Is Harvard, MIT, Yale or UPenn M&T possible? Also, other concerns.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey! I am writing this post on my old high school friend’s behalf who isn’t on CC. His top choices are Harvard, MIT and the UPenn M&T program. However, along with the usual chance me thread, there are other concerns that I need help in addressing. He does not have a decent counselor at school and cannot afford to hire those pricey private consultants. I’ll list the questions out after the stats.

SAT - 2200 (720 CR/710 M/770 W), ACT - taking in September.
Subject tests - 800: Math L2, Physics and Chem in October.
Grades - Currently 96% (rising senior) with a massive upward trend throughout his school years (roughly corresponds to a 4.0 UW)

Awards: Qualified for the INMO (akin to the USAMO), a few other awards by the government for sci/math or innovation. Nothing extra ordinary though.

ECs:

  1. Science/Mathematics Research: Carried out research in combinatorics (forbidden patterns) under a renowned professor at MIT, carried out research in game theory and graph theory under a Godel Prize winner, machine learning (CS) research carried out independently and another CS research carried out independently,

Now all of the research is either A) published in peer reviewed journals where he is the first author or B) being developed for publication.

  1. Volunteer work: Started a non profit with his friends where they teach CS to underprivileged kids. Helped reach out to 3000 children in 11 cities. Has over 800 hours of community service if at all it matters.

  2. Ventures: He started his own actual business (app) where he recently raised a six figure sum for seed money. Currently, the number of users are relatively low, but the growth rate is insane. I cannot reveal the name of the app because it will lead to revelation of his identity. I wonder why he wants to go to college after doing this

  3. Other ECs: sports (multi sport varsity athlete, captained the teams till district level. Not being recruited though), leadership positions (present on the student council since the 10th grade, became president this year), card magic is his passion. He also developed an algorithmic trader. Lots of other normal ECs.

So now that you know his stats, here are his concerns:

  1. Will the adcomms really believe that a 17 year old can do all this? It is highly unlikely that many applicants do all of this stuff. Moreover, his common app essays won’t be about sci/math things (otherwise he could have explained there).
    In this case, what will help him make the stuff look more credible (other than recs, of which, he has a lot).

  2. Will the adcomms wonder about the depth in each activity? I mean, the depth is clearly visible from the ECs, but will the adcomms doubt it?

  3. His only non-academic ECs are sports, clubs, student council and card magic :-p Will the lack of non-academic ECs hurt him?

  4. How seriously will the adcomms take card magic? For him, it is a really important part of not only his application, but his entire life.

  5. Will the lack of major international awards hurt him a lot or will his ECs more or less compensate for it. Also, he plans to rigorously preparing for the olympiads this year. He will also take part in ISEF this year, but I think that it will be too late for the stuff to actually matter (his candidacy notwithstanding).

Okay, those are his concerns. He is an Indian Citizen and he DOES NOT NEED FINANCIAL AID. He will also defer a year after he gets admission. (He doesn’t want to take a gap year and then apply, but defer a year after he gets admitted).

He has a balanced list of colleges and has a safety back there in India too.

Let me know what you think about his chances to the few colleges listed and more importantly, his concerns. I’ll relay the answers back to him.

Thank you in advance.

2

B
BU
BUM
BUMP
BUM
BU
B

3

Your friend is exceptionally qualified. With all applicants who have done things 3 standard deviations out of the norm, it is important that these be verifiable. ADCs want applicants who have done things that are outside of the norm, but for the extreme outliers it is important that the accomplishments be verifiable and that they not stretch the limits of fact. Published papers are easily checked. Letters from profs can attest to the level of work achieved. Things like raising a huge amount of money can be great, or red flags if the applicant did not do most of the work involved himself.

A few thoughts regarding your questions, and in general:

  1. As a non-US applicant from India, the competition will be even tougher - about a 3% acceptance rate to his top choices.
  2. Concern #2 that you have listed is really just a re-statement of concern #1. With things like published papers, 800 hours of community service, and starting his own business depth will not be a concern if these things can be verified.
  3. Breadth is not a concern. Depth is better than breadth, and things like sports and magic card tricks will add some breadth.
  4. Magic card tricks is a great EC. It makes the applicant look more "human", and it is distinctive. Any activity done with true passion to a high degree of proficiency is impressive.
  5. Awards are always helpful, but your friend has plenty of other stuff to compensate: publications, impressive service, starting a business.
  6. Your friend should not discuss deferring. Once admitted, he can do so.

Your friend meets all the grade/test criteria to be competitive, and he has very strong and distinctive ECs. He stands as good a chance as anyone from his background IF he can document his activities and back them up, and writes a strong and coherent application.

4

@renaissancedad Thank you for replying. I see what you are trying to say. I’ll definitely let him know about all of this.

As for verifying his non profit and his company, how does one “verify” that? Of course, there are documents that say that he did everything on his own and then there are people who worked with him. Will he have to get a statement saying that from the people that he worked with?

5

No, I don’t think that’s necessary. But if challenged, he should be able to back up that he did what he states he did on his application. If interviewed, he should be able to talk about what he did in sufficient depth to be credible. A simple statement such as “supporting documentation available upon request” would probably be sufficient, through I’m no expert on this.