Demographics
-US Citizen, Asian male
-Moved to Korea for high school
-Attending an international school, just started junior year
-Other special factors: will be submitting music supplement
Cost Constraints / Budget
-Open (thank you so much parents!!!)
-Ideally want to get as much merit scholarship as possible
Intended Major(s)
Firstly, I need a bit of help with this. My main interests are in coding, music, the environment, and how we can better society through all of these fields. I believe an STS (Science, Technology, and Society) major would be best for me, but there doesn’t seem to be too many top schools that offer it as an undergrad program. At the same time, however, CS as an international Asian male seems way too competitive. Any ideas for majors that might fit for me and still give me reasonable chances of acceptance? I would still like to mainly study CS + society related courses and pursue work in that field as well.
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
-UW: 3.96/4, W: 4.04 (AP course +0.5)
-School doesn’t rank
-SAT: 1580 (790/790)
-Will be taking PSAT soon but I estimate 1500+ and 225+
List your HS coursework
Just the important ones:
-English: AP Lang (current), AP Lit (planned)
-Math: AP Calc BC (current), Multi/Linear Alg (planned)
-Science: AP CSA (5), AP Chem (current), AP Physics 1 (current), AP Physics 2 (planned)
-History and social studies: AP World (5), AP Econ (planned)
-Language other than English: Up to Spanish 4 (current), AP Spanish (planned)
-Visual or performing arts: Honors Orchestra (3 years, all 4 planned)
Awards
-USACO Gold (passed Silver)
-KSEF (Korea Science & Engineering Fair) Bronze Medal in CS category
-ACSL Bronze Medal, Senior Division
-ACSL Gold Medal, Junior Division
-Finalist (solo) + high commendation (quartet) for music competition for all int’l schools around the world
Extracurriculars
-Student Council (grade rep sophomore year, creative director/officer now)
-Varsity Debate (since freshman year, head captain now, various awards from circuit for int’l schools in Korea)
-Physics club (since freshman year)
-Cello:
- Attended a selective program at an arts camp over 2024 summer (4 total cellists selected)
- Various awards from small(ish) competitions
- Principal cellist (after audition) for play-along program with city professional orchestra
- Principal cellist (after audition) at music festival for all int’l schools in Korea
- Principal cellist in my school orchestra
-Volunteer Work:
- Co-captain of charity string ensemble, consistent performances for raising awareness for social issues (since freshman year)
- Teaching members of the senior community orchestra at weekly rehearsals
- Teaching and managing weekly Scratch coding classes for local elementary schoolers
- Project manager at environmental youth organization run by city government
- Leading a team for a government-led environment challenge
All of these are supported by the city government youth/senior welfare centers or by the Korean federal government
-Research:
- Internship program learning about and developing AI models at a university lab, virtual during sophomore year
- Wrote a research paper/conducted research on using AI to resolve digital divide for seniors (submitted to KSEF)
Essays/LORs/Other
-Pretty good relationships with all my teachers, especially for orchestra, so around 8.5/10
-Essays I hope will be decent so around 8/10
-Will be submitting a music supplement to schools that have them, would estimate I am at an 8.5/10 level
Schools
I would like to know what schools I can/should be aiming for with the track I am on.
Until application season rolls around, my overall goals are to win a national level music competition, continue and expand my research project, get a summer research internship in CS, continue environmental work (hopefully some awards?), reach USACO platinum, expand my music portfolio, get NMS (high possibility for at least semifinal, ideally final), get all 5s on AP, and get my GPA up to 3.98 UW.
I know that I most likely will not be able to complete every single one of these goals to the fullest, but I hopefully will be able to come close.
Keeping that in mind, my dream school is Stanford (especially for their STS program), but my other reach schools so far include Columbia and UC Berkeley, both of which I would be absolutely elated to be able to study at. (As a side note, I may get a bit of benefit at Columbia as my brother is studying there now, and my father got his doctorate there as well.) What are my chances with these 3 (assuming I either ED Columbia or EA Stanford)? (also need help for majors for Columbia and Berkeley)
More importantly, do you all have any other school + major recommendations for reaches, targets, and safeties? I would like to be in a suburban/urban setting with decent campus/social life where I can meet many people from diverse backgrounds.
Finally, any ideas for things I should do to further my goals for the year/things I should change about them so that I can better show who I am?
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and think about my situation. Any and all ideas will be appreciated!!!