Let's talk about my chances.

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>Currently, I'm a sophomore in high school, and I have a few questions.</p>

<p>I rather like my GPA, except for two things: 9th grade honors biology and my current AP US History class. I had a B+ in honors biology and I'm most likely to walk out with a B+ in AP US (with a bit of effort). The thing is, the teachers that I had for these subjects are generally regarded as the number one and two hardest teachers in my school. So while I had the fourth highest grade in honors biology, there were at least twenty As and A+s in the biology class taught by the relatively easy teacher. Will these grades greatly affect my chances? Especially with biology being a science course and all.</p>

<p>My SAT II's look like the following:
Biology-M: 740
Math IC: 750 (ugh, what did I do?)
Math IIC: 800
Chemistry: 780
Physics: 800</p>

<p>I haven't taken the SAT I's yet, but my PSAT scores were in the 99 percentile and the second highest in my grade (219, 2 points away from qualifying for NMSQT, and I'm just a sophomore, so I'm rather proud of that).</p>

<p>My school doesn't offer IB courses, but I'm taking two APs right now (US history and Comp. Sci., which I have an A+ in and will in all likelihood get a 5 on the test) and I've planned my schedule so I will take every AP course my school offers by the time I graduate), something few other people, if any, will do.</p>

<p>I'm very strong in math; I'm taking honors precalculus now, and I have straight A+s in it, and I had straight A+'s in Algebra II honors last year.</p>

<p>I also taught myself to program in a plethora of languages starting around the summer after sixth grade. On top of that, I taught myself a good portion of calculus I and II over the summer between grades 9 and 10.</p>

<p>So currently my questions are as follows:</p>

<p>If I have As and A+s in every other class (all honors and AP) do I really have to worry about my average of one B+ per year?</p>

<p>Would it be to my advantage to submit my two or three highest SAT II scores, or all of them?</p>

<p>Would it be prudent to make a note of the things that I've taught myself? Should I look for options to test out of AP Calculus next year or notify my guidance counselor of these achievements? (I hope that didn't sound arrogant).</p>

<p>Thank you very much.</p>

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<p>You don't get to choose your SAT II scores they send all of them at once....</p>

<p>Um...You could test out of Calc if you want, if you speak with your Guidance Counselor in January you could probably sign up for the AP test. (FYI AB - Calc 1, BC - Calc 1&2.) I really don't think it'll make that much of a difference since you'll already show that your motivated by taking all the AP courses offered. </p>

<p>GPA wise, a few Bs won't hurt your chances. </p>

<p>Good luck :)</p>

3

<p>Thank you for your response. I was under the impression that I would be able to select which SAT II scores to report. In that case, do you think my 740 and 750 on Biology-M and Math IC will hurt very much?</p>

<p>EDIT: And just hypothetically speaking, if I could select which scores to submit, would it be better to submit the three best or all five? In other words, are those high enough to show that I'm pretty good in all of those subjects, or would it be better if they didn't know about me not being as good as all those people who did better than me?</p>

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<p>Nope...They only look at the top math and top science scores.</p>

5

<p>Your class work/tests are very good... what are your ECs like?</p>

6

<p>Are they really? I guess I've surrounded myself with perfectionists. :P</p>

<p>Well, I participated in this thing called TechXplore for the last four years, and I've lead this town's team for the last three (and we won nationally once). I joined JSA for the first time this year, and hopefully I'm going to become vice-president or president of my chapter before I graduate. I also joined science olympiad this year, but we haven't done anything yet so I don't know how I'll fare (and since I'm a sophomore the seniors were given preference, so I got stuck with oceanography, which I know little about). I also participate in mu alpha theta and AIME (I haven't managed to qualify yet, but I've gotten very very close). I'm president of the school's computer club as well.</p>

<p>I'm not athletic enough to be on any teams really. I kinda play tennis, but I'm not competitive in sports enough to consider trying out for the team, and honestly I couldn't make it if I tried. And uhh, I've been playing guitar for two years.</p>

<p>And I've probably got something like 15 hours of community service with the town library logged.</p>

<p>Hopefully I'll find some opportunities to get some awards and recognition and stuff to strengthen my application.</p>