Type of high school (or current college for transfers): International School
Other special factors: None
Intended Major(s)
Computer Science; Researcher
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.98
Weighted HS GPA: 4.5 (not sure yet) (1 point boost for APs)
Class Rank: Not given
ACT/SAT Scores: 1570 SAT
List your HS coursework
4 years of french; 13 aps in total; other regular courses; 1 honor course
AP World
AP CSP
AP Cal BC
AP Physics 1
AP CSA
AP Lang
AP Physics 2
AP Physics C (2)
AP Stats
AP Econ (2)
Awards
TOP WINNER @ 20 international hackathons!! sponsored by Amazon, Wolfram, etc; won $20000+ in prizes; International
1st place winner @ High Skl Academic Research Competition ($1000); International
World Scholar’s Cup; Top 1% in Science & Tech @ Yale Tournament of Champions + 11 Medals; International
Represented state as 1st Teamx2, 1st/2nd Doubles, 3rd Singles; competed w/top pro juniors in nation; National, State
National ISEF winner; National
Extracurriculars
Research: Made breakthrough ML model & novel approach to CO2 forecast. Published 3 papers in top journals. (IEEE, MDPI, Journal of HS science)
Research: Built advanced GAN model that builds upon the bicycle gan framework; published paper in IEEE and present study @ research conference w/100+ graduate researcher
Research: Scholar @ RSI, worked with MIT professors; published paper on machine leanring optimizations
Co-Researcher, TA: Built AI facial detector w/Jetson Nano; automated attendance for teachers. Published paper in IEEE. Prepped materials for 50+ students
Community Servie: Donated $100K+ in food supplies to 200+ people. Partnered w/20 organizations. Sponsored by govt and companies ($10K)
Intership @ Amazon Web Service (AWS): Led team, analyzed 180K delivery incidents, built 10 ML models for prediction. Learnt AWS business model, worked w/mentors, presented study to Amazon
Coding Club: Led 80+ sessions. Mentored 30+ students on coding, AI, robotics. Hosted Competition w/50+ participants. Competed in LeetCode. Leadership award winner
Student Government President: Managed 400+ students, PTA, & 10 clubs. Shaped skl policies. Started 10 initiatives. Organized 60+ large events w/95% of students involved, made $5K+
Leader of MUN club: Mentored 60+ students. Led 40+ delegates to 15 conferences, co-organized 6 major ones. Grew club by 300%. Organized weekly lectures & school campaigns
Full-Time Tennis Athlete; Team Captain: Played for 7 yrs. Organized weekly practices. Led team of 12 in 10+ tournaments. Represented state for 4 years as top 3 in Singles, Doubles, Team.
Top 20 national “best colleges” in the US News ranking? Or the “top 20” best undergraduate CS programs?
They are different lists, and also the schools within each list are quite different from each other.
Are there other factors that are important to you, such as location, weather, etc?
Do you have a budget limit, or is your family able to pay over $360,000?
What does this mean? You gave away $100k of your own money?
You led a team, as an intern?
Student body presidents don’t “manage” anyone. Can you explain this?
You have a strong academic profile and impressive awards, but I think your ECs are going to raise eyebrows unless you explain clearly what you actually did.
ahh thanks for your feedback! Top 20 schools as in top 20 national best colleges in the US News ranking. And for other factors, I’m just trying to get a sense of where I stand among other applicants. For the community service project, we donated 100k in food supplies provided by other organizations like schools and shops. We collaborated with organizations and worked as a link to connect people in need of food supplies with people who are willing to donate. For the internship, I led a team of other high school interns on a ML project. Lastly, as the student body president, I technically managed some student affairs and acted as a link between the students and the school.
Ok, got it. You are a very strong candidate but, as you probably know already, these schools are very difficult to get into, especially for international applicants. So hopefully you have a safe backup in your home country that you’re happy with, if things don’t work out.
There are several schools on the other list (top 20 CS) that are easier to get into but may not be well known in your home country. You might want to consider them as well.
You didn’t answer my budget question. That’s important.
Thanks for explaining your ECs. What you actually did is very different from how you initially described them. Exaggerating your accomplishments to make them sound impressive will work against you. Be honest and explain clearly what you did. It’s more important for AOs to see passion and commitment, than read things that don’t sound believable.
Is your goal to attend a prestigious US uni or the best US uni for a career in CS? As an international student, does prestige matter more for your career in Japan than the “best CS degree”, which may be at a uni not as recognized globally?
I also suggest you consider Dadofjerseygirls questions and tone down the wording of your ECs to better reflect your role as a high school student in those activities.
Edit: cross-posted with @DadOfJerseyGirl, but since we bring up the same points I hope you’ll give our comments consideration.