Chance Me HYPSM + UCLA/UCBerkeley + NYU Stern

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Race: Asian, Filipino Citizen, 20 y/o

High School: World-Renowned International High School. - It sent 15 people to HYPSM in my batch, out of 150 total students. This school sends roughly 10 into HYPSM every year.

Class Rank: Below Average - Although again, this is an extremely competitive, exclusive high school.

Curriculum: Full-Load IB Diploma Program (super heavy, intense, rigorous program): 30/42

SAT: 1370/1600. Used to be around 1050/1600 pre-diagnosis.

Personal Info (key component):

I’ve suffered from the 20 year-long heartbreak of undiagnosed ADHD, Anxiety and Chronic Depression (Dysthymia). I was left with no choice but to fight through the heavy fog - My IB score was burdened with an undiagnosed, chronic illness.

I was finally diagnosed and treated. It was time to turn my life around. The illness made me more resilient, matured.

I took a gap year to rest. I then bootstrapped, founded a technology startup fuelled by my lifelong passion for product design. I am a self-taught full-stack software developer (JavaScript).

Software product is now being trialled at actual businesses (50 in total, 3 months into operations). I raised 15,000 USD (kinda a lot in the Philippines) to run operations. There are now offers of my startup to be bought by a company, amount pending at the moment. I wanted to sell the company to focus full time on school to incubate develop new ideas into maturation.

I also patented a product mechanism I would like to pursue in the future.

I also focused on grinding SATs like crazy - to get 1370.

My father was awarded by the State Department a Special Immigrant Visa for his extraordinary contributions and achievements. This opens doors for our family to a new start in the US.

TLDR: Meh GPA because of chronic undiagnosed illness, but it was a super intense curriculum in an elite, hyper-competitive high school. (Most of my friends are in HYPSM + Oxford. I’m just in a gap year limbo rn lol)

I FOMO’d so hard that I decided to bounce back up, fuelled by a renewed sense of self after treating and resolving my illnesses.

Finally started a modest tech startup, patented a mechanism. My startup now has multiple offers for a modest buyout.

I know - really strange application but would it even be worth applying to Ivy Leagues? Is this a kind of profile they’re looking for? Is it perhaps, too strange?

2

Colleges will definitely look at your unique circumstances and admit or decline you accordingly. That said, I feel as though many of your scores are just too low for HYPSM. 1370, for instance, is very low for these schools, and 30/42 is similarly a poor score, which, in conjunction with your international background, makes your admission at these schools more or less impossible. That said, I encourage you to look into other less selective schools that might interest you. I think you would be happier in a less stressful environment where you have room to grow rather than a hyper-competitive institution anyway. Best of luck to you!

3

I recommend Penn State or Virginia Tech if you want to go into engineering. Also, you should look at Florida State or ASU. My sister to Penn State for engineering and she loved it there.