Chances for me, a new immigrant

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi!
My family and I moved to the US about 2 years ago. I started high school pretty much right away. My English really sucked back then and I would like to know if this experience would boost my chances at top colleges by any chance. I would also like to know my chances at top colleges(ivies, UCLA, Johns Hopkins, MIT, etc…)
BTW my family isn’t rich at all. We Steven living in a small apartment :frowning:

Here are my stats:
Race: Asian
Gender: Male
Grade: About to be a junior
GPA: UW 4.0 (school doesn’t weight)
Rank: School doesn’t rank
SAT: 1530
Subject test: 800 math 2 800 bio
AP exams: Chinese(prob 5), Chem(prob 5), Bio(prob 5), Art(prob 5)
AP classes taken: AP Chinese, AP Chem, AP studio art (taking 5 next year)

Major awards:
USABO semifinalist
Toronto Biology Competition school winner
Brain Bee top 6 in LA
Science Olympiad Chemistry lab regional 2nd
JPL invention challenge Regional 3rd

Extracurriculars:
Bio club(VP)
ELD club(founder/president, a club that helps other immigrants with English and HW, has organized outside of school tutoring sessions)
Science club(secretary)
Science Olympiad team(member)
Taken 3 online college courses related to Bio Piano performance/volunteer at a hospital
Varsity badminton team
Summer college at UCLA(molecular bio)
Private tutor for bio and chem

Planning on writing essays on my experience as a second language learner and how language barrier changed my family.

Colleges I want to apply to:
Stanford, MIT, Caltech, Duke, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Brown, UPenn, UChicago, Johns Hopkins, USC, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UCSD

2

Intended major? Biology?

Is your state of residency California? (Note: UCs offer need-based financial aid only to California residents.)

If you are a California resident, recommend expanding your UC application list to have more likely campuses. Otherwise, be sure to find appropriate likely and safety colleges.

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-general/2127392-faq-uc-historical-frosh-admit-rates-by-hs-gpa-2018.html has some information about UC admit rates from 2018 by UC-recalculated HS GPA.

3

I want to major in bio or premed. And yes I live in California now.
Thank you for your advice!
Do you think I will have any chance at the top colleges tho?

4

Although some may disagree, you need more rounding, not just all stem. The ELD effort is nice. But go read what MIT, as one example, says about unilateral.

You need to know enough about your targets to understand what they want, what smart/rigorous rounding matters to them, how you choose, when you climb out of the usual high school box- what they say and show.

And the essay needs to show the traits the colleges look for in admits. It’s different than writing a piece for a hs teacher. You want the right relevant things to come through. Otoh, if this led to you starting the ELD group, and sme other community actions, maybe. You have time to think about this. Rising junior is too soon to worry about the essay. You’ll grow and change over the next year.

5

The private schools you list should be considered reaches, though USC is probably less of a reach than the others.

6

Also, there is no such thing as a pre-med major. Although a lot of pre-meds choose to be Biology majors.

Have you considered applying through Questbridge match? If your family’s financial situation is such that you are considered low income, you might want to look into QB.

For the UCs, History is a graduation requirement, but I don’t see any history classes listed.

7

I took world history last summer and will be taking APUSH next year.
I would also like to know how much will being a USABO semifinalist help my chances. Thank you!

8

It’s not about bigger and better awards. You named holistic colleges. It all matters.

9

Wow, your stats are FANTASTIC! You have an amazing GPA, sat score, and extracurriculars. You should definitely expect to get into many selective universities. Also, don’t listen to what other people are telling you, CC can be a bit rough sometimes. Best of luck to you :slight_smile:

10

USABO definitely helps your chances, it’s probably the shiniest thing on your resume. Overall your stats are very good, but I agree with @lookingforward that you could do with a non-STEM activity that you do for fun (ala music, theater, sport, art), and with @Hamurtle that QuestBridge is your friend. Apply broadly and with safety schools, you’re doing your family proud!

11

Thanks for all the replies and advice!

12

@Yishiang15 “My family and I moved to the US about 2 years ago. I started high school pretty much right away. My English really sucked back then and I would like to know if this experience would boost my chances at top colleges by any chance.”

As an Asian Male STEM applicant?

Won’t help at all.

13

Your high school counselor will likely know how you will present to the UCs and Cal States. The process is holistic in that top test scores and grades alone will not guarantee you acceptance. That you have had quite the challenge in relocating here with language and culture along with financial adversities should be acknowledged. UCs do not take racial and ethnic backgrounds into consideration.

It’s very important to get a safety school that you know will accept you and will give you the money you need to attend. Getting a few such schools on the list is essential. Do the research and pick carefully because, frankly, one of those schools likely the one you will be accepting

Will you be applying as a US resident (green card) or as an international student? That will make s big difference at some schools. There are only a handful of schools that are need blind and meet full need for international students. The competition at those schools is fierce in getting a seat. The reason these schools are the most selective colleges in the country is because they take so few students who apply there. Most applicants are top flight and still get turned down because there simply are not enough seats for them all. A poor international student from China is nothing unusua. Not one bit. So you would have even lower than the usual very small chance of acceptance.

I agree you should check out QuestBridge.

14

Hi! Wow, clearly you’ve worked hard. Congratulations! I’m not an an admissions office, but if I were, I’d be suspicious of how you were able to achieve straight A’s from the start of HS, despite (in your words) your English “really suck[ing]”, and within two years scoring a 1530 on the SAT as a sophomore. If all I saw were your grades and SAT score, the assumption would be that you were fluent before you came here. Thus, to me, I think an essay on being a second language learner would be appropriate, especially if you were able to address struggles in earning these achievements. Try to get into the heads of the people who are going to review your packet. Good luck!