Hi. I wish to go to Stanford or MIT.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi. I'm currently a freshman at a high school in Korea.
I'm preparing to study at an American university after I graduate.
I want to become a physicist in the future, and I checked out
which schools have the best physics programs. MIT and Stanford were quite good. </p>

<p>I have taken two AP tests(Physics B & Chemistry) and scored all 5's.
I'm currently taking AP Biology and AP World History along with regular subjects. Next year, I plan to take more AP tests and classes.</p>

<p>I play the violin at the school orchestra, and play a Korean drum (janggu) at a Korean traditional music club.</p>

<p>I'm good at kendo, and are participating in many kendo championships, provincial & national, and recieving fair awards.</p>

<p>Every weekend, I go to a social center to help elementary school students with their schoolwork. The kids I teach have unfavorable household conditions, and need special caring and love. I'm learning a lot from this social service.</p>

<p>I'm extremely enthusiastic towards physics(although I cannot declare I'm good at it). I'm trying to participate in the IYPT(International Young Physicist Tournament) next year. This year, I participated in the KYPT and was awarded second place, which gave me qualification to apply for the IYPT next year.</p>

<p>Next year I'm also planning to take the KPhO(Korean Physics Olympiad) exam, and if possible, participate in the IPhO in the year 2008. This year, because of preparation of KYPT, I couldn't participate in the KPhO.</p>

<p>Additionally, I'm looking for other physics competitions I can take part in.</p>

<p>I'm taking SAT Physics subject test in November. The SAT1 test... I'm planning to take it in my junior or senior year. So far, I've built vocab skills with Word Smart and Barron's SAT book.</p>

<p>What worries me is my school records. My first semester GPA was 3.88/4, which was not bad. The problem is that this just belongs to top half of the whole school, which is not that satisfactory. About 20~30% of all the students get GPA 4. But I think they deserve it. My school is like Philips Academy in America. It's a prep school which holds a difficult national admission exam every year to pick the best students in Korea.</p>

<p>My school has a bit of a "name value"; all the graduates go to prestigious schools in America after they graduate. About one out of three graduates each year are accepted by Ivy Leagues.</p>

<p>My question is, what other efforts should I put to get into Stanford or MIT?</p>

<p>Thank you for reading.</p>

2

<p>Just do your best. Where you end up is where you end up.</p>

3

<p>You are only a freshman and already you are doing all the things required in the admissions game!<br>

[Quote]
My question is, what other efforts should I put to get into Stanford or MIT?

[/Quote]

You are in the queue already. Just be patient, you can't do any more. Remember, there are millions (half of them internationals) with the following 'achievements':
High GPA at a competitive high-school. 5 in sevral APs.<br>
High SAT I and II scores
Science and math competition, Olympiads, etc.
Tutoring homelss kids, feeding orphans on the weekends
Interests in music and sports
etc.</p>

<p>You should relax a bit. Admission officers are getting tired of clones. Just enjoy your high school. As jPoD says, "Where you end up is where you end up."</p>

4

<p>You explain yourself very well, and come across as sincere. You seem to be on the right track. Anything that you can do that shows leadership will help, in the school or the community. You can read some of the books on how to gain admission to the top schools. However, I think that they go overboard, and that it would actually be degrading to do all that they ask. They want you to focus every waking moment on impressing admissions committees. There is more to life than that. What I learned from the books is that it is important to polish the application, and to make sure that everything- the essays, letters, interviews, etc, reflect a consistent point of view, and highlight you as an interesting person. Also, the books have good advice about how to obtain good recommendation letters. The recommendation letters can be the trickiest part of the endeavor.</p>