Fine, I have succumbed to the temptation.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm an Asian from Oklahoma looking at these schools:
Princeton, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Duke, Rice, WashU, Vandy, UChicago, OU</p>

<p>Grade: 11
GPA: 4.45, 4.00UW
Rank: School doesn't rank, but probably 1 or 2 out of 700</p>

<p>Test Scores
SAT: 800V/780M/730(10E)W (But I did get an 800M in 7th grade, if that counts...)
SAT II: 800s on MathIIC, Chem, Latin, US History, 790 on Bio
APs: 9 5s, mostly traditional AP courses like Lang, US History.
ACT: 36 Composite But writing subscore was horrendous (8)</p>

<p>Academics
1. Math:
- USAMO since freshman year
- OKHS Math League winner since freshman year, but due to unfixed
computer error, I wasn't 1st this year, even with a perfect score.
2. Academic Bowl
- State Runner-ups since sophomore year
- Team Ok Member to Panasonic Academic Challenge (natl.) since Frosh
- All-American junior year at PAC</p>

<p>EC
1. Violin
- All-State Assistant Concermaster since sophomore
- Tulsa Youth Symphony Co-Concertmaster
- Winner of a couple concerto contests and solos with local orchestras
- Statewide quartet competition winner
2. Tennis
- Train weekly at local tennis academy (which claims that it's top 10 in US)
- Varsity Tennis
3. Latin Club (JCLs)
- 4 perfect papers on National Latin Exam
- Webmaster of OKJCL, created website (duh)
- 2nd in Lower Certamen at National Convention
- 1st in a national academic test level III
- 1st in overall academic testing at State Convention</p>

<p>Volunteer
1. Assistant Coach of middle school's Mathcounts Team
2. Quartet plays at rest homes/nursing homes/hospitals.
3. Created a couple of websites (for OKJCL and Tulsa Youth Symphony)</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>Definitely in at Vandy, OU, and excellent chances everywhere else (u could def. get into Rice)</p>

3

<p>USAMO since freshman year</p>

<p>lol</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the response, fusiondogg. I feel good about Rice too, especially after my interview.</p>

<p>llpitch: lol? </p>

<p>I think that 3 years USAMO might actually be detrimental, if officers think, oh gee, this boy hasn't improved at all! Where's MOP?</p>

5

<p>you definitely have chances everywhere, just apply. it will come down to recs and your personality.</p>

6

<p>Hmm, I know I can get really good non-math/sci recs, but my school's math and science teachers aren't exactly stellar at writing recs, nor did any of them know me for more than 1-2 years. </p>

<p>Thanks for the response! I guess that's the general consensus then.</p>

7

<p>oustanding chances with your stats and USAMO since 9th grade? that's impressive and most of those schools would love to have you</p>

8

<p>Ok, thanks. </p>

<p>How tough and competitive are merit scholarships at some of these schools? Would I even have a shot? Sorry, forgot to ask in original post. Thanks.</p>

9

<p>Based on what I've heard from other incoming freshman, Rice offers some merit scholarships and you'd probably be a good candidate for those. I don't know the exact qualifications of the students who got scholarships (I didn't get one :( hah) but I think you're definitely in the ballpark. </p>

<p>Congrats on everything.</p>

10

<p>I anticipate that you'll probably get money dumped on you at Rice, WashU, and Vanderbilt. These schools have excellent resources and are looking for excellent students to champion them.</p>

<p>Rice, from what I know, has been most generous in money-dumping on math/science geeks, and WashU, I imagine, anticipates who they think will consider a school like Columbia or Duke and tries to lure them into WashU with money. I don't know much about kids who have gotten scholarships at Vandy.</p>

<p>Chicago merit scholarships, from what I've seen, go more towards personality than towards performance. The kids with scholarships simply belong here, even if they are not the best student to apply.</p>

11

<p>You could potentially get in everywhere, but remember that the Ivy League can be a reach for everyone.</p>

12

<p>One last question:</p>

<p>My family can't really put together a trip to the East. Will that significantly hurt my chances at HPM and Duke?</p>

<p>Haha, thanks to all who've responded. I'll let it die after this question. :)</p>

13

<p>I'm not sure about those schools in particular, but most top schools don't track applicants' interest in the school, so I wouldn't worry =)</p>

14

<p>I want to add that your being from Oklahoma will add to your attractiveness at many of these schools. </p>

<p>I suspect that you will be able to interview with alumni from the schools that you can't visit (at least in OKC or Tulsa), so I wouldn't worry about the impact on your application. However, you will most likely want to visit the two or three schools at the top of your "accepted" list next Spring, in order to figure out which fits you best.</p>

<p>As noted - you look good at this point. Keep up the good work & make sure your UNIQUE personality shows in your essays. Pick references who know you best (by the way - one or two years is most common, NOT unusual!) and will reflect your unique qualities (many teachers are happy for the student to give them a short page with reminders of anything outstanding they've done & possibly even some of their own descriptive phrases).</p>

<p>No one can be positive about your chances at those schools, but you should apply if they look like the schools you'd be happy attending.</p>