<p>This is my first thread so pray forgive any faux pas I may make.</p>
<p>Basic info: I am a hispanic male senior in high school looking to at least apply to Virginia Tech, University of Virginia, Yale, and MIT. I would be the first in my family to go to college; indeed I am the first person in my family born in the US. These two facts I cannot help but feel may have deprived me of knowledge regarding college and school that would have been mighty useful to have. I want to study electrical or chemical engineering, or mathematics.</p>
<p>Though my high school career has in some ways been unremarkable I have some other things going for me that I hope will help me stand out.</p>
<p>*My first two years of high school (and German I and Algebra I that I took in 8th grade) were average, with mostly A's and B's, and C's in Algebra I and Geometry.
*My class rank in junior year (so with my previous grades) was 121 of about 750.</p>
<p>However, I made decent improvement starting off modestly in 10th grade and really getting going in junior year.</p>
<p>*After getting Cs two years in a row in math (not to make excuses but I believe partially effected by uncomfortable circumstances at home) I somehow rekindled my earlier passion for math. I took Algebra 2 with trig in 10th grade, pre-calc the summer after, calculus AB in 11th grade (could not take BC because of scheduling conflicts, to my dismay), and am currently one of the 8 people in my school taking Differential Equations. I passed all these classes with As, got a 5 on the calc ab ap test, and currently have around a 95% average in diff eq's.
*My class rank has shot up from 121/750 to 67/635.
*My weighted GPA is 3.9, unweighted 3.5 (a common complaint in my class is of the old grading scale, in which anything under a 94% was a B, and so forth; but it is what it is)
*I am one of four or five National Merit Semifinalists in my school (waiting to see if I am a Finalist), a National AP Scholar, and have won recognition in the National Hispanic Recognition Program with 2 other people.
*My junior year I finished with straight A's (not huge but at least an improvement).
*I have taken one AP sophomore year and four junior year, and am currently taking 5.</p>
<p>Test scores:
PSAT: don't remember sophomore year, but junior year: 221
SAT I: First try, 2200 (700/760/740); second try, 2220 (740/730/750); sum of best scores: 2250
SAT II: US History: 780; English Literature: 770
AP World History: 5
AP US History: 5
AP Calculus AB: 5
AP Music Theory: 3
AP English Language & Composition: 5</p>
<p>Additional stuff:
*I won a small local scholarship for Hispanic students.
*I am in the AATG National German Honors Society and am President of the German Club.
*I don't have many volunteer hours. A few during snowmageddon to help neighbors shovel snow, and about 6 over the last summer for an event to let people volunteer for our city.
*I have played in the pit band for a school performance of Rent.
*I have played extensively with my rock bands my entire high school career. We have played at least over 50 gigs for our school, booking agencies, talent shows, festivals, charity events (Haiti), private parties/events; notable places we have played include the Rock N' Roll Hotel and 9:30 Club (where we will be playing again soon). I am a guitarist in both bands and have invested a sizable amount of time into practicing, writing, performing, etc.
*I am currently taking AP Physics C (both), Eng. Lit, US Gov, and German; electronics II (have an A in the class last year and this), and Diff Eq's.</p>
<p>I don't feel like I have much going for me except maybe test scores or my improvement, so if anybody could proffer any advice, I'd much appreciate it.</p>