Please Chance Me!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello,

I was wondering if I could get an honest response if I have a chance to get into the following universities:

  1. MIT (NUMBER 1 CHOICE ! )
  2. Stanford
  3. Berkeley
  4. Cal Tech
  5. University of Illinois at Urbana
  6. Purdue
  7. Georgia Tech
  8. Cornell
  9. Princeton
  10. Carnegie Mellon
  11. University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
  12. UCLA
  13. UCSD
  14. LMU
  15. SCU

I am a senior this fall.
Major Choice: Mechanical Engineering

ACT with writing - 33
English (35), Math (31), Reading (34), Science (30)
SAT - 1740
Math (660), Critical Reading (510), Writing (570)
(I’m taking the SAT this weekend again)

GPA - Unweighted (3.98), Weighted (4.19)

EC:
I am multi-lingual.

150 + Volunteering Hours (Various Organizations, Library, Tutoring, etc…)

Played the piano for 8 years
Played the guitar for 4 years
Won certificates in both instruments
Performed in front of audiences ( Recitals, Ensembles, etc…)
Took ABRSM exam for Music Theory Grade 3 - passed
Took ABRSM exam for Guitar Practical Grade 3 - passed with Merit
Took 3 Guild Repertoire Piano Music Exams and passed all. (1 of them I earned a plaque) (3 of them with certification)

I played on the JV team for Basketball and Soccer in freshman year of high school.
I played tennis for about 4 - 5 years. I reached the sectionals tournament of USTA Norcal in the state of California with my team, Almaden Valley Athletic Club (AVAC).

I also achieved recognition in the field of art, as I do all types of mediums: Oil Pastel, Pencil Shading, Pen & Ink, Watercolor Paintings, Acrylic Paintings, Oil Paintings, Fabric Paintings, as well as Graphic Design (Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator).
I won several medals and certificates in art contests.

I am also proficient with all of Microsoft Office and HTML.

Great letters of recommendation.

I flew to the country of Turkey and interned there at Gediz University with a professor in the area of Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering . As I shadowed him and aided him in his research, I learned the basics and the foundations of aerodynamics, college level.

Essays - 8/10

Course Rigor:
Freshman - No AP or Honors Courses (I took the hardest courses my school offered).

Sophomore - No AP Courses but 2 Honors Courses (I took the hardest courses my school offered).

Junior - 3 AP Courses (APUSH, AP Lit and Comp, AP Calc AB) and 1 Honors Course (I took the hardest courses my school offered).

Senior Schedule - VMC (Voices of Modern Culture), Men’s Choir, Gov/Econ, AP Stats, PE.

Appreciate all your help!

2

Subject tests? AP scores?

3

@Falcon1 I didn’t take any subject tests as I am taking them this November. (Math level 2 and Physics- expecting at least 700s on both).

I don’t wish to report my AP Scores, and they won’t factor or influence my admission chances.
APUSH-2
AP Calc AB-1
AP Comp Sci-1
AP Comp and Lit-2

Again, I am not reporting my scores and that will not hurt my chances.

4

That is really suspicious to me as a reader that you are unqilling to report your scores. Colleges are expecting you to report them, and will think that your school uses grade inflation if you don’t.

5

@jarrett211 I agree, but i believe it is better to not report them rather than reporting 2s and 1s.

6

I see serious contradictions in your status which are very unusual to me.
From one hand I see an ACT score of 33 (very good) versus a SAT of 1740 (very bad, for the schools in your list). Great GPA versus horrible AP scores!
These extremes will not reflect well on you and will make atcoms wonder who you really are (I can not figure it out)? You may hide some stats for few schools but you can not hide all from most of schools.

7

Okay just so you know. With that in mind, I don’t think you’ll get into MIT, Stanford, The Ivies, or CalTech. You’ll probably make a few of the others.

8

I’m only reporting ACT and not SAT as well as no AP scores!
Could you please just chance me on the data that is given.

PS: I’m taking the SAT again this week end and expecting a 2150+
Plus I changed schools 3 times during high school. It was hard for me to fit right in with the school’s curriculum, influencing my AP scores.

9

That’s an important fact you didn’t mention.

10

@jarrett211 Thank you for your honest evaluation! I appreciate it!

11

Well, considering that point about the AP scores, what would be my chances?

12

Do you or a counselor talk about that somewhere? If so, then it depends. If not, then colleges will be on you like a hawk (in a bad way).

13

No. The only place I might include that is in the additional info. section of the application.

14

bump

15

I hope you realize that schools such as Stanford and Cornell require that you report all scores. Kids who try to game the system find out the hard way that they take this very seriously. Also, AOs have been known to call schools to request scores, especially APs. That being said you have to take your chances and hope they don’t because reporting those 2s and 1s will raise red flags about grade inflation at your school.

For schools like MIT and Caltech you’ll need high SAT2 scores, especially math 2. The middle 50% for math at Caltech is 790-800. Frankly, with all your moving around, I question your academic preparedness for most of the schools on your list. Your AP scores and SAT score certainly suggests you’re not ready for schools like MIT and Caltech where the kids are incredibly brilliant but still have to study 30-50 hours a week. You don’t seem to have enough STEM ECs for your top choice MIT but hopefully I’m wrong. Good luck!

16

@Falcon1 Thank you so much for your reply! I agree my AP scores are not fit enough, but that doesn’t represent the true me. The SAT score is my first SAT, and I had no prep. The true me is represented by my EC’s, ACT score, and rec letters.

17

MIT cares most about the math score. While a 33 composite on the ACT is great, the 31 on math is far below what MIT is looking for. Need 35-36 on ACT math to have a shot at MIT

18

@wisteria100 What if I get a 790 or 800 on Math Level 2 subject test? Do you think I can compensate for the ACT Math score?

19

You failed the exams of every AP class you took, how is that not the real you? Your current SAT and ACT math scores are too low for MIT, Caltech etc. I hope you do better on the SAT retake and subject tests. Frankly, to repeat, I would worry about your happiness if by some chance you got into an elite school like MIT or Caltech. AP classes don’t even come close to the difficulty of classes at these schools. I hate to drag my daughter into this but she had 14 5’s on AP exams, and pertect SAT IIs and ACT scores. She did this with very little effort because she was incredibly busy with her ECs. Yet, she works her butt off at Harvard and every minute of her day is scheduled to the max. You failed your AP exams and have a subpar SAT score and a mediocre ACT score. How does that qualify you to study ME at a place like MIT? Instead of possibly being absolutely miserable at a school like Caltech, why don’t you aim for the schools where you are more suited for so that you can succeed and actually enjoy your college experience? Use your early strategy for these schools instead of wasting it on the tippy top schools. All it takes is a request to see your AP scores and your application is sunk at these schools anyway. I’m sure you won’t listen to me but I hope you do.

20

You will end-up someplace very solid, but not to be a downer, but even your ACT is not a great score for, especially for 3 of the top 4 schools listed (CAL might be a fit). But, if you were to cull down on what those scores look like for admitted applicants, typically, math is in the 34-36 range, and science in the 35-36 range at both Cal-T and MIT. Right now you are 20-30% off those marks. Make sure you have sufficient safety and match schools.