I don’t think people are understanding your ISEF awards tbh. Being an ISEF finalist by itself is quite standard at top schools. However, 2nd place in category is very very very good. Special Award as well is a nice bonus 
@sgopal2 I have graduate legacy, so that is why I was unsure. My school does not rank or have a valedictorian. The Harvard Book prize (listed in my awards) is given by my school to the student with the best grades/extracurriculars.
@imimaginary thank you!
@hebegebe yes, I won prize money for both my grand prize award and my special award. I plan to participate in STS. Thank you!
Does SAT 1550 superscored cast a negative light on an applicant even though Princeton is test-optional?
No, 1550 is absolutely fine. Once they see that, they will move on to considering the rest of the application.
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Is it graduate legacy at Penn and UG legacy at Cornell?
Re: ISEF - we see a lot of students in this demographic posting about being ISEF finalists, so that may be one reason for some of the tepid responses (including mine). However, now that we know your award is in the top tier, it does change things a bit. Does Princeton actively recruit top ISEF winners? I imagine it would be noteworthy for Princeton admission, but that’s an educated guess.
What pro-active steps have you taken to research what Princeton can offer you and what you can offer them? If you want to aim for Princeton, this is where your energy should be directed now, so that it can become an integral part of your essays. There will be many applicants with top awards and stats, so your essay(s) will be very important.
You are obviously a very strong candidate and will get a full read everywhere. The biggest downside is that you’re an ORM applying for an over-represented major from an over-represented state. But that shouldn’t discourage you.
Penn: the graduate legacy is only a small tipping point. For either CAS or Engineering, I think your chances are decent, but higher in the ED round. RD I would say that its a longshot.
Cornell: If you apply to one of the contract colleges at Cornell (Ag, ILR or HumEc) then you have higher odds because of NY state residency. But the downside I see here is that none of these 3 colleges have a CS major. Ag has Data Science and Information Science. ILR has Data Science/Statistics major which are close but not the same. If you want CS major I think you’re limited to CAS and Engineering. But these are the two most competitive colleges within Cornell. If your parents are undergrad legacy at Cornell this gives you a huge advantage. One strategy might be to apply for one of the contract colleges like Ag with a major like Data Science, and then later petition for a double major in CS in one of the other colleges. I’m not sure how easy this is. But statistically speaking your chances at admission are highest at Cornell ED1. RD round you have a decent shot, especially at the contract colleges. They also offer guaranteed transfer option for top full pay applicants.
Princeton: This is the biggest uncertainty for me. Your stats and scores are definitely within their range. And you have a great list of ECs, on par with what Princeton looks for. The ISEF would certainly get their attention. I would say that your chances are highest if you apply engineering via SCEA. You can study CS in either their engineering school or regular school. But the admissions readers are different in engineering. I think your list of ECs would stand out more to the engineering admissions people. The admissions is somewhat random, but I think you certainly have a higher shot than most. RD round I say your chances are low, but still possible.
Hope this helps
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An applicant to Princeton can choose to indicate (or not) the degree program (BSE vs AB) s/he prefers and it may change slightly how the application is read, but Princeton doesn’t have separate admissions, unlike Cornell or UPenn.
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You are a strong candidate for all three schools, even in the RD round, and SCEA to Princeton might bump up your chance there. As the trajectories of your grades, scores and ECs are quite clear and corroborate your worthiness as a candidate, and your teachers’ LORs would be positive as well, the outcome to Princeton depends on your essays and a graded paper from school.
To help shape your essays, perhaps keep in mind of P-ton’s informal motto, “In the Nation’s Service and the Service of Humanity", emphasize your (other) interest and knowledge in political science, to help distinguish yourself from your peers (Asian-American males with strong interest in CS). Use the essays to tell them about your character and outlook on life and of the world; there is no need to re-tell your illustrious ECs, which are to be listed elsewhere in the application (with a few descriptive words if necessary) . As an aside, switching into BSE at P-ton is straightforward.
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I would say chances of ED are quite good. Penn doesn’t get many Grand Award winners applying ED, as most of them are applying HYPSM. Chances of RD are probably around 30%.
For the same reasons, chances of admission to Cornell ED high are high, and still a good chance RD.
I agree with this. Princeton admits plenty of kids like the OP … but also rejects plenty of kids like the OP. Is it worth an SCEA shot? If so, couple it with Michigan EA to provide a likely strong floor for RD in case SCEA doesn’t work out.
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Thank you all for your comments. My school has never sent a student to Princeton that I am aware of. However, they send many students to Cornell and some to Penn. Also, my school tends to send one or two people a year to Harvard. Should this be a factor in my decision? Does high school matter in the decision process?
The short answer is yes.
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Are you at the same level as those students in your class/school?
In terms of grades yes. They did very different extracurriculars then me: they focused on things like theater, volunteering, and music. The science-focused students like me in my school have not done well at Harvard historically.
Agree completely with @1NJParent.
But it’s also useful to understand why this happens. When a school gets students with some regularity into a college (say Harvard), there is an admissions officer at Harvard that gets to know your high school and learns how to evaluate students from it. He or she can recognize an unusually strong student and will be an advocate for that student in the admissions committee. They can also look back at previous admitted students and see if they performed well at Harvard.
But if your high school has never gotten a student into Princeton, then nobody at Princeton really has a good measure of how strong your high school’s students are, and you are far less likely to have an advocate there.
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Right, I understand. But they use different readers for apps depending on the destination (BSE vs AB). The engineering readers focus on different things. Note that when I say ‘reader’, this refers to the external staff that they hire on a part-time basis during admissions reading season. This is not the same as an admissions officer.
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