Hey everyone, a junior here looking to see where he stands in terms of the following schools (for ChemE)
MIT, Stanford, RPI, Georgia Tech, and NC State
Race: White
Gender: Male
I attend the North Carolina School of Science and Math
GPA: 4.0 unweighted/5.5 weighted
Haven’t taken the new SAT yet (taking in May), but PSAT 740/750 and ACT 35 composite, 34 E 35 M 36 R 36 S (one sitting), haven’t gotten writing back yet
Taking Math IIc, Chem, and Bio M subject tests in June
Courses taken of significance/ rigor/ planning to take:
American Studies (honors level class incorporating US literature and history- taking APUSH and AP Lang exams this spring)
British Literature (college level)
Southern Literature (college level)
AP Statistics (4)
Pre-calculus with Advanced Topics (intermediate b/w honors & college level)
AP Calculus BC with Advanced Topics
Advanced Probability Models or Differential Equations (college-level)
AP Chemistry with Advanced Topics
AP Biology
AP Environmental Science
Physics with Advanced Topics
Fluids, Thermodynamics, Electromagnetism, and Optics (college-level)
Biochemistry or Organic Chemistry (college-level)
AP US Government and Politics (3)
AP Human Geography (5)
AP European History (4)
Advanced Spanish (again intermediate honors/college level)
AP Microeconomics
AP Macroeconomics
Web Development (another intermediate)
ECs
-Boy Scouts/ Order of the Arrow: earned Eagle at the age of 13 but continued to serve in positions such as ASPL in my troop and further pursued leadership in the OA- serving as treasurer and VC activities. Participated in several leadership development programs including National Youth Leadership Training. Serving on camp staff. (there’s a lot of involvement to this one that i’m not gonna subject y’all to reading)
-Swimming: swimming in summer league since the age of 5 and varsity swim at my school sophomore and junior year, almost made regionals this year- coach at least acts like I’m his favorite so i’ll probably get captain next year.
SciOly- participated in middle school, won first place in meteorology 6th and 8th grade, (2nd 7th), placed in several other events, placed at states twice; in high school, placed third in anatphys regionally.
Other clubs/ECs- help lead the school hiking club, leading a WWII history seminar next trimester, most likely serving as a biology TA next year or a residential assistant.
through BSA/ NCSSMs summer service requirement I have several hundred hours of service at or related to a local food pantry
idk theres some other stuff too but this is the major important stuff
You’ve got everything you can for any of these schools. All you can do now is try and give your application as much flair as possible, so get involved in some weird, interesting stuff that you can write about or that can make you stand out even more than your stats will. Good luck, you’re on track for anywhere.
@Lehnsherr Thanks dude, I’ll do my best haha. Probably planning on basing my essays around my BSA experience at this point but I’ll be on the lookout for some interesting things to talk about.
Can’t wait for the day when listing, “white” and “male” is no longer necessary to chance any student. MLK’s dream is for everyone and that includes all students applying for college admission. When can we see all students getting admitted on merit?
@preppedparent me too lmao
affirmative action is bad for those who benefit from it too because they’re mismatched to a school they likely can’t succeed in whereas they could’ve succeeded at a very good institution that’s just not as prestigious or selective
Your courseload is impressive, but it’d be great if you could get involved with some more STEM stuff outside of school. I say MIT & Stanford could go either way, with acceptances likely at the other three.
Chance me back?
idk why I always think of things to write long after the edit period ends but I should just elaborate here on some ECs
so like scouts is easily something that’s taking up ~60 hours a month between planning every single event my OA lodge has and actually attending and running those events
I also did math club at my old school before coming to ncssm and did stuff like TrigStar, etc.
I took the AMC 12 this year, we’ll see where that goes but I doubt my score will be of any significant benefit.
Swimming was roughly 12 hours a week between 2 hours MTRF for practice and ~4 hours for meets
So I think you are an excellent applicant and will be incredibly successful wherever you are, but I will say this. Applying from NCSSM to selective schools is kinda tricky because so many people apply to top-tier schools that the college in question will take less from NCSSM than they probably should. For example, there were 50 EDs to Duke from NCSSM, and only 4 got in (and the rest were literally ALL REJECTED). You and I both know that more than 4 of those people were fantastic applicants, which is highly concerning.
@morgantmw yeah that’s the annoying thing
but tbh i have no issue attending georgia tech (obv, it’s the nat’l #4 chemE program), rpi (esp because i’m in strong contention for NCSSM’s renssalear medal), or state even, state has an excellent chemE program.
i’m not too concerned or preoccupied with going to MIT or stanford but it would be nice
@admiral12 You’re the first person on here I’ve ever heard say that. I’m now rooting for you to get into every top place.
lol this is what i mean by remembering important things after i post
i play/played the piano for 10 years, don’t really play it anymore but played it consistently up through sophomore year
WOW. a 4.0, those classes, 35 ACT, and great ECs with several hundred volunteer hours to boot! You have a great record and will be almost guranteed admission to the former 3. You have a great shot at MIT and Stanford, but don’t get your hopes up on getting admitted! Students with your record sadly get wl’ed all the time but don’t let that phase you. Good luck!
@rightguard5 some of those are classes im taking next year haha but yeah so far so good lol. thanks!
For MIT, I would call it a long shot in the absence of strong ECs in STEM. The really only standout thing is the SciOly (you can only submit high school awards won 10th grade or later for the MIT app). For a white male from a pretty competitive school (I’ve heard of NCSSM from SciBowl haha), your app would be sort of a long shot. Definitely not impossible though.
For the other schools (Stanford included) I think you look pretty promising. Keep up the good work!
Chance back? Thanks.
@CaliBoi4567 Yeah rip lol. I’ve tried to get into them but they end up getting dominated by the Enloe kids