My Chances at Stanford/MIT/CalTech/Berkeley

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>I'm going to be in 12th grade and wanted to know what you thought of my chances at these top schools. I plan on pursuing a major in computer science/engineering field. Here is info on me :</p>

<p>-34 ACT
-780 Math 2 (SAT)
-770 Physics (SAT)
-USAMO qualifier
-State honor band saxophonist
-Vex World Championships qualifier
-NHD nationals qualifier (website)
-More than 50 volunteer hours over past year
-Many APs (Lit, language, history, calculus, physics, govt)
-3.93 GPA (unweighted)
-Run marathons and do triathlons for fun</p>

<p>Any feedback would be helpful. Thanks!!</p>

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<p>^ Sorry I forgot to add that I took AP Computer Science…if that makes any difference</p>

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<p>Are you recruitable to run cross-country at Berkeley or Stanford?</p>

<p>Stanford: Reach
MIT: Reach
Caltech: Reach
Berkeley: Match</p>

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<p>Not by a longshot…running and triathlons are a hobby but I would not consider myself at the standard of college level. Does that mean that I will not be accepted?</p>

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<p>Sorry Catria I am new to this forum - could you explain what you mean by :
Stanford: Reach
MIT: Reach
Caltech: Reach
Berkeley: Match</p>

<p>Thank You!</p>

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<p>It goes
High Reach
Reach
Low reach
High match
Match
Low match
Safety</p>

<p>What people mean when they post it differs from person to person</p>

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<p>Reach means longshot
Match means Good chance
Safety means definite acceptance</p>

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<p>Could you explain why all of those schools besides Berkeley are “reaches”?</p>

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<p>originalguy609 - do you have an opinion?</p>

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<p>MIT, Caltech, and Stanford are some of the most difficult schools to get into in the country. Your stats are great, but those schools receive many applicants with 2400s, 36s, perfect GPAs, and highly prestigious awards.</p>

<p>Still, your stats are good and I’d be surprised if you didn’t get into a great school. In addition to Caltech/MIT/Stanford/Berkeley, you could look into other good engineering schools like Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Michigan, etc.</p>

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<p>Ybrown234 - thanks! do you think there still is any way or anything I could do to get into those schools (MIT, etc)? also, what do you think my chances are at CMU or UofI Urbana Champaign?</p>

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<p>Other than getting strong grades this semester, make sure your essays are carefully crafted and that they tell the admissions committees something about you that can’t be found on the other parts of your app.</p>

<p>CMU for CS is pretty tough, probably close to MIT in terms of selectivity. UIUC would be a bit easier to get into than the rest of the schools on your list, even easier than Berkeley… so good chances there.</p>

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<p>Would retaking the act and sat subjects getting a perfect score make a difference?</p>

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<p>CMU: Reach
UIUC: Low match/Match</p>

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<p>Yes scores are important, because schools like MIT and Cornell like students with high score. But anyway scores on the tests are only one part. There are also EC’s, passion, gpa, talent which are as important as scores.
I suggest you go through collegeboard then you can see what is important, what is very important and what is considered to each of these colleges.</p>

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<p>Stanford: Reach
MIT: Reach
Caltech: Low Reach</p>

<p>Berkeley: Safety</p>

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<p>Could you guys tell me what more I can/could have done so that I could have gotten admission to these schools that are currently reaches?</p>

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<p>Well they are reaches for everyone and this is really cheesy but pursue your passion.</p>

<p>If you like a certain field immerse yourself in work about it and then be really good at that specific field. This makes you stand out from other candidates who are taking such typical courses that only look good on a transcript.</p>

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<p>I did intern at microsoft this summer if that’s anything…</p>

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<p>Thanks stevez12345! Yes, I do live in washington, redmond in fact. Microsoft was right in my neighborhood :).</p>