Wharton, MIT, Chicago

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Please chance me! I submitted my apps a couple weeks ago, so I know it doesn't matter now, but I'm just curious (and nervous), and just want to know (kinda) what to expect.</p>

<p>Asian Male
School: Competitive Private All-Boys school in NJ
(Class size = 130ish, 10% go to Ivies, 10% go to top LACs, 40% go to Georgetown/Notre Dame/Villanova including athletic recruits)</p>

<p>GPA (out of 12.0):</p>

<p>1) 9th Grade: 11.238
2) 10th Grade: 11.513
3) 11th Grade: 11.750
4) Cumulative: 11.496 </p>

<p>*An A is weighted as an 11.0, and an A+ is a 12.0. An A in an AP course is weighted as a 12.0, while an A+ is weighted as a 13.0.</p>

<p>Course Placement:</p>

<p>1) 10th Grade: AP European History (5), AP Calculus AB (5)
2) 11th Grade: AP American History (5), AP Calculus BC (5)/multivariable, AP English Language (5), AP Physics B (5)
3) 12th Grade: AP Macroeconomics, Linear Algebra (Post-AP), AP English Literature, AP Vergil, AP Art History</p>

<p>Standardized Testing:</p>

<p>1) PSAT: 227
a. Critical Reading: 76
b. Mathematics: 80
c. Writing: 71
2) SAT: 2310
a. Critical Reading: 740
b. Mathematics: 780
c. Writing: 790 (11 Essay)
3) SAT Subject Tests:
a. Mathematics Level II: 800
b. American History: 780
c. Physics: 780</p>

<p>EXTRA-CURRICULARS/ACTIVITIES</p>

<ol>
<li>State-ranked swimmer - club swimmer since I was 5. 20 hours of practice every week, all year round (51 weeks out of 54 considering every break between summer/winter seasons). Captain of my club team, Elite Swim Club. Captain of my school team.</li>
</ol>

<p>*I am a "preferred" recruit at MIT, not receiving athletic support at Penn.</p>

<ol>
<li>Including next summer, it will be my 3rd year as the Cromwell Hills Summer League Swim Team coach. It is has been my first and so far only paid work-experience. The job lasts for about 5 weeks, and each week I spend 20-24 hours on it depending on whether or not there are 1 or 2 meets that week. Besides being a very socially-oriented job (coaching kids, talking with parents), it is management-oriented too. </li>
</ol>

<p>*My more business-like responsibilities included: creating spreadsheets for every swimmer organized by age group, times, events, participation, disqualification records. Entering databases into the program Hy-Tek, which created my line-ups before meets. Organizing fundraiser and creating a prize system to maximize participation. Gathering parent volunteers for two pasta parties. Ordering end-of-season awards. An innovation I made that made the team more efficiently run - a "mandatory meet sheet" for all swimmers to sign up for upcoming meets. This way I could be certain which swimmers were and were not coming and I could ensure that every swimmer there would be entered in at least one event.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Debate Team - Placed in the top 16 in open Public Forum debate as a junior (Villiger) and senior at Bronx National Tournament. Also placed in the top 32 in JV Lincoln Douglas debate at various national tournaments as a freshman/sophomore. 10-15 hours a week.</p></li>
<li><p>Social Justice Committee - society of juniors and seniors that design two annual workshops that raise awareness about prejudice. Issues we tackled this year were racism and poverty. The group has about 15 total members, and both workshops lead the entire 130-140 freshman class for an entire day. 5 hours a week.</p></li>
<li><p>Math Club - involved in taking the weekly test since freshman year. As a junior, began leading the club and tutoring underclassmen on weekly test problems. 2 hours a week.</p></li>
<li><p>Economics Club - very very small school club with about 10-15 students. Involved since freshman year. Most recent action was holding a school-wide fundraiser for the club, then using the money to make a micro loan to a vehicle repair shop in Appalachia. 2 hours a week.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Essays: I think they're all really good - I worked on each one a lot and I'm a pretty good writer.</p>

<p>Recommendations: Probably pretty good. Did great in both classes/AP exams, teachers liked me. Additionally, my debate coach wrote a great one for me that emphasizes my versatility, intellectuality, and leadership.</p>

<p>Interviews: Both were great. The Penn interview told me at the very end explicitly that I impressed him by answering all his questions in a stellar manner. The MIT one went very well, and was about two hours.</p>

2

<p>Chicago is probably a match. I’d put Wharton and MIT as low-to-mid reaches, given your athlete status; it’s sort of hard to evaluate that well because it’s not clear to what degree you’re accomplished as a swimmer (though clearly, you are quite accomplished). Your other ECs are average, but swimming boosts your chances significantly.</p>

3

<p>How have you acquired the status of “preferred” recruit at MIT? I submitted a recruiting form via DAPER for MIT (I am also a year round and high school state ranked swimmer, A+ Athlete of the Year for my school, all academic state composite team member, etc.), but other than an email with loads of information about the team, coach Dawn did not send me information about being a preferred recruit. Did you send a follow up email or pursue it more than submitting the recruiting form? Or, are you basing the status off of your times in comparison to the NEWMAC’s times? My 50, 100, and 200 free times would place top 8 at NEWMAC’s (especially by next year!), so is this what you mean by “preferred” recruit?</p>

4

<p>Chicago is a low reach, Penn is a very high reach - ECs are unimpressive, particularly given you aren’t recruited there. I honestly don’t know how much recruitment helps for MIT admissions, however, so I can’t predict your chances there.</p>

5

<p>Solid app. MIT/Wharton are low/mid reaches tbh. Good luck dude and congratz on your accomplishments!</p>

6

<p>Thanks for the replies everyone:</p>

<p>Imagineer: Dawn invited me to a recruit trip over the weekend at the beginning of October, with about 15 other guys. All a “preferred recruit” really is is that Dawn writes us a letter to admissions, but it’s not a guarantee at all.</p>

7

<p>Chicago and Penn seem like high match to low reaches if you write your essays well. MIT is a mid reach to high reach because it is unpredictable. Good luck.</p>

<p>chance back- <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1233558-my-story-will-my-dream-schools-understand-5.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1233558-my-story-will-my-dream-schools-understand-5.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

8

<p>questionsg - chanced back</p>

9

<p>bump any more?</p>

10

<p>

</p>

<p>I think Chicago is a high match, and I disagree, I think these ECs are very impressive (mainly swimming and debate).</p>

11

<p>bump 10char</p>

12

<p>boredom bump</p>

13

<p>buuuuuump1</p>