Hello future applicants to the Illinois mathematics and science academy,
This forum is for discussion relating to admissions for the class of 2020. The discussion can involve chances, questions. etc. I wish everyone good luck with admissions for this school!
Here are the forums for previous years applicants:
2019 → http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19793213#Comment_19793213
2018 → http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/1684628-imsa-applicant-class-of-2018-p1.html
Hello. I am an applicant for the class of 2020!
STATS:
Ethnicity: Asian
Region: Chicagoland
GPA: 3.7 (3.43 - 7th grade 3.94 - 8th grade) (For GPA, I am part of the gifted program in my school and got in in the 7th grade so my grades were pretty bad. I picked it up in the 8th grade though)!
SAT: 750 Math and 750 Reading on Practice Tests. I have not taking the actual test.
ECS:
High Performance Tennis (I played for 5 years and am part of a program only for the elite players of illinois)
Track (Placed on Varsity team roster in track camp)
Math Counts
Volunteered at pet shelter - 20 hours
STEM Club
Robotics Club
(Probably will do science olympiad in high school)
Awards (I lack a lot in this):
Highest place in Region 9 science fair two years in a row
Highest place in district science fair two years in a row
8th place in Conference for Track and Field
Honors in High Performance Tennis program
High Honors all throughout 8th grade year
Honors all throughout 7th grade year
High School Course Load: Honors alg2/trig, honors bio, honors ELA, AP human, spanish 2.
So can someone give comments on my chances and such. I want to go to IMSA but since I’m from the chicagoland I know I have no chance of making it given my low af gpa.
@imsa2020 GPA only make about 30% of your application, your SAT is another 30%, and you are above average there, if you have true passion to math and science clearly expressed throughout your essays, and good teachers recommendation, you have a good chance. You might end up in a wait list though. They had about 80 people wait listed for the class of 2019 and only few made out of waiting list yet… However, if your home school is a good school, even if you do not make to IMSA you are in a good shape, and also you will probably have a better chance to get into a top colleges if you choose to stay at your home school… It is just my opinion.
@imsa2020
Hey, I was accepted for the Class of 2019 and will be attending IMSA in about a month.
About your GPA, remember that you still have your 9th grade grades. Work hard for all As and it will really help. I got in with about a 3.73 so it is totally possible! Good luck! 
@imsa2020 Also your gender make a difference, it is much more competitive for males.
@javascript Thanks for the info, and also are you applying for class of 2020?
@Qpint22 Hey, what like area from illinois were you applying from. Also, did you have any significant math and science awards and activities. I sadly lack here :(. Lastly, what do you think made you stand out from the other applicants
@imsa2020 yes I am applying this year, I did apply as 8th grader, did not get in, but got an 8th grader interview. I am not from Chicago area, so I do not have many opportunities as you do…
@javascript Well yeah but atleast you don’t have the amount of competition in the Naperville area! I did not apply last year btw because my gpa was pretty bad. Also do you think my 20 hours of volunteering in pet shelters makes a difference?
@imsa2020 well, volunteering is good, it will go toward your last 1/3 which is teachers recommendations, essays, awards and extracurricular activities. I do not think it will make a huge impact on your acceptance, but it is good. I can’t say about weight of your volunteering. May be if someone with everything else just like you except volunteering applying, you will have an advantage… but IMSA choice is based a lot on overall impression about you. They might like another person more, who is just like you but without volunteering and will accept him instead. It is not a simple calculation how they choose…
@imsa2020
I come from Springfield which to be honest helped with my application. For my science and math awards I had a grand total of 1 (Science Inavation and Discovery Award from my middle school). And for the activities side I had a summer camp ( taking Robatics and Engineering).
I think what really helped me was my essays. I made sure to explain how my love for programming emerged at a young age. Also don’t be afraid to mention non math and science passions. My essay on a community project had 0 mention of math and science and instead showed my passion for helping others. You want to show yourself not what you think imsa wants from you.
To all applicants SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION A FEW DAYS EARLY!!! On the last day everyone tries to finish it so nothing saves or wroks and it goes really slow. It is a mess and it is 100% worth it to finish it a couple days before so you don’t have to worry about.
@Qpint22 Oh yeah i took programming classes in Java and stuff forgot about that. I have an arduino and raspberry PI if you know what those are. I guess I can whip something out from that thanks for the info. Also, do you find that awards are truly something that impacts your application greatly?
Also how do you guys think they will grade the new sat. Do you think they will grade our essays since the essays are now optional?
@Qpint22 They will have a new system for the 2020 class application, it will work better.
@imsa2020 you will need to take SAT WITH essay. They want to look at your essay too.
@imsa2020 since new SAT math covers trigonometry and precalculus, in comparison to old SAT, they can not compare old SAT performance to new one. Writing section is harder too on new SAT.
@imsa2020
I can’t really say for sure , but awards are always just one part of overall application. I belive they factor into your RCE score with your essays, evalutaions, and activities. The RCE is only 1/3 of you application ,but the weighting might be different.
@javascript Oh ok, that is great to hear!
@javascript Huh. Idk about you but I find the new SAT much easier than the old one. Especially the writing for me lol. I am also glad they took out the vocab section in reading because that messed me up. I agree math is a little bit harder but manageable.