MIT/Caltech EA, Cornell/Penn/Princeton/Stanford/Berkeley RD, Purdue

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

High-reaching senior year, looking for some chances.

Demographics: Asian male, high income (rip me)

Intended major: Chemical Engineering

My current list:

Purdue (in-state)
MIT (early)
Caltech (early)
UC Berkeley (Chemistry for Chem Engineering)
Cornell (Engineering)
UPenn (Engineering)
Stanford
Princeton

Stats -

UW GPA from first 6 semesters: 3.84/4 (3.8/3.6 freshman year,3.95 both semester of sophomore year, 3.76/4.0 junior year)
W GPA: 4.59/5
ACT: 36C,36 in all sections but Math where i got 35, 29 essay
SAT: 2380 - 800CR, 800M, 780W with 9 essay
SAT II’s: Chem- 800, Math 2 - 800, US History - 790.
PSAT (redesigned) - 1510 (NMSF)
Class rank: top 3% (school doesn’t give any more info other than if one is top 3% or not)

Current courseload:

Accounting
AP French
AP Capstone Researcn
Multivariable Calculus
Anatomy and Physiology
AP Psych/AP Gov (switches at semester)
Interpersonal relations (mandatory to graduate)/AP Comparative Gov (also switches at semester)

Past AP exams - 5 on all except for a 4 on Seminar:

Physics B (before it was discontinued in favor of Phys 1 and 2)
World Hist
Chem
Macro/Micro
Calc BC
Comp Sci A
Biology
Env. Science
Human Geography
Statistics
US History
Capstone Seminar

EC’s:

Robotics Team (9-10, dropped for time pressures)
Chemistry Club (10 onward) - performs demonstrations for elementary school students
Geography Club (President and founder, 11 onward) - prepared for Geography Olympiad, all members who took the test qualified for nats (although cost prevented any of us from going further)
Neuroscience Club (President and founder, 11 onward)
NHS (I know that doesn’t matter, 12)
Research at local university (11 onward), will probably get a rec letter from my mentor
Science for Caring (12 only) - performs demonstrations for special needs students at our school

got second place in state Chemistry Olympiad first-year in sophomore year, honorable mention in advanced division junior year (highly competitive district, like a 56/60 needed to go to nats, but that doesn’t help me).

Essays: Decent, I’d say 8-9/10
Rec letters: First is from my APUSH teacher and geo club sponsor who absolutely adores me, 10/10 for sure. Second is from stats teacher who knows me very well, I’d say 9-10/10
Counselor rec: I’m not sure, we’ll say 8/10 because she knows me well enough

I’d say I have decent stats although held back a bit by GPA (which should in turn be offset by the overall rising trend). The EC’s are holding me back a bit though. Any feedback appreciated. Thanks!

2

Cornell and Penn would be low reach/possible, and the rest of the top schools would be reach because they are so selective and its kinda unpredictable. I don’t think ECs will hurt you at all as long as you show your devotion to them.

3

Would you say even Berkeley qualifies as one of those super reach schools (I know it’s very selective, but didn’t think it was on the same level as HYPSM)

4

no

5

UCB is not generally as selective as HYPSM. However, it may be harder for you than you think.

A. The UCs heavily weight GPA and lightly weight test scores. Your GPA for UC purposes is probably around 4.15. In 2015, applicants to UCB with 3.80-4.19 GPA had a 12% admission rate.

B. The College of Chemistry is more selective than the campus overall.

Also, no financial aid for non residents.

6

@ucbalumnus UC only uses sophomore and junior years, right? In that case my capped UC GPA is at 4.25. I’m aware of the other points though. Thanks for the feedback.

7

Not a big fan of this, but bump

8

I think a lot of the schools are reaches. make sure you have some safeties. Try differentiating yourself as an applicant

9

Agree with @ucbalumnus^.

At Caltech, that GPA and narrowness of your EC’s is going to impact your admission. They are trying to include students who, in addition to book smarts, have stepped into the community and done something besides “resume build”.

10

Thanks for your opinions @smirza7228 and @“aunt bea”. What would be good and cheap safeties besides Purdue?

11

What are your instate options? Those would be the first to consider if you are on a budget.