<p>hey guys,
i'm applying for colleges in the coming fall and I was wondering if I had a decent shot at getting into MIT, Duke, and/or Stanford?
SAT scores: 800 in math, 770 in CR, and 720 in writing
SAT II scores: 800 in math II, 800 in Biology, 800 in world history, 790 in Chinese
GPA: 3.82/4.0
ECs: 13 years of piano, dance, art, teaching swimming
volunteering: over 300 hours
I've done 2 consecutive years of summer internships in research labs.
I am the student council president, as well as a member of the research club and volunteer club at my school.
also, I'm pretty sure i can get really good recommendations.</p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>also, I've won numerous local piano competitions, an art award, a speech competition, and an international chinese essay writing contest. I also received a PSAT score of 234/240.</p>
<p>The research will help a whole lot. Especially with Duke (as I recall they have a special spot on the application for research experience). The EC’s are okay but make sure you have plenty to back them up. For instance, if you are a recreational swimmer, and you list that on your college apps, then it doesn’t say much about your commitment. It will probably seem like you swim a few times a week or for an hour a day or something. Being on a team or having awards or letters helps for these things. As far as student council president goes that’s great, and colleges will love to see that, but how big is your school? If it is a tiny private school they’ll be less impressed. BTW, I’ve heard that admissions officers are kind of sick of the same Asian, piano playing, calculator wielding image that shows up in thousands of applications every year. Emphasize your strengths if those are things that you do well, but also play up something that separates you from the next guy.</p>
<p>Your grades are great for Duke, and your scores are Ivy quality. MIT is a crap shoot, and being Chinese won’t help you because there are already thousands of Asians applying for spots at MIT. I recently saw am Indian, valedictorian, 4.0 GPA, 2300+ SAT, cross country runner, frequent science competition winner denied from MIT. Unfortunately he “settled” for Princeton. Spread out a bit if you want to get into the big league schools. Apply to a whole bunch. Even the best stats get denied, and sometimes people with more personality get in over those monster stats kids. Write a fantastic essay (if they’ll read it, MIT is nice enough to tell you right out that if they required one, they wouldn’t read it anyway), and show that you are a REAL person, and not a dork who sits around and studies all day.</p>