EA CHANCES (sorry no nifty title)

Colleges and Universities A-Z California Institute of Technology
1

<p>Chemical engineering and biology</p>

<p>GPA: 4.128/4.33 Unweighted
PSAT (11th grade): 240 (NM Semifinalist, and also, is there any way to let a college know about PSAT SCORE)
SAT Math Level 2: 800
SAT Biology: 790
SAT U.S. History: 800
SAT I: 2320 combined (720/760<em>) Math, (800</em>/770) CR, (760*/750) Writing</p>

<p>AP Courses/Exams: Biology 5, Calculus BC 5, English Language and Composition 5, U.S. History 5, U.S. Government and Politics 5, Comparative Government and Politics 5
Taking Chemistry, Physics C, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra (EPGY), European History, Literature and Composition, German Senior year (APs/college)</p>

<p>Extracurricular</p>

<p>Scientific Research:
• Selected for and participated in 2005 Waksman Student Scholars program at Waksman Institute at Rutgers University, involved in genome analysis of the brine shrimp Artemia Fransciscana.
• Summer 2005: Internship at Plant Genome Initiative at Rutgers University in lab of Dr. Joachim Messing, Director of Waksman Institute, comparative genomics/analysis of maize and rice genomes
• Currently working on research project involving advanced oxidation processes for onsite chemical weapon destruction under Dr. Alfredo Castro, Felician College for submission to both Siemens-Westinghouse and Intel Science Talent Search competitions-the results are good, and i'm writing it up right now.
• Fall 2007: Internship at Fairleigh Dickinson University with Dr. Amber Charlebois, mechanism of the 10-23 DNA enzyme. </p>

<p>Science Related Activities:
• Member of BRHS Science League Team for 2 years: Chemistry I team (grade 10) and Biology II team (grade 11)
• Member of BRHS Science Olympiad Team, qualified for state Science Olympiad tournament in Designer Genes, Vice President 2007-2008.
• Member of Science and Math Honors Societies, tutoring responsibilities.
• In-school Waksman Student Scholars Research—continue research during school year/yearly poster presentation. (Grades 9/10/11). </p>

<p>Other Activities:
• Member of Forensics (Speech and Debate) Team since 9th grade. Captain of Debate team.
o Public Forum Debate: 10th place 2005 State Tournament, 8th Place 2006 State Tournament, State Champion 2007. National Tournament Qualifier 2006, at Nationals ranked in top 30 out of 216. Harvard Invitational 2007 Octafinalist.
o Extemporaneous Speaking: 6th place at 2006 New Jersey District Tournament, 3rd place at 2007 State Tournament.
• Vice President of Model United Nations Club, member since 9th grade, selected to serve on Crisis Committee at 2006 Boston University/MIT conference.
• Member of National Honors Society and German Honors Society.
• Member of BRHS Symphony Orchestra (9-11), passed Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (London, UK) Grade 5 exam in violin and Grade 5 exam in Music Theory, private lessons since age 8.
• Member of Boy Scouts since age 6, currently Life rank, working on Eagle Scout project involving installation of bird boxes and nature trail maintenance at Hillside Intermediate School’s Outdoor Environmental Classroom</p>

<p>Community Service
• 60 Volunteer Hours at Somerset Medical Center in Patient Transportation.
• Member of Bradley Gardens Rescue Squad since 2004—working on EMT certification, on call 4 hours weekly, 36 hours every 5th weekend (rotating duty weekends). </p>

<p>Summer Programs/Courses/Jobs/Activities</p>

<p>o Summer 2005-research at Waksman Institute
o Summer 2006
o Attended National Debate Tournament
o Macroeconomics credit course at Rutgers University (Grade: A)
o Employed 3hr/day at Somerset County Tennis Camp, 15 hr/week
o Summer 2007
o Attended New Jersey Governor’s School in the Sciences at Drew University.
o Rutgers University Statistics credit course (Grade: A)
o Summer 2007- Extensive research for Intel Science Talent Search and Siemens-Westinghouse project (pesticide ozonation, explained above)</p>

<p>Awards/Honors
SIEMENS Semifinalist (will submit the paper)</p>

<p>o 3-year consecutive medalist in AATG National German Examination. Grade 10 ranked 4th, Grade 11 ranked 1st.
o Recipient of New Jersey Governor’s Award for Arts Education for State Championship in Public Forum Debate. </p>

<p>National Merit Semifinalist
AP Scholar w/Distinction</p>

2

<p>Hella good shot with all your research methinks.</p>

3

<p>I'd say you have a good shot, but if you really want to do ChemE and Bio be aware that ChemE, even without a double major, has a ton more required courses than any other major, and is arguably the hardest major at Tech. Not really relevant for chances, but it's something to keep in mind.</p>

4

<p>I wouldn't say that ChemE is exactly conducive to double majors...</p>

5

<p>not planning on double majoring-those are just the two fields i'm putting on the app.</p>

6

<p>just wondering, do you think my research (which I think shows a lot of passion for science) and 800 on SAT 2 math will outweigh my sort of low SAT I math score? I know the mid-range is 780-800, but is this incidental, or is an applicant at a major disadvantage if their sat math score is not in that range?</p>

7

<p>You got a 760. That's actually still pretty good. That's like one (or two?) question off from a 780. They let people in who are below the midrange too, btw. I wouldn't worry about it.</p>

<p>It would be complete idiocy to reject someone with ~years of research, and taking linear A and diffEQ, because of a 760 SAT math score. Your years of hard work mean so much more than that hour on one section of some crappy test. Not to mention you got an 800 on the SAT II math anyway.</p>

8

<p>I wouldn't worry about it. My score was lower on both the SAT I and the SAT II in math.</p>