what are my chances

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I am a junior at a public school in Richmond, Texas. My high school was just built and mine will be the first graduating class. I am interested in going to Rice University, Harvard, Yale, Cornell, UT Austin, or MIT. MIT is my number one choice.</p>

<p>Stats:<br>
Sophomore PSAT score 227 - 234
SAT score: 2310 - 2340</p>

<p>AP Computer Science A
AP US History
AP Chemistry
AP Spanish 4 (and maybe Spanish 5)
AP English 3 and AP english 4
AP Physics
AP Govt and Economics
AP Calculus
Orchestra (play violin) for 7 years
AP computer science 2 (AB)</p>

<p>I plan to get 4s and 5s on all my APs</p>

<p>Orchestra President: 10, 11, 12th grades
Debate club founder and Vice President in 10th grade, President in 11th and 12th grade
CHess club founder and president 10, 11, 12th grades
Science club co-founder and vice president 10th, 11th, 12th grades
Member of Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honor Society)
Member of and officer of NHS
Member of Spanish Honor Society</p>

<p>Member of Region Orchestra
School Symphony Orchestra concertmaster
OUtstanding soloist at several orchestra competitions
Solo and Ensemble Contest Rating of one on a division one solo
Orchestra Outstanding Leadership award</p>

<p>Went to National History Day state competition in 10th grade for a group performance
Organizer of the school talent show in 10th grade
Math peer tutoring 1hr/week
approximately 100 volunteer hours</p>

<p>volunteered at a rural school in India for approximately 100 hours during the summer</p>

<p>Debate
Placed at several local competitions in LD Debate and Extemporaneous speaking, but never went to state competition
School Outstanding LD Debater award</p>

<p>Participated in several UIL competitions and Computer Science competitions
I was on the school UIL and computer science team
placed in several computer science competitions</p>

<p>Class rank 4 out of 421</p>

<p>GPA unweighted: 4.0
weighted 5.68</p>

<p>AMC school champion in 8th grade
took AMC and AIME in 9th grade</p>

<p>I get subject awards in several subjects at the end of each school year</p>

<p>I know that I will have very strong teacher, principal, and counselor recommendations.</p>

<p>I know that these stats are very vague, but maybe you guys can give me an idea of what my chances might be at the aforementioned schools.
If you need more information from me, please ask.
Because I am in 11th grade, some of the above stats are predicted/estimated</p>

2

<p>come on guys
please help me out
I need suggestions as to how I can strengthen my application</p>

3

<p>By the way, I am an Indian American male. I was born in India and moved here when I was 3 years old. Will this help or hurt my chances?</p>

<p>I am also a member of the National Society of High School Scholars</p>

4

<p>ra1990, I think it hurts you because your are an ORM (Asian). Your stats are very strong, but nothing really stands out. I am not trying to be rude, but there are many students with your scores, GPA, ECs.</p>

<p>I am pretty new to this though so I could be wrong.</p>

5

<p>thanks. I really appreciate your advice. I feel the same way... that nothing really stands out. Do you have any recommendations as to what I might be able to get involved in over the next year? Anything that you personally enjoyed or found especially beneficial in high school?</p>

<p>And why does my being an asian hurt my chances?</p>

<p>I plan to play in college orchestra. Does that help my chances at all? I heard that colleges are always looking for musicians to participate in college programs.</p>

<p>Also, I will most likely be applying early action/decision at MIT.</p>

6

<p>Go to the MIT/Harvard/etc. forums and look at the stickied threads "Post your stats" or something like that. People post their stats and tell whether they were denied or accepted. Maybe that will help you out. You'll see that the admissions can be sort of random sometimes. Make yourself stand out in the essays.</p>

7

<p>any other suggestions guys?</p>

8

<p>You don't say what you're interested in majoring in, but if it's science or engineering, you might try to find a researcher you can work with. There are people at the Texas Medical Center who take on motivated high school students and teach them to do basic research for them. You might also try at one of the local universities. If you do some digging into the research group web pages at these institutions, you might very well find professors who have high school students working for them. That could be a good place to start asking about finding someone you might work with.</p>

<p>I know that research is very important for undergrads who want to enter science and engineering graduate programs, and research would certainly make you stand out among other applicants at highly competitive schools.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

9

<p>Next year, I plan to take a class that my school district offers called Gifted and Talented Mentorship Program. Only 15 students are selected from the entire district for the class after a rigorous application process. (I am quite sure that I will be accepted because my school's science department head said that she will definitely pull some strings to get me in if it comes down to that). The program consists of spending a certain number of hours every week doing a project with a professional mentor and then presenting th project to a commitee. I will have to drive out and do work with a mentor in the field I choose to pursue. For example, because I am interested in computer science, I will have to find a professional who works in that field and then spend time every week developing my project under his/her guidance.</p>

<p>Does that count as "research"?</p>

10

<p>By research I mean working on a problem that will contribute to solving that or a greater problem. Is that what you will be doing? Or will it be more like an exercise?</p>

<p>When research is successful it results in progress in the field in which the research is done. The "progress" may be very small, but it will contribute to solving a problem. Not all research results in success. As a first-time researcher the important thing is learning how to ask questions--the right questions.</p>

<p>Does that help?</p>

11

<p>I just got a 2400 on my SAT. Does that help my chances?</p>

12

<p>any replies?</p>

13

<p>I don't see any reason a school wouldn't want you... I mean there isn't much more you could do. Run for state representative when you are 18, come up with a cure some disease, start a fortune 500 businesss etc...</p>

<p>Then again, I don't garuntee you get in anywhere...</p>

14

<p>I think you have a good chance. True, you may be an ORM, but hasn't it occurred to anyone that people like him are precisely the reason why Indians are ORMs :P</p>

<p>your got a 2400 as a junior - pretty amazing. being part of the first graduating class in a young, untested high school, and then doing so well, is impressive.</p>