Chance for Top Tier Schools

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Unweighted GPA: 3.98
Weighted GPA: 4.61

APs:
Euro(4), Physics 1(4), CSA(5), Gov(Unknown)
IBs:
Math SL(7), English(Unknown), Spanish (Unknown), Math HL(Unknown)
SAT: 740CR/800M

Senior Courses:
AP Gov (1st sem), Econ H (2nd), IB Math HL, IB English, IB Spanish, AP CSP

Awards and Honors (in order of most to least important):
Math Olympiad Program Invitee (x2)
USA(J)MO (x3)
Math Prize Placed Top Ten (x1, not putting exact place due to privacy)
USACO Gold Division (x2)
Math Prize Olympiad Medalist(x1)
AIME (x3)
NMSQT Semifinalist
Ronald Reagan Library Student Leader and Ambassador
Young Scholar Ambassador

Extracurriculars:
Math Research through MIT’s Math Department
Competition Math
Competition Coding
Math Circle
Founder of local STEM volunteer program for girls (take field trips to local companies and meet role model women in STEM)
Mock Trial (2 years)
Journalism (1 year)
ACSL (2 years)
Total volunteer hours through math circle, STEM, tutoring, leadership, over four years: 750

Hooks: female in STEM, Olympiads
Gender: F
Race: Asian
Weaknesses: extracurriculars are fairly typical, not much school-related

Colleges:
MIT
Harvard
Princeton
Columbia
CMU
UCs
Urbana Champaign

Essays: all minus one of them are really good, one is proving harder to write
Teacher Rec 1: 9/10
Teacher Rec 2: 7/10
Interview: Went really well for MIT
Supplement: May send research, but unsure how much that would help

Chance me for these schools? I’m applying for CS/Math.

Please also suggest other schools that may be a good fit for me :slight_smile:

Added info: financial aid not an issue.

2

Relative to others who apply to top tier schools you have a great chance. Not many high schoolers have the math credentials that you have. Write some good essays, get feedback on those essays, and nail those interviews. I could see you getting into any school on your list.

3

Subject tests, they are what you’re missing. A compelling essay and I can see you already getting into 2 or 3 of those schools.

4

Seems like you’re double counting the 750 volunteer hours with the other extracurriculars that you’ve listed.

Otherwise, the stats are competitive for tier 1 schools. I wouldn’t send research unless it was published. Best of luck!

5

If you mention the research on the application, it would be a good idea to send the paper as a supplement. Would also be a good idea to get a supplemental rec from your mentor in the MIT math department. These would both be positive for a female math major.

On a somewhat related note, have you visited and/or done much research about the schools you are applying to? The reason I ask is that Harvard’s math department is not known for being friendly to women.

Any reason why UChicago isn’t on your list?

6

Sorry, forgot to mention the SAT subject tests: Math II 800, Bio M 750.

Yeah, the 750 hours include teaching at the math circle, running the STEM for Girls program, tutoring, speaking at leadership panels, etc.

My research could be published, and I’m waiting on results from research competitions, too. I will probably send the paper in, but I feel like if I were to send in a third recommendation, I could have a much stronger one than the one from my mentor. Also, I’m in a specific MIT research program (name not mentioned for privacy) where there are a few mentors from MIT, but most are from partner universities/labs.

I have visited MIT/Harvard a lot over the years for math contests/conferences, and the Math Olympiad Summer Program is held at CMU. I have a few female friends studying Math at Harvard, and I haven’t heard of any blatant sexism (the math contest world isn’t very friendly to females either, so hopefully Harvard’s atmosphere isn’t any worse). Thanks for the tip, though; I’ll ask around a bit more on that.

My parents felt that UChicago was in an unsafe area, and we agreed that I wouldn’t apply there.

7

https://mathbabe.org/2015/05/20/gender-and-the-harvard-math-department/ gives at least one person’s view of the issue. For what it’s worth, the author came to Harvard as a math major and is an RSI alum who did a math research paper at MIT, and has a strong math competition background.

8

Thank you! Actually, some of my friends are part of the Gender Inclusivity program, and the author of this article is the daughter of the professor who runs Math Prize!

I think the ratio Meena mentions is fairly similar to those from MOP and the MIT research program, so I hope that if accepted to Harvard, I will continue being strong and not backing down because of gender disparity.

9

Not gender disparity that’s the problem here.

10

I understand that the issue is that females aim to major in math, and end up not, but I feel like if the same survey was given to girls in math competitions the results would be just as stark.

11

You do have the stat for these schools, just as most of the other applicants. The question is what would make you stand out from the crowd. There is actually a CS & Math program at UIUC. All the CS programs there are super competitive though. Good luck.

12

I think my “stand out” factor would be MOP, which chooses the top 50-60 competitors from competition math, and the AMC levels usually begin with around 200,000 participants. In addition, the MIT research program accepts <25 high school juniors each year (so, similar to RSI except with just math and CS and CS/Bio).