MIT/Rice - Getting and Idea

<p>Heh, meant for title to say getting an* idea... did i mention that writing was my lowest SAT?</p>

<p>Hey could some of you please let me know what you think my chances are at:
MIT
Stanford
Berkeley
Rice
Caltech
Penn
University of Arizona (Safety... i think they have to admit me on full ride..)
Arizona State University (another safety)</p>

<p>I am a junior planning on applying as a mechanical or computer engineer or computer science major.</p>

<p>White middle class family, probably wont be eligible for financial aid
GPA: 4.0uw, 4.25w (weighted goes down because i take 0-hour weight training...)
Rank: School doesnt rank, but we are top 10-15 in the nation based on various reports, probably #1 in arizona as well. Given my GPA and courseload i assume I am easily in top 10%.
PSAT: 216 (sophomore) 220 (junior)
SAT I: 1530/2200 (730 CR, 800 M, 670 W)
Sophomore AP Scores: AP Chemistry (5), AP Comparative Politics (5)
SAT II's: I plan on taking Phyiscs, MathII, and APUSH in May/June (unless you all recommend i retake my SAT I)</p>

<p>Junior AP course load:
AP US History
AP Physics B
AP English Language
AP Calc AB</p>

<p>Senior AP course load (tentative):
AP US Govt.
AP Computer Science
AP Physics C
AP Art History
AP English Lit
AP Calc BC</p>

<p>EC's:
I play sports year round, practicing about 15-20 hours a week
Soccer:
-JV (9,10)
-Varsity (11, 12 tentatively) This year we were the runner-up state
champions</p>

<p>Track:
-Varsity (9,10,11,12 tentatively)</p>

<p>Baseball
-JV/Varsity (9)</p>

<p>Cross Country
-JV (10)</p>

<p>Boy Scouts of America:
-Involved since cub scouts, been a boy scout since 6th grade
-Served in various leadership positions for 6 month terms including
Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, Patrol Leader, Troop Guide, and Bugular
-Contributed 100+ hours of community service and lead multiple
Flag Retirement Ceremonies
-Eagle Scout, for my eagle project I planned/led members of my troop in
sanding, staining, and revarnishing 20 wood lab tables in a local high
school's (not my own) science class. The high school is in a very low
socio-economic part of town, and it was my hope to remove gang-related
grafittti and destractions from the classroom so that the students could
better focus on their education and hold a higher respect for their school.</p>

<p>Club's/School-related activites (if anything this is my weak spot simply because so many of our school organizations interfere with 0-hour classes or after-school sports)
-Science Club member, we raised money through various fundraisers to
go on a year-end field trip. Last year we took a bus to pheonix and
examined cadavers at a local college and attended the Body World's exhibit
at the science center.</p>

<p>Awards/Recognitions:
-220 psat should qualify National Merit Semifinality in AZ and hopefully that
will continue on to become Finalist
-I will graduate with honors from my high school (maybe significant since
we are nationally ranked?)
-I took the AMC-12 a few days ago, but it isnt really pushed that hard at<br>
my school (most people take it just to get out of 2 periods). There is a
chance that I scored high enough to go to the next round.</p>

<p>Recs: I think most of my teachers like me, so i should be able to get some good ones.</p>

<p>Essays: Haven't really thought much about them yet.</p>

<p>As you can probably see, I am still in the early stages of my college search, but i am hoping to get a good picture of where I can potentially get in and where I can't. I sure hope the list of the former is longer than the latter though =). Anyways, my college list above consists of many of the elite schools and many of the uh... not so elite ones. I would be very greatful if you could throw in some alternative mid-upper range schools along with my chances. Thanks for the advice!</p>

<p>any chances..please? If nothing else, i would like to get an idea of some more mid-upper tier engineering schools that my stats fall into. thanks</p>

<p>bump10char</p>

<p>MIT=Reach
Stanford=Far Reach
Berkeley=Safe
Rice=Short Reach
Caltech=Far Reach
UPenn=Short Target
University of Arizona=Safe(Safety… i think they have to admit me on full ride..)
Arizona State University (another safety)</p>

<p>Add Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) to your list for computer engineering/computer science. You are qualified for all of the schools to which you are planning to apply. It is difficult to predict Stanford for any applicant. MIT accepts only about 12% of all applicants and is, therefore, also quite difficult to predict. CalTech is a reach for anyone with less than perfect or near perfect scores. Berkeley & Rice probably will admit you. Penn may find your application attractive for a variety of reasons including geographical diversity, but is it really a computer engineering/computer science school?</p>

<p>thanks for the input/suggesting CMU, I will look into that. For the colleges listed above, do you recommend that i retake the SAT I and try to push my overall score up a bit? or is it going to be a craps shoot either way I go?</p>

<p>Feel free to retake SAT’s but more important some research background would help you alot at most of these schools.</p>

<p>As stated above, I plan on taking the SAT II’s in physics, mathII, and us history. Will 800’s on these three subject tests compensate for my average SAT I score? Also, i plan on applying to an ASU Math/Science Honors program this summer in which i will take an 8 week academic course in Calculus w/ Analytic Geometry. Should i be accepted, the program is entirely free (room/board/books/etc) and i will recieve college credit. Is this the type of summer activity that colleges value in an application? If not, what are some examples of more “research” oriented programs that I could participate in?</p>

<p>bump.. comment please</p>

<p>bump… any more input out there on my prospective summer program/resume as a whole?</p>

<p>final bump. chance me before this thread disappears into page 2 and beyond…</p>