Hello, I am currently a junior worried about college admissions. Please give me some advice as to how I can improve my application and chances.
Gender: Female
Race: Asian
Intended Major: Science (maybe Bio or Chem?)
GPA (10-11): 4.6
GPA (unweighted): 4.0
SAT: 1500
AP:
Sophomore: AP Physics 1 (5), AP World (4)
Junior: AP Lang, APUSH, AP Calc BC, AP Bio, AP Chinese
Clubs:
school science magazine (copy editor; has won a national journalism award)
started two clubs (one STEM related and the other culture related
speech and debate without any awards
Other Extracurriculars:
Quantum Mechanics/Chemistry internship at a nearby university (I’m just learning about it right now; I’m not doing any significant research papers, etc.)
I’m recommending you may wanna take several sat2 tests (like math2, physics and chemistry/bio). Also you may wanna increase your SAT score a little bit like 1550+ in order to increase your chance. Always remember that score matters if you are Asian.
Outside classroom, I do believe a decent research paper is needed to distinguish you from other applicants in case of academic research ability in college. Try to take advantage of your resources at the nearby university. There might be some professors out there who can help you out or simply just give some ideas on your topics to research on.
Also you could develop your leadership a bit more through your club activities and potential debate competitions if you have time for any.
Your academics and stats are fine (or will be by the time you apply.) You can either continue the laser focus on stats and checking the stereotypical boxes - like forming a club or doing a research paper - and duke it out in a very, very competitive field where there will be 1000s of applicants that look exactly like you… or you can use this last year to go deeper in one of your areas of interest and expertise. Do a deep dive into an activity that not just interests you but allows you to show who you are, what drives you, how you make choices, what you prioritize. If you can think of that activity in 30 seconds or it’s something you’ve seen on numerous “chance me” threads or lists of suggested great ECs, that’s probably not the right one.
Read the MIT blogs about applying sideways or the Cal Newport book on how to be a superstar. They’ll give you insight about how to find your own path.
Thank you for your advice!
I just have another quick question; in what other ways could I take advantage of your resources at the nearby university if I feel like quantum mechanics is a really difficult topic that would take me more than a year or two to come up with/publish a research paper?