Hello, I’m a newcomer to College Confidential! People here seem to know much more about the college admissions process than I do so I was hoping to gain some insights. I’m currently looking to apply to some really great schools (stanford, yale, princeton) and some of the schools just below the absolute top (duke, upenn, etc.). As a senior, I know there’s not too much I can do before I submit my early action application to Stanford (if I end up doing that), but can you all advise me in ways to improve my application other than working hard on having quality essays?
Here is a summary of my credentials:
SAT: 1580 (780 CR & W, 800 M)
ACT (super-scored): 35 (planning to just send in my SAT because this is really a 34.5)
PSAT: 1520/1520 in 10th grade, 1490/1520 in 11th grade. I did qualify as a National Merit Semifinalist, and I’m applying to be a finalist.
SAT subject tests: Math II, Physics, Chemistry, and U.S. History are all 800
4.0 GPA with many AP and honors courses, class rank #1 out of ~400 students
National AP Scholar (7 fives, 1 four)
I think the bulk of my extracurricular strength comes from my participation in science activities:
3rd place award at 2017 Intel ISEF in Earth and Environmental Sciences (independent project - no mentor! - on using satellite data to monitor and predict drought severity values based on satellite imagery in California)
1st place winner in 2017 and 2016 for the Indiana Academy of Science Talent Search (part of AJAS, a suborganization of AAAS)
2017 State fair 1st place winner
Within all of my state fairs I’ve won a lot of special awards.
2017 Indiana JSHS state finalist
American Chemical Soceity’s U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad – selected from school to go compete
I’ve won one state award for Indiana’s State science olympiad (2nd in bungee drop) and a few 1sts and 2nds at the regional level. My performance at science bowl is quite a bit worse though.
I also have also worked with quite a few labs (UGA’s Center for Geospatial Research, ISU’s Center for Genomic Advocacy, University of Toronto’s Institute for Aerospace Studies)
I think my leadership is pretty strong as well:
Captain of my school’s national TEAMS team
President of my school’s Asian American Club, didn’t found this club
Treasurer and now President of my school’s Model UN club, didn’t found this club
Link Leader for Link Crew at my school
Employment experience:
Instructor at Kumon Learning Center
Private Tutor with a 5th grader
I have some music and sports, but not very much (I played one year of JV soccer for my school, am a member of my local community’s running club, and have competed in a few state piano competitions)
I’ve also done things like taking classes at summer/collegiate programs, compete in math contests (qualified for AIME multiple times, multiple 1st place performances in the Indiana Council of Teachers of Mathematics Contest, 3rd place performances at the Indiana Academic Math Superbowl), and volunteered at various community functions (my favorite of which is tutoring the MATHCOUNTS team at the middle school I went to). I’ve earned some academic honors along the way as well.
Some context:
Location: Indiana
Ethnicity: Asian American
Legacy: None at universities I am aiming for right now, have a sister who attends northwestern university
Potential interests: Environmental studies, Law (maybe merging the two and going with environmental law?)
So, what do you guys think of my qualifications? How are my chances of getting into stanford early action? Are there colleges you guys think I should consider? And most importantly, what are some things I can possibly do to strengthen my application further!
Thanks for your help in advance.