<p>Stats:
SAT I= Math:800, Reading:800, Writing:770 (Composite:2370)
SAT IIs= MathII: 800, US History:800, Chemistry:770
GPA:4.0/4.0(unweighted), 5.6/6.0(weighted)
Class Rank: 6/500ish (May possibly move up to 4 or 5 if that means anything)
APs: Five 5s and a 3 in Spanish Language (Brutal test lol... not going to send this one in)
Senior Course Load: 6 AP classes, very heavy</p>
<p>Awards/Achievements:
• Business Professionals of America Regional Finalist
• Science Olympiad State Finalist
• Computer Science TCEA Regional Finalist
• School Chess Tournament, 1st Place
• AP Scholar with Distinction
• National Merit Semifinalist (Should be)</p>
<p>ECs:
• Chess Club (President, 2 years, Team Captain, 1 year)
• Organized and Served as the instructor of free chess lessons for children at local public library
• Science National Honor Society (Activities Director, 2 years)
• Spanish National Honor Society (President, 2 years)
• South Asian Cultural Society (Vice President, 2 years)
• Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society (Historian, 1 year, Member 2 years)
• Speech and Debate Team (Member, 3 years)
• Basketball Team (Member, 2 years)</p>
<p>Volunteering (Hour totals are estimates):
• 100+ Hours at Local Hospital
• 100 Hours for Youth Expanding Services
• 50 hours for City Hall</p>
<p>Work Experience:
• Internship at Rice University, conducting research (40 hours/week for 8 weeks)</p>
<p>I would greatly appreciate any feedback or constructive criticism. I'd be happy to chance you back as well, just ask! :)</p>
<p>EDIT: Essays and Recommendations should be on par as well.</p>
<p>I had a higher class rank and more AP scores/classes than you did, but everything else is comparable or better with respect to my application. Just write great essays, get solid recs, and leave the rest up to luck.</p>
<p>Thanks guys. I certainly will work really hard on my essays.</p>
<p>Also, will submitting a supplementary piece - a research report based on the work I’ve done in my internship - add significantly to my application. I would write one up, but I have no experience in this field, so I doubt the report would end up being a high quality one, certainly not Siemens material or anything. But would a decent report help out my application?</p>
<p>^ I’d be really hesitant to submit a research report if it isn’t high quality. I personally submitted a published scientific article on which I was the third author (out of nine), and while I personally can’t be sure of how much it helped my application, I (humbly) think that’s generally what they look for.</p>
<p>Yeah in my case I would likely be the sole author since this isn’t something my mentor required or requested me to do. I don’t think it will end up close to something that would be published in a scientific journal, so I probably won’t submit it.</p>
<p>hmm well im asian too and your SAT scores are definetley better than mine! i’d say youve actually got a great chance! good for you bad for me, lol :)</p>
<p>I would submit the research report. When I was applying as a transfer student I was in the middle of a research project in a faculty lab, but I wrote up about a paragraph’s worth of what I was doing. The project wasn’t even finished yet and I didn’t go very in-depth, but I felt that it was important to explain what I was doing, since it was my most prevalent extracurricular activity. </p>
<p>I understand that your situation is a little bit different, but I would still elaborate on your labwork in your application. In my case, I was worried that they would think I was just cleaning glassware or something soft (as freshman lab positions tend to be). Mine was short because I had already submitted about seven pages of essays and I didn’t want to overwhelm them with text, but I still made sure to cover the important points of my role in the lab. Also, while it IS Yale, I didn’t think the average admissions committee member would want to labor through a lot of scientific terminology. </p>
<p>In short, I don’t think it can hurt you at all to send a report, as long as it isn’t extraordinarily long. Ask your mentor what s/he thinks, and to help you revise drafts of it. My mentor asked me to write up a report (not the one I sent) and she was very helpful with making it look and sound more scientific. Anything you can do that might distinguish your application should be done, especially since you’re applying in the more selective SCEA pool.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that some schools will accept abstracts instead of full blown reports. Would it be better to submit just my abstract? It would obviously be much more concise than a 20ish page report and would give the committee a good idea of the work I am doing. It also would be much easier for me to polish just my abstract to a high level than to polish up my whole report lol.</p>
<p>Here’s the thing about the “stereotypical Asian” label–it’s not that schools won’t like you because you’re “stereotypical.” The issue is that you are competing with other people who have similar stats and ECs (and not all of them are Asians, by any means). This means that you may have a tougher time at very selective schools than somebody who is competing against fewer people for the relevant niche at the college.</p>
<p>The key is to make sure that you apply to a range of schools, including a number of highly selective schools. You will probably be admitted to several highly selective schools–but you may be rejected from some as well.</p>
<p>Yes, I’ve heard the early application pool was more selective. Apparently, most early applicants are deferred to the regular admissions round. Do deferred early applicants have any disadvantage or carry any ‘stigma’ from being deferred, resulting in a not-so-fresh look in the regular decision round? I’m not sure if this is true, but I saw someone else post it in another thread.</p>