junior who needs a realistic view of his future

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Demographics: Asian Male, coming from a relatively small public school, CT

Academics: 4.0 UW GPA, class rank 1st/250 ish, 1540 SAT (800 M/740 ERW), 800 SAT Math II
Will have taken ~13 APs by the end of senior year

ECs:
Math: part of a competitive team, top 30 in the nation
3x AIME qualifier, USAMO qualifier
captain of school math team, we’ve won states for past two years, 2nd at new englands last yr
1st team ARML for past two years but idk if that really matters
helped coach middle school math team, won region

Violin: been playing for 7 years now, 3 time All State Orchestra, concert master for region this year, concert master/section leader (we alternate sections) of school chamber orchestra for 2 yrs now, most likely (?) all eastern orchestra (I heard it’s based off past results and not an audition)

school clubs: track field, xc, student govt, music service society (orchestra rep), model UN, sierra club, math team

other: USACO silver, done taekwondo for the past 8 years now (volunteer over the summer), did some volunteer work at a local math tutoring center, national spanish exam hm, relay for life, counselor in training at summer orchestra camp

hopefully i’ll get an internship this summer (coronavirus has made this difficult)
most likely will major in mathematics

Can anyone let me know where I stand? (like ivy range, top 20 school range, etc)–I guess another way to put what I am asking for is how competitive of schools should I be looking at?
thank you

2

You look to be a competitive applicant with academics and ECs that should get you a serious look at any college. The rest will depend on things we can’t see such as your essays, LORs, what the college is looking for etc.

Any elite (top 20 type) college (with acceptance rates often in the single digits) must be considered a reach for any unhooked applicant simply because there are many more well qualified applicants than there are spaces available.

I’d suggest you take the time to search out a group of match and safety schools (colleges with higher acceptance rates) that appear affordable (run net price calculators) and that you would be excited to attend.

3

My recommendation would be to not look for fit by USNWR or Forbes (or whatever list) rankings. Don’t ‘tier’ your list by perceived prestige, at least not in your initial culling.

Think about school, campus, and regional attributes that will make you wake up and be thrilled to be there. Would it be a big campus? A small campus? In a warm weather state, or is experiencing all 4 season important for you? Close to home? Would it offer the major that you want, and the others that you’d consider if parental and societal expectations didn’t steer you in one direction? Do you need mountains and outdoor activities, or an urban landscape where you can get a variety of food, and a good haircut? Do you care about diversity? Do you want research opportunities as an undergrad? Do you want an honors college? Do you want to be a big fish in a small pond, a small fish in a big pond, or something in between… or totally different? Do you care about the ratio of men to women on campus? Do you care about the 4 and 6 year graduation rate? Do you care about the average starting salary of graduates with your major? What about the size of the school’s endowment? Does class size matter to you? Do you care about sports? Are study abroad opportunities important to you?

What is your family’s plan for funding, and how much can they contribute to your education? Do you need financial aid? If so, do you need significant financial aid? Are you going after large merit-based scholarships?

After you’ve figured out the basics of “fit”, then give prestige consideration within your initial list.

4

I’m so impressed with your stats, they are amazing. But the way that most admissions readers will see you is through the lens of common stereotypes for an ORM: 1) High grades/scores 2) Violin 3) Math 4) from an overrepresented region.

The problem is not that your scores aren’t high enough. Or that your ECs aren’t meaningful enough. Or that your essays/reccs are poor. The issue is that almost every other ORM who will be applying will have a similar profile. So your main issue is to stand out from the crowd. There are lots of kids with similar profiles who get shut out of the T20 each year. Next year will be even more tough, especially if you need financial aid.

Have you considered Caltech or UC schools? They are highly focused on stats, and ORM status doesn’t play as much of a role. Also look at UChicago and WashU. Among the Ivies your best shot would be at an engineering program like Columbia or Cornell as an ED applicant. Also consider ED2.

5

Your stats, which are excellent, will not keep you out of any school. What you are hearing above – correctly --is that stats won’t get you in to any of these schools either.

Figure out what you want, where you will fit, and articulate that in an application.

6

OP wrote: “most likely * will major in mathematics”

Which schools interest you ?

You are qualified for all schools starting with Princeton University.

Of course, as noted above, being qualified does not assure admission.

Do you want to major in math / quantitative area and music ? If so, then Northwestern University might be of interest to you.

Consider whether or not you are willing to apply ED. If so, you need to become familiar with particular programs of interest offered by your target school and demonstrate that knowledge & interest in your application essays.

7

Look for schools and fit and play the ED game, if your financials allow. My daughter had a lower class rank, slightly higher SAT, same GPA, same number of APs, (same state too). Applied ED to a Top 20 and was accepted.

8

Math usually is not as difficult a major to get into compared to CS. But if you are very advanced in math (e.g. multivariable calculus and linear algebra before high school graduation), you may want to check carefully each college’s math department’s breadth and depth of upper level courses, and opportunities to take graduate level courses and do graduate level research as an undergraduate.

Note that not all colleges with strong math departments are super selective.

In terms of what college you can go to, the most important factor is your cost constraints. Talk to your parents about what they will contribute for your college costs, and run the net price calculator on each college’s web site.