Chances to HPYMS + other elite schools

Chance Me / Match Me
1

<p>Hi All,</p>

<p>I’m new at posting here, but I’ve been reading CC’s forums for a few months now.</p>

<p>I applied to:
-Harvard
-Princeton
-Yale
-Stanford
-MIT
-Dartmouth
-Brown
-UC Berkeley
-UChicago
-Caltech
-UPenn,
and am interested in hearing what you all have to say about my chances.</p>

<p>I am a Caucasian male who does not expect to qualify for need-based financial aid. I reside in California, and have always.</p>

<p>-Unweighted GPA (4-point scale)-
4.0</p>

<p>I’m technically a homeschooled applicant, but I have taken classes at a local community college since age 10 (about 15 classes total, 4.0 GPA), and at UC Berkeley since age 13 (20+ classes total, 3.96 GPA). </p>

<p>-AP/IB/Honors courses-
0 AP/IB/Honors courses, around 30 college courses. A lot of upper division math: for instance, I have satisfied Berkeley’s mathematics major requirements. I have also taken college courses in a variety of topics: Russian language, business, chemistry, physics, English, Geology, Physical Geography, Political Science, Computer science etc. </p>

<p>-SAT/ACT scores- These are what I am concerned about:
ACT: 33 Composite: 34 English (35 combined with essay), 36 Math,
27 Reading (!!!), 35 Science, 12/12 Essay</p>

<p>I plan to retake it in Feb, but am still worried sick about the Reading section. And I wonder if a “late” score will even help me. Any advice on this?</p>

<p>-SAT II scores
Math2: 800
Physics: 710 (retaken in Jan)</p>

<p>-ECs/Honors/Awards-
AMC 10, AMC 8 Perfect scores
AMC 12 133.5
USAMO Qualification x2
Won an undergraduate poster session at the American Mathematical Society Joint Meeting 2010
Worked on creating screening tests for reading disabilities using eye-tracking and machine learning techniques for a summer.
Did a number theory REU (Research experience for undergraduates) for a summer and published a paper in a journal (Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society)
Currently am working at [Lawrence</a> Berkeley National Laboratory](<a href=“http://lbl.gov%5DLawrence”>http://lbl.gov) on an applied mathematics project (dynamical systems and ergodicity, namely how to use filtering to reconstruct systems; i.e. Neurons in brain activity)
SET Students of Exceptional Talent Grand Award (>700 SAT Math before age 13)
FIDE rating (chess) of over 2000
Judo (three years experience)</p>

<p>-Community Service-
Volunteer tutoring at UC Berkeley - tutor math to UC Berkeley students for about five hours a week. </p>

<p>Helped raise about $70,000 in a leadership position, managing ~20 others, for use towards the prevention of hunger worldwide, as well as malaria and waterborne disease.</p>

<p>-Employment-
I’ve worked at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for about a year now. I do independent research with my advisor. </p>

<p>Conducted derivatives trading research with a few friends for about six months.</p>

<p>-Short explanation on Recs/Essays-
Recommendations are from four UC Berkeley professors (although one has moved from Berkeley to another school since). I imagine they are strong, but one never knows :). For example, one of the professors who wrote one for me taught a class in which I received the highest grade (there were at least three graduate students present).</p>

<p>Common App was written about my research. It has allusions to literature, and explains why am I interested in it, and how I have a passion for using math to make a difference in the world. (I’m not good at summarizing essays, sorry…)</p>

<p>One of my main essays is also about how I want to learn Russian, because my family is originally from Russia, but nobody since my great-grandfather has spoken (since several generations ago, a lot of my family perished in a pogrom).</p>

<p>I also wrote an essay about how I don’t know what my last name really is (same topic as above). I can’t really do justice to my essays in a few lines here, but I am quite satisfied with them.</p>

<p>-Additional Information
I am technically a junior, so I skipped a year to be a senior and apply “early”. I am 16.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for the help. Let me know if you would like any more information.</p>

2

<p>Bump back to first page.</p>

3

<p>WOW. you have a lot going for you. your scores (but that 27 looks pretty bad), college classes, and especially your research. i’d say you should get into at least one ivy, if not more. great job on everything</p>

4

<p>umm idk what to say…you’re pretty amazing…I personally guarantee you admissions into at least 2 of the schools you’re applying to. Nice work.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for the feedback, via, and Neurology.</p>

<p>I guess my concern is this: does the 27 (ACT reading) break my application? </p>

<p>Secondly, does retaking the ACT in feb. (after the deadline) and getting a good score (on reading) help me in any way?</p>

6

<p>is your name evan o’dorney?</p>

7

<p>No- but I am personally friends with him, and we did grow up in the same town.</p>

8

<p>Still interested in more feedback. I’ll provide some for you if you link me to your thread.</p>

9

<p>For the reading section, this is what I did and I did well on it:</p>

<ol>
<li>Don’t each passage closely. You don’t have enough time. Skim it instead first time through to get a “feel.”</li>
<li>Read the question, and go back and look for the answer if you didn’t pick it up. You should have an idea where to find it from skimming the passage.</li>
<li>Pace yourself. The main reason most people have trouble with ACT reading is the time limit. If you can finish the questions with 5-10 minutes to spare, you should be set.</li>
</ol>

<p>Good luck man. Try taking the SAT as well, the time constraints are better on it if you’re not a fast reader.</p>

10

<p>Any more takers?</p>

11

<p>You’re in at Berkeley, UChicago, UPenn, Caltech and MIT. I feel as though Dartmouth and Brown may feel as though you don’t really fit their respective cultures. I would bet on you being accepted to either one or a few of HYPS. </p>

<p>Overall, you have some incredible dedication and talent; you fall into the group of “academic superstars” that Fitzsimmons and MIT have mentioned in the past. As a Caltech admittee, I can assure you that you aare far more qualified than I am and I would be humbled to attend school with you.</p>

<p>By the way, I generally do not give such optimistic chances.</p>

12

<p>Thank you originalthought, that was clearly a very well thought-out reply.</p>

<p>I’m curious why you specifed that Dartmouth and Brown may feel that I wouldn’t fit into their respective cultures- is this due to the fact that I seem to focus on math/science heavily?</p>

13

<p>My comments, while most fundamentally based on your math and science focus, are more complexly based upon my experiences with the cultures at each school. For each, there are reasons for why they would love to have your and other reasons for why you wouldn’t fit in as well. But to be honest, I would suspect that Dartmouth in particular may not think that you have the correct feel for that school (I do know a few extremely focused math students at Brown).</p>

14

<p>Your chances are as good as almost anyone’s. The only drawbacks are your ACT score, which is surprisingly low for someone that bright, and your lack of significant non-academic ECs. (Have you taken the SATI?)
Still, I’d say UChicago, UPenn, and Caltech: your chances are more than decent. MIT is a bit of a toss-up, but I think you’re likely to get in there. The rest are decent chances, but also a fair chance for rejection [even @Dartmouth, which although is usually a bit easier to get into than the other ones may feel that you’re not the right type of student].</p>

15

<p>Bobtheboy: Thanks for the feedback. What would you consider non-academic ECs? I played chess competitively for three years, and have done Judo for three years. I also have a lot of community service (elaborated upon in my original post) — likely… 500+ hours?</p>

<p>I have not taken the SAT (well, I took it for Johns Hopkins in 6th grade, but not since then).</p>

16

<p>

</p>

<p>lol, I second that. You seem really amazing. The only problem is that I hope you didn’t pull off as one of those Robo-Ivy applicants where you have all the credentials but no essence of personality - as in the essence of life and what it means to live and what it means to be you - who you are. idk, but when I rate a chance-person, I kind of go by “would I want to meet this person or be his/her friend?” And you pass :)</p>

<p>I think you are fiercely intelligent…lol, the only thing I have over you, and BARELY, are the ACT reading and SAT physics. But you get a big thumbs up from me!! And those tests aren’t really highly correlated with intelligence - or potential for that matter - as in a guy that gets a 28 ACT composite could just as well get the Nobel Prize as a guy who got 36’s all across the board. I think you have really good potential to do well. </p>

<p>But GOOD LUCK on the ACT next week!!!</p>

17

<p>Daym.
I can’t believe we have the same score on the Physics SAT II. That’s ridiculous. I’m going to write a petition to CollegeBoard demanding they hand-score your test because the computers must’ve made a mistake due to the awesomeness of the paper. And you’re 16. My self esteem just dropped by this much: | |
Seriously though, you’re what one would call ‘well-lopsided’, excellent in one field across the board: mathematics, and it shows immensely. Based on that, and a slight dearth in non-academic ECAs, a lot of the colleges are unpredictable, but you’ll definitely get into several on the list. I wouldn’t dare predict which though, it seems like you have an even chance in all the top ones.</p>

18

<p>@Jimmy797</p>

<p>Thanks for the reply.</p>

<p>I apologize for asking again, but what do people mean by “strong non-academic ECs”? What would qualify as this?</p>

19

<p>^ hmm music, dancing, running, building robots, uhhhh? just to name a few. Something that you are really involved in and passionate about that’s not related to the academics: I guess if it doesn’t have anything to deal with math, history, etc, or opening a book. Or at least something that is not related to a school type activity like tutoring or participating in school-sanctioned clubs. </p>

<p>But then again you are unbelievably strong in your own respective field, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Like Jimmy797 said, you are a very competitive, well-lopsided individual. You’ve done a lot in your respective field such as tutoring and being in a lab, which shows a very high commitment. You should be a very viable candidate for acceptance, but you never know with these elite schools.</p>

20

<p>Thanks for the response. I guess you all missed Judo on my list then. :)</p>