MIT/Caltech EA or Princeton ED?

Pandora
Fri, 21 Jul 2006 11:42:28 +0000

I’ve posted here once before, when I was just a “worriless” junior (ha, oxymoron); now that I’m about to actually apply, I need some serious suggestions as to whether apply ED to Princeton or EA to both MIT and Caltech.

Here’s a semi-reposting of my stats:

Background
Location: New York State
School: Suburban and pretty decent public school (all 3 of our co-valedictorians went to Ivy’s, and some other people were accepted to really good schools)
Background: the typical female Asian immigrant (moved to US a decade ago)

Stats & Scores

GPA & Rank: 4.0 UW, 4.8 W for junior year (beat school record XD, yeah grade inflation!!!), 1st in class of 250
SAT I: 2310 - 800V 780M 730W in 2 sittings (retake was a disaster, barely helped)
SAT II: 790 Physics, 800 Math II, 800 US History
APs: 5 European (10th Grade), 3 French Lang (nevermind…), 5 BC Calc (AB Class in school), 5 Physics B, 5 Physics C:Mech (self-study), 5 US His, 5 Psych (self-study), 5 Environmental Sci (self-study), 5 Human Geo (self-study)
Next Year’s AP Classes: Physics C:E&M (self-study), English Lit, Chem, Bio, French Lit, Economics, US Gov’t, Statistics, and maybe Computer Sci AB
Other Classes: Have been in a math program @ local uni for “gifted” MS/HS math students since 7th grade, so racked up a sizable amount of college credits. Quit it this senior year to pursue Calculus at a quicker pace. Taking Calc 2 this summer at uni. (pales in comparison to sophmores who get 5’s on BC calc :p)

EC’s and Awards

Volunteering (10, 11, [12])
175+ hrs w/local volunteer program in 2005, still doing a lot this year
“Volunteer of the Year” Award
President’s Volunteer Service Award - Silver (175 ~ 249 hrs)
Advisory Board (11, [12])

Music (9, 10, 11, [12])
Concertmistress of Chamber group (11, [12])
Concertmistress of HS orchestra next year
President of Orchestra Board
A+ Solo Evaluation in Violin level 5/6 with different organizations (9-11)
All-County Music Festivals (9-12)
[Fingers crossed, Conference All-State Orchestra this year]

Science & Math
Science Olympiad (9 (MS Team), 10, 11, [12])

Regional medals, and States 2nd place in Physics Lab in a very competitive SO state
Lab Assistant w/Physics Dept next year
Bausch&Lomb Award (highest sci award in school)
AIME Qualifier, highest AMC score in school

Other Important Stuff
Editor-in-Chief - School Newspaper (9-Contributor, 10-Editor, 11-EiC, 12-EiC), plan to convert into bi-weekly next year
Steering Committee - Youth Court (11, [12])
Treasurer - French Club (9-12), Co-President next year (what irony, with an AP 3)
Treasurer - FBLA, Bookstore Manager next year
President - NHS
Super Teen Award - NextStep Magazine
Varsity Tennis Team (9-12)
[National AP Scholar w/current AP scores]

I plan to go either engineering or medical (neuroscience), with some philosophy on the side. If I do go eng, I plan to also pursue an MBA. I think Princeton, Caltech, and MIT are the best choices (any other schools that are good fits?). So, will it be EA to MIT/Caltech or ED Princeton? Thanks so much for your input!!