Demographics: Male, Indian/Asian, New Hampshire public school
Intended major: Computer Science
Academics:
ACT: 36 composite (35 english; 36 math; 35 reading; 36 science)
SAT: 2260
SAT Subject Tests: 800 Math II, 790 Physics, 760 Biology M
Class rank: 10/500
UW/W GPA: 3.97/5.05 (weird weighted scale…)
Senior Year Classes: AP English Lit, AP Psychology, AP Chemistry, AP Macroeconomics, Independent study of linear algebra
Coursework: AP Comp Sci (5), AP Calc BC (Self study 5), AP Calc AB (5), AP Microeconomics (5), AP Statistics (5), AP US Govt (5), AP Physics 1 (4), AP Physics 2 (5), AP Physics C E&M (self study 4), AP Physics C Mechanics (self study 4), AP Biology (4), AP World History (3)
Awards:
- National AP Scholar
- National Merit Semifinalist
- Perfect score in American Computer Science League (ACSL) contests
- 2-time American Invitational Mathematics Exam (AIME) qualifier
- 2nd in state math competition junior year, 3rd in state math competition sophomore year and freshman year
- Silver division for USACO
- won first place for a local programming competition
- 2nd place for another local programming competition
- first place at a regional Hackathon
- placed top 10 in nation for 2 CTF Hacking Competitions and won an ~$75k scholarship for one of them
- won 2nd in state for Astronomy at SciOly, won 3rd in state for Cell Biology at SciOly
Extracurriculars:
- President and founder of school’s programming club
- Co-Captain of State math team
- Member of Science Olympiad Team
- Member of Science Bowl Team
- Member of Young Democrats Club
- National Honor Society, Math Honor Society, Science Honor Society
- Freelance online web/application development over the summer
- Started a Minecraft server which used to be one of the largest around - programmed custom modifications for it and it ended up generating over $5k in “donations”
- Piano lessons for 8 years
- Martial Arts for 9 years - currently a second degree black belt
- Have a ton of software published on github - in several languages. Java, Python, PHP, Javascript (Node.js & Meteor.js), and websites (HTML/CSS/JS)
- Did an internship at the Computational Biology lab at Johns Hopkins. Worked on a unique project and came up with a novel algorithm. No completed research paper (yet!), but I made a research poster
Schools:
- Carnegie Mellon SCS: Early Decision. I really want to know my chances for this… they only accept like 300 students in the country and the acceptance rate is ~5%
- MIT: Regular Decision
- Caltech: Early Action
- Brown: Early Action
- Stanford: Regular Decision
- Georgia Tech: Early Action
Brown doesnt have Early action so apply regular there
Really impressive resume you got there
CMU SCS- low reach (insanely competitive but you have a chance)
Brown/MIT/Caltech- low reach ( i feel you’ll get into 1)
Stanford- reach
GT- match
Predict Me- http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1816514-predict-results-accept-reject-waitlist.html#latest
Carnegie Mellon - So competitive, but you’ve got as good a shot as anybody (the think that is holding you back honestly is your race)
MIT - Anything could happen
Caltech - Anything could happen
Brown RD (they don’t have early action) - I think you will be accepted
Stanford - Anything can happen
Georgia Tech - I think you will be accepted
Chance back? http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1815927-chance-me-upenn-ed-uchicago-ea-columbia-rd-and-others.html#latest
Cal Tech/Brown/MIT/Stanford- Reach (they are reaches for everyone)
Carnegie Mellon- Reach (SCS is a reach for everyone)
Georgia Tech- Match
Even though I said that five of your schools were reaches, I still think you are a competitive applicant. Those schools have very low acceptance rates, so anything can happen.
I see no weakness but that doesn’t mean you are in at Stanford. Possibly in at CMU, especially ED.
I think you have a good shot at Carnegie Mellon ED but is that definitely your first choice-over MIT or Stanford?
You have a great shot at all these, but theyre all reaches. I expect youll get in Georgia Tech, but im not sure about the others
All but possibly GT are reaches for admission. Can you afford GT? If not, then it is probably a reach because you would need a big enough scholarship to attend.
Being an applicant from NH helps. I think you have as good a shot at CMU as any. Applying ED will certainly help. I wish you all the best!
A chance at CMU (better if you apply ED)
GT definitely
Others all maybe, with CalTech being the toughest
Adcom will say - solid academics, very pointy, demonstrated interest in CS. Is he a leader? Will he be a solid addition to our campus?
Those will be the challenges you will need to overcome to be the 1 in 10 or 1 in 20 selected. You will get in question being where…
There is absolutely no school for which you do not have a qualifying resume.
Yes, those schools are selective, but you are an outstanding candidate. You’re also clearly smart enough to realize that admittance to some schools and programs may or may not work out. For instance, for Carnegie Mellon SCS:
Your ACT is obviously as good as it can be
Your SAT is probably a bit below their average
Your GPA is very good
Your activities seem impressive and relevant
Have at it, be confident yet humble, and best wishes!