On the right track for MIT/CalTech/Stanford?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>White male, just finished sophomore year, average income. Small rural school (I don't think a kid from here has ever gone to a "top" school; getting a 1600 SAT is "great"). Not prestigious. I doubt anyone from my county has ever gone to an Ivy League school (no joke).</p>

<p>GPA: 4.0 UW; school doesn't weigh, but I've taken all available honors courses (one each year in each of the core subjects) and gotten A+'s. Never made below an A+ for the final grade in a class.</p>

<p>Rank: 1/~100-110</p>

<p>SAT: 1970 (720M, 640CR, 610W); took early during sophomore year. Likely retake in the fall.</p>

<p>SAT II: None yet.</p>

<p>ACT: 32 (35R, 34W, 30S, 27M); took at the same time (bad math because I'd only taken the freshman math class). Also retaking in the fall.</p>

<p>APs: So far, only AP European History online (school only lets seniors do AP; I was the only non-senior taking an AP exam). Made a 4. Planning on taking more.</p>

<p>ECs: My weak point. I pretty much just work at a real estate office (on the computers), help out the school with computers. As for school-related:</p>

<ul>
<li> Debate team, freshman year. My partner and I won two matches at the debate "meet" (not sure what term to use) and our coach said it was the first time a team from our school had won any rounds/matches since around 2006. Didn't do it sophomore year because the coach changed to someone I didn't like.</li>
<li> Spanish Club, freshman & sophomore</li>
<li> FBLA, sophomore. 10th in my state (pretty populous) in the introductory computers competition. It was something that I didn't prepare for at all and that my advisor pretty much threw me in at the last minute, so I was pretty proud of myself.</li>
<li> "Reading Bowl" (basically a book-related competition) freshman year; team placed 4th at region out of around 15 teams.</li>
<li> I should be getting in on some research projects at a nearby university next year if things keep going the way they are.</li>
<li> I'm going to have a larger number of options open to me next year when it comes to clubs, etc., so I should be in some more that are math and science-related (as I stated, this is a small school with not a lot of opportunities and mostly uninterested students).</li>
</ul>

<p>I'll post other info if need be. I'm looking at schools like MIT, CalTech, Stanford, UC Berkeley. Maybe Princeton, Harvard, or Columbia.</p>

<p>Would being from this smaller school help me at all, or is it a disadvantage compared to kids from top schools? I'm really trying to do my best with what I have.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>You have no chance of getting into those schools (especially MIT and CalTech) with that math score on your ACT, your SAT math score needs to improve also…About the small school thing, I don’t know, but I’m in a similar situation so I hope it helps! Best of Luck</p>

3

<p>In my opinion, doing your best at a small school in California, and a great GPA, helps you get IN to Berkeley. Not sure if it helps you get out. Do you go to high school in California? Don’t know how it plays for kids coming form out of state.</p>

4

<p>If you can somehow convey the obstacles (rural school, sub-standard opportunities, etc) you have to overcome in your application, you should have a fight chance at the non-technical schools. For ClaTech and MIT, you need to substantially improve your math scores.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

5

<p>You have a shot, but it’s a reach. No offense, but your math score is a little low, especially for CalTech and MIT. If you retake and get a higher score, then I think you’d have a fairly good shot. Maybe throw in some more EC’s since you have the time. I don’t think they’d bash you too hard for the small school, some people can’t really help where they go to school, but it’s always a plus to be ranked #1 in your class. Good luck!</p>

6

<p>From an admissions officer’s point of view, why would you want to go to MIT or caltech with essentially no math/science extracurriculars? It doesn’t appear that you have any applied interests in those two key subjects. Also, standardized test scores are low, especially for an unhooked applicant. Try to bring up sat to 2300 for a decent shot, provided extracurriculars are good as well</p>

7

<p>Thanks for the answers! Trust me, I understand that the math scores are very low. As I stated, at the time of taking those tests I only had a high school freshman math class under my belt. I’ve already taken another, and I should be done with Honors Calculus I by next summer. SURELY that’ll help me get 750-800 and 34-36. If not, I’ll be taking more senior year. I’m confident that I can bring them up, and I’ve been doing some practice questions and I’m missing very few of them.</p>

<p>As for science and math-related ECs, the only thing at my school is Mu Alpha Theta, which is restricted to seniors (who I’ve easily outperformed on the standardized tests). There is literally nothing else. We don’t even have a “computer club”. I’ve been looking for internships, but I don’t live near any cities where I could get one. The nearest with a population over 100,000 is over an hour away, and I’ve already looked there.</p>

<p>Also, I’m not in California.</p>

8

<p>Berkeley is your best bet. Make sure to really emphasize the rural school aspect and how you used all your resources. try to take some college classes.</p>

9

<p>I’ll actually only be taking college courses for the next two years at a nearby university, so I’ve got that handled… lol.</p>

10

<p>I think you’re definitely on the right track and you have a shot, but since you’re just ending your sophomore year, it’s a bit tough to tell at this point. But way to already be so focused!</p>

11

<p>Thanks, Jen.</p>

12

<p>You sound like a real cool kid that is pretty level headed. My question is why the ivies? Is it the prestige you want or the education? For example, you mention MIT and Harvard in the same sentence and those two schools could not be further apart with regards to offerings. I suggest you think about what you want to major in first, then pick the schools you want to attend. If you are interested in STEM majors, you have to be much more focused on what you want to study, then choose a school that offers the best curriculum in that major. Chances are that some ivies will not even offer your major!</p>

13

<p>Get up your SAT/ACT scores and then try to find some EC’s that are more technical. Few EC’s will kill you when you apply, so it’s important that you find some now that you’re a junior. Your GPA, class rank, course load, etc look nice. If you do what I said I’m sure you’ll get into at least one of those three schools.</p>

<p>Chance me back, please.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1378560-chance-me-nyu-cas-ed-cornell-ucla-etc-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1378560-chance-me-nyu-cas-ed-cornell-ucla-etc-will-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

14

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>I’m taking astronomy w/ a lab at the university this fall as well as chemistry, and I’m really hoping to get into research with one of those.</p>

<p>On the topic of SATs… I just decided to have a little fun so I did 25 practice questions for the Physics SAT II. Physics is a passion, and a lot of physics is just thinking about a problem to logically figure out the answer, so I felt like I’d done pretty well. I made the ratio to equate my performance to as if I’d done all 75, looked at a raw-to-composite conversion table, and I scored an 800…</p>

<p>Why can you have such a low raw score on that test and still get so high? It’s so much more merciful than the SAT I.</p>

15

<p>@ OsakaDad: Trust me, it’s for the education. I want to go into physics, so MIT/CalTech/Stanford are the best, but Princeton and Harvard also have pretty good physics programs as well as UC Berkeley.</p>

16

<p>Yeah, you won’t get into Caltech like that. You’ll either need to do very well in national math/science competitions or start doing research ASAP.</p>

17

<p>Considering that you are only in your sophomore year, it seems you are on a very good track towards those colleges. Just focus on bumping the ACT and SAT scores up and excelling at a few extracurricular activities or clubs and you should be set.</p>

18

<p>@ originalthought: Yeah, I know. That’s why I’m retaking the tests (also, for my two SAT IIs that MIT requires, I’m planning on taking Physics and Math II) and getting involved at research at the university next year.</p>

<p>@ Darthpwner: Thanks. :)</p>

19

<p>Standardized tests won’t get you recognized at MIT/caltech. What originalthought means is getting into USAMO, USABO, etc. almost everyone applying to the schools you listed will have 800s in both math and physics subject tests</p>

20

<p>Thank you for the input. :)</p>

<p>I honestly doubt I do USAMO, USABO, etc., but I’m very excited for the research I’ll get to do at the university, and I’m looking at options for internships/programs next summer that interest me.</p>