So, I live in the San Diego area and I was able to partner up with an engineer to do my internship. I am going to keep his name anonymous for the sake of privacy reasons. He works at Abbott as an engineer and tech specialist. We have a good relationship with each other and since we both come from the same country, we are also culturally connected. Ever since the whole coronavirus situation erupted, the person I was doing my internship with has been trying to figure out a way to rapidly test patients for Covid-19. Alongside him, I have been helping him do lab work. He even let me play around with some tools that revolved around molecular technology. Long story short, him and I were able to create 5 minute testing device kit which is able to give results within 5 minutes or less. He was the brain and I was the physical work. This testing kit was upheld by President Trump and gained some attention from super famous figures out there like Elon Musk. I am even suppose to have an interview with some news outlets like Inside Edition, next week. How will this affect my chances of getting into top tier colleges such as Stanford?
Obviously this will increase your chances at any college, you have to know that. It won’t guarantee you admission anywhere, though. Schools like Stanford and the ivies have tons of applicants that do important research work at top companies. Especially with the grades mentioned in your last thread, I’d work hard to make this an important part of your application.
Sounds like you didn’t really invent it, you did the gruntwork for the enginer who did invent it.
But I’m sure you could use the experience and what it taught you/how it inspire you for the basis of an essay.
Being on TV though is a totally different ballgame if in fact that’s what will happen, see David Hogg, rejected by UCLA, goes on TV a lot, to his credit advocating for gun control, reapplies next year, gets into Harvard. You can’t coast through high school of course, but even the Stanfords of the world love glamour (a term I saw in a college admissions book) applicants. It doesn’t mean you’re getting in, but you’d be in a different pile when being discussed.
OP, are you talking about the The “ID Now” rapid testing device?
The odds are slim for Stanford and the Ivies as they are for everybody. Just apply and see what happens.
btw: hope you re you retaking the poor grades due to your heart transplant.
What kind of work did you actually do? Monitor tests the engineer set up? Fetch supplies and clean up? If the engineer came up with the idea, he’s the one who invented it. If schools ask him about your involvement, what would he say?
Did you make substantial contributions to creating the kit? Or did you do things like cleaning test tubes, recording data etc. If it was the later then I don’t think it will get you into a schools that you are not otherwise qualified for – it would be more like you were in the right place at the right time. However, the expereince could be the basis for a good essay and you might want to ask the engineer to write a supplemental letter of recommendation discussing your expereince there.
As I noted in your other post PLEASE PLEASE stop obsessing about top tier colleges. With acceptance rates in the single digits, they are reaches for every unhooked applicant – even students with perfect academics and fantastic ECs. Sure apply to a few reach schools and give those applications your all. But also work to create a balanced application list given your GPA and standardized tests. Spend the time needed to seek out those amazing match and safety schools that are affordable (run net price calculator) and that you would be excited to attend. See if you can order a good college guide book during this time (ex. Fiske, Princeton Review) and read up on different schools. Some fantastic options have more reasonable acceptance rates and could be possible match schools (ex. URochester, Case Western to name but a couple) Also be sure to take any future/possible/continuing medical needs into account in developing your college list.
They may be fantastic options but OP and teenagers like him or her are not going to think that way, at least right now. I almost went to one of those colleges and I didn’t think they were fantastic in 10th or 11th grade. And most of my classmates in upstate NY didn’t either. They were also focused on ivies, MIT, Stanford, Michigan, Chicago and Amherst/Williams. This thread has gotten pretty judgemental, not sure why.
Getting on a Show like Inside Edition isn’t a big “it.” But you need to understand that the most competitive holistic colleges want to see much more than one glamour aspect. Substance trumps some dubious “honor.”
You need to understand better what does ring Stanford’s bells. Otherwise, it’s like shooting in the dark.
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btw: hope you re you retaking the poor grades due to your heart transplant.<<<
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I am surprised your parents even let you leave the house to go the the Abbott lab considering how vulnerable you are to covid on your meds. Your folks must be really chill, huh?
Heart transplant, President Trump. Elon Musk, inside edition LOL, that is a lot ?
“The odds are slim for Stanford and the Ivies as they are for everybody”
That’s actually not true and a myth that keeps perpetuating. The Harvard data clearly shows that the odds for a legacy or athlete is not the reported average of 5%. A legacy with strong academics has about a 30-40% chance of getting in, athletes about 80%, Malia Obama, 100%.
@theloniusmonk Can we agree that the odds of admission are slim for any unhooked applicant?
I often think the desire to be nice, encouraging, confuses the message some posters give out. You don’t get into Stanford because someone says they like glamour applicants. You need the whole package. And OP isnt showing he understands what that even is.
Plus it seems he only assisted someone else. Adcoms know how infrequently 17 year olds do this work entirely by themselves. Even just hinting your role was more than it was, can raise serious flags about your thinking and judgment, a big problem.
Unless you got a patent and wrote a paper as a primary author, don’t brag your achievement (I’m not saying you did). Modesty in such situation will impress adcom more as a testament to your character.
Maybe use the topic in your essays? While you didn’t actually invent the kit, write in your essays how working with the scientist to create a better testing kit inspired you to continue to pursue your passion of STEM or something like that.
“Can we agree that the odds of admission are slim for any unhooked applicant?”
For sure, unhooked would have to be around 1-2% to balance the athletes, legacies, and minorities.
“You don’t get into Stanford”
Agree, and no one said OP was getting in just based on what we know.
“Even just hinting your role was more than it was,”
The OP has been clear his or her role saying the prof was the brains, how could that be exaggerating the contribution? If the OP does, yes that would be not looked at too well.
The title of the thread asks if “inventing a testing kit” will improve chances at elite colleges like Stanford. Given what OP posted about what they actually did that does seem like an exaggeration.
I don’t see the stats anywhere and we know he had some poor grades.
Sorry, but with this level of competition for an admit, lower grades can be taken for a lower level of learning accomplished. Less prepared for the next, tougher courses in a sequence. And with all the stellar applicants, they aren’t afraid to say, “Sorry, best wishes where you do land.”
Agree with Austin. He said inventing and none of us are mind readers about what he’s thinking. If he confuses us here, he’s not at a level where he clearly understands what a tippy top wants to see.
Thats in the transcript, the level of thinking that shows in any writing and even how you structure the app, who your LoRs come from (it’s not about who “loves” you, but the right author and what he/she writes that IS relevant to the class they want.)
A lot of this disvovery is OP’s responsibility. Not for us to guess because some neighbor kid got in or 25 years ago you did or didn’t do something and got in. This is OP’s college app, not some friendly chat. No points for explaining that you didn’t get the right sort of ECs, but you did what YOU had some “passion” for. They want what THEY want.
It’s so much more than I love you, I filled out this app, take me as I am Or the confused admission that you played a partial role which you consider enough to call “inventing.”
Btw, look at Abbott’s press releases about this product. In the first Google findings, (easy to find,) no mention of one lead inventor. They explain it was nationwide stars from various depts, cooperating. It casts doubt on any claim your role was more special than any other intern’s.
Some kids would retake the stem courses that were low grades, it would show me awareness you have a problem there and the initiative/energy to fix it. Another idea is to take and ace the next tougher course in the sequence. An A grade. Maybe this teacher raves about you in a LoR, in relevant ways. Not Bobby always has his homewok done. Or, “I heard he’s great as a school ambassador.” Relevant writer choice, too.
Various options. (Besides retaking.) But you have to familiarize yourself, not go on something a hs kid or parent thinks.
Then, in some writing portion, a careful wording of inspiration can be authentic. But the essay is not where you just chat it out. It’s “Show, not just tell.” They want to see themselves how you moved forward. not just what you proclaim.
It’s tough work. If you can’t do it, you may need to drop your expectations.
And don’t put down other highly respected unis because you don’t know them or someone else says kids aren’t interested. The education that gets you further in life includes much more than some media ranking. And they look for this energy and vision, determination. A school like Stanford can be brutal, once there. You need to show you have what it takes, selected from a host of the traits they look for. Not just one glory point.