Chances for Ivies, Stanford, MIT

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi,

I’m a rising senior and will be applying to Ivies such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, UPenn, and Columbia as well as Stanford and MIT. I would appreciate advice on where I should apply early and if I have decent chance for these schools.

Chinese Male
ACT: 36
SATII: 800 Math II, 760 Chem
PSAT: 1480
Weighted GPA: 4.91
Unweighted GPA: 4.0
APs: Human Geo (5), Chem (5), Chinese (5), WHAP (4), Lang and Comp (5), Physics C Mechanics (5), Physics C E&M (5), Calc BC (5), APUSH (5), Comp Sci (5)

Extracurriculars/Awards:

3 time AIME Qualifier (highest score 6, AMC12 121.5, AMC10 130.5)
Placed in local math competitions
USACO Silver Contestant
ARML A2 Member
1st Alternate State Piano Concerto
1st Alternate State Piano Trio
3rd Place State Bach Festival
Won local piano competitions
President’s Volunteer Service Award (Silver, from orchestra)
Varsity Tennis
Teach competition math at a middle school
Organizing math competition for middle schools similar to MathCounts

I’m not sure where I should apply early. I want to go into either business or engineering, and I heard that applying to UPenn early for the Wharton School has better chances than applying regular, but I’m not sure if I want to risk doing early decision.

Thanks.

2

You should apply early to the school you most want to go to. I wouldn’t try to game the system with early admissions, because if you choose a school with a binding early agreement, you might be stuck in a school you’re not in love with. That’s just my little early decision spiel.

As for your chances, you have perfect grades & test scores, so what determines your decision will be your ECs, essays, and teacher recs. All Ivies are reaches for literally everyone, so all you can do is write very strong essays, choose the teachers who know you best to write your recommendations, and portray yourself in the best light. Good luck!

3

Thanks for the advice.

I’m still deciding between UPenn and MIT to apply early to, I’m wondering if my EC’s are strong enough for both schools?

4

You might or might not be admitted to any of the schools you listed. Apply early to the school you would most like to attend.

5

Or please @quinamatics ! My DD is a proud freshman at MIT and she never even took an AMC. And by the way her stats were good enough for Caltech and few Ivys.