:D MIT EECS/Cornell Engineering RD -> will chance back

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi, please don't chance me. Please provide some tips on what I can write in my essays or do to make myself more 'fit' for the schools. :) (Warning: it's very long)</p>

<p>MIT: SUPER REACH
Cornell: REACH</p>

<p>INTERNATIONAL - Living in HK, PRC Passport</p>

<p>RACE - East Asian ORM</p>

<p>-------Academics-------</p>

<p>SCHOOL - IB School, only offers IB subjects and IB diploma, maximum 6 subjects, max 3 HL</p>

<p>IB
GPA - n/a
Math HL (7), Physics HL (7), Music HL (7)
ITGS SL (7), English SL (6), Chinese SL (7)</p>

<p>SCORES
SAT I - FIRST (670CR-720W(8)-770M=2160) SECOND (800CR-730W(8)-780M=2310)
*Cornell sees both, MIT sees second
SAT II - Math II 800 - Physics 800</p>

<p>9th-10th
GPA - n/a
IGCSE - English A Chinese A* Math A* Add Math A* ICT A* Global Perspectives A Music A* Physics A* Chemistry A*</p>

<p>Awards: NO MAJOR AWARDS
Top in HK for IGCSE Music, Top in School for A-Math, ICT
Harvard Book Prize
Piano ATCL Recital Diploma
(meh)</p>

<p>------EC------</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Comp. Sci:
(11-12) Founder/Leader of Computing Club, Economics Revision Apps, School RFID Smart System Development Project, Autistic School Special Education Software (in progress), Curriculum Development for Programming in Java</p></li>
<li><p>Music (performance):
(9-12) Piano ATCL (10th), probably LTCL(12th), multiple public performances, Co-founder/Leader of Acapella Club, international exchange programs for Acapella Club</p></li>
<li><p>Music (composition):
(9-12) Composed School Song, participated in local composition competitions, composed for ensembles in our school, gonna submit art supplement for orchestral works</p></li>
<li><p>Camping and events Organization:
(11-12) Founder/Leader of Camp Organization Club, independently planned Zombie Apocalypse Camp (developed unique traps, "zombie" fashion etc.), locally and school camps, MUN Day (dress-up, cook, etc. as different cultures and debate political issues) (in progress), Local Math Competition (in progress), Musical Week (let locals explore music lol) (in progress)</p></li>
<li><p>Sports etc.
(9-12) Hiking, Tennis, Wildlife Survival Club</p></li>
</ol>

<p>------JOB------</p>

<ol>
<li>Grade 11 Summer - Website Development for a small company</li>
<li>Grade 12 - Website Development for local youth charity organization</li>
</ol>

<p>------VOLUNTEER------</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Grade 10 Summer - Educational Retreat for Sichuan Earthquake affected students, developed curriculum for kids, an important life-changing journey, CommonApp essay: how I viewed education in another way (love and caring to students) and a reflection of my views of my life as a student</p></li>
<li><p>(11-12) Autistic School Volunteer - Computing curriculum and teaching them, and taking care of them while they drooled on me, taught me how to work with these people, trained patience</p></li>
<li><p>(9) Thailand Local School Renovation - I renovated a section of the walls and helped build a new playground for the kids</p></li>
<li><p>(11) Vietnam Road Building - 300 meters of cement and many hardened footprints...</p></li>
<li><p>(11) Artistic Mural for Subway Stations - cutting drawn superman and pasting them on walls (lolwut)</p></li>
</ol>

<p>------Others------</p>

<p>MIT Essays</p>

<p>Cultural background - I lived in three East Asian cities, each brought me different pieces of myself, and yet I am nothing like these cities</p>

<p>For the pleasure of it - X4 video games, learnt history in a dynamic way, understanding history as a coherent whole that has clear logical progression through simulation</p>

<p>Department - EECS, talked about two unique resources and how it fits me, and a really geeky pun (not even sure if it is): "changing the world bit by bit"</p>

<p>Personality - ENTP, which leads to: easily seeing situations as a whole, and coming out with new ideas all the time, and very energetic with thinking</p>

<p>World - lol I have nothing written here</p>

<p>Challenge - Zombie Apocalypse camp constant setbacks, can't seem to see hope, talked about how difficult it is to overcome psychological pressure like this, and admitting how it may never go away, but I always must try my best to do my part and let go of the results.</p>

<p>Cornell Essay</p>

<p>Engineering Idea - Hypothetical brain sensor that is able to write on a manuscript what a person is singing/humming in their brain</p>

<p>Interests - Computer Science and talked a bit about my work</p>

<p>Thoughts - Computer science is a bridge between multiple disciplines, relate to Cornell resources, and relate the "bridging" to my own personality</p>

<p>Accomplish - A Cornell education allows me to innovate by extrapolating my brainpower and setting it in the right methodology.</p>

<p>------Early Results------</p>

<p>UIUC CoE Accept, UChicago Accept</p>

<p>Unknown yet:
UMich, UC Berkeley, UCLA</p>

<p>Thanks. If you just want me to chance back, you can paste your chance thread's URL link below and I will give you advice; you don't have to chance me necessarily. I don't mind.</p>

<p>Thank you for giving me advice! I want to maximize my chances by carefully planning how I'm going to contextualize myself to them. If you think my essays current topic is wrong please suggest an alternate one! :)</p>

2

<p>Feel free to suggest more universities.</p>

3

<p>bump #1 :))))))</p>

4

<p>Update: UMich deferred me</p>

5

<p>Hey Skyrior, thanks for replying! I’ve replied to your post already. :D</p>

<p>Ok, now for the sitch with MIT. Since you’re an international student the standards are a bit different. </p>

<p>I’ve heard from several students who have applied and gotten in MIT from my country (the Philippines), and they’re pretty much unanimous in saying that you should have bagged some legit international math contest awards by now if you have any plans of getting in. </p>

<p>I’ve read somewhere that the same is true for our Indian counterparts, and I doubt that it’d be any different for you. Another fact to note is that MIT explicitly says that they “admit fewer than 150” international students (out of a pool of monster students who have probably cured cancer) every year, so tough may be an understatement, even for the very best international students so yeahhhhh. Harvard would be easier, but you still have a shot somehow.</p>

<p>Now for the more positive part! I didn’t want to get your hopes down too much since it’s clear that you’re an outstanding applicant.</p>

<p>While Cornell is a “reach” for everyone, I think you have a reasonable chance of getting in. Your grades, ECs and scores have already done 3/4ths of the job for you. Just make sure that you don’t give Cornell the feeling that you’re using them as a sort of fallback for more prestigious schools. Make them feel like they’re your top choice with your essays and try to be as Cornell-specific as you can.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

6

<p>You have good ecs and numbers. You should be good to any university. Just start applying of your choice.</p>

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<p>MIT is immensely hard to get into as an international with no huge awards. It’s really the main thing they look for in my opinion. If you were from the U.S., it’d be completely different, but being where your from, I’d say you have very little chances. (As Gloogle said, fewer than 150. I’m sure many of those will have international titles.)</p>

<p>Cornell is an Ivy League school, so obviously it’s hard to get into as well, but you will have better chances there. (Although I don’t exactly know how tough the international applicant pool is there. I’m sure it’s pretty though, but not as tough as MITs.)</p>

<p>Great Essays will help you a lot, though MIT might not even get that far into your application.</p>

8

<p>Well now I feel slightly uncomfortable chancing as UMichigan deferring you/UChicago accepting you is pretty random :P</p>

<p>The only real mark I see against you is that you are international, though presumably you know that ll ready. As for activities, I usually disagree with your statement in my thread about being more well-rounded, but in your case I think they complement your main activities well. Nothing in your essays I see (without reading them) that can’t be improved; after all, it should be your choice because it’s about your life. For world, I would personally suggest just choosing an important part of your community and focusing on that. It doesn’t have to be obvious, like your family or friends.</p>

9

<p>The fact that you are international will give you a slightly harder time getting accepted here…</p>

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<p>@Gloogle</p>

<p>Thanks a lot for your reply! I don’t have any awards for a simple reason: My school is very new and doesn’t like sending off students to participate in Olympiads. I kept trying to persuade them to let me enroll in one but they wouldn’t. I’m not sure if I can enroll in one individually though, and really after half a year of nagging I just gave up and focused on projects. It’s OK though, I don’t expect to get into MIT anyways. I also don’t blame my school because it’s new and really we are like the lab rats. Also, I’m not a motivated student to be honest, and I hate competitions because I am not a fast thinker.</p>

<p>@Mnomno</p>

<p>Thanks for your reply!</p>

<p>@BBanks</p>

<p>Thanks for your reply! My main weakness is definitely awards. In my school we barely get any invitations or opportunities to go to competitions. My math teacher rejected my proposal to join an Olympiad dozens of times because “the school doesn’t want you to waste time on competitions; the IB score is more important”…</p>

<p>@AwesomeToad</p>

<p>Thanks for the reply! Yeah, getting accepted by UChicago but deferred by UMich is something quite perplexing. Thanks for the suggestion for the world essay. I’m not sure whether being well-rounded is a good thing or not, I don’t have the experience to judge this. However I’m usually quite worried about myself and others being not well-rounded because everyone around me keeps saying “you must be well-rounded” and it kinda got drilled into my brain. Guess that’s why.</p>

<p>@StarSeraph</p>

<p>Thanks for the reply! It’s not “slightly”; it’s “immensely” :)</p>

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<p>I think that you have a great shot at these universities because of your stellar ECs. Your stats are rock solid and everything else is up to par. Good luck :slight_smile: </p>

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<p>@IWantStandford16 This was one year ago, if you want to know the details…, waitlisted by MIT, accepted by Cornell. I’m currently going to UChicago.</p>