chances for top-ranked colleges???

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I’m a rising senior from Northern California, and I’m wondering what are my chances for HYP, Stanford, MIT, Caltech, etc.</p>

<p>Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
School type: medium-sized public, sends 10-15 to top-ranked colleges every year</p>

<p>Stats:
SAT I –2380 (800M, 800CR, 780W)
SAT II—800’s in Math IIC, Physics, Chem, World Hist.
GPA: 4.0 unweighted, 4.65 weighted</p>

<p>AP’s:<br>
9th grade—Calc AB
10th grade—Euro Hist, Calc BC, Statistics, Physics C: Mechanics, Physics C: E/M
(all 5’s so far)
11th grade—Bio, Chem, Music Theory
12th grade (projected) –English language, Spanish, Environmental</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Math: 2 time USAMO qualifier (9, 11)
Gold Medal—USA Math Talent Search (10)
Bay Area Math Olympiad Hon. Mention (10, 11)
highest AMC 12B score in California (11)
Mandelbrot Competition –4th place in Western US (11)
took Number Theory from Stanford EPGY—got A+ (11)
President of School Math Club (11, 12)</p>

<p>Piano: Gold Medal, 2 Silver Medals—U.S. Open Music Competition (10)
many other awards from regional/state competitions (9-11)</p>

<p>Violin: Oakland Youth Orchestra (9)
a few awards from regional competitions (9, 10)</p>

<p>Volunteering: member of local Youth Action Council – 130 hours volunteering
(volunteer at food banks, cancer walks, soup kitchens, etc.)
local hospital—70 hours and counting</p>

<p>Other Awards:
AP scholar with distinction, CalTech Signature Award, President’s Volunteer Service Award, Gold Medal—National Spanish Exam </p>

<p>Summer Activities:
rising 10th: took Computer Science from local community college
rising 11th: attended AwesomeMath summer camp (run by the coaches of the U.S. math team)
rising 12th: taking Organic Chem from UC Berkeley</p>

<p>Thank you so much!
-- ben12345_5</p>

2

<p>2380 (800M, 800CR, 780W)</p>

<p>dude. duuuuude.
sigh, if you havent been told yet,
if you are above 2300, youre good to go.
HOWEVER. Remember that all top notch schools draw lotteries (metaphorically) so you will want more matches.</p>

3

<p>"highest AMC 12B score in California (11)"
This...gets my attention.
Caltech will want you. But, doesnt mean youll get in...
sigh. screw the college process.</p>

4

<p>Obviously, you're a strong applicant. But I can GUARANTEE you that there are AT LEAST 30 other asian males who play piano and/or violin, have great scores, and want to go to those schools.</p>

<p>You aren't going to be guaranteed anything.</p>

<p>Add matches or at least less reachy reaches. Georgetown, Vandy, Tufts, Amherst, Williams, Colby, Colgate, UMich. Just in case your dreams of the Ivy League don't pan out.</p>

<p>And you live in CA, add Berkeley and UCLA because you can. You'll walk in to those. And they're basically just as good as other schools on your list, less selective for you, and way cheaper.</p>

5

<p>You have a really good shot at Caltech, though some individual research would always help.</p>

<p>Also, your course load looks pretty easy for 11th and 12th grade. Maybe enroll in some more EPGY courses next year (if they interest you...) - if you want to go to Caltech you should probably at least be taking ~2 significant math/science courses every year.</p>