Here I go...please chance me for some top schools (Princeton, MIT, and more) - wil chance back

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hello! I finally gathered enough courage to post a chance thread (I hope the formatting is okay!). Any advice is appreciated! Here it is:</p>

<p>Major: Operations Research, Applied Mathematics, or Computer Science (depends on the college)</p>

<p>SAT: 2350 (M: 800, CR: 790, W: 760 (8)), took it once
PSAT: 229 (M: 80, CR: 75, W: 74)
SAT II: Math 2 (800), Physics (800), Chemistry (800), Latin (760..oops)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.4313
Rank: 1/285
AP Courses: Calculus AB (5), Calculus BC (5), Chemistry (5), Human Geography (5), Latin (5), Biology (5), English Language (5), Physics B (5), Statistics (5), US History (5)
College courses: Foundations of Higher Mathematics, Linear Algebra - sophomore level classes at a top public university nearby
Senior classes: Theater 1, AP Microeconomics, AP Environmental Science, AP Computer Science A, AP English Literature, AP US Government, Data Structures (computer science class at aforementioned college), Multivariable Calculus (at college)</p>

<p>Awards:
AIME Qualifier twice (9/15) and Distinguished Honor Roll (top 1%) on AMC 12 twice
Math League (statewide): 3rd (9th grade), 1st (10th grade), 1st and perfect score (11th grade)
Math Prize for Girls Honorable Mention (tied for 17th place out of ~270 of highest scoring female AMC participants)
National Latin Exam Gold Medal four times (7-10) and perfect paper once
National Merit Semifinalist, National AP Scholar, National Honor Society</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (Unless listed, I've done these activities for all four years of high school or more):
Envirothon (President): environmental competition, team wins 1st at regionals and top 5 at state each year
Math Honor Society (President 11-12)
Latin Club (Co-President 11th grade, Secretary 10th grade)
Varsity Scholastic Bowl Team
Science National Honor Society (10-12)
Key Club
Orientation Crew (10-11)
TA for Latin? (11-12)
Piano (11 years): some small awards
Principal Cellist of local youth orchestra (6-12)</p>

<p>Work experience: taught cello for one year, occasional paid tutoring in math</p>

<p>Community service:
Formed own string trio that plays at many local charity events for free (8-12), approx. 100 hours
Assistant coach for Mathcounts at old middle school, approx. 300 hours</p>

<p>Summer Activities:
Yale University's Ivy Scholars Program: Crisis Management Award
College orchestra program
Governor's Latin Academy
NSF-funded undergraduate program on Big Data</p>

<p>Research:
Poster on mathematical ecology presented at national mathematics conference (2014), worked with college professor
Paper on heterogenous computing presented at an IEEE conference (2014), worked with nearby lab</p>

<p>Essays so far:
Common App: 9/10, really interesting approach (...basically making the prompt...recursive?) but not risky :)
Princeton: 8.5/10 rather serious but sincere, and I connected all the supplements together vaguely
UVA: 9.5/10
UCs: 8/10
MIT: 9.5/10, creative and humorous</p>

<p>Recommendations:
Latin teacher - I have known her for all 4 years. Her recommendation should be good since she tells me that I'm going to invent the next iPhone/big thing in tech lol
AP Calculus teacher - I have known her very well for 3 years, and she openly said to half of the school that the recommendation was "perfect"
Counselor - should be okay, she likes me and I was her office aid last year</p>

<p>Other:
State: VA (but geographically isolated, not Northern Virginia)
School type: ~1000, public, and we're lucky if we have one person go to an Ivy League each year
Ethnicity: Asian (Chinese)
Gender: Female
Not applying for financial aid
Hooks:
- my mother and uncle both attended Princeton and are active alumni
- I have a very strong legacy at Carnegie Mellon (related to someone important in the university's history)</p>

<p>Please chance me for:
Princeton (SCEA)
UVA (EA)
UC Berkeley
MIT
Stanford
Yale
Columbia
Carnegie Mellon
Northwestern</p>

<p>Phew! Anyways, thank you for reading! Please give me any comments or feedback, and I will chance you if you post a link :) </p>

2

<p>UVa would be a low match or even a safety if you are a VA resident, Are you?
if not,
UVa-match
UCLA-match(can you pay 55k/year)
NW and CMU: match
All the others: reaches, but very worth the shots.</p>

3

<p>Princeton (SCEA)- Reach
UVA (EA)- Match
UC Berkeley- Low reach
MIT- reach
Stanford- reach
Yale- reach
Columbia- reach
Carnegie Mellon- low reach/reach
Northwestern- match </p>

<p>Chance back please: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1710183-binghamton-syracuse-bu-chance-me-and-i-will-chance-back.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1710183-binghamton-syracuse-bu-chance-me-and-i-will-chance-back.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>Thank you all so much! Yes, I am a VA resident. And just wondering, but would you say that my ECs are a bit weak? </p>

5

<p>First of all: Holy hell you’re smart! Your academic track record is perfect. Nothing to worry about there. Your awards and community service really speak for themselves; very strong. Your list of ECs, while good, doesn’t really show passion for anything. It does show that you are actively engaged in your community though. The research you’ve done will really standout. Being a female looking to pursue mathematics/computer science is a great hook.</p>

<p>Princeton (SCEA) - high match
UVA (EA) - safety
UC Berkeley - low match
MIT - low reach/very high match
Stanford - a reasonable reach
Yale - also a reach, but reasonable
Columbia - low reach
Carnegie Mellon - match
Northwestern - low match</p>

6

<p>Princeton (SCEA) - reach
UC Berkeley - match
MIT - low reach
Stanford - low reach
Carnegie Mellon - low reach
Northwestern - match</p>

7

<p>Your ECs are kind of stereotypical. (math club, science, piano, cello) Try to distinguish yourself through your essays.</p>

<p>Princeton (SCEA): low reach (only becuase double legacy, female in engineering, SCEA)
UVA (EA) safety
UC Berkeley match
MIT reach
Stanford reach
Yale reach
Columbia reach
Carnegie Mellon match
Northwestern low reach</p>

<p>Chance back please:<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1711439-chances-for-ivies.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1711439-chances-for-ivies.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

8

<p>@mmmmmmmmm yeah that’s what I feared. Well, the science I’m involved in is largely agricultural, and I talk about it a lot in my essays. I also wrote about how I composed/arranged music for a play by hand in another essay. Thank you for the advice though! </p>

9

<p>First of all, thanks for chancing me!</p>

<p>Your academics are obviously very good. Your ECs are also pretty good. Sure, they are a bit stereotypical, but having stuff like Key Club and Piano is obviously better than having nothing there. Yes, you could have done something “unique” instead of those, but there are definitely some unique things that you did, such as the environmental thing, and the way you portrayed your essays makes them seem very nice. I think you will get into at least one of the Ivies, and most likely into the Top 10s-30s. </p>

10

<p>Your academics are STELLAR.Your extracurriculars are also really good and you also have science oriented activities.
that being said, the Ivies are reaches for everyone, but I think you have a really good shot
And that Princeton legacy will help you a lot.
My opinions-
All the ivies- Reaches (Aren’t they for everyone?)
UCLA, UCB- Match (Even though you’re OOS, you have the stats to get in)
CMU- Match (Safety maybe lol)
UVA- Match.</p>

<p>I hope I helped :)</p>

11

<p>Wow. I would love to learn more about your mathematical ecology research – sounds so interesting! I think you’re an amazing applicant to any of the colleges on your list, and I believe you’ll get into Princeton, CMU, UVA, Columbia and Northwestern. I’m no expert, but I’ve read a lot of the bios of students admitted to top universities, and yours reads like one of theirs. I hope you post your results later. :)</p>

12

<p>@mommyrocks‌ Thank you! I worked on predator-prey systems and natural resource harvesting strategies. I’ll definitely post my results :)</p>

13

<p>Bumping this thread :slight_smile: By the way, I was accepted to Princeton SCEA! I’ll probably be attending, but I’m going to wait and see about the other schools I’ve applied to, as listed above. I’ll still chance back!</p>

14

<p>Congrats on your acceptance to Princeton! You have as good a chance at your other schools as anyone.</p>

<p>UVA (EA): Match
UC Berkeley: Match
MIT: Reach
Stanford: Reach
Yale: Reach
Columbia: Reach
Carnegie Mellon: Match
Northwestern: Match</p>

<p>The schools I listed as “Reach” are really reach for everyone, but you are likely to get into one or more of them.</p>

<p>Chance me back please?:
<a href=“http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1719769-what-are-my-chances.html”>http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1719769-what-are-my-chances.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;