<p>Hi,</p>
<p>i really like this forum. i like the way people evaluate and say if they have any chances or not.
Please evaluate mine ... thank you.....</p>
<p>Intended major = Physics (astro)
High school gpa = 3.8...?
High school rank - top 5</p>
<p>Sat 1
Math : 800
Writing : 630 (i noe , too low!)
Reading : 610 (yet again)</p>
<p>Sat 2
Math IIC - 800
Chemistry - 770</p>
<p>I have all As except a B in algebra 1. This is because i moved in from singapore and my grade there in math was 88 , which in singapore its an A , as 75 over there is an A. So counsellor put in this 88 , regardless of me telling that 75 is an A. I have back up to show my math ability on my Algebra 2, precalculus and calculus to show it , i have 100,99,100s.</p>
<p>I have taken Ap chemistry - 5 , and AP computer science ab - 5
i have sent it to caltech.</p>
<p>EC:
for 2.5 years i have been in the United States
- NHS
- Student council
- Lions club
- Technology club
- have >50 hrs of voluntary hours at local library
- have >20 hrs of voluntary of local elementry school , teaching kids math
- I play in a select/recreation soccer team since i moved here</p>
<p>Thats all my repritore - pls evaluate , pls ask if more needed.... Thank you!</p>
<p>Scores are fine, grades are ok, the one B won't matter.</p>
<p>Extracurriculars are pretty typical, unfortunately. Nothing that really stands out. Try to find something that you are good at and emphasize it. As it stands now, your application looks exactly the same as 1000 others. So you need to become unique in some way. How is up to you.</p>
<p>thank you </p>
<p>small fish in a sea.......</p>
<ul>
<li>College essay is one</li>
<li>teacher recommdentation?</li>
<li>wat else?</li>
</ul>
<p>thank you!</p>
<p>Yes, just realize your job is to tell a story about yourself (in the entire application) showing what is unique about yourself and what you would add to the intellectual community that would be special. Something special you did for a club, something you are extra-passionate about... something. Just don't hope that it'll pop up without your effort. You have to figure out what is going to be your main "hook" or "selling point". Unfortunately, solid and well-rounded doesn't do it anymore.</p>
<p>Another Chances quesiton. This is a hypothetical of about what I might/expect/hope/plan to have by graduation.
18 AP's including Phyics C Mech, Emag, Calc BC, Chem, Stat, Bio, Enviro.
Multivariable Calculus
5's and A's in all math/science courses.
Two B's in humanities, two fours on humanities, and a three in a humanity.
Great teacher reqs
Great essays
Ok councelor reqs
800,780,790 on the 3 Math Sats
236 Psat (with 80 on math)
780 physics
770 chem</p>
<p>GPA UW 3.95, W 4.7
Rank 4/670 (competitive public school, GA)</p>
<p>Science club/science bowl participation, three years (sophomore-senior)</p>
<p>Hook- rigor of schedule.
Four Ap's sophomore year, six juinor, seven senior. (counting two one-semester ap's as one). Sophomore-senior, an extra class in the morning and orchestra instead of a lunch hour.</p>
<p>Intended major: Physics, astronomy, or possibly stat</p>
<p>Sorry -- rigor of schedule won't cut it as a hook. It gives you a solid base, but people just aren't that impressed with 18 AP's (I've seen it a fair bit and the success rate is around 50/50.) If you could give up 6 AP's (preferably the flakier kind like econ, psych, etc.) and as a result do something cool in your spare time, that would be OVERWHLEMINGLY worth it. Like, for example, build an electronic hamster or prove a theorem or write an impressive program or write a book of cool physics problems or independently study an advanced topic you love or do a project for Intel/Siemens or become really good at the AMC/AIME/USAMO/IMO... whatever.</p>
<p>In any case, unfortunately, there are enough nutty kids applying to Caltech that 18 AP's doesn't make you anywhere near unique, and suggests that you think [# of courses] somehow correlates with [goodness], which is a dangerous belief whose incidence on the campus we'd like to minimize.</p>
<p>Thank you. I'm glad that advice came in time and not in the form of a rejection letter.</p>
<p>Forgot ot mention, I will have worked saturdays and summers at a computer store since late ninth grade, and I will have the A+ computer certification. (still hypothetically, except about having already started with the job)</p>
<p>Ben,</p>
<p>i have worked on numerous projects in circuitary. I made a photo resistor night lamp in an altoids tin can (recent) and many such.....
I also program programs in java - i made games and a vocabulary programs
I also contribute to Physlink.com website (never got published though).</p>
<p>How do i express these?, i know i have not much extra circular for 2.5 years.And there are many well qualified people who have all of these and are in equilibrium.</p>
<p>I have read the supplementry application , and common is that where i express these?</p>
<p>is it better for my stats to apply early or in regular decision? </p>
<p>also a question ..... can i say go to another university, and do well as a UG and join caltech for further studies? Cause i realised on how important these extra cirrcular and other stuffs were just abt a year ago when i turned jr in high school. Now i am more alert and i see that now it is too late.</p>
<p>Also thank you for you 'analyses' and time you put into to help us go to caltech.......</p>
<p>If you can expand your circuitry work into a project that you could take some pictures of (for the 'put something interesting here' box maybe?) or write a short paper about -- maybe a cool trick you figured out that's not well-known -- that would be a way. Or maybe write a program to do something interesting. In any case, apply regular action so you have more time to develop your hook.</p>
<p>You can list these activities in the spots provided for activities on the form.</p>
<p>You can try to transfer into Caltech later or apply for graduate studies. In both cases, academic accomplishments will matter more than extracurrics. :-)</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Best wishes,
Bob</p>
<p>sorry , ben i mistook your ID</p>
<p>oh it's no fun when you edit it! i kind of liked being Bob! :)</p>
<p>I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over.</p>
<p>If Allah himself didn't write your rec letter, you probably won't get in.
True story: Most Techers are so nerdy they sign away any chance of 72 virgins (or even one virgin, in some extreme cases) in exchange for entrance into Caltech.</p>
<p>Perhaps this is on the basis of the aesthetics of the number 72, though. 1 is of course harder to explain.</p>
<p>I think 72 is a rather pretty number. Also, 3/2 * 72 = 108, which is my favorite number. And someone just made a thread about the 3/2 program! See, it all links together... </p>
<p>In closing, I leave you with the following thought: </p>
<p>(3/2)! = 3*Sqrt[pi]/4.</p>
<p>Explain the difference between 1 and 72 in your numberform, flier ;-P</p>
<p>I agree about 72! Well, 72. It has a nice self/factors ratio. Perhaps 6 is even close to some general (local) maximum of prettiness, given 5 (60) and 7 (56). But maybe the virgins are refused because it is /too/ nice a number and so they would have to hang around for eternity as such, maybe doing some sort of dance to display the factors as various arrays.</p>
<p>My favorite number is 12... my IQ :-(</p>
<p>Flierdeke: 6 is a * perfect * number.</p>