Chances...

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I would really appreciate it if someone would evaluate my chances of getting into MIT, Princeton, Yale, University of Chicago, Harvard, Harvey-Mudd, Carleton, or Brandeis.</p>

<p>First, some things to know: I am a white male going into my senior year at a competitive Prep school in Santa Fe, New Mexico. My father and grand-father both went to MIT, and I'm considering applying early action. My school doesn't do class rank, but I would guess that I'm third or fourth in a class of fifty-seven. If we weighted grades, I would undoutedly be first.</p>

<p>SAT I: 800M, 760W, 630CR
SAT II: 740 Math IIC, 760 Biology M</p>

<p>I will retake the SAT I in the fall to bring up my critical reading score. I will also take the Spanish SAT II and probably score above 700.</p>

<p>English 9 A-/A
Geometry Honors A+/A
Spanish II A-/A
World History I A+/A-
Physical Science A/A-
Jazz Band A (fall semester)
Digital Imaging A (spring semester)
Introduction to Computers (required) A+ (spring semester)
PE Contract (Ice Hockey) P
Lacrosse P
Community Service P/P</p>

<p>English 10 A-/A
Algebra II Honors A-/B+
World History II A-/A-
Spanish III B+/A-
Biology I A-/A-
Life Drawing A+ (fall semester)
Intro to Computational Science and Modeling A (spring semester)
Health (required) A+ (spring semester)
PE Contract (Hockey) P
Lacrosse P
Community Service P/P</p>

<p>Intermediate College Spanish
(Centro lingüístico conversa, Costa Rica) A</p>

<p>English 11 A/A-
Precalculus Honors A+/A
US History A/A
Spanish IV AP A/A
Biology AP A-/A-
Chemistry Honors A/A-
Chamber Music A (spring semester)
PE Contract P
Community Service P/P
Music Theory I (SF Community College) Non-credit (spring semester)</p>

<p>English 12
Calculus AB
Statistics
Twentieth Century America
Spanish V Honors
Physics Honors
The Art of Problem Solving
Life Drawing
PE Contract
Community Service</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Summer of 2002:
- "Modeling Complex Systems in StarLogo"---a two-week-long summer workshop at the Santa Fe Institute with funding from MIT.</p>

<p>Summer of 2003:
- "Cyber Defenders Institute"---two-week summer workshop/internship under the direction of Los Alamos Ntnl. Labs, and held in conjunction with the 2003 Summer Teacher Institute at San Juan College.</p>

<p>2003-2004 Academic Year:
- Played guitar for the 3rd Jazz Band in the NM Jazz All-State Festival.
- Recieved 3rd place in the Senior Physics Division of the Northeastern NM Regional Science Fair and 2nd place in the American Junior Academy of Science Paper Competition for a project in cosmology; recognized by the American Vacuum Society for good mathematics.
- Participated in the NM Adventures in Supercomputing Challenge, achieving first-round finalist position, and winning 1st place runner-up and the Sandia Ntnl. Labs prize for creativity and innovation.
- Performed post-modern music with the Santa Fe New Music Youth Ensemble for their annual "YouthFest".
- Contributed articles and poetry to school publications.</p>

<p>Summer of 2004:
- ¡Pura Vida! Prep in Costa Rica 2004---a one-month summer Spanish program at the Conversa Language Institute + work/cultural immersion activities.
- Voluntered as an online computer programmer/teaching assistant for the NM Summer Teacher Institute.</p>

<p>2003-2004 Academic Year:
- Played the guitar at local venues and at the year-end Youth Fest with the Santa Fe New Music Youth Ensemble.
- Attended workshops on the performance of contemporary and avant-garde music.
- Performed with the 2nd Jazz Band in the 2005 Jazz All-State Festival.
- Participated in the UNM-PNM Statewide Mathematics Contest and organized biweekly Math club meetings to study recreational mathematics problems.
- Recieved first place in the Senior Team Division of the Northeastern NM Regional Science Fair for a project in game theory.
- University of New Mexico Star Student.
- Recieved a special award for excellence in advanced-level Spanish classes.
- Contributed articles and poetry to school publications.</p>

<p>Summer of 2005:
- Santa Fe Institute Summer Internship Mentorship Program---six-week summer internship doing research with SFI scientists.
- Volunteered as a personal teaching assistant at the NM Summer Teacher Institute, teaching computer programming, modeling, and science to NM teachers.
- Attended contemporary music camps at the college of Santa Fe.</p>

<p>All Years:
- Took weekly lessons in classical, contemporary, and Jazz guitar.
- Participated in a guitar/fiddle trio, performing music at the Santa Fe Farmers' Market and other local venues.
- Honor Roll</p>

<p>Thank you all for your time!</p>

2

<p>Does anyone have experience with these colleges? I would be very grateful if someone could tell me how I compare with other students!</p>

3

<p>Anyone..........?</p>

4

<p>Apparently "Chances..." was not a sufficiently exciting title to give me a response...</p>

5

<p>if you get over 700 on critical reading and over 700 on spanish, you'll have a good shot.</p>

6

<p>Prep is a good school, i almost went there, but i decided to skip highschool. I think you should be fine. Your grades are outstanding, just write awesome essays and you'll get in. That's what people have been telling me. The essays are essential.</p>

7

<p>your chances are fair. don't sweat it no one here can accurately predict your chances. Do what you love and everything will be fine. Make sure to write an exceptional essay. :)</p>

8

<p>MIT, Yale. Princeton and Harvard are major reaches. At MIT, almost everyone gets 800 on the IIC. No AP or college level math is also unusual for MIT applicants. For the ivies, your CR is just not competitive. ECs are too average for these schools. </p>

<p>I think you have a good shot at the others.</p>

9

<p>if he has the financial capacity, it wouldn't hurt to aply to hypsm. His ec's are actually not average, perhaps for hypsm, but that imples that he has a chance, if only a decent one. As for he's sat's, they're not too bad either. One does not need a 1600 sat to be eligible foe hypsm. as long as he writes an exceptional essay, he's not out of the ball park.</p>

10

<p>Math is a big interest for me, and it will probably be my major. Should I retake the IIC for a better chance at MIT? I'm also interested in the pure sciences (physics etc.) and music theory.</p>

11

<p>I found the following information on MIT's website (<a href="http://admissions.mit.edu/AdmissionsWeb/appmanager/AdmissionsWeb/Main;jsessionid=CGGbWt11DnjNtHSCzn36YvGWDTkmhKZXRDLp4G1RCcbLxxSgVlqL!453319266!1968789490?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageApplicationProcess"&gt;http://admissions.mit.edu/AdmissionsWeb/appmanager/AdmissionsWeb/Main;jsessionid=CGGbWt11DnjNtHSCzn36YvGWDTkmhKZXRDLp4G1RCcbLxxSgVlqL!453319266!1968789490?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageApplicationProcess&lt;/a&gt;). Is it correct to assume that they don't like to see a retake of the IIC? Is retaking a test to raise a 740 bad?</p>

<p>"The content of your math courses should determine whether you take the Level IC or the Level IIC Math test and when. (The two tests are weighed equally in the admissions decision.) Before you choose the dates for any of your tests, particularly the math test, be sure to get advice from your guidance counselor and your teachers."</p>

12

<p>You have good scores and are legacy, so I think you are a shoe in at MIT.</p>

13

<p>You have a decent chance at MIT, but it's not a shoe in.</p>

14

<p>What about Princeton? My only reservation is that Princeton students are, so I hear, a bunch of preppy partiers. Is this an accurate?</p>

15

<p>No, it's not true.
Harvey-Mudd is great choice and I think it's a match for you, maybe even a safety with you're outstanding EC's. You should seriously consider this one.</p>

<p>P.S: Awesome meeting someone from Santa Fe here, I go to St. John's just a few minutes away from Prep.</p>