IMSA Applicant Class of 2023

@IllinoisStar I don’t think that will matter at all.

@K9Dude17
I think that my application is strong for acceptance. I was just wondering about the High School Level Science Course.
We could not afford expensive courses, that can cost upwards $700, just for this application. I had found a Chemistry Course on Courses.Com from Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy. How will/can I send this course to IMSA, for proper documentation?
IMSA has been a long dream for me, and I hope that this course qualification does not be a factor of rejection.

@IllinoisStar You can ask IMSA, they can tell you what previous 8th grade applicants have used in their applications. As for sending the course to IMSA, I’m not entirely sure, but I think there was somewhere on the application that had a spot for that. It should make more sense when applications open.

Hi guys! I am a freshman who is going to apply for 2023 grads. I was just wondering I really don’t have any outstanding awards nor do I have a lot would this make a major impact on my chances of getting in? How many awards will boost my chances of getting in and do you have any recommendations on awards that I can achieve in the next year?

One more question: on the website it says that IMSA applications are due on Feb. 1 but what if you wanted to take the March SAT test? Would you still be able to put that on your application?

@swimmingstar you would have to just contact the admissions office and tell them that you’re taking the March SAT, and they’ll give you further instructions.

Hey, so I’m a male Asian-Indian from around the Normal/Peoria Area (Freshmen). I haven’t taken the official SAT yet but I will soon. I got 1210 on a practice test the last time I took a practice test at a certain center. I have straight A’s throughout 7th, 8th and so far 9th grade. I do lots of extracurriculars throughout school and do play basketball. Is there anything I can do to have a better chance of getting in? I know that people are saying that in non-competitive areas having 1100-1400 is really good? Is there a certain score I can aim for or something. Thank You

Hey guys, I’m an eighth grader applying from the Naperville area. These are my stats. Just wanted to know how I should feel going in.

Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Indian
SAT: 1390
GPA: 3.98 (One B+, and 3 A-'s, rest A’s)

EC’s:
STEM Innovation Squad (Founder)
Math Club
AA School Basketball Team
Science Olympiad
School Chamber Orchestra (Concertmaster), or should I do Naperville Youth Symphony Orchestra?

Awards:
Conrad Spirit of Innovation Challenge Finalist (International)
AMC 8 Distinguished Honor Roll (Perfect Score, and National)
MathCounts Chapter 1st place individual

Essays: I’ll talk about my passion for economics, or innovation. I might also sprinkle in a bit of basketball and music.

Teacher Recs: My teachers pretty much like me so far…

I’m just worried about my SAT Score of 1390. What are my chances of getting in?

@pranets251 looking at your application, you are strong. A higher SAT score would be better, because from your area it is very competitive. I would recommend a 1400+, but what ends up carrying your application is your essay.

@pranets251 I think you have good ECs, but since you’re in the Naperville area, having a 1400+ would be better. For your ECs put everything you’ve done (both of the orchestras you’re in). The more stuff you have, the more social and active you look on your application.

A lot of people take online classes during the year that correspond to a high school course, and that works. You would have to request the transcript for the course to be sent to IMSA when applying, and then IMSA would know that you took it

@itachikun
I got my SAT rescored, and I got a 1460 (800 Math, 660 Reading). Do you think I should retake the SAT?

@pranets251

You should be good for now, but if you feel unsure about your SAT score and want to improve the SAT reading and writing sections, go ahead. Again, being an eighth grader, IMSA wants to see that you’re able to transition from eighth grade content to sophomore level content smoothly and without much difficulty, so they’re expecting more of eighth graders than freshmen because of the grade skipping. And also, congrats on getting a perfect score on the SAT math section. Hopefully that helps out.

Thought I’d share my academic statistics here. What should I improve and what am I doing well?

  • GENERAL -

Ethnicity: Hispanic

Gender: Male

Region: Chicagolands

Grade: 9th

  • ACADEMICS -

GPA: It’s around the 3.6 - 4.0 range, unweighted.
.
SAT: 1120 (Practice Test 1 back in May 2019), I’m taking a practice test tomorrow.

Grades: 3 Bs and the rest (n = 5) are As. Again, this should be improving shortly.

  • EXTRACURRICULARS -
  • Math Team (9th grade)
  • Swim Team (9th grade, winter season)
  • Yearbook Club (6th, 7th, and 8th grade), probably doing this during freshman year too.
  • Student Council (6th and 8th grade)
  • National Junior Honor Society (8th grade)
  • PROMISE Program (9th grade, throughout the admissions process on Saturdays)

I’ve volunteered at the library for about two years now, but I haven’t signed up for this school year though. Should I?

  • AWARDS -
  • National Junior Honor Society Membership (8th grade)
  • President's Award for Educational Excellence (8th grade)
  • Freshman team ranked 2nd place for the first meet of NSML (North Suburban Mathematics League)
  • COURSELOAD -
  • Introduction to Business
  • Accelerated Spanish III (Because I'm a native Spanish speaker, duh)
  • Accelerated Chemistry
  • Accelerated Geometry and Trigonometry
  • Accelerated English I
  • AP World History: Modern

Accelerated courses are equivalent to honors courses, due to my local high school not having them.

Thanks for reading.

Hi!~
I am currently a seventh grader looking to go to IMSA. I do not have many awards or ECS under my name so I was wondering if anyone could recommend some!

@RedGod

It depends on what your local middle school offers. But I would recommend that you join some STEM-related activities or extracurriculars that you can do in your free time.

Hey, I’m a freshman looking to join IMSA. Here’s my current application so far, please give tips on how to improve and if I would get accepted or not. I’m worried that since I don’t have any advanced classes (very small high school) and not that many STEM awards, it might ruin my chances. Thanks!

Ethnicity: Indian American
Gender: Male
Region: Rural Western Illinois
Grade: 9th

GPA: 7th: 3.95, 8th: 3.97, 9th: 4.00 (on a scale to 1.00 to 4.00)

SAT: Scoring around 1400s on practice tests

Current Classes (extremely small high school, no AP/Honor classes):

  • US History
  • Geometry
  • Physical Science
  • Literature
  • Computer Applications (IT Business)
  • Spanish I
  • Band

Online Classes (not associated with school):

  • Introduction to Mathematical Thinking - Stanford
  • C Programming - LearnProgramming
  • Arduino Workshop 2018 - Core Electronics

ECs:

  • Concert Band for ~4 years (4-5 hrs per week)
  • Marching Band for 1 year (5-6 hrs per week)
  • Starting Jazz Band
  • Track for ~2 years (7 hrs per week)
  • Tennis for ~7 years (2-5 hrs per week)
  • Robotics (self-taught) for ~2 years (Arduino)
  • Code for ~4 years (self-taught HTML, Python, C++, Arduino)
  • HS Science Club
  • Talented and Gifted (TAG) student for ~2 years

–Awards:–

  • Graduated middle school as valedictorian
  • 99th percentile for National Math Curriculum in the US
  • Built a Vex Drag-Car that won 1st place in my grade for the fastest (2.20 sec. for 20 ft)
  • Track: - 1st in Distance Medley Relay in Southeast Iowa Super Conference - 3rd in 200m dash (out of 15-18 students) - 3rd in 4x100 relay (out of 8-10 teams) - Boys Track got 1st in 2019 Southeast Iowa (SI) region + won 2019 SI conference
  • Marching Band Awards: - Awarded “Outstanding Horn Line” // Gotten a II rating (Wilton Annual
    Marching Band Contest) - Still have a contest to go this season (State)
  • Achieved High Honor Roll for 5 consecutive years (4th - 8th)

Teacher Recs: should be solid

Thanks!

Alright. Well, my Honors Geometry grade is probably going to be an A- (91.82%). But my overall GPA will still be above 3.95. I know this might hurt my chances, especially as an eighth grader, but is it really going to be that bad?

Hi, I’m applying to IMSA’s class of 2023 as an eighth grader. Unfortunately, my school has absolutely no gifted, honors, or accelerated classes. How in a way can I make that up?

@Illiuminaughty

Make sure that you’re taking the most difficult classes that you can possible at your middle school. But, just because your school doesn’t have any accelerated classes doesn’t mean that you can’t do more. Do courses on Khan Academy on your free time. Don’t be limited with your schedule just because they don’t have those advanced courses for you. Hopefully that helped.