<p>I am a high school junior planning to apply to MIT, Cambridge, and HYPS, among other schools, and hopefully to pursue a dual major in biochemistry/ molecular bio. My courseload this year (all IB school, all subjects except math taught at only HL) is:</p>
<p>IB Chemistry
IB Biology
IB Spanish
IB English
IB History
IB Spanish Culture/ next semester Theory of Knowledge
IB Physics
IB Math HL</p>
<p>I’m kinda into science, as you can see . I’m expecting my GPA to be (unweighted) around 3.98-4.00. </p>
<p>Standardized test scores:
PSAT: 238 (i know it doesnt matter, but i havent taken SAT yet)
ACT: 35 in eighth grade, expecting 36 this year
APs: Chemistry 5, EnvSci 5</p>
<p>Besides school science classes, I’ve also done research at a local university for the past 3 years and got a 1st place award at ISEF 2010.</p>
<p>my chances? feel free to ask any questions, I put more emphasis on the sciencey stuff…</p>
<p>You wasted your time in high school. A 35 on the ACT in 8th grade would give you early admittance into many schools. Stanford seems like a good school for you. The rest are random for everyone, so don’t be sad if you get rejected. I doubt the credibility of this post though…</p>
<p>Wasted? Those were far from being all my EC’s, I merely noted my more science-related achievements (there are some other research comps in there as well). Or did you mean I wasted my time in that I could have just gone to college…? My area’s pretty bad with the whole graduating early thing.</p>
<p>Any feedback is welcome, though, don’t misinterpret me as being belligerent :)</p>
<p>also, why do you doubt the credibility of what i said?.. :'(</p>
<p>I think he meant something about getting a 35 ACT in the eight grade will let you get into college immediately, though I’m not sure if this is true.</p>
<p>If you haven’t realised yet, Cambridge (actually most UK schools) places a lot of emphasis on academics. When you write your personal statement, do not write it in the style of your CommonApp essay or any other US college essay. Be academic and show your achievements like
That ISEF award is highly useful. Also, when you are interviewed, it will seem like an oral examination for science subjects. They will also test you on graph drawing so be prepared for that.</p>
<p>If you have any other questions, you may PM me.</p>
<p>You fit the CC stereotype very well. Congrats? Anyway, yes you are one of those cases where I would say no school is a reach. You are a fit at almost all of HYSP. Good luck, not that you’ll need it</p>
<p>So considering that the above comments are based off my courseload (which applies to junior and senior year as IBs are two years), my test scores, and my research, is it safe to say that my courseload and the accompanying GPA are the first two factors that universities will count in my favor? </p>
<p>There are mainly two things I am concerned about. First, MIT places a lot of emphasis on math and science, and aside from taking math at the higher level and competing in one or two test-based competitions, I really have no math awards to show… is this a detriment? Also, research is my largest, most involved “extracurricular”, per se. I play two instruments (for 11 years and 7 years) and have some minor awards, but nothing regional- or national- level. </p>
<p>I guess my other strong point would be student leadership; this is my second year as student council member and I’ve been nominated for some state level leadership conferences and such. How would this factor in to, say, a Cambridge or MIT application?</p>
<p>Cambridge doesn’t really care about stuff that’s unrelated to your field of study i.e. MolecBio/BioChem. Therefore, that doesn’t help.</p>
<p>You need to show them you really know A LOT about MolecBio/BioChem. If you want to know what kind of questions they ask at the interview, PM me.</p>
. I’m expecting my GPA to be (unweighted) around 3.98-4.00. </p>