Type of high school: Cambridge curriculum international school
Other special factors: None (no legacy, not first-generation, not a recruited athlete)
Cost Constraints / Budget: Need-based aid appreciated but not a determining factor.
Intended Major(s)
Physics
Potential interest in astrophysics/engineering physics
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted GPA: School does not calculate GPA.
Weighted GPA: N/A
Class Rank: School does not rank.
SAT: Currently preparing. Targeting 1550+ with 800 Math.
HS Coursework
IGCSE (Expected Results)
Mathematics: A*
Physics: A*
ICT: A*
English: A*
Chemistry: A
Biology: A
Economics: A
Hindi: C
AS-Level
Mathematics
Physics
Chemistry
Economics
Expected: AAAA
Predicted A-Level: 4 A*s
Additional Coursework
MIT OCW 8.02 (Electricity & Magnetism)
MIT OCW 18.02SC (Multivariable Calculus)
Independent study of advanced physics and mathematics
Awards
Robotica 2k26 National Champion (Sojourner Rover Category)
High Commendation, NATO Committee, SIMUN 2026
Executive Board Member, SIMUN 2027
Patent filing through Conrad Challenge project (pending)
Extracurriculars
Physics Education & Outreach
Taught Physics and Mathematics to 120+ students personally
Conducted online IGCSE Physics revision sessions with ~200 attendees
Educational Website
Built and maintaining a physics notes website currently used by ~3000 students (expanding content into AS/A-Level Physics and IB Physics)
Research
Independent research project in chaos theory and nonlinear systems
Innovation & Engineering
Founding team member in Conrad Challenge project
Patent-related work associated with project
National robotics competition champion
Leadership
High Commendation recipient at SIMUN 2026 NATO Committee
Selected to serve on Executive Board for SIMUN 2027
STEM Communication
Po-Shen Loh LIVE internship / STEM communication involvement
Essays/LORs/Other
Expecting strong recommendations from Physics and Mathematics teachers.
Current essay idea centers around learning and teaching as complementary parts of life, using physics as the medium through which I both receive knowledge and contribute to others.
Schools
Princeton (REA)
MIT
Caltech
Harvard
Stanford
Questions
How competitive is this profile for Physics at these schools?
What are the biggest weaknesses compared to successful admits?
Does the teaching/outreach component stand out meaningfully?
What should I focus on improving between now and application season?
You appear to be a competitive candidate but these schools must be considered reaches for any unhooked applicant. Much will depend on things that cannot or should not be shared here such as essays, LORs, etc. Of course your actual grades, SAT, etc. will be a critical part of the application.
So a lot of your academic qualifications are currently only predicted, which is one issue with trying to provide odds at these colleges.
I will add two additional considerations to reflect about. One is that these colleges don’t actually admit by major, and Princeton, Harvard, and Stanford are not specifically STEM-focused. That doesn’t mean they are bad places to study STEM, but it does mean they aren’t necessarily the most interested in applicants only interested in studying one thing. They instead may prefer students who are also excited about taking a variety of classes outside their major during college, seeing connections between diverse fields, and so on. I will say Caltech is maybe the least like that on your list, although not entirely unlike that. MIT, on the other hand, actually takes very seriously its HASS requirements, and may quickly move on from applicants who don’t seem to be interested in that aspect of MIT’s undergrad program.
The other consideration is that non-academic factors generally can play a large role in their admissions decisions. This again is maybe a bit less true for Caltech, but not entirely untrue, and again more true for MIT than many seem to be willing to believe. Exactly what they are looking for in non-academic traits is a complex subject, but they all have given guidance on this subject in one way or another. Here, for example, are some thoughts from MIT:
Because most top universities in most other countries largely admit undergrads by course and don’t much care about non-academic factors, all this can seem very strange to International applicants. But that’s the US system, these sorts of colleges take very seriously what are sometimes known as the liberal arts and residential college traditions when doing undergrad admissions. So learning as much as you can about all that is pretty important if you want to maximize your chances of being admitted.
Do you have any idea how you would rank? Are you one of the strongest students in your high school? Are you the strongest student in mathematics in your high school, or at least close?
To me your ECs look very good. However, the main thing for admissions to these top schools is grades, which need to be excellent. An average applicant to Princeton, MIT, Caltech, Harvard, or Stanford is going to be pretty close to being one of the top few students in their high school, and only somewhere around about 4% of domestic applicants get accepted. ECs and references and essays become important because so many applicants have something close to perfect grades, and somehow admissions has to choose between students with near perfect grades.
That being said, I am not particularly worried about your predicted C in Hindi. You obviously do not need any Hindi at all to graduate from any of these schools.
Also it will be helpful to see how you actually do on the SAT. 1550 with an 800 in math would be very good, if you can make this happen.
I think that we need more information. However, even if you are the number 1 top student in your high school, you are still more likely to end up with five rejections from this particular list of five highly selective universities. You will certainly need to also be applying to other schools for which admissions is more likely.
Physics is an area where some form of graduate school is at least possible. If you are turned down from all five of these schools and get your bachelor’s degree somewhere else, then it will still be realistically possible to attend any of these schools for some form of graduate degree (whether master’s, PhD, or something else if there is any other graduate degree in physics). Graduate students at the top universities in the US typically come from a huge range of undergraduate schools.
Can you clarify this comment? Either you need the aid (hence “need based”) or you don’t?
Also I’m a little confused at your grades. You say “expected” for IGCSE - as well as expected for AS - so how can you have predicted A-level results yet? Have you only just written June IGCSE? Also you will need ACT or SAT scores for your schools.
But you presumably do not have official A level predictions yet, so I assume these are your own predictions? Have you written any SATs yet or done practice tests?
IMHO your ECs are very good. If you are one of the top two students in your high school, then you are indeed a competitive applicant for Princeton, MIT, Caltech, Harvard, and Stanford. In this case all you really can do is apply when the time comes, and see what happens. Be aware that this group of 5 universities is very competitive for admissions, and are reaches for everyone. Also be aware that the large majority of applicants to all of these schools are academically well qualified to attend, and the acceptance rates are very low.
All five of these schools will meet full need as they see it, and are need blind for US citizens (so they do not consider your need when deciding who to admit – they can afford it). You can run the NPCs for each school to see how much aid you might get. Princeton tends to be relatively generous with financial aid, so it might be a good first NPC to run. You will need quite a bit of financial information to run the NPCs, so your parents might need to do it (which is just as well since they will need to see the results and figure out whether then are okay with the results). If you for example Google “net price calculator Princeton university” then you will get the appropriate web page for Princeton.
In terms of what to do between now and then to improve your chances, I am a big believer in the approach outlined in the “applying sideways” blog on the MIT admissions web site. Basically it recommends that you do what is right for you, whatever that is. Whatever you do, you should do it well, and you should treat people well (the people who write your letters of reference will notice). This basically means that you do nothing specifically for the purpose of applying to universities (other than take the SAT and fill out application forms). Instead, do what is right for you and be genuine.
Of course when the time comes also apply to safeties. Whether to also apply to match schools is likely to depend upon how you feel about your safeties, but is usually recommended.
Best wishes. To me it looks like you are likely to do well wherever you end up. There are a lot of very good universities in the US.
I don’t have A-Level predicteds, i have AS-level predicteds which are at all A. (there isn’t A* at AS-level). I have done practice tests, my average hovers around 1560. Usually, i get 790-800 in math.
Which is why I asked how you could have them already.
As I said above, when you have actual A.-level predictions and an actual SAT score, then it will be reasonable to chance you.
I have seen people do better, worse and about the same in their actual SATs vs the practice tests so you could possibly be anywhere from 1500-1600, all excellent scores of course, but the lower part of that range is below some of the middle 50s of the schools you’re looking at. Most students do tend to do better at the math than the English. Example MIT middle 50 is 780-800 for math and 740-780 for English.