<p>Don't care about what others said.
I am from HongKong, China. (ASIAN)
My sat(best scores combined): critical reading : 610, math: 770, writing:580. SatII, math II: 800, physics 780, chemistry 760. I am not unrepresented minorities, I don't have good fantastic leadership experience (Chinese high schools focus only on exams). But I tried to spin around my experience in my essay and got admitted in TRANSFER ADMISSION which is harder than freshman admission.</p>
<p>I got denied by Penn Engineering, Harvard Engineering. I got in Columbia SEAS.
Do trust yourself! Write what you can best write on your application.
DO NOT CARE TOO MUCH ABOUT other people saying that 'ohhh, that is a long long long... shot!!!'
Please post any similar experience like this. Thanks everyone!!</p>