<p>I’m a student at Lexington High School, MA. I’m wondering about my admissions to a few colleges, namely Harvard, MIT, Cornell, Tufts, Brandeis, and Johns Hopkins.</p>
<p>I am a Chinese male.</p>
<p>Here is my curriculum vitae information:
GPA 3.5 UW
PSAT 240
SATI 2360
SATII Biology 790, SATII World History 700
AP Biology 5, AP World History 5, AP Chemistry 4, AP US History 4</p>
<p>Here are my awards:
Siemens Competition Semifinalist
Massachusetts State Science Fair First Place Team Project
Massachusetts State Science Fair Second Place Individual Project
Massachusetts Region IV Science Fair 7th Place
Lexington High School Science Fair 1st Place
American Junior Academy of Science Lifelong Fellow
Massachusetts Junior Academy of Science Delegate
Citation by the Massachusetts Speaker of the House
Massachusetts State Grade Championship High School Chess Individual Champion
Massachusetts State Spiegel Cup High School Chess Individual Champion
Massachusetts State Hurvitz Cup High School Chess Team Champion (scholastic)
Charles Drafts Memorial 2nd Place (adult chess tournament)
Massachusetts Forensic League State Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate Champion
Massachusetts Forensic League State Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate First Speaker
Senior Districts Music Festival (violin)</p>
<p>Here are my college classes taken for credit:
Harvard Extension/Summer School:
Proteomics A-
Genomics B
Genetics n/a
Molecular Biology n/a</p>
<p>Here are my positions:
Social Action/Community Service Committee School Chairman
Chess Team Captain/President/Founder
Breakdance Crew President</p>
<p>Here are my internships and scholarships:
Summer internship at the Olin College Bacteriophage Research Department under Dr. Helen Donis-Keller
Year-long internship at the MIT Tissue Engineering & 3-D Organ Printing Department under Dr. Feng Xu
$40,000 Scholarship to Regis College
$1000 W.R. Grace Award
$200 Boston Acoustical Society Award</p>
<p>Thank you all for taking your time to read this and answer my question!</p>
<p>That’s a very impressive resume, to the point where I also think you have a very solid shot at most of your schools despite your 3.5 GPA, which hopefully you can explain – what is your class rank, and if it’s not provided, and estimate is good enough. For MIT, try to get a recommendation from Dr. Feng Xu, it should definitely highlight you for the admissions people. Good Luck!</p>
<p>Here’s the breakdown. Sorry, but I sometimes like to write while waiting for things. </p>
<p>Background information (I wrote this for every Asian applicant today): Ethnicity is an automatically a minus. Asians comprise of 4.4% of the American civilian population, as of 2002, but make up 20% of college students (Government Census). Since it’s been 7 years since the provided census was made, we can probably assume that the percentages are much higher, and as such, we are vastly over-represented and held to a higher standard.</p>
<p>SAT: SATI and PSAT grades are solid. Perhaps you’d consider taking an additional SATII in math?</p>
<p>ECs: You have one of the most compelling ECs that my eyes have seen. Your love for Science/Chess is almost overwhelming and you could make a stellar statement in the eyes of admissions. Chess isn’t much of a hot activity at our school, so I might not be an accurate judge. One thing is that as a former debater, being a novice champion is not saying much, but even without it, your ECs speak volumes about you. When you ask for your teacher/counselor recommendation, make sure that they underscore these qualities to ensure maximum profit.</p>
<p>Internships: Recommendation letters are a must. If the MIT professor is a tenured faculty member, you have a very good chance of being handpicked from the applicant pool. Build a firm relationship and make sure that he strongly recommends you. If so, you have a very, very, VERY high chance of admission.</p>
<p>Considering your scores and ECs, I doubt your GPA would be an issue, but perhaps you’d like to explain the lapse in grade in your application? That would be a wise choice.</p>
<p>Harvard – Low/Mid Reach, considering you are from Massachusetts
MIT – (should you connect with your professor, it’s an “in”)
Cornell – Low Reach
Tufts - Match
Brandeis - Match
Johns Hopkins- Match </p>
<p>You have a great shot at all those schools. Even though your GPA is low, you have more than enough ECs to make up for it. Write some good essays and get some great recs. Good luck!</p>
<p>Hard to say without rank or knowing where aprox you fall in your class. Colleges will know. Clearly strong scores and EC’s, but GPA remains the most important element.</p>
<p>MIT and all the Ivies are gonna be tough only because of your GPA. EC’s can only make up for so much. Your EC’s are obviously great, but they have a very narrow focus, chess and science. I didn’t see very much leadership or community service/volunteer work. Colleges like to see that you are passionate about something (your case, science/chess), but you also need to be diverse, which is where your EC’s are a little lacking. You should get into a school like Tufts or Brandeis and maybe one Ivy/MIT.</p>