How are my chances for Harvard/Princeton/Yale/Caltech?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>So... this weekend I got a rejection letter from Stanford (my top choice school) and I was, of course, very disappointed because it was my dream school. I thought I had a good chance, so now that that has passed, I'd like to ask about what my chances really are for these top schools.</p>

<p>Here are my stats:</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2350 (800 math/800 reading/750 writing/9 essay)
[</em>] ACT: 36 (36/36/36/35/11)
[<em>] SAT II (if submitted): 800 Physics, 800 Math II, 750 US History
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.91 (weighted 4.87)
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/65
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): Calculus AB (5), Calculus BC (5), Physics B (5), Physics C Mech (5), Physics C E&M (5), US History (5), Chemistry (5), English Lit and Comp (5), European History (4)
[<em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP US Government, AP Statistics, AP Biology, AP Environmental Science, H Latin IV/V, H World Lit Seminar, H Multivariable Calculus
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National AP Scholar, National [/li]Latin Exam level III gold medal, AIME qualifier for past 4 years, </p>

<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Science Bowl (school captain 11th-12th grade), Varsity Quiz (school captain 12th grade), Math Club (founder and captain 11th-12th grade), policy debate (varsity in 10th grade), AMC 10 and 12 (usually highest in school for past few years), Math League state top scorer (11th grade), Southern Nevada Secondary Mathematics Contest (1st place in each of the four levels)
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: NASA Space Grant Project (11th grade)
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: Nevada Public Radio fundraiser, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics English Clinic founder and volunteer during the summer, JDRF walk, volunteered at school debate tournaments
[</em>] Essays: Good, probably not the best of the best but I put a fair amount of work and care into it. It's hard for me to objectively rate them beyond that.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: Both are good, one from physics teacher & science bowl coach and one is from Varsity Quiz coach (who is a teacher well-respected and liked at my school)
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Very good, I met with her a few times and the letter should be quite strong. She told me she was one of the strongest students that she has seen (and many of my classmates tell me the same thing, for what it's worth).
[<em>] Additional Rec: N/A
[</em>] Interview: None as of yet, but shouldn't be a problem.
[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: No
[</em>] Intended Major: Physics
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): Nevada
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: Private
[</em>] Ethnicity: Asian (sigh)
[<em>] Gender: Male (sigh)
[</em>] Income Bracket: High
[<em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): I went to a very good public math/science magnet school for middle school and had a great reputation there and held leadership positions in many prominent school clubs. This has fostered my love of team competitions and part of this is addressed in my essay. I also have a fairly debilitating skin problem (eczema) that sometimes makes life pretty hard, and I focused on how the experience helped me with my outlook on life.
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[</em>] Strengths: Academics, number of and scores on AP tests, standardized test scores, local competitions/leadership
[li] Weaknesses: Ethnicity, work experience, research, major competitions (e.g. USAMO)[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>Thanks! I appreciate any input :)</p>

2

<p>All those are reaches except Caltech which is a low reach. </p>

<p>Your ECs and ethnicity don’t help your chances.</p>

<p>Did you apply to some matches/safeties? Such as Berkeley, UCLA, USC, etc?</p>

3

<p>I’ve applied to USC, Rensselaer, Pittsburgh, and possibly some more.</p>

<p>Are my chances really that bad for the top schools? I have two classmates who are both weaker than me academically that got into top schools, and many alumni from my high school that made it.</p>

<p>Also, I’m a fairly advanced student, having taken some classes long before students at my school usually do (Physics B as a freshman, Calc AB as a sophomore, Calc BC as a junior, both Physics C classes as a junior) and got 5s on all of them.</p>

4

<p>Your chances are not bad. It’s similar to other people who are applying to HYP with similar stats as yours. </p>

<p>It all depends on your essays and recs at this point.</p>

<p>That said, I certainly expect you to make it to at least one Ivy. Apply widely.</p>

5

<p>Okay, thanks for the input! If anyone else can help me gauge my chances, please leave a comment :)</p>

6

<p>All of the schools you are applying to take some students just like you, and they all reject some students like you. As somebody said, the thing to do is apply to enough highly selective schools to increase your chances of finding the one who is (say) looking for somebody from Nevada.</p>

7

<p>You should also apply to Harvey Mudd. Bottom line you will get into a good school. There is no reason to be fixated on HYP, Cal Tech and Stanford. There are plenty of good schools out there and these schools are reaches for everyone. Remember, at that level you are not only competing with the best and brightest in the USA, you are also going head to head with a Global pool of applicants. Harvey Mudd may be one of the best prospects for you as it is a student centered, teaching institution. Obviously, you will go to grad school and you can go anywhere from there. If you are also considering RPI then also apply to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. If you are interested in an emphasis on hands on learning as opposed to book learning, this could be your school. Don’t forget about Georgia Tech as well. It is way up there along with other schools.</p>

8

<p>Can you also give me an opinion on all these schools (reach/match/safety)? I know it’s impossible to really predict, but even a general estimate would help.</p>

<p>Harvard -
Princeton -
Yale -
Caltech -
Rensselaer -
USC -
Rochester -
Pittsburgh -</p>

9

<p>HYP are reach for anybody. To be honest, you’re gonna need luck more than anything, because HYP will admit many people with very similar credentials as you, and reject even more than that. The best strategy is too apply widely to the most selective schools, and in that way you maximize your chance to get into at least one.</p>

<p>That being said, there are other top schools which may suite you: Brown, Duke, UChicago, Northwestern, MIT, Dartmouth for example.</p>

<p>Caltech tends to focus admissions on academics more than the Ivys, looking at academic and scientific potential more than anything else. I know having scientific publications is a big hook for Caltech. You may have your greatest chances at Caltech.</p>

<p>Despite being asain, which does NOT help, you’re such a stellar student that I have no doubt you will end up at a great school. Best of luck to you.</p>

<p>Rensselaer - safety
USC -safe
Rochester -safe
Pittsburgh - safe</p>

10

<p>As OsakaDad said, Harvey Mudd is a good match for you if you dont make it to HYP. </p>

<p>Harvard - reach
Princeton - reach
Yale - reach
Caltech - low reach
Rensselaer - safety
USC - low match
Rochester - safety
Pittsburgh - safety</p>

<p>As I mentioned, I certainly expect you to make it to at least one ivy.</p>

11

<p>Thanks a lot for your input. It really helps and I appreciate it!</p>

12

<p>Just dont be discouraged. Ask some professional essay readers to see what you have written. Present a focused, cogent representation of yourself. </p>

<p>Do not list ECs randomly, showing lack of focus. There are too many jack-of-all-trades perfect academics types whose applications just scream “I did it all to get into a top school!”. </p>

<p>A cousin of mine had perfect grades and SAT scores, joined every club and became president at many of those, played three musical instruments, was involved in several varsity sports, and was rejected to every ivy. His essays were pretty much along the lines "I was interested in science, music, math, track, soccer, environmental issues, volunteering, real estate, and humanities. </p>

<p>Whew. Big mistake. </p>

<p>On the other hand, there was a classmate who was completely focused on biomedical research. Interned at several top universities, won awards and recognition for his work, and got a 3.8 and 2300 or so. He was the president of Red Cross and had organized a lot of state-wide activities for that club. He had a well-known college professor write his ECs. He got accepted everywhere (Harvard, Yale, MIT, Cornell, Berkeley, UCLA). His essays demonstrated his razor-sharp focus on research.</p>

13

<p>The only ECs that I take part in are science/math ones, since that has been my focus and passion ever since middle school. I have invested a fair deal of time and effort into those, and although it is obviously difficult to find competitive schools in Nevada when competing at the national level, the teams I have lead have done well enough in their own right and as far as individual competitions are concerned I have scored at or near the top of my state. Of course, I do volunteer at NPR (good reason for that) and I play tennis (which I have done since middle school), but my focus is on math and science and that is the field I want to go into.</p>

14

<p>Looking more carefully at your first post, I have the following to add:</p>

<p>1)Focusing on your illness is something that has become trite. Family tragedy/illness is one of the most common essay topics.</p>

<p>2)Love of team competitions is also somewhat overdone.</p>

<p>A few essay topics that would be more interesting
-how your experiences have allowed you to give back to the community in a touching and unique way.
-Your team’s success. How your interest in science made you a great debater. </p>

<p>The key is not to present the stereotypical “overachieving asian” image. Show a more heartfelt side that demonstrates how your intelligence and skills have made you a mature person who gave back to the community.</p>

15

<p>What would my chances be for these schools?</p>

<p>Dartmouth -
Duke -
Northwestern -
Washington University in St. Louis -</p>

16

<p>Bump, anyone else?</p>

17

<p>Dartmouth - high match
Duke - high match
Northwestern - mid reach
Washington University in St. Louis -match
that’s what I’m guessing at least</p>

18

<p>I think your chances at all of them are decent. You probably got rejected from standford cause I think they look for ppl with very special skill sets like being very good at the piano or at tennis (a hispanic that got a 2100 but got hs state champ at tennis got accepted into stanford). chance back? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1431373-chance-top-schools.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1431373-chance-top-schools.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

19

<p>Bump, any input is appreciated</p>

20

<p>

I think these schools should be considered reaches for everybody–and Duke is probably the highest reach in this group. Still, I think you have pretty good chances of getting into several of these–they’d be good additions to your list.</p>