IMSA Applicant Class of 2023

Prep School Admissions
61

hey guys, just wanted to receive some feedback on my stats.
ethnicity: asian
gender: male
location: naperville (204 school district - very competitive yikes!!)
gpa: 4.0 (i had one B in history 7th grade year - i hope they dont care too much about non STEM grades)
sat: collegeboard wonked out and displayed two scores for me,
1510 (720 reading/writing and 790 math), and 1470 (680 reading/writing and 790 math), score sends display the latter so i’ll go with that
STEM related activities: (hours depend on in/outside school meets)
High School Math Team Member: 2019-now, 4-8 hours a week
High School Science Olympiad Member: 2019-now, 3-6 hours a week
Middle School MathCounts Club Teacher/Volunteer: 2019-now, 2-4 hours a week
Middle School MathCounts Club Member/Co-Leader of Chapter and State team: 2016-2019, 4-8 hours a week
Middle School VEX Robotics Team Member: 2017-2019, 3 hours a week
Middle School Science Olympiad Team Member: 2018-2019, 3 hours a week
NASA Apollo 50 ANGLeS Robotics Team Member: 2018-2019, 5 hours a week
non-STEM related activities:
Pianist: 2009-now: 7-20 hours a week
Volunteer Pianist at Various Community Centers/ Nursing Homes: 2018-now, 1-2 hours a week
Teaching Assistant/Volunteer at Ray Chinese School: 2018-now, 2 hours a week
High School Model United Nations Club Member: 2019-now, 2 hours a week
Middle School Spring Musical Lead Role: Spring of 2019, 10 hours a week
Honors Chorus+Honors Ensemble Section Leader: 2018-2019, 4-8 hours a week
Orchestra Member: 2016-2019, 4-8 hours a week
TaeKwonDo: 2010-2018, 2-4 hours a week
STEM related awards:
NASA Apollo 50 ANGLeS Robotics Competition: 1st place team, STATE, 2019
MathCounts State Competition: 8th place team, STATE, 2019
AMC 8 Math Contest Honor Roll: Top 2% Individual Score, NATIONAL, 2019
Math Kangaroo Competition: 2018 NATIONAL 12th place, STATE 3rd place & 2019 NATIONAL Top 1% (21st place)
MathCounts Chapter Competition: 2nd place team, REGIONAL, 2019
High School Math Team (North Suburban Math League) Regional Competition/Meet: 1st place for both Freshman and Sophomores (Individual), REGIONAL, 2019
MathCounts District Competition: 2x 1st place individual, REGIONAL, 2018-2019
Middle School Science Olympiad Regional Competition: 1st place event (Qualified for State), REGIONAL, 2019
High School Science Olympiad Regional Competition: 1st place event, REGIONAL, 2019
VEX Robotics Regional Tournament: 2nd place team (Qualified for State), REGIONAL, 2018
non-STEM related awards: Geneva Granquist State Music Competition: 1st place Olympic Piano Performance, STATE, 2018
Achievement in Music (AIM) Piano: Passed level 12 (highest level) in Written Music Theory and Piano Performance, NATIONAL, 2019
Illinois Solo & Ensemble Piano/Singing Performance: 3x 1st Division (highest award), STATE, 2017, 2018, 2019
TaeKwonDo: Second Degree Black Belt Certification, REGIONAL, 2018
Middle School Graduating Honor Roll: 2019
recs: probably a really strong math rec because my teacher is my math team coach, science and english are probably decent and i did my 8th grade math teacher as optional, probably strong rec as well
essays: pretty decent imo; i incorporated narratives into two of them and the rest exuded my passion for STEM and leadership well

my main concern is probably my SAT score, is it worthwhile to retake in march so i can try for a better reading/writing score as i live in a very competitive area? there are also a lot of people applying from my school this year (iirc like 20) and a lot of them are very strong as well. thanks!

62

@rbo912
i’m also applying to imsa, so i may not be as qualified as a current student lol
since you’re in naperville, which is really competitive, i would definitely study hard to up the reading/writing score. otherwise, your math score is great, but i can’t really speak more because admissions is very holistic and a lot of factors play a role in the strength of your application. would you mind sharing your ecs and awards?

63

@rbo912

Like what @Fasweder said, I would recommend that you try to improve your SAT EBRW score so that it’s well balanced with your SAT math score and to stay competitive with the other applicants in Naperville. Your grades should be good enough, as long as you have As in your freshman year. Hopefully, this helped and good luck to all.

64

Let the waiting game begin.

65

Isn’t this thread awfully quiet? 2 weeks gone past due date!!

66

Due date is March 01.

67

Requesting current students to share their thoughts:

  1. Do you recollect any ‘male’ shmen making it to IMSA from Chicagoland with SAT Maths less than 740? Most of them seem to have SAT Math scores above 750-760 (especially if they are from Chicago/North Suburbs/Naperville-Aurora/Schaumburg)!
  2. Noticed that some shmen declined offers last year. Did any shmen ever get into/got off the waitlist to take their place in Class of 2022?

Any answers are greatly appreciated.

68

@havnoclu
Schmen admissions are very complicated. In my opinion, Schmen admission are based on need. What I mean by that is, if you are running out of math courses at your school, then you demonstrate need for imsa. It’s all very complicated, and no one factor completely outweighs the other, but your sat is exceptional and from there I think it’s purely circumstantial.

69

@havnoclu
I’ve also never heard of schmen (beside suda schmen) being put on the wait pool.

70

I’m a current junior at IMSA ask me any questions you have

71

What is the average SAT score of schmen at IMSA, and will it affect my chance of admission that I did have many awards nor extracurricular activities?

72

I’m not sure what the score is for a schmen, although I know it’s higher than the average imsa student (maybe like somewhere above a 1400?), but I know that awards aren’t hugely important; I didn’t really have any actual ones. For extracurriculars, they do like to see that you’re involved, but if you only have like one thing that you’re really committed to, I think that would work too.

73

I got an email for IMSA saying that they aren’t looking at sat scores due to covid19. So, I’m assuming they’re just looking at essays, recs, grade, ecs, and awards this year.

74

Yes, I got confirmation that IMSA is not considering SAT scores. Not fair because I got a perfect score.

75

I- you’re kidding me. Are you a freshman or an 8th grader?

76

@Tewa23
Congrats, that’s an excellent score. If it makes you feel better, IMSA has never weighted the SAT very high, they would never say it, but from my understanding SAT is the lowest looked at portion of the application. Additionally, every year people with scores from as low as 900 to 1600 get in.

77

The SAT is weighted so low that they’ve considered getting rid of it as a requirement completely. Not to say it isn’t used in decisions, but it’s not your end all be all.

78

Does anyone know if IMSA is still considering geographic location as a factor in acceptance decisions?

79

Yes, they consider geographical location, but very loosely. Some say you need a 1400+ to get in if you live in Naperville, but that’s just not true. In my opinion, they hold teacher recs and essays as the biggest factor for admissions.

80

Hey guys! I got into IMSA as a shmen so feel free to ask me questions about life at IMSA or IMSA in general