Chances for Ivies and top UCs?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I’m a rising senior, Asian male, and want to apply as an Engineer for all schools listed.

GPA: 4.0 unweighted, 4.74 weighted (counting only fresh, soph, and junior years)
Rank: 1
SAT: CR: 620 M: 680 W: 700
SAT II: Math Level 2: 780; Physics: 740; US History: 700
ACT: English: 28; Math: 36; Reading: 30; Science: 34
I’m planning on retaking the SAT and ACT but I don’t want to assume that I will score better so lets just say these are the scores I will be submitting to colleges.

AP classes taken so far:
AP Chemistry (Score: 4)
AP World History (Score: 4)
AP Language (Score: Not received yet)
AP Physics 1 (Score: Not received yet)
AP Calculus AB (Score: Not received yet)
AP Spanish (Score: Not received yet)
AP U.S. History (Score: Not received yet)

Senior Course Load:
AP Physics B
AP Biology
AP Calculus BC
AP Statistics
AP Literature
AP Government
Honors Art
P.E. (required)

Extracurriculars:

Mathletes (4 years, president 2014-2015)
Key Club (4 years, treasurer 2014-2015, vice-president 2015-2016, awarded Distinguished treasurer and Gold Member by the CNH District)
Science Olympiad (4 years, president 2014-2015)
National Honor Society (3 years, president 2015-2016)
Early Academic Outreach Program (4 years)
California Scholarship Federation (3 years)
Varsity Tennis (3 years b/c not counting spring season of senior year)
Varsity Cross Country (4 years counting fall season of senior year)
400+ hours of community service (acquired through Key Club, helped at numerous homeless feeds, local food bank, fundraisers for charity, community events and festivals, etc.)

Colleges interested in (Applying as an Engineer):
UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Davis, Stanford, Brown, Cornell (and probably more Ivy leagues), MIT, California Institute of Tech, etc.

Thanks in advance!

2

Oops forgot to total my test scores. SAT is 2000, ACT is 32.

3

For SD and Davis you will very likely get in (like 95% chance). You probably have a decent shot at LA. I’m not sure about each of their engineering programs but I think you have a chance at most of the ivies. For MIT CalTech etc. It will be a bigger reach (I believe they have sections for AIME etc. and expect mathematical excellence) . I guess just write good essays and hope for the best.

4

Thanks! Also forgot to mention I live in California.

5

I like that you play tennis, but your SAT scores are quite low and the rest of your resume is what every other candidate applying to the top schools (Caltech, MIT, Stanford, Ivies) are going to have. I’d say you’re very likely to get into the lower UCs, likely/ish for Cal and UCLA, and a reach for the top schools I mentioned. I think a lot of your application success from here is going to depend on picking some great essay topics (NOT about engineering or Mathletes/Key Club/Science O/NHS) and showing the schools more about who you are. – college consultant

6

How do you edit the OP? I totally forgot 1 thing. I’m also doing a summer internship this summer at UC Davis doing research for the chemistry department. I get paid a stipend as well.

7

Posts can be edited for only 15 minutes.

In case this is helpful - may provide some datapoints:

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/admissions-hindsight-lessons-learned/1790144-what-did-i-do-wrong-p1.html

8

UCD and UCSD you may get in, you might get in UCLA due to its more holistic admissions.

But UCB engineering is a reach as it has a 7% admit rate.
Ivies, Caltech, MIT are all reaches mainly due to your test scores (32 ACT is just on the borderline of the median 33-34 at these schools and as an unhooked person you want it to be at that median instead of below it) and demographic (Asian male applying for engineering). Maybe do some engineering related activities during the summer? Those will help distinguish you from the crowd.

Now is the time to start thinking about recs. Essays obviously have to be great, but recs are probably just as important. When the school year starts, find 2 teachers that you know you best and ask them.

BTW: If you’re doing research at the chemistry department, have you ever thought about doing chemical engineering (or at least apply to the college of chemistry). Applying to something chemistry related would tie in well with your summer activity at UCD and chemical engineering is also engineering so maybe that’s something you might be interested in?