MIT, Harvard, Caltech, etc.?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I’m an Asian male. I submitted my MIT EA application last weekend (MIT’s a place where I feel like I can really be at home), so that’s another contributing factor.

I took AP Calc BC in 8th grade, and I took three quarters (a whole academic year) of an advanced undergrad course in mathematics, and one quarter of an advanced graduate research-level topology course at UCLA in freshman year (and continuing). I also took general relativity, advanced differential geometry, and mathematical QFT in the summer before freshman year.

Overall GPA: 4.41 weighted, 3.94 unweighted. I only got one B, in Debate.

Standardized tests:
ACT: 34. Breakdown: 33 Reading, 36 Math, 34 Science, 34 English
SAT IIs: 800 Math, 760 Chemistry.
AP scores: 5 Calculus BC, 4 Physics C: Mech (both in eighth grade, if that helps), 4 Chemistry, 3 Physics C: E&M (weak, yes) (also, both are in freshman year).

Extracurriculars:
NHS
Prominent member in the Math StackExchange and MathOverflow communities for over one and a half year, where I ask and answer college-level and research-level questions in mathematics, respectively. I am also an active participant in discussions in the Homotopy Theory Chat Room. Because of my efforts, I was invited to be a participant in the UCLA math circle in fall 2014
Vice President of tutorial club
Founder and president of philosophy club
Founder of abstract algebra seminars at school
Volunteer for Interact, CSF
Independent and collaborative research at UCLA
Invited participant at UCLA’s math circle
Permanent Research Fellow since 2013 at distinguished research institute in India (the same one where I took relatvity, QFT, and differential geometry)
Given multiple research talks to both professionals and high school students
Co-organizer of the school’s science fair, and I extended this to the district-wide school science fair, all to encourage people to enjoy learning.
Invited participant in Aerospace’s summer astrophysics research program in 2013

Awards:
European Union Contest for Young Scientists (the European analogue of the Intel STS), first place winner and honorary award to London International Youth Science Forum
Intel ISEF First place and Best of Category winner (EUCYS award winner)
Honorable mention for Karl Menger award provided by the American Mathematical Society
First place winner in my category in California State Science Fair
First place winner in my category in the Los Angeles county science fair
Intel Excellence in Computer Science award
Mu Alpha Theta award for the most challenging, original, and creative research in mathematics
One paper published, but I’ve written up three papers, all available at my website. Currently working on a fourth one under a prominent Harvard professor.

I’ve also entered Intel STS.

Essays:
Finished; I’m told they’re strong. I poured out my emotions in them, so much so that I actually cried after I re-read them.

Recommendations:
My research mentor and my art teacher. Both absolutely love me, and the recommendations are really good. I also got an optional recommendation from the founder of the research institute in India, which is also amazing. My counselor recommendation may be “meh” because she has to write recs for >100 kids.

The colleges I’m applying to:
MIT (EA)
Harvard
U Chicago
UCLA
UCB
UCSD
UCI (?)
UCR
Caltech
Princeton
Cornell

2

You’re a competitive applicant, which is the most anyone can say.

Shame you’re applying EA to MIT; you’d be a shoe-in for Math 55 at Harvard. :frowning:

3

@NavalTradition I would like to take Math 55 at Harvard, but MIT has been my dream since forever. Do you think I have a good chance at getting into MIT? Harvard? (Those are my top 2 choices.)

4

I think you have a decent chance. They’re reaches for everyone yadda yadda but yeah, you have a pretty good shot.

I’m a Harvard alum btw, which is why I say shame you applied EA to MIT. :slight_smile:

5

Ah, I see. :slight_smile:

6

Bump.

7

I’m sure you will get into MIT. The question is not if but when…is there a reason you want to graduate early?

8

@girl1425 Well the thing is that because of my personal situation, I cannot take any classes at UCLA for the next three years of high school. (My dad commutes to Denver weekly.) I elaborated on my application, and also said that I had tested out of my community college classes in 8th grade, so I can’t to anything there either. I LOVE learning, so this is hard on me not just intellectually, but also personally. Going to college early will give me an opportunity to learn, and will not stress my parents out (because I do not having a science or a math class this year, and they know my love for the subjects, naturally, they’re tensed too).

9

@ILoveUniv If money is not an issue, is it possible for you to take online classes through universities? I know it’s not preferable but your chances at MIT/Harvard would be much higher if you weren’t graduating early. That being said, your resume is very impressive and you stand a good chance at getting into MIT early. You’ll find out in a month. Good luck! BTW did you happen to have a greenish board at ISEF?

10

I understand that, but I like to have a social life as well, lol :-). Also, yeah, I did!

11

Match: MIT, Caltech
Low Match: Harvard, Princeton
Safety: Everything Else.

One of the most qualified candidates i’ve ever seen.

12

Just to clarify, are you a US citizen or permanent resident?

Also, your recommenders seem off to me. Schools want recommendations from core academic teachers, not research mentors and art teachers. Those could be supplemental recs, but should not be your main recommendations. And if you don’t have a strong GC recommendation, that could be a problem in combination with the non-standard mix of recommenders.

You certainly have some strong qualifications, but no one is a “match” for all those top ranked schools.

13

@intparent I’m neither. Also, I haven’t taken a math class at my high school in two years, so I didn’t want to ask for that. My art teacher particularly likes me, so I asked her to write a letter for me. It’s not that my GC rec isn’t strong; it’s that she has a lot of people to write it for, so it may be slightly short, but detailed.

14

@girl1425 Have we met at ISEF?

15

You are a high school sophomore and an international That makes it very tough at Harvard and the other Ivies. How many years of a foreign language have you taken?

16

Well, there go my chances of making it to MIT EA ;_;

17

@tiger1307 two years of French, but I may test out of it. I’m proficient in Hindi as well.

18

Bump

19

Sorry, but bumping this

20

Intellectual intimidation in action, well done. Very nice app.