How to Improve my Application?

Applying to College
1

<p>I am currently a sophomore in high school in Northern VA. Some information follows; please offer some helpful hints and suggestions.</p>

<p>Potential majors:
Aerospace engineering
Environmental engineering
(some other sort of engineering; not sure at this point)</p>

<p>General:
Male
East Asian (sigh..)
4.35 GPA (weighted)
4.00 GPA (unweighted)
Rank 1/745
206 PSAT (yeah, I know it needs to go up A LOT)
5 APs this year (Environmental Science, Chemistry, Statistics, Computer Science, World History), planning for 6 next year and 5 senior year, plus some math courses at the local community college (since my school only offers up to calculus)
Planning to take SAT II for Chemistry, Math II, World History at the end of the school year
Planning to take SAT early junior year</p>

<p>P.S. -- I am REALLY worried about getting a 5 on the AP Chem exam..the stuff just doesn't click with me.</p>

<p>ECs:
Marching band, percussion (#1 in state, I believe, although I can't find an official source saying this)
Robotics team (FRC)
Youth Orchestra, Wind Symphony (first chair oboe)
Youth Orchestra, Concert Orchestra (first chair oboe)
Youth Orchestra, NCFC (church) (first chair oboe)
Boy Scout, Life Scout, Order of the Arrow (hoping to finish up Eagle soon)
Math Honor Society
Math Club
Academic Team (should become captain next year)
Interact Club
Key Club
Biology Olympiad
SCA (class delegate; not sure if this one really fits in with all the other math/science ECs)
(hoping to get into all the other honor societies next year-- science, Spanish, English, national, etc.)</p>

<p>Potential colleges:</p>

<p>MIT (1st choice)
Stanford (2nd choice)
Caltech (3rd choice)</p>

<p>UC Berkeley
UI Urbana-Champaign
University of California- Berkeley
California Institute of Technology
Carnegie Mellon University
Georgia Institute of Technology
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
University of Michigan at Ann-Arbor
Purdue University
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Stanford University
Virginia Polytechnic University
University of Virginia
University of Maryland- College Park
University of Texas- Austin
Princeton University
Cornell University
Carleton College
Wake Forest University</p>

<p>Should I apply to Harvard, Yale, etc., even though they might not really be known for their engineering programs?</p>

<p>Anyways, thanks again!</p>

2

<p>Also, I was enrolled in my school’s band program as a freshman; I dropped the course in favor of taking AP Stats, but should I pick it back up if given the chance? Or should I take extra iT courses through the program at my school?</p>

3

<p>Wow! Great stats! :slight_smile:
First of all, colleges don’t see your PSAT score, so you technically don’t need to get it up unless you want to get into the scholorship program for it. Also, it’s great that you are involved in so many clubs and activities, but you also need to make sure you have something that you’re extremely passionate about, like the thing that is most important to you and to who you are as a person. If you have Princeton Review’s 371 top colleges, look on MIT’s page. The admissions director says that many MIT applicants are lacking creativity, which is something that they really look for in an applicant. Well, hope that helped! :)</p>

4

<p>if band is something that is really important to you, then take it.</p>

5

<p>Thanks so much! I think the one EC I am most passionate about up there is marching band, so that’s what I think I’ll focus on. </p>

<p>I have another question though; if I were to go to a community college for some extra courses, would top-tier colleges (MIT, Stanford, etc.) even factor these in when doing admissions, or would I just be wasting my time?</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

6

<p>You’re welcome!
And it would probably depend on the courses you would be taking, but I’m pretty sure that they would factor them in when doing admissions. Most colleges will look at all the classes you’ve taken. I don’t think it would be a waste of time at all. It might be a good idea to take some of these courses over the summer. It’ll show the colleges that you didn’t just sit around all summer and that you actually did something academic.</p>

7

<p>Ok, thanks again! (again)</p>

8

<p>Why isn’t Harvey Mudd on this list? Top tech school and it’s part of the Claremont College consortium so you get LAC-type personal attention from faculty and 5 LACs worth of activities, people, diversity, opportunities, etc…and the weather is great all year round.</p>

9

<p>Sounds like a great college to add to the list. I’ll do some research and definitely consider it. Thanks!</p>

10

<p>bump bump bump?</p>

11

<p>where did everyone go? bump bump bump</p>

12

<p>What is your question? Get good grades, good scores. Take opportunities to lead and compete and get involved when they are there. Not much more anyone can say.</p>

13

<p>Have you researched whether those schools have your top 2 majors?</p>

14

<p>yup, i believe that all of the colleges listed have one or both of my top two majors, or something closely related (mathematics, physics, etc.)</p>

15

<p>are there any related STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) or community service clubs anyone knows of that I could possibly start at my school? I am actually really interested in leading one of these areas, but I can’t seem to find an organization to partner with…</p>

16

<p>Bump bump bump.</p>

17

<p>If the PSAT is any indication of what your SAT is going to be, bring that up but you already acknowledged that. </p>

<p>Could you get into any athletics possibly?</p>

18

<p>i do marching band (kind of athletic? maybe? a little? haha), but yeah, i swim competitively, although i’m nowhere near state ranked or anything; i’ll try out for my school’s swim team next year.</p>

<p>thanks for you input!</p>