In need of advice, thank you

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvey Mudd College
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<p>Hello, I am interested in attending Harvey Mudd, but I am uncertain whether or not I have a good chance of being accepted. I'm currently in 11th grade, so I'll be applying for 2011. </p>

<p>Current stats:
GPA: 3.912 (unweighted) and 4.55 (weighted)
SAT: 1880 (1270 math/reading); I will be retaking the SAT's to break like 2100 (1450 math/reading).
SAT II: I will be taking Math II and a science (I haven’t decided which science yet) in May (should I take a 3rd?)
Class Rigor: Took max honors/AP every year (see the breakdown below)
Extra-Curriculars: Clubs [environmental/community service-related], ~130 hours of community service (hours completed over summers/winter breaks)
Will be applying for: Computer Science/Engineering</p>

<p>I plan on continuing straight A's until I graduate, which will hopefully put me around rank 12 (rank 1 – 20 is the top 5% at my school) for my class rank, maybe even lower (currently 18), and increase my GPA (unweighted) to about 3.95. I am also going to look for a job over the summer and will continue to work throughout 12th grade. In my spare time over the summer (which will be plenty), I'm going to gain more community service hours to hopefully break 200. This will probably sound stupid, but I am also a competitive gamer (I've won some money tournaments at LAN centers and even at my school). Should I even bother writing that in my application or will it make me seem like a joke? I mean, if I am able to elaborate on my gaming, I would probably write about how the collaborative skills and discipline gained through my team-based gaming has shown me the importance and principles of working together to achieve a greater common goal. The gaming is what I chose over pursuing cross country at school, which was probably a bad idea (I quit in like late 9th grade due to my inability to commit to practices). </p>

<p>This is my (classes taken at high school) breakdown:
Summer before 9th grade - geometry
9th grade - Honors: biology, english 1, algebra 2; Normal (CP/college prep): spanish 1, P.E., and health and tech
Summer before 10th grade - chemistry
10th grade - AP: world history, physics; Honors: english 2, spanish 2, pre-calculus; Normal: P.E.
11th grade - AP: U.S. history, biology, English language and composition, calculus AB, statistics; Honors: spanish 3
Summer before 12th grade (expected) - graphic arts (vocational education/high school graduation requirement)
12th grade (expected) - AP: Government/economics, literature, calculus BC, psychology; Normal (CP): art (this schedule can be changed, but these 5 I am taking for sure, if any changes are made, it would either be replacing AP psych with honors anatomy or adding honors anatomy and having 6 classes)</p>

<p>My questions to those who have been accepted/are attending HMC:
Will what I have stated above suffice to qualify as a competitive computer science/ engineering student? (I understand this is impossible to determine, but I trust your judgment over my own)
Is there anything specific I should do between now and the application period to further ensure submitting a competitive application on my behalf?
In your opinion, what are my chances of getting accepted to HMC for computer science/engineering?</p>

<p>I will be doing an application interview when the time comes. Feel free to be critical/ask questions, I know I haven’t done the best in high school >_></p>

<p>I realize this is a very long post, so I want to thank you in advance for your time, consideration, and advice.</p>

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<p>“I know I haven’t done the best in high school” </p>

<p>I think you must be reading CC discussions too much. You have a great GPA with some challenging courses. You should be proud of that. To bring up test scores, try “SAT Question of the Day” on the CollegeBoard website.</p>

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<p>Dunno if my estimates are accurate or even close, but we’ll see next year! </p>

<p>GPA is definitely great! Are you a female or a male… as you know, HMC’s gender ratio is pretty skewed. 2100 should get you in, but it doesn’t hurt to aim for a 2100+. Well I shouldn’t be talking, but that’s what I would have done. Do you have any awards?</p>

<p>Take Math II SAT II, take another science one. Doesn’t matter which one, just one you know you’ll do well on. You don’t have to take a third one, I reported my USH SAT II score and that was between 600-650 xD but my science/math scores were of course 700+. </p>

<p>You might want to get some experience in CS or engineering rather than a job, if you don’t need the money. Of course everyone does because HMC is expensive. I don’t know but I have tons of volunteer hours, and I’m not sure whether it is worth the time to go out of your way to accrue more hours in random projects. You definitely should spend your time searching for a meaningful activity. Better yet, get a job/paid internship in CS and engineering!</p>

<p>Classes - I don’t know your school, but if you are taking the most rigorous courses you should be good. </p>

<p>Gaming - Dunno. :3</p>

<p>Answers to questions
1: TBO, your application sounds like a typical good student. Get your SAT up! Maybe you can say something about your gaming as a hook but I think that will take some good writing skills xD Definitely go get an interview, talk to students, talk to staff members… show the college you’re interested. So to answer more directly… you’re competitive but your application isn’t standing out.
2. Get some research opportunities over the summer?
3. Engineering I know is one of the most popular majors (duh that’s why you are considering Mudd), but I can’t give you a number.</p>

<p>Lastly, write brilliant essays. Don’t say you quit because you can’t commit, because Mudd takes some huge commitment. </p>

<p>Hope this helped. I wish you good luck.</p>

<p>P.S. stree123: I didn’t mean to sound rude. Heck, I didn’t even think I’d get in (I’m not a great student either), but ED definitely helped me. I once posted my stats on Yahoo! answers and just because I didn’t do so well on this one test everyone said I had no chance.</p>

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<p>My son hasn’t yet been accepted to Mudd (his first choice) but I’ll give opinions anyway! I’ve got plenty to spare.</p>

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<p>Sounds like a reasonable essay to me. It mitigates what could be seen as a weakness and turns it into a strength.</p>

<p>I agree with Minz’s suggestion “You might want to get some experience in CS or engineering rather than a job, if you don’t need the money.” If you could write a program for someone (a web site is MUCH less exciting) that would probably help. </p>

<p>If you get your SAT scores up, I would also agree with Minz’s comment that “you’re competitive but your application isn’t standing out.” What can you do to stand out? Do you know anyone who teaches at a university you could work with? Could you cold-call people at a nearby university and ask if they can use research help? </p>

<p>Keep in mind, though, that Mudd turns away qualified applicants because they just don’t have the space for everyone. Be sure to find good safeties, academic and financial, and fall in love with them as well.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>@minz
I’m a male.
I have random awards throughout my schooling; in 6th grade I received a president’s award for academics. I’m in an environmental committee run by USC and Southern California Edison which is pretty much a group that creates a realistic project idea for an alternative energy source and how it can be applied to better the environment (Edison Challenge). I have a student of the month award from middle school and a few academic achievement awards from high school. My parents have kept all my certificates and such in a drawer, there are more than what I’ve listed, these are the ones that are coming to mind at the moment, though.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, I need the extra money from a part time job, I was thinking about finding one that requires the use of a computer, even a simple data entry job would be better than working at a grocery store or something, right? As for the internship, I was looking into internships at JPL and IBM but they are all insane to get in to, so a job is probably a better bet.</p>

<p>Yeah I won’t mention the lack of commitment, and I’ll have my essays proofread by my English teacher. You didn’t sound rude at all, thank you for your reply, I really appreciate it.</p>

<p>@GeekMom63
Haha, yeah the essay idea was the first that came to my head, it can be altered. The only real “connections” I’d have with people at Harvey Mudd are some of the alumni. Would it help if they recommended me to HMC?</p>

<p>Thank you</p>

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<p>Your coursework is good, but it will be important to get your SAT up as much as you can. A 2100 would put you around the 25-30th percentile, so you should have a shot from there, but most people who get in from that range have impressive ECs or some kind of strong hook. I think being a competitive gamer is interesting, and an essay about collaboration could be pretty powerful. Good luck!</p>

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<p>An alumnus recommendation couldn’t hurt, but only if this person really knows and loves you. Not just some guy who’s your mother’s friend. And yes, I agree that even a data-entry job would be better than a grocery job, because if you’re doing data entry, or better yet, admin assistant, you will probably find opportunities to help the office in ways other than strictly your job by your superior knowledge of MS Office and networking.</p>

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<p>@Daniel12
Yeah I’m not retaking the SAT’s until June so I’m going to study as much as possible. Hopefully I’ll be able to surpass 2100. Thank you.</p>

<p>@GeekMom63
Ah, I see. Thank you for the advice.</p>