Chances for MIT, Stanford, Oberlin, and others

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hello, so I was wondering about some of these colleges and such and, well, here is my value as a human. Be gentle <3. One note, however, I have not taken the SAT I yet, but I'm expecting 2100+ based on some cursory studying and practice SAT tests. However, I did not study for the SAT IIs (yes, I took those first after stupidly listening to my counselor; again, be gentle) and the wording of the Biology M threw me off. Also I underestimated the math on Math 2 and, with only a rather poor introduction to Pre-Cal, I messed up quite a bit, although less than I was worried about considering I didn't understand or hadn't seen before 10 of the 50 questions. I'm going to retake Math 2 (I've already studied most of the material for it this time) and, probaby Biology M.</p>

<p>SAT II
Biology M - 720
Chemistry - 760
Math 2 - 710</p>

<p>GPA (UW): 4.0
Rank: 2 (out of 44; no, it's not a backwater school, it's a highly competitive, though public, inner-city school)</p>

<p>AP
Human Geography - 5
World History - 5
Computer Science A - 5
English Language and Composition - 5
Biology - 5
Statistics - 5
Chemistry - 5
European History - 5 (same crappy teacher as AP U.S. History, I just like Euro more)
U.S. History - 4 (crappy teacher whose idea of teaching was telling you to read the next chapter; snuck into prep sessions from another teacher)
Physics B - 4 (crappy teacher who simply couldn't teach; snuck into prep sessions from another teacher)</p>

<p>Junior Schedule
AP Physics B
Pre-Calculus Pre-AP
AP English Language and Composition
AP Biology
AP U.S. History
AP Statistics
AP Chemistry
AP European History</p>

<p>Senior Schedule (expecting high scores, all courses taught by awesome teachers)
AP (3D or 2D, tentative) Studio Art
AP Physics C (Mechanics and E&M)
AP English Literature
AP Macroeconomics
AP U.S. Government and Politics
AP Calculus BC (skipping AB)
AP Psychology
AP Art History
AP Computer Science AB
Senior Thesis (will describe later)</p>

<p>Extra APs (studying independently)
AP Microeconomics (no class offered)
AP Comparative Government (no class offered)
AP Environmental Science (crappy teacher)</p>

<p>ECs/Awards
2002, 2005 Summer: Worked as Staffer at Royal Ambassdors camp for a week
2005 Summer: Went on in-state mission trip to poor sections of a smaller city for a week
1999 - Present: Every three months, go to a local primary homeless shelter and give free celebrations of homeless childrens' birthdays
2005: Helped a local middle school host a chess tournament (padding, perhaps I should just throw this out)
2001-2003: President of middle school's Chess Club (from middle school, should I throw this out?)
2001-2006: Bunches of chess awards, individual and team (in which I actually contributed to the team score, not just a member)
2001: Won local chess tournament (sixth grade) got a full scholarship to UTD
Chess Club - Participates in several chess competitions, won some awards (2004-2007 Member)
Computer Science Club - Participates in many CS competitions, local and state (2003-2005 Member)
Robotics Club - Participates in BEST Robotics competition (2003-2004 Member, 2005-2006 Hand Section Leader [meaning I led the design of the robotic hand], 2006-2007 Captain)
Science Club - Participates in UIL (United Interscholastic League) science competition (2004-2007 Member)
NHS - Chooses members with 90+ GPA at the end of Junior year (2006-2007 Member)
Mu Alpha Theta - Chooses members with 90+ math GPA at end of Pre-Calculus Pre-AP (2006-2007 Member)
Science NHS - Chooses members with 88+ science GPA at end of Junior year (2006-2007 Member)
English NHS - Chooses members with 90+ English GPA at end of Junior year (2006-2007 Member)
2005-2007: Editor of school literary magazine (actual prose, poetry and some art, not purely a vent for teen angst)
2006-2007: Vice President of Senior Class
2006 Summer: Participant in STARS (Student Teacher Access to Resources at Southwestern), a two-month summer research program at UTSouthwestern Medical School in which I participate in meaningful, cutting-edge projects (at the moment, I'm working in a protein X-ray crystallography lab) that pays its participants a $2000 stipend
Planning to publish part of my research in a paper with my lab, hopefully before the end of Senior year
Also planning to incorporate my research as my Senior Thesis, which will be presented to a state-wide board of professionals from the field of study and related fields</p>

<p>Expecting strong recommendations from teachers and mentors from STARS and I'm a good essayist.</p>

<p>Anywhoo, yes I know the whole rather idiotic issue with taking the SATs in the wrong order. Well, these are some colleges of interest (praying):</p>

<p>MIT
Stanford
Oberlin
Yale
Princeton
Wellesley
Johns Hopkins
CalTech
Carnegie Mellon
Berkeley
Illinois Institute of Technology
Michigan State
Boston University
Boden</p>

<p>Hoping to get into strong Biomedical Engineering, Biochemistry, or Biophysics majors, but will settle for liberal arts school. Much thanks for your time and input.</p>

<p>*Edit: added Chess Club and CS Club and some other stuffs</p>

2

<p>Well, since I've had over 50 views, but no replies, I assume something's wrong with my format....Should it be shorter? Should I make the headings in larger font and bold? Any help would be appreciated.</p>

<p>Bump</p>

3

<p>hm, I sense grade inflation...</p>

4

<p>Well, my school was ranked quite high by Newsweek, and I'll admit, there is a bit of grade inflation, but I've worked my butt off to earn it. Besides, look at the AP scores. But really, what do you think of my chances overall?</p>

5

<p>Are you just randomly taking all the APs there are? To tell you truly, the most competative colleges like MIT might look down upon it.</p>

6

<p>So...why would competitive colleges look down on me challenging myself with the hardest coursework possible at my school and a high number of APs, even if I do well on them? I was under the impression that that was what colleges wanted. Of course, that's not the only thing I'm focusing on.</p>

7

<p>hi superramennoodle (nice name there). like ktoto said, if you're applying to many of the top schools, /especially/ mit, those abundance of scores - even if they're good scores - may be actually be detrimental to the admissions process. you're giving colleges the impression that you are a robotic score-monger. many ivies receive such a large influx of valedictorians and 2400ers, and they're sick of it: so many of these valedictorians and 2400ers don't /care/ about the materials they're studying; all they care about is looking impressive and beating other people under cutthroat competitive environments. </p>

<p>i respect the immense effort you put into your studies, and i'm particularly happy to see that you're doing independent work n_n. however, i my advice is to put those APs and SATs aside for a moment, and concentrate on your life. you benefit in three ways by doing this:</p>

<p>1) you'll be more prepared than your classmates once you get into university. you know where to go, what you love, and how to get there. long term planning shows more than just maturity, it shows that you truly care about the pursuit of knowledge.</p>

<p>2) it'll actually set you apart from the large pool of potential contenders. colleges will see that you're genuine and (as impartial as they claim to be), with those excellent scores, your chances for acceptance are exponentially greater. remember - your scores already speak for themselves. the other parts of the application are for colleges to understand who you are. there is no point in reiterating the good scores if they already see it (that reminds me of bridge, hehe.. don't ever rebid your suit). if you spend your preparation time focused completely on standardized tests, what are you going to do about the essay and the interview? tests can be aced with a definitive amount of examination, but subjection is something that takes more than a few hours to master.</p>

<p>3) you'll be happier. simple as. you'll have not wasted time studying off your ass on something just to get a grade and have enjoyed living WHILE you're a student. i bet you'll feel better about something you've completed which, in the process of, the thought of getting into college never once crossed your mind.</p>

8

<p>SuperRamenNoodle:</p>

<p>UCB: Slight Reach (out of state, Engineering)</p>

9

<p>That's a lot of senior APs haha...</p>

10

<p>Why the suddent interest in art during your senior year? :D Just curious, I'm an artsy kid myself.</p>

11

<p>Wow. That's a ridiculous amount of APs. I commend you for your efforts, which certainly have paid off marvelously (in the form of 4s and 5s).</p>

<p>I think you have a great shot at any of the schools you mentioned. You certainly seem to be a very intelligent human being. In order to get into schools like MIT and Stanford, though, you "simply" need to write a brilliant essay. If you can write a scintillating essay, I'm sure any college would love to have you as a matriculating freshman.</p>

<p>I'm kinda worried for you, the OP, though... I couldn't help but notice you said that "this is my [the OP's] value as a human," followed by your score reports. You might have been being a little jocular, but I certainly wouldn't regard a person's test grades as a measure of someone's entire worth... Have some fun while you're in high school. I don't know how you are able to do anything with friends, or anything else remotely recreational with all those APs weighing down on you.</p>

<p>Just remember, top schools dooon't like nerds, or people who appear -- on paper -- to be nerds, no matter how many times you see books and movies stereotyping the Harvard/Princeton/MIT student to be an unkempt, dressed-with-mismatched-clothes, "weird," unsociable iconoclast. Students at these schools tend to be very normal, albeit with very abnormal intelligences/talents. I'm sure you're not a nerd. But 19 APs????</p>

<p>I envy you for your work ethic. Good luck!</p>

12

<p>I agree with snowfinate... Definately a nerd, colleges don't really like "nerds" since they get so many of those each year!</p>

13

<p>Thanks a ton for your input and constructive criticism. Yeah, I confess, I'm a nerd, though I do have non-nerd activities such as vice president of the senior class and some volunteer activities, though, admittedly, they pale in comparison to those with Presidential Scholars awards and such. In any case, I really appreciate your comments. My mother is Vietnamese and, well, just think of all the Asian mother stereotypes (i.e. hitting me with chopsticks when I'm not studying as I promise).</p>

<p>@ snowfinite
Thanks for your tips on managing my time. I actually enjoy my high school for its sponsorship and, well, simply awesome teachers who actually care about inspiring the students, something quite rare these days and practically non-existent (in my experience) among public schools. I do have a life, amazingly, with a girlfriend (no, not the type with the occasional phone call and multiple awkward pauses; the type where, on her own harmless, though for some reason when we're together, we'll end up getting kicked out of high-class malls, movie theaters, etc.), parties, basketball (only social, nothing competitive, which means I'm either a sucky or average player, depending on the day of the week :P), etc. But yeah, I definitely understand your point about appearing as the complete nerd and social introvert, which is what I hope to disprove with my essay (with help from my incredible English teacher who knows me quite well) and interview.</p>

<p>@ lobgent
Thanks for the response and critique. Yeah, a lotta people call me a bit too jocular...though they tend to use stronger words. Actually, I'll end up taking 23 APs, but I personally know someone who took 23 as well and made 5s on almost all of them, save two, and has been a huge inspiration for me (whether she knew it or not). I seriously doubt were it not for her who demonstrated it possible, I'd be taking probably 16 or less APs. The only reason for that is that AP classes are actually required at our school and though AP tests aren't, anyone who doesn't take the test is looked down by all the teachers and automatically placed in the lower tier of recommendations. Plus, some teachers are simply so insane that they will kill any student who doesn't take the AP, and I personally have heard these threats myself, which are quite hilarious coming from the right teacher. As for my work ethic, I'll have to attribute most of that to my Asian mother who pushed and pushed me until I finally realized how important education actually is. She introduced me to books such as Colors of the Mountain by Da Chen, and my school introduced me to Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane, both incredibly inspirational personal stories where oppressed individuals surmounted seemingly impossible obstacles through education, learning, and passion. Yes, I digress, but even my mother's story, especially my mother's story, means so much to me because she escaped to the US as a refugee from the Vietnam War. Yeah, so my work ethic, my stats, the numbers that allow colleges to place an admissions score on my life are largely not as a result of purely score mongering to create an inflated ego, but they're a result of the stories of other's achievements, those rare individuals who sacrifice so much in the short-term, but in the long-term contribute back to society a productive citizen as well as a story that will inspire generations to come (Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, the unappreciated father who moves to the city and sends his wages to his rural family, the list goes on). I know I digress, but it seems that we as a society seem to focus entirely too much on the individual and celebrate purely apparent success, fortune, and materialistic wealth, though the true value of a the individual lies in what is contributed to society, not what is gleaned. This is all too often what we lose sight of, particularly when we become preoccupied with what society claims is a measure of our worth - SAT scores, AP scores, rank, GPA, all meaningless numbers that tell nothing of what the individual truly is, or truly can become. Look at Einstein. The man who was condemned as a child to a life without any meaning in the eyes of his teachers and authorities became the twentieth century's greatest physicist and directed humanity's efforts in science for, undoubtedly, centuries to come.</p>

<p>Well, there is my treatise on life. Sorry for the long rant; this is just something I feel very strongly about..</p>

<p>Well, thank you for all your constructive criticism. I truly appreciate what the majority of you guys are doing, particularly you alumni and admissions officers or, simply, those of you who just want to help.</p>

14

<p>I am jealous of the number of APs your school offers.</p>

15

<p>Just wondering...what foreign languages does your school offer, and why haven't you taken any in your junior or senior year?</p>

<p>A lot of schools require a bare minimum of 2 years of a foreign language, most reccommend more. Do you have this?</p>

<p>It's the only thing I could see hurting you at any of those schools.</p>

<p>eta: Just so you know, if this is a problem, don't fret: some top schools like Yale don't have any high school curriculuum requirements.</p>

16

<p>@yanners
Well, I decided to have some fun my senior year. I've always loved art; interpreting it seems very similar to interpreting literature, for literature often is a written painting. So I've decided to give it a go. Also, we have an awesome teacher - the very eccentric, inspirational variety. One day, he decided to bring in a real skinned sheep's head for a student's painting. Awesome.</p>

<p>@confused_student
Well, I took Spanish I in the eighth grade, then II and III my freshman and sophomore year. Foreign language is only required for three years, and though I loved Spanish, I simply spent a very disproportionate amount of time studying the language versus my other subjects and I felt that I wouldn't have enough time to balance between classes. Also, in college I'm hoping to study abroad, possibly Japan (I'd visit Vietnam, my mother's home country, if they let me, but it's still Communist and all that crap), so advancing my Spanish classes could potentially help my admissions, although, again, I would have far less time for my other classes and I wouldn't have much use for it later in real life when my true passion in languages is those of Eastern Asian countries. Yeah, I probably should have included the freshman and sophomore years, but I wasn't sure if anybody felt like reading through those as they are usually minor details. But thanks for the tip on Yale. I know Stanford "recommends" 4 years of a foreign language, but it's good to know that other top tier universities aren't so worried about specific high school curriculum (other than generally challenging courses).</p>

17

<p>I don't like people blamming their AP scores on a crappy teacher. Take responsibilty for your failures (at least your perceived failures).</p>

18

<p>Well, I know people who have gotten into MIT with only 2 years of a foreign language (up to the third level with one in eighth grade, same as you), but I don't know about other schools, and if that would be a problem for them.</p>

<p>Really, you should be fine at both MIT and Yale then, and probably Oberlin and Stanford too.</p>

19

<p>Awesome, thanks for the feedback. I was also curious about CalTech.</p>