Chances for top engineering schools - top grades with poor extracurriculars

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Chances for UMich Ann Arbor, Georgia Tech, Cornell, UC Berkeley, others</p>

<p>-----Personal Info
Intended Major: Mechanical Engineering
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Asian-American
State: Washington
Grade: Incoming senior</p>

<p>-----Academics are strong
UW GPA: 4.0
Class Rank: 1/~400, valedictorian candidate
Straight A's, 5 AP classes, 3 honors classes. 4 AP classes for senior year. (6 classes per year)</p>

<p>7 AP tests: European History (5), European History (5), Chinese (self study, 5), US History (expecting 5), Calculus BC (expecting 5), Language & Composition (expecting 5), Computer Science (self study, expecting 5)</p>

<p>SAT: 2350 (750 writing), one take
SATII: 800 Math II, 780 US History; will be taking Literature and Physics tests in October
PSAT: 229 (probable National Merit Finalist)</p>

<p>Letters of Rec: Letter from English teacher should be strong. Letter from Calculus teacher should be decent but generic.
Essays: I consider myself to be a strong writer but I don't have anything interesting to write about</p>

<p>-----Extracurriculars are weak
- school orchestra 6 years (5th to 8th grade, 10th grade to current), 2-3 hours/week outside of school with lessons/practicing/concerts/rehearsals. 10th-current orchestra is audition-only and has weekly rehearsals
- recreational soccer 7 years (5th grade to current), 6 hours/week in the fall, team captain last year
- weightlifting - broke school record (previously set back in 2002) for the squat in lowest weight class
- Track & Field 4 years (7th grade to 10th grade)
- 150 service hours total TAing at local Chinese school (10th grade to current) - 3 hours/week
- 65 service hours total playing musical accompaniment to high school musical (10th grade to current) - 5 hours/week in late fall</p>

<p>----- Schools - What are my chances?
University of Washington in Seattle (safety, in-state)
University of Southern California (not sure if I'll apply; unlikely to go here unless I somehow get a full-tuition scholarship)
Georgia Institute of Technology
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor
Cornell University
UC Berkeley
MIT (not expecting to get in)
Harvey Mudd (not expecting to get in)
Stanford (not expecting to get in)</p>

<p>Feel free to suggest other schools to apply to as well.</p>

2

<p>I go to GT, and you’re definitely in GT. You have good chances at other schools with that 800 Math-Solid application.</p>

3

<p>Do not self-deprecate. It is unbecoming. I see too many Asian students do this on CC forum as well as in the real world. Be proud of who you are and what you have accomplished. You have the academic record to succeed no matter what your extracurriculars say about you…all you can do is apply to your dream schools by giving your best in your ESSAYS and RECOMMENDATIONS…</p>

<p>…and getting into schools like Stanford is unfortunately a matter of luck or karma…</p>

<p>…Good luck.</p>

4

<p>Yeah, I realize that I’m actually doing pretty well compared to a lot of other people. I’m just worried that compared to everyone else applying to top colleges I might not stand out as much as I’d like. Thank you for the support, I appreciate it.</p>

5

<p>You have really good ECs. They aren’t weak, They are pretty solid. Make sure to do more volunteering, those go a long way.</p>