Nice but not stellar, what can help me stand out?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>The colleges:
MIT
Carnegie Mellon
Stanford
Caltech
UC Berkeley
UT Austin</p>

<p>Intended major: Computer Engineering (yep, I enjoy being a masochist)
Ethnicity: Asian American (no longer a minority, sigh)</p>

<p>The Numbers:
Rank: 4/497
Unweighted GPA: 5.35
Weighted GPA: 4.0
SAT: 2120 (680 CR - 720 M - 720 W, will be retaking Oct. 6th)
SAT Subject Tests:
none yet, will take Physics, Biology, MathII, French, WHist
PSAT: 207
AP WHist: 4
AP French Language: 2 (sick on testing day)
AP Eng. Language: 5</p>

<p>The Grades:
HS credit in 8th:
Algebra I Honors - 98
French I - 100</p>

<p>9th Grade:
English I Honors - 94
Geometry Honors - 98
Biology Honors - 98
World Geography Honors - 98
Journalism - 97
ACE/Health - P
Dance I - 98
French II - 99</p>

<p>10th Grade:
English II Honors - 96
Algebra II Honors - 98
Chemistry Honors - 99
AP World History - 95
French III - 99
Dance II - 98
Theatre Productions I - 99
Newspaper Productions - 96
Communication Applications - 99</p>

<p>11th Grade:
AP English III Language - 96
Pre-calculus Honors - 98
Physics Honors - 96
AP French IV Language - 99
Spanish I - 100
AP Studio Art - 94
Theatre Productions II - 99
Computer Science I Honors - 97
Japanese I - 95
AP US History - 75 (I took this distance learning over the summer, but I was pretty sick for a good amount of the time and was unable to rush to get something done. Sucks because this is the only bad grade on my transcript!)</p>

<p>12th Grade:
AP Physics C
AP English IV Literature
AP Macroeconomics
AP US Goverment
AP Calculus AB
AP Biology
AP French V Literature
AP Computer Science II</p>

<p>The Extracurricular Activities:
- Foreign language (self-taught: French, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese)
- National Honor Society (member 10-12)
- Chinese folk dance (5-12, perfomances often, soloist, MC)
- Key Club (member 10-12, secretary 12)
- Drama Club (9-12)
- Theatre Productions (1 fall play, 2 one-act plays, 3 musicals, musician for 1)
- Anime Club (member 9, treasurer/historian 10, junior VP 11, VP 12, Japanese teacher 10-12)
- Science Club (secretary 11, co-pres 12)
- Piano (2-12, Superior Plus ratings at festivals, solo contest, accompanist)
- Violin (10-12, String Workshop)
- Web design (completely self-taught, worked for a few companies, proficient in [X]HTML, CSS, PHP)</p>

<p>The Summer Activities:
- Teacher/accompanist at Melody Makers University for Children
- Volunteer work for Summer Reading Club at library
- Web design</p>

<p>The Community Service:
- 5+ a month for Key Club, usually volunteering at library or at gatherings for cancer patients, nursing homes, etc</p>

<p>The Awards and Honors:
- Science Fair freshman year: 2nd in school, 2nd at Regionals, participant in State (Behavioral Sciences)
- Science Fair sophomore year: 1st in school, 1st at Regionals, 3rd at State (Microbiology)
- Science Fair junior year: 1st in school, 2nd at Regionals, Honorable Mention at State (Microbiology)
- Science Fair senior year: studies in Fourier transforms, music, and cognitive learning
- National Honor Roll
- Who's Who in American High School Students</p>

<p>Miscellaneous:
I'm the founder and leader of an Internet singing organization, handling over 100+ members. I play the job of producer, singer, business manager, web designer, and yes, the mediator. I process auditions, manage groups, mix the songs, design graphics and promotion materials, etc. I put in a good 40+ hours a week.</p>

<p>It appears like I'm very fine arts/humanities centered, but that was before I changed my mind senior year, haha.</p>

2

<p>Bump? =< Please chance me, I’m what you would call desperate.</p>

3

<p>I don;t understand how ur uw gpa is 1.35 points higher than your weighted.</p>

4

<p>Typo on my part. Weighted is 5.35, unweighted is 4.0.</p>

5

<p>Here’s my advice. Raise those SAT scores just a tad first. Before you even worry about standing out, consider fitting in with the rest of the applicant pool. You’re also going to have to take those SAT II’s. Are you a senior? It’s a bit late to be just starting to take the SAT II’s. I’m guessing you’re planning on taking them all at one time?</p>

<p>Your rank is pretty good though…it’ll suffice for your schools. On the other hand, your EC’s are a bit lackluster. I didn’t really go “wow!” when I saw any of them. If you’re a senior, I can’t say any additional EC’s will help. That’s typically expected by colleges as “resume padding”. If you’re a junior, I suggest that you take on some leadership positions, show some focus, and try to win some more awards or recognition in the areas you excel at. </p>

<p>Likewise, you should think about those essays. What does a great essay look like? Read a little, and do some research. </p>

<p>My final word is that you should probably look at some match schools. The chances are that you’ll be waitlisted or rejected by 4 of your 6 schools at this point. Have you considered any other schools that you like?</p>

6

<p>I’m guaranteed entry into UT Austin so that’s my one safety school.</p>

7

<p>RememberMe1990 has got it right. Grades are fine, obviously, ECs okay, but the test scores are low for these schools–and the essay becomes real important in borderline cases like yours. </p>

<p>I’m thinking CMU and Texas are fine, but you are a reach for MIT and Caltech, and UCB (OOS) is a match to slight reach still (probably a slight reach as an engineering major).</p>

<p>P.S. Take “Who’s Who” off your list–everyone knows they would list your dog if you paid them the fee to do so.</p>

8

<p>she got into MIT, shows how harsh CC is</p>

9

<p>Who’s Who in American High School Students - this is a BS recognition and it will make you look stupid. DO NOT put it on there.</p>

<p>my expectation is that you will either get in to all of them or get waitlisted for some.</p>

10

<p>^ please check dates of the first post before you go around replying :o</p>

<p>Though I must agree with your statement of Who’s Who.. and NHS is slowly making that BS list IMO as well :P</p>

<p>If anyone was curious (for statistical comparison or whatever random studies you personally conduct):</p>

<p>MIT - attending; that’s where I’m sitting at currently :stuck_out_tongue:
Carnegie Mellon - accepted
Stanford - rejected
Caltech - ended up not applying
UC Berkeley - ditto above
UT Austin - accepted, with double honors
Cornell - accepted</p>

11

<p>I really cannot believe one person said your ECs were “okay”. If yours were “okay” - 4 years of winning science fairs, and then intel, then the rest of us (like me) seriously will not stand a chance at all.</p>