chances for stanford, penn, yale, duke, columbia, harvard

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

hi cc!
im currently a junior (indian female) from CA going to a highly competitive private school.
stats:
SAT: 2400
GPA: 4.56/4.7, 3.97 uw
AP scores: ap calc ab 5, ap euro 5, ap bio (self study) 5 - ap scholar
SAT subject test: bio 770, math 1 770, math 2 750 (i know D:) - going to retake math and take physics soon

ECs:
-mun - couple of minor awards
-speech - couple of minor awards
-dance - 11 years+, several group awards
-violin - 6 years, passed 3 levels
-board member of 3 clubs, newspaper editor
-CSF peer tutor + TA
-NHS member (help run school events and stuff)
-participate in radio show for teens
-volunteer at an elderly home occasionally (not many volunteer hours), also sometimes volunteer to tutor little kids and speak to them in spanish

summers: worked in a lab at a prestigious research university, traveled, watched tv

not sure what else to include about myself…

also what are my chances for programs like RSI, SIMR, etc if i have one summer of research (and a lot of passion!)??

2

theoretically in shape for penn/duke level but you are probably coming from a competitive regional pool which makes it a little tougher for east coast privates. You are obviously very intelligent, which counts for a lot, but ECs are fairly standard and might not be enough to push you into the accept pile for the toughest schools.

3

Grades are stellar. But so are everyone’s grades applying to these schools. EC’s are basic. Nothing that makes you stand out. Where’s your passion? Sure, you took dance for a long time, but why didn’t you do anything with that? I mean, there are kids applying who literally have danced ballet for the British monarchy. That’s how they show dedication. How do you?

4

You seem competitive for all the schools mentioned.

5

@aeather Not really. While a lot of people have awards/achievements that tend to be “prestigious”, they’re not necessary at all. Sure, it’ll help, but that’s not how everyone demonstrates their “dedication and passion”. That’s one of the main reasons why highly-selective colleges emphasize that the essay can be one of the most important parts of your application. For example, I go to a pretty competitive school (about 5-8 go to the Ivies per year). The only person who got accepted into ED/EA to an Ivy this year was a girl who had pretty good grades, 2250ish SAT, and a passion for running. No “prestigious” awards or anything like that. Plus, she barely had anything else on your application that was considered one of your main ECs; maybe a couple of volunteering activities here and there. She was really genuine with her passion for running and seemed like she successfully conveyed it through her essays.

6

Highly competitive private schools are often feeder schools to the Ivys. That along with perfect scores and good grades renders the ECs a bit less important.

7

@ayyyyyyy I didn’t convey that right. I think that’s what I was trying to say, that you have to show a passion and something that makes you stand out, somehow. Because grades aren’t enough, anymore. I know kids from my school who had 4.0 (we have unweighted) and 2400 and didn’t get into Harvard, Yale, or Stanford.

8

@lostaccount Not sure if that was for me or OP, but you can’t just assume that a “highly competitive private school” can automatically deemphasize EC’s to some extent. For the example that I provided, many other people applied EA/ED to Ivies/Stanford/UChicago that had way better grades/test scores, more “notable” EC’s, and etc. However, it turned out that she was the only one to be accepted to an ivy during the early round. At least for me, that says a lot on how admissions work (obviously can’t assume that this will be the case for everyone else, but just an anecdote).

9

The plural of anecdote =/= evidence

10

I think I can speak for most of us when I say that basically there’s no accurate formula for getting into these schools, especially Stanford. You never know exactly just what each admission board member is looking for. That’s why so many people compare the process to a lottery.

11

@realteal17, as others have noted, your academics appear quite strong; you are clearly qualified. That’s only one part of the picture. The bigger challenge is differentiating yourself from other applicants, and making a case for why these highly competitive schools should give you a spot over other qualified applicants. You also come from a very tough demographic group (Asian F from California), where the competition is particularly intense.

Your ECs have a couple of interesting points, but you don’t elaborate on them much. 11 years of dancing and 6 of violin should make for a pretty solid music/dance interest. Your “radio show for teens” sounds like it could be distinctive. And you’ve apparently done research at a university - in what area? To what level (publications, etc.)?

Overall your OP doesn’t really do a good job of giving a sense of who you are as a person, which will be critical to succeeding in the admissions process. You need to put together a compelling narrative about who you are as a person: what matters to you, what is your passion, what are you about in the world, what do you want to study/do, how will you take advantage of the incredible resources at these schools, and what makes you different from everyone else who is applying?

RSI is in many ways more challenging than acceptance at top colleges. There are only 50 spots, and really only 1-2 spots for people from California, many of whom have advanced research, participation in top science fairs, etc. By all means apply, but it’s an extreme long shot. You need to show a passion for research, an ability to come up with interesting and productive questions that you would pursue, and make a case for why you are qualified. This will be very good preparation for next fall if nothing else; but you should pursue a range of options (there are many, depending on your precise interest). Since you are interested in SIMR it sounds like your research interest is biomedical; SIMR is quite competitive, but not quite in the RSI class. Are you local to the Bay Area? The SIMR website says that " starting in summer 2016, the selection process will strongly favor local students due to various grant requirements. Non-local students can still apply, but their chances of admission will be much lower."

Other prestigious, funded programs that you should look into include the Simons program at Stoneybrook, the Clark Scholars program at Texas Tech, and the Jackson Lab in Maine. All are highly competitive, and you should have some backup options.

Good luck!