I am a worried rising junior that dreams big and works hard but maybe not enough [IL resident, 3.98 UW, computer or electrical engineering]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Chance Me for MIT (EECS) & UIUC (Computer Engineering)

Hi everyone! I’m a current rising junior (Class of 2028) from Illinois planning to apply primarily for Computer Engineering/EECS. I’d appreciate any honest thoughts on my profile.

Demographics

  • Male

  • Indian American

  • Illinois

  • Large public high school

  • Religion: Jain

  • Class of 2028

Intended Major

  • Computer Engineering

  • Electrical Engineering (depending on the school)

Academics

GPA

  • 3.98 Unweighted

  • ~4.7 Weighted

  • School does not rank students.

ACT

Not taken yet.

I’ve completed four full-length official practice ACTs and scored:

  • 36

  • 36

  • 36

  • 35

I’m planning to take the official ACT soon and am aiming for a 35–36.

AP Scores

  • AP Computer Science A — 5

  • AP Computer Science Principles — 5

  • AP Human Geography — 5

  • AP Precalculus — 5

  • AP U.S. Government — 5

  • AP Physics 1 — 4

Coursework

Freshman

  • Honors Biology

  • Honors Spanish II

  • Honors Algebra II

  • Honors English II

  • AP Human Geography

  • AP Computer Science A

Sophomore

  • Honors English III

  • Honors Spanish III

  • AP Precalculus

  • AP Physics 1

  • AP U.S. Government

  • PLTW Cybersecurity

  • Personal Finance (summer)

Junior (Planned)

  • AP Calculus BC

  • AP Statistics

  • AP English Language

  • AP Economics

  • Dual Credit Chemistry Honors

  • PLTW Digital Electronics

  • U.S. History (summer)

Senior (Planned)

  • AP Chemistry

  • AP English Literature

  • AP Physics C

  • Multivariable Calculus & Linear Algebra

  • Robotics & Drones

  • AP Psychology (unless I’m able to get a new engineering-focused course approved to replace it)

Engineering & Research

AI Humanoid Robot

Over the past year I’ve been designing and building a humanoid robot completely from scratch. This has become my primary engineering project and has required learning mechanical design, embedded systems, electronics, software engineering, and AI.

Current features include:

  • Custom mechanical design

  • Embedded electronics

  • ESP32-based control system

  • Custom PCB design

  • Local LLM integration

  • Speech recognition

  • Text-to-speech

  • Persistent conversational memory

I’m currently implementing computer vision and additional autonomous capabilities.

Independent Machine Learning Research

Conducted independent machine learning research comparing Support Vector Regression (SVR) and Random Forest models for stock prediction using walk-forward validation.

The project involved data collection, feature engineering, model evaluation, and statistical analysis. The paper received a low-tier publication and is currently under review at a peer-reviewed journal.

Technical Work

Outside of school, I build websites and provide IT/network security support for local businesses while continuing to expand my programming and cybersecurity experience.

Leadership

  • Student Council Treasurer

  • North Central District Student Council Treasurer, representing nearly 100 schools across northern Illinois

  • Principal’s Student Leadership Council

  • Student Athletics Council

  • Math Team Captain

Employment

Code Ninjas Coding Instructor

Teach programming and computational thinking to students while helping them build games, projects, and problem-solving skills.

Community Service

Nearly 500 volunteer hours.

Most of these hours come from creating and growing chess and coding clubs across three public libraries and a local elementary school, helping introduce younger students to STEM and problem solving.

Martial Arts

I’ve trained in Kimudo/MMA for many years.

Achievements include:

  • Multiple Midwest-level tournament awards

  • Junior Instructor

  • Leadership and mentoring experience teaching younger students

Honors & Awards

  • College Board National Recognition Award

  • AP Scholar with Distinction

  • Recognized by the Illinois House of Representatives for exceptional mathematics achievement and community involvement

  • Two-time ICTM State Qualifier

  • ICTM Regional Champion

  • Multiple Midwest-level martial arts awards

Current Goal

I’m currently searching for a university research mentor in robotics, embedded systems, edge AI, or computer engineering so I can complete a second research project before college applications.

College List

  • MIT (EECS)

  • UIUC (Computer Engineering)

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No need to be worried but an ideal time to begin pre-planning for college applications. On the ACT, I would take just the three required subtests in English, Math, & Reading. Only take AP Psychology senior year if you are interested in the class. Else, take something else, whether engineering or computer focused, even if not AP, or a different kind of elective, one of true interest.

AP Physics C: Mechanics, E&M, or both?

Take the PSAT/NMQST in October - National Merit Semifinalist/Finalist could provide you an admissions boost, more so at the less competitive schools.

3.98 UW GPA is good; avoid falling below 3.95.

President or VP in one of your clubs or honor societies would also benefit you.

You’ll have a better idea this time next year but think about who your best recommenders will be - and you don’t need to pick the same teachers to recommend you for each college/university; usually, teachers that taught you junior and senior year, or in multiple years (e.g. both Honors & AP Chem), write the stronger & more informative recommendations.

I would explore colleges/universities that offer highly ranked programs in computer & electrical engineering, one like UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, MIT, among others. There are many IL, IN options available too: Northwestern, Purdue, & a few others. Come up with a final list to 10 schools to apply to fall of senior year. Apply ED or EA to your truly number one choice. MIT is a reach option & I think you can consider UIUC a safety (assuming ACT composite 34-36).

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No need to worry. That is more than “enough”. Plenty. Keep up the hard work. It will pay off!

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Thank you, and yes, AP physics C is both at my school. I have more colleges in mind but MIT is the dream and UIUC is a good option near me. Is it worth it to apply to MIT though? I would spend time on that application but I don’t want to waste it or the application fee if I don’t have a great chance. What do you think?

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I know. I’m sure that I can figure things out regardless of where I go to college too. Thank you!

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Also, regarding recommendations, I will have one teacher for stats, calc bc, Econ, and multi so I plan on getting one from him, then all my school’s cs classes are taught by basically one teacher. He is a good choice too. My math team coach is also someone I’m considering and my mom knows the chem teacher out of school so maybe her. As for Ap psych, I would have done every related course I could so unless the new class I’m trying to start works I would do it just for fun.

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All of your potential college choices are tentative until next summer. Definitely apply to MIT if you are still interested. You should review the General Institute Requirements, the majors, & environmental fit & campus culture. All the schools with <= 10% admit rates will care more about fit & how much & in what ways the student will contribute to four years of campus life as an undergraduate.

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That sounds like a good plan!

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You are a very strong applicant. Your grades are great. Your course rigor is great. Your ECs are great. Just keep up the good work. You are likely to continue to do well regardless of where you end up.

MIT is a reach for pretty much every strong student. You are clearly a competitive applicant. It is pretty close to impossible to predict whether you will get in. You just need to apply and see what happens. If it is your dream, then I think that it is worth an application.

MIT is a LOT of work. Make sure that you want to do it. If you do get in, then at the end of your freshman year you can pick any major that you want. EECS of course includes quite a bit of EE in addition to CS. MIT also has a major “Mathematics with Computer Science” which includes quite a bit of math instead of EE. However, if you get in and if you go there then you can pick whatever major you want when the time comes.

UIUC is very good in general and for CS. Being in-state with superb stats and very good ECs is likely to help you. I do not think that it is a safety (?) but you are again clearly a competitive applicant, and my guess is that your chances are way better compared to MIT.

Do you have any concerns about your budget? Are your parents okay being full pay at MIT, or have they run the NPC and are you all fine with whatever the result is? Given the possible difference in cost between MIT and UIUC, and given how excellent UIUC is for CS, is MIT worth the cost to your family?

Someone else mentioned Stanford, and I think that you would be a competitive applicant there also, although again it is a high reach.

Make sure that you apply to safeties.

Yes, definitely. MIT is a “fit” school. It is a great fit for some very strong students, but it is not a good fit for all very strong students. You need to want to work that hard for a full 4 years without all that much of a break. Also, look at the graduation requirements, including both general requirements (that apply to all undergraduate students) and major-specific requirements. It is probably worth comparing these with the requirements for UIUC and for other universities.

Best wishes.

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  1. Please change your username to protect your privacy. Here’s how.

  2. You provided a lot of information but left out the most important part: your budget. Please discuss this with your parents and update us here.

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I agree…it’s hard to give you college suggestions without knowing your parent annual budget for your college costs. Are you eligible for need based aid? Or can your parents pay the full cost of attendance anywhere you get accepted?

I agree you are a strong student right now…keep up the good work.

You have strong listings of stem courses…is your schedule balanced out with humanities courses as well? Have you taken any arts courses (music, art, drama etc.)?

I agree…do some prep for the PSAT which you will take in the fall. Getting a very high score could give you national merit status which can open doors for admission and/or merit aid.

Sometime next year, update your chance me/match me. And give a little more info on the types of colleges you are looking for…urban vs rural, size, general geographic location, religious vs secular, etc.

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You should add one more year of Spanish to your resume. UIUC requires two years, but recommends four. Through level 4 should be sufficient, but stopping at level 3 might be problematic.

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I disagree. It clearly states that only 2 years are required & 4 years are recommended. This is what you see when you click on “Language Other than English”:

Language Other than English

Completion through the second level of any 1 language other than English. American Sign Language is acceptable.

Sometimes, counselors may say “3 years are suggested” but taking a level IV, or in some instances, needing to take AP when level IV isn’t offered, shouldn’t be a requirement. Shhh-u-dont-know-me already took Spanish III and has exceeded the requirement for UIUC.

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You can disagree with me if you’d like, but UIUC is a school I’m very familiar with and OP is applying to ECE. With a school with a low admit rate, which UIUC is for these majors, the best course of action is to fulfill their recommended coursework.

I mentioned it so OP is aware of their recommendations.

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Required is the bare minimum – for competitive colleges many applicants will meet the recommended coursework. I would suggest that the OP discuss this with their guidance counselor who I expect will have a great deal of experience with UIUC.

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Shhh-u-dont-know-me should check with UIUC and any other potential “safety” options before senior year to find out if not taking Spanish IV or AP would pose a problem. What if there’s a scheduling conflict with a required class; would Shhh-u-dont-know-me need to take Spanish IV virtually, if available? How “hard” of a recommendation is it? I doubt that UIUC would reject an applicant for lacking Spanish IV or AP, maybe for lacking both III & IV. Some students lose interest by level III & opt not to continue with the language.

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UIUC CE in no way is a safety for OP, nor will any AO tell an applicant if not taking X class would be a ‘problem’.

Much of this will come down to context and how the student compares to their peers from their HS class.

Generally, students should take four years in each of the five core areas when targeting selective schools/majors. I agree with happy1 that OP should talk with their HS counselor for the best information.

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@Shhh-u-dont-know-me— your post is titled “I’m worried.” I’m worried that you’re worried! You have excellent accomplishments and you’ll do great whatever you go. I hope you are taking the time to enjoy your teen years. I hear they don’t come around too often. Life is a marathon, not a sprint, and the rat race won’t end just because you get into a prestigious school. Pace yourself, be proud of all your accomplishments so far and worry a little less, because your appear to be an excellent student. My two cents.

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Certain universities, like the UCs, require 1 year of graded coursework in Fine or Performing Arts. It must be in the same discipline.

When reviewing applications, admissions staff do look at the breadth of courses a student transcript reveals. You may want to consider adding an arts course to your schedule.

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I think worded it poorly, UIUC isn’t necessarily my safety. But it is a strong target because of lower in-state fees, proximity, and it is still very prestigious. Idk how to word that but it is essentially my perfect target.

Thank you for the feedback back though!

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