Chances for MIT/Caltech?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm quite certain I'm going into Engineering, specifically, EECS, if that somehow affects the admin process.</p>

<p>Gender: Male
Race: Asian (Taiwanese)
Status: US Citizen
Family Status: Not rich, but somewhat well-off (no need for financial aid)
Location: Southern California</p>

<p>High School: Troy High, top 25 recently I believe (as per USN, not sure how accurate that is...)
GPA: 4.9_ i think weighted, haven't gotten my report card yet, so can't say for sure
AP's: Calculus AB/BC, Computer Science A/AB, European History, US History, Biology, Physics C, English Language, Spanish Language
SAT: 2330 (CR 780, Math 800, Writing 750)
SAT2 Math (Level 2): 800
SAT2 Chem: 800
SAT2 Physics: 770</p>

<p>EC: Nation Honor Society, Math Club/Team(hopefully prez next year), Orchestra Concert Master(we have 100+ people), AIME participant for all three years so far, ACSL (computer science competition)
Work experience: working at local computer company over the summer, get a feel of what it's like to work at a tech co. 150+ hours research at Cal State Fullerton Physical Chem department (Internship requirement for our school, but I'm planning on entering siemens and intel with my project)
Community Service: Random hours here and there at library, all my orchestra hours count tho, so I have 200+ hours.
Teacher Recs: Pretty sure they're going to be great, because the teachers both promised me to write them even though they don't usually agree to do so before senior year.</p>

<p>I'm fairly confident in my speech and writing abilities, as far as to say top 5 in my class, though it's difficult to rank these things.</p>

<p>Personality: Definitely outgoing, sociable, talkative, etc.</p>

<p>Problem is this: as terribly competitive as our school is, we have around 7 or 8 people in my year with straight A's. Of course, they haven't taken Calc II (2nd year college calculus I believe) as I have, nor have any of them had the opportunity to take Physics C. A few of them have taken Spanish IV, but not many. However, I just recently got B+'s in Spanish and math for 1 semester each. I know this isn't too big of a deal, but the sheer quantity of straight A students in my year scares me a little. Granted, all these straight A students are introverted, anti social, etc. but facts are facts. They also have around perfect SAT's (some of them are actually all perfect scores), though none of them have any extracurriculars at ALL.</p>

<p>My dream school is MIT EECS, or Caltech, if MIT doesn't want me. Going to apply to both EA's in a few months, so I was just wondering about my chances.
Another thing, all of these straight A students have no idea of what they want to go into, so they'll probably opt for Yale/Stanford/Harvard as their first choices.</p>

<p>Sorry for the long post, thanks for helping!</p>

2

<p>hmmm looks like a solid chance. What was your AIME score by the way. If it's high, I'm sure that'll be an extra boost</p>

<p>you don't have to compare yourself with your classmates. Your SAT's and GPA are great, so it doesn't matter</p>

3

<p>Thanks for reading and replying.
My AIME scores weren't so high, though my AMC 10 and 12 overshot the cutoff by 10-20 points...
I think I got 6 or 7 right on the AIME both times...</p>

4

<p>that's still pretty good. I only got a 3, lol. Even though that's not USAMO quality, you would fit in well at MIT/CIT. Good luck!</p>

5

<p>I was just glad I qualified :P
Thanks so much for the input, but can anyone give me a roundhouse percentage of me getting in?
I realize it's entirely impossible to quantify something like this, but can anyone give me a percentage that they themselves would give?</p>

6

<p>It's hard to tell with schools like MIT and Caltech. Your scores are wonderful, but they don't really set you apart from a normal applicant at one of those schools. That's the norm over there. You can't get much better though, so don't worry about that. I'm not entirely sure about MIT, but I know that Caltech cares a lot about EC's. By your EC's, they should see that you are devoted to math, science, or engineering or whatever. For example, they love to see that one of their applicants has had lab experience or some sort of an internship like that. They want their students to know what it's like to do science. Judging by the experience you had at the computer company, I think your chances are fairly decent for Caltech (if you must have a number... I'd say 75% for Caltech). Of course, don't rely too heavily on that number, that's just my assessment, but who am I to say? I don't really know enough about MIT to say though, sorry.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

7

<p>MIT wants genuises but uve got a great shot, you should ED it, but i think u have a shot.</p>

<p>chance me <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=361574%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=361574&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

8

<p>Thanks guys.
A little more info:</p>

<p>I forgot to mention I have 4 years of golf along with my orchestra - with 3 years of varsity.
Also, people are always talking about standing out, etc.
Well, I was born in Taiwan, and learned Chinese and Taiwanese before I learned English. I spent kindergarten, 2nd, 5th, and 6th grades at a public school in Taiwan (not one of those schools designed for foreign ambassadors' kids, etc.) , the rest of the time here in California. So my point is I have a ton of cross culture perspective and a great ability to assimilate and adjust to various environments.
^Would this be something I would want to focus on in my personal statement? Or will I just seem like a fob? Oh, for the record, everyone native born and raised tells me I have no accent whatsoever.
Because I was thinking that this would probably be my most "individual" characteristic.</p>

<p>As for ranking, our school doesn't do ranking, but I'm definitely top 5%.</p>

<p>Once again, thanks to everyone who read and/or replied. Please keep them coming!</p>

<p>Oh, sorry for asking, but what's ED? Do you mean as in Early Decision? In that case, I thought MIT only had nonrestrictive EA, along with Caltech, which makes it very convenient for me.</p>

9

<p>Greetings! I'm in a very similar situation. I grew up and attended middle school in America, while my high school years were spent here in Taiwan. I think writing about cross-cultural perspective is great; you can tell the college what YOU have to offer to their school's diversity.</p>

<p>My friends from MIT have said that they're looking for people extremely gifted in the sciences, yet with other talents. That being said, you must show more talent in the sciences (tens of thousands make the AIME) and arts (orchestral awards?). </p>

<p>I will be applying to the same schools as you under the same programs. You are definately welcome to check my chance thread. I wish you the best of luck!</p>

10

<p>Lol, isomorphism is a little too smart in my perspective...he'll go far... check out his stats..</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=361380%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=361380&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I'm still very impressed.</p>

11

<p>get 6-7 AIME probably places you like top 300 of your grade. so not bad. haha the math club presidents at my school is always the USAMO since 8th or 9th grade type of person. all i got was a secretary position. that's the bad part when you go to a high school that kept getting 1st and 2nd in national math contests</p>

<p>the thing is living in Taiwan is that you didn't have to learn english late in your education years like many immigrants had to (i lived in China for 11 years and there are also people that lived there till freshmen year of their hs). and keep in mind that MIT has like 28% asian, thats already way over represented so write about something else unless there is something very valuable in your character that you can show and "diverse culture" should be lower on your priority list. think more about your passion, team work, overcoming hardship, and they make you write 100 words on what you like to do during your free time (Be creative here, so far all the apps i've seen (thats like 4) the guy that mentioned computers got rejected)</p>

<p>i think you have a good shot, just have to make yourself different
great stats! i am currently working hard on the SATI and also want to apply to MIT +Caltech
but lucky for us Californian, we've got UCs behind our backs !!</p>

12

<p>Hm, so you're saying I should avoid mentioning my cross cultural background? Because I thought that would totally cover the "bring diversity" aspect. Anyone else have thoughts on this matter?</p>

<p>My thinking was that I'm very unlike other immigrants in that they, like rainynightstarz, moved here late, but spent entire blocks of time in either the states or out, as opposed to my back and forth. And if you think about it, having not had any contact with an entire culture and language for 2 years at a time repeatedly, then having to assimilate immediately into that culture at a public school and not being held back or put into a special program, I thought would be worthy of mention. Wouldn't this show that I'm very flexible, learn fast, and can assimilate into any environment? I'm not saying you're wrong, you make perfect sense, I'm just trying to see all sides and decide what's best to show the colleges. :)</p>

<p>And about the extracurricular aspect: I'm not so sure about other schools, but at least at my school Orchestra counts as it's own class, 5+ hours a week invested, not including festivals (competitions) and concerts. And as I've said before, being concert master for a 100+ member group seems to be something I would want to accentuate? I realize there are Key club governors, etc, but I work much more closely with our members than those larger organizations do with theirs (no offense to anyone, I have friends who are lieutenant governors for Key club). So my point is, would this be a good "leadership" facet of myself that I would consider bringing up in priority?</p>

<p>Thanks again guys, much appreciated.</p>

13

<p>Wow, cool! I've been to Tian Mu in Taipei a couple of times; the subway makes exploring Taipei so easy! </p>

<p>Have you visited Taiwan recently? The new Taipei 101 building is really omnipresent! Not much else has changed though; the legislature still brawls incessantly :P(I think the fighting made CNN).</p>

<p>I think that you can make a convincing multicultural case. Most applicants claim to be multicultural just because they have been in Chinese school, but you were actually immersed in another culture. Applicants at my school have used this sort of essay to their advantage.</p>

14

<p>Yah I went to 101 once, pretty crazy stuff, and yeah, the subway's great. Politics are especially nasty though, no compromising from any side...</p>

<p>Well, here's my high school schedule so far:</p>

<p>Freshman:
Fundamentals of Programming/ICT - basic C++ and logic circuitry
Honors English I
Honors Algebra II
Honors Non-Western Culture - basically non-white history :P
Honors Biology
Spanish II
PE/Golf
Orchestra</p>

<p>Tried to get out of Algebra II at the beginning of the year, but after a "Diagnostic Test", simply because I missed 2, they wouldn't let me. However, by the end of the year they realized their mistake, and allowed me to take a Trig course at a nearby high school as credit so I could skip that.</p>

<p>Sophomore:
AP Computer Science A
AP Calculus AB (this year, the state changed the name of our class to BC, which is why I took the BC test last year, because we cover all the way up to there)
AP European History
Honors English II
Honors Chemistry
Spanish III
PE/Golf (school requires 4 semesters of physical education - golf counts)
Orchestra</p>

<p>Junior:
AP Computer Science AB
AP US History
AP English III
AP Physics C (Both E&M)
Calculus II (Counts as honors credit, includes linear algebra and differentials)
AP Spanish IV
AP Biology
Orchestra
I also played for the golf team whenever my schedule allowed</p>

<p>Internship over the summer doing theoretical physical chemistry calculations with computers
Work at computer company (no set schedule, so neither part time nor fulltime)</p>

<p>Senior(Prospective):
AP Government/AP Econ(Macro) - 1 semester for each, so it only takes up one period
IB Philosophy/Theory of Knowledge - IB Requirement
AP Psychology
AP Statistics
AP Chemistry
AP English IV
Free period/Golf - Season is only second semester, so I have a free period first semester
Orchestra</p>

<p>I managed to take a few classes without having the unnecessary (imo) baby-step requirement classes under my belt, so I'm certain that I have the most "challenge" in the history of my school. However, in the context of the applicant pool, is this enough? Of course, there's not much I can do about it now, but do I need to add in more EC's to make up for anything? (of course, by that I don't mean spam EC's, I mean dedicated ones that I'm interested in)</p>

<p>Thanks a lot!</p>

15

<p>Something goes bump at night...my post!</p>

16

<p>To the OP, </p>

<p>You have solid scores and GPA, which are great. But that's about it. There is nothing that makes you stand out from others. In fact, your EC's and awards are very lacking compared to many other applicants. I personally don't see MIT or Caltech for you...I'd say more like the 10th~20th ranked schools fit you better.</p>

17

<p>wow u have a l lot of AP's lol</p>

18

<p>coolness rookie: thanks for your reply. Problem is, if you take a look at my schedule, my time is very much restricted. As I've said before, my "challenge" level, I think, is (hopefully) top notch. Given that, I still managed to invest many hours per day into my two main extracurriculars: golf and orchestra. I don't have major accomplishments in either, only up to varsity and then concert master (no internationally recognized awards or anything), but to me, they are both extremely important. As such, I invest a LOT of time into them, and I've done them for every year in high school. Matches are 3-4 hours at least, and I average maybe 2 or 3 a week. Including practices every day and on the weekends, that's maybe around 12 or 13 hours a week just for golf. Then I have orchestra and my personal violin-ing, that's around 12-13 hours also.
I guess my point is, while I realize I'm not extremely accomplished in either of them, do the colleges really expect everyone to be brilliant at what they do? I was under the impression that as long as I loved what I did and was dedicated to it, colleges liked that. Can anyone enlighten me on this matter? Everyone keeps talking about passion and interest, and I have a ton of both for my activities. So it boils down to: passion vs accomplishment (of course, both would be best, but I highly doubt all, or even most, of the applicants have both).</p>

<p>Thanks to everyone who read and helped!</p>

19

<p>well maybe it's cuz I didn't take AP's (I took IB diploma), so I don't know how difficult AP is. I've just heard from ppl that APs are a lot easier than IB, so I assumed that your courseload wasn't that impressive.</p>

<p>But just consider this. There are about 18000~20000 ppl that apply to each top school every year. The acceptance rates at top schools usually range from 10% ~ 15%. Being a US citizen definitely helps (as opposed to being an international), but you fall under the category of "Asian-Americans", who are overrepresented minorities in the US. So your acceptance chances are probably a bit lower than the overall rate...so I guess about 8%~13% ish. </p>

<p>Many of the students who get in have special talents, either academically (international awards), athletically, musically, artistically, etc. These people have these achievements on top of very demanding high school courseload. And you said "I was under the impression that as long as I loved what I did and was dedicated to it, colleges liked that." Well, the students who get in are not only dedicated to what they do, but they also EXCEL at them. So, compared to all these stellar students, I really don't think that your courseload and below average EC's seem impressive enough to make you one of the top 8%~13% of the applicant pool.</p>

20

<p>I see.
For the record, I'm also full IB Diploma, well, going to be...because senior year's not here yet :P</p>