesnt matter?
what if you win the national spelling bee...thats way better than 99.9% of awards anyone will win in high school....</p>
<p>Oh, screw the SO awards, they're worthless. Dont' worry about the 3, just get a 5 on the AB. Why did you even take A anyways? AP scores aren't that important. </p>
<p>We already offer USABO and USNCO, talk to science department chair. But neither qualifications are as impressive as a USAMO qualification. Yes, retake the SAT. ok, uh PM me if you have anymore questions. I'm kinda bored at work.</p>
<p>don't put middle school awards on your application because as you specifically said the application says to list things from 9th grade up... soo uhhh.. follow their directions.</p>