Chance/advice for a scared junior

fartingcat42069
Tue, 05 Apr 2022 01:43:28 +0000

So after the bloodbath that was college admissions this year, I am really questioning whether my profile is even competitive for top schools. A reality check + any advice on schools to consider for my major (preferably out of state) would be incredible!

Demographics

Gender: Male
Race/Ethnicity: White
Residence: Texas
Income Bracket: Upper-Middle Class
Type of School: Public
Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): Nope

Intended Major(s): Physics/Mathematics

Academics

GPA (UW/W): 4.0/5.3ish (out of 6, its a weird scale but my average grade is about a 98)
Rank (or percentile): 4/500ish
Amt. of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: 10 after this year, 15 including senior year
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics C (mech + e&m), AP Gov, AP Econ, AP Lit, AP Research, Adv. CS (Java class after AP CSA), DE Multivariable Calc, and another DE math class haven’t decided yet

Standardized Testing

List the highest scores earned and all scores that were reported.

SAT I: 1550 (750RW, 800M)

AP/IB: Physics 1 (5), CSP (5), WH (5), HUG (5)

Extracurriculars/Activities

List all extracurricular involvements, including leadership roles, time commitments, major achievements, etc.

1. Violin/Orchestra (concertmaster and awarded soloist)

2. -redacted name- website built on own initiative that provides free lessons, videos, and practice problems for all topics on the AP Calculus AB/BC course outline (WIP but currently through differential calculus)

3. Magic: The Gathering (peak top 800 player in the world)

4. Programming (PE top 1%, CS team but didn’t compete this year due to extenuating circumstances, Independent Projects, AI/ML club member)

5. Math/Science Competitions (math team)

6. Independent Learning (Algebra II, Calculus I, Python, Algos and Data Structures) through internet and edX

7. Speedcubing (just a hobby, haven’t gotten to do competitions recently)

8. Honor Societies (MAT, NHS, NTHS, NSHS)

9. Math/Science tutoring (online and in-person)

10. Work (don’t wanna doxx but its a weekend job a few times a month, 8-12 hour shifts)

Awards/Honors

List all awards and honors submitted on your application.

1. National Merit (dont know which tier yet, 1490 psat)

2. Project Euler top 1% of solvers (international)

3. AP Scholar with Honor

4. 2019-2020 Concertmaster of Region Orchestra

5. 2-time All-State Area Qualifier

6. Principal’s academic award

7. 2-time Orchestra MVP award

Some schools I am looking at >

Safety: UT Austin and Texas A&M (auto admit)
Target: UMass Amherst (EA), CU Boulder (EA), Purdue (?)
Reach: MIT (EA), Caltech (EA), Princeton, Duke, Brown, UChicago (EA), Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Yale, Vanderbilt, Boston University

Any schools that are outside of Texas that I can realistically get into and provide good merit aid opportunities would be very much appreciated!!