How competitive am I for HYPS?

robeandwizardhat · December 17, 2011, 4:30pm

Hi guys, I was wondering if you could give me some input on how competitive I would be at HYPS and other top schools / any improvements that would set me apart / etc.

While I would normally avoid these kinds of threads, I’ve been having some doubts lately over the competitiveness of my stats, having been deferred at both Caltech and MIT EA (but still coming out with an acceptance at a school with a 15% acceptance rate), so 1 for 3. I’m not looking for any reassuring “acceptance chance percentages,” just some constructive criticism on perhaps where my application “fell short,” so to speak.

When it comes down to schools that accept at a rate of 10% or less, how do my chances stand?

Objective: [ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 730CR, 800M, 800W
[] SAT I superscore (breakdown): Same as above (took it twice, didn’t do so well the first time)
[] ACT (breakdown): 34C, 33W, 32R, 36S, 35M
[] ACT superscore (breakdown): Same as above (one sitting)
[] SAT II: 800MII, 800Chem, 790World History
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] Weighted GPA:4.76
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Unavailable
[] AP (place score in parentheses): 5’s on Chem, Comparative Gov’t and Pol, Calc AB, Phys B, Stat, World History, and Human Geography
[] IB (place score in parentheses): -
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, H Indep. Research, AP Calc BC, H Senior Thesis (philsophical topic), AP Studio Art, AP US Gov’t and Pol, AP Phys C, AP Bio
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National History Day 9th place website 10th (indiv) and 11th (group) grade, National History Day Finalist website 9th (group) grade, NMSF, NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing, Intel ISEF Finalist [/ul]

Subjective: [ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Model UN (President this year, two gavels regionally, best position paper award at a national conference), Chess Club (team captain, MVP at a regional tournament), strong artist (over the last decade or so since I first started), Student Council representative (this year only), Quiz Bowl, Mu Alpha Theta (secretary), Amnesty International
[] Job/Work Experience: N/A
[li] Volunteer/Community service: About 65 hours at a local veteran’s hospital, various other activities, about 90hrs total [/ul][/li]
Other: [ul]
[] State (if domestic applicant): South
[] School Type: Private independent
[] Ethnicity: Asian
[] Gender: Male
[li] Recs: Should be stellar; one from a sci teacher and one from a history teacher, and I know my counselor very well (small school). I’d rate them as 9, 10, and 9.[/li][/ul]

Has probability just played against me here in EA or am I missing something here?

Just wondering what my future path should be in RD.

Waverly · December 17, 2011, 4:42pm

Hard to compare Harvard to a school accepting 15%, they’ll probably accept under 3% of unhooked applicants this year. What school with sub 15% are you into? It’s a genuine puzzle for me because you wouldn’t be asking had you applied ED…

I’m not seeing the ECs for Harvard. Also, while your school may not officially rank, colleges will know where you rank. So we have no info on how competitive your school is and where you are in context of it.

Your CR score won’t keep you out if they otherwise want you, but it’s 50 points below the 75th percentile, where unhooked candidates want to be for their best shot.

Being from the South is a plus. If it’s the rural South a bigger plus. Low income would help too.

You haven’t done anything wrong or missed q thing. Caltech, MIT and Harvard reject the vast majority of applicants with perfect stats and national honors.

robeandwizardhat · December 17, 2011, 4:46pm

Thanks for the reply, Waverly.

I was accepted to Georgetown. (that being their EA rate)

The reason I have stated “unavailable” is because the school does not send rankings, but I should be at the top if not the top of my class (size 100).

I reside in Arkansas. Income is 140-160k, so no good there.

jd989898 · December 17, 2011, 4:50pm

i was about to reply with a helpful response until you took out your robe and wizard hat… AGAIN

Waverly · December 17, 2011, 4:50pm

Well congratulations, you know you’re into a wonderful school!

Bt how could GTown’s EA rate be 15%? Harvard’s is over 18%.

robeandwizardhat · December 17, 2011, 6:41pm

Thanks, Waverly. I know I would be happy there, but I certainly want to give other schools a shot too.

Yeah, I really hit myself over the head on that one, I wish I knew those rates. It says right on the letter that they only accepted 15% early for Georgetown. If I knew I’d have a reasonably better shot SCEA Harvard, I would’ve applied (that 7% RD acceptance rate scared me off, I wanted to play it safe, and made the assumption EA would be just as hard).

As far as standing out goes, I’m hoping the various honors across the academic fields would really put me out there as a well-rounded applicant, and I’m thinking I will send my work in on my thesis (i figure not many high school applicants would attempt a fifty page paper on Heidegger and Nazism). If I sell myself well, you think I would have as good as a shot as anyone on these schools? Those two deferrals caught me a little off guard (Hardly can say I expected different, but I certainly HOPED for different).

And jd, first thing that came to my mind that seemed relatively anonymous. Although the specificity of this probably gives me away now. XD

Waverly · December 17, 2011, 7:34pm

Robe, at all the highly selective schools, the vast majority accepted in the EA/ED round have hooks. They are mostly recruited athletes, legacies, staff kids and URMs. Those without a hook have NO advantage at Harvard, and minimal advantage at many top schools.

Ivies are not looking for the well rounded students in general, They are looking for those ith extraordinary accomplishments in one thing.

I’m thinking 15% will be GTown’s overall percentage this year, not their EA percentage. Harvard’s SCEA percentage is over 18%, their overall will be about 6%. At top colleges, EA/ED rates are typically triple RD rates because of the hooked.

You did well to get into GTown EA without a hook. They have many athletes. Feel lucky!

robeandwizardhat · December 17, 2011, 10:43pm

Waverly, thanks once more for the insight. I guess I didn’t miss out on too much. It is what it is, I’ll roll the dice once more, play my cards best I can, and see what happens.

Thanks again!

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