Hey, Im a high schooler who just started my junior year. Like many others on here, my dream school is a prestigious ivy or alike school (e.g. Stanford, CalTech, MIT, Princeton, etc). This is just the cliche thread of me asking about your opinion on my chances of admission…
My Stats:
-33 on ACT (taken once)
-4.0 gpa (Unweighted), 4.44 (weighted)
-1st in class of 322
-Took 3 APs sophmore year (World History, Calc, Physics B), taking 4 junior year (Psych, US History, English, Econ)
-Currently taking Calc 3 this semester at a local university, taking Linear Algebra and General Physics I next semester, plan on taking two semesters of math and physics next year too
Extracurriculars:
-Academic Decathlon (sophmore year… couldn’t do this year do to summer conflict and don’t think ill do it next year)
-Key Club
-Interact (Volunteer Club)
-Math tutor (may start an after school math tutoring club)
-Member of math club at the local university I attend
-Plan on being in National Honor Society
-Varsity Lacrosse
+took AP Calc BC over the past summer
I love math and science and hope to eventually become a theoretical physicist. The colleges at the top of my list would be CalTech, Stanford, Princeton, UofChicago, and MIT. I’m just in the process of trying to understand my chances of admission to some of these schools so any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advace for any help.
Sorry, also forgot to mention in Extracurriculars; I’m on a competitive snowboard team in the winter that competes to go to the national competition each year.
Well, with competitive snowboarding as a hook, you might as well cross CalTech off your list. Kidding, of course.
But as you say, this is a cliche chance post so you get the cliche answer. You are qualified, it would seem, for any of these schools. Your chances of getting into any one of them is quite slim, and your chances of getting into at least one seems low to middle to me. I think a lot will hang on your essays and your recs.
To continue in the cliche mode, you need to have a strong set of schools you are likely to get into. I am sure you have a few in mind. Care to share? Also, how about finances? Are you like to be filing for need based aid?
Upon further reflection, I do think your chances at Chicago are probably a bit higher than the rest. Combination of factors. But again, that is not to say your chances at the other schools are non-existent. Odds for these schools are low for even the best students like you.
Still, you need a solid set of next level schools. And by next level, that means admission difficulty. The quality of education at most of these schools is quite excellent, even as outstanding as the ones you name. And since, if you stay with theoretical physics, you will be going on to a Ph.D., your graduate school will be far more determinative in your eventual career path. And before you ask, you can get into any top program for grad school attending any good undergrad program as long as you do great work and get involved in research. So the pressure really isn’t critical to get into these “name” schools for undergrad, at least not from that perspective.
Thanks for such a quick response @fallenchemist! Some of the more realistic schools I am intested in are CU Boulder, Colorado School of Mines, UW Madison. Any other good physics undergrad recommendations are welcome:)? Also I will not be filing for need based aid.
Is there even such thing as a high chance or sure fire acceptance into one of the prestigious/ivy leagues? If so, what types of things would one have to do (Intel Science Fairs, Olympiads, etc)? And in your opinion are my chances high enough for you to recommend even applying to these schools?
Also just wondering… with what you’ve seen is my math and science expierence comparable to someone who would be accepted? or do people who get accepted into CalTech, MIT, etc. on average take even more math/science courses than I will?
Thanks for the help! I’m just getting started in the college process so I thought I’d research my chances at acceptance at my dreams schools. Thanks again!
Absolutely!! The only way the chance is zero is not applying. And in your case, you are on par with kids that get accepted, it is just that there are so many more of you that are qualified than there are slots available. I will say that getting your ACT up to 34+ might help a bit, silly as that sounds given that you are in the 99th percentile already, but it is the peer group you are competing against that makes the statement not so ridiculous. But again, to be clear, you certainly have a shot at any of them with a 33.
No. Simply no in a situation such as you describe. The only two sure ways I can think of at the moment is to either be A) a recruited athlete, which still requires that you can cut it at the school but certainly takes you out of the “lottery” type odds; or B) have a family that has donated enough to erect a new building, and again even then you have to have at least very good stats. In the old days that would get a C student in, but not any longer. But a B+ student with good test scores could probably get fast-tracked by the president of the university without raising too many eyebrows. For the rest of you mere mortals, you have to have tippy top stats and other positive attributes, and then keep your fingers crossed.
So if you don’t get into any of those schools you list (and I actually think you have a decent shot at being accepted to one or two), you can blame your parents for not being uber wealthy.
I would say you compare very favorably with math/science geeks that apply to these schools. Your course work might even be a little ahead of many since you have access to university courses. You might trail many when it comes to science competitions and the like. But I wouldn’t get nervous about that. Some people just cannot do those things for a variety of reasons such as location, family issues, lack of support from the high school, etc. But if you can get involved in those competitions you mention, it can only help. But it won’t guarantee anything, or even come close. As I said, there just is no magic formula that has that guarantee as the output, at least not based on pure academics. As the old saying goes, maybe if you cured cancer in high school. Guess what? No one has yet.
Great attitude, and you are very smart to start asking these questions now. But then it is obvious you are very smart.
I am guessing by your snowboarding plus your short list of other schools that you live in Colorado. Let me think about some other schools that could be a good fit. One thing I can tell you right off is that there are some excellent schools that offer a lot of merit aid, and with your record free tuition/fees or even a full ride seems quite possible. Just keep up the great work, and I’ll get back to you on that. In the meantime, if you have more follow-up questions, feel free.
Oh, while I was typing elsewhere in my comment, I thought to tell you to add Cornell. I think that would be a very good fit for you and I think (not sure) might be a bit more likely than Princeton, MIT, et. al.
No real physics research at schools like Williams, might even be fairly limited at Dartmouth. While it isn’t an absolute necessity for getting into the top Ph.D. programs, it helps. He might also hit a ceiling in his math progression at schools that don’t have high level research programs and are rural and so without access to other universities. In short, I think for this student, full research universities of the highest couple of levels would be more suitable.
