<p>^ colorado_mom, I hate when people spread things like “no profile makes admission likely”, “hypsm is a reach for everyone”, and “lots of qualified people get rejected”. I find that all to be a load of bull rejects use to make themselves feel better. I know a good number of people in the higher tiers of math competition who would no way be rejected:
1: asian female, cgmo bronze, ipho gold, rsi, intel finalist
2: white female, 11 aime, 7 usamo, cgmo alt, rsi
3: indian male, 14 aime, 15 usamo, rsi, siemens regional finalist
If you dominate enough in competitions, you have the luxury of choosing among hypsm</p>
<p>^not true. I remember an email circulating around Intel finalists where they were complaining that they didn’t get into their first choices. Stats like you have listed makes admission <em>likely</em> at HYPSM but it’s not guaranteed anywhere but Caltech.</p>
<p>of course its not guaranteed, but if you don’t have any failings elsewhere those hooks will get you in. When I say failings, I mean things like your teacher saying you have no social skills on the rec, etc.</p>
<p>I personally know a friend who got ICHO 2nd in the world, who got rejected from H. </p>
<p>And he had no failings. Trust me, when I say no failings, he had no failings. He’s one of the most awesome people I know.</p>