Strong applicant?

Colleges & Universities Yale University
1

<p>SAT: 2350 (800 M, 800 W, 750 CR)
SAT II: Math II-800, Chemistry-800, Physics 780
GPA: 3.9 UW (weakness)
Rank: top 10%
Other Tests (AMC, AP, IB): AP U.S. History-5, AP Calculus-5, Chemistry-5, AP Biology-5
Major awards: (USAMO, Intel etc.): 2x USAMO qualifier, qualified for National Chemistry Olympiad</p>

<p>ECs:
-Mu Alpha Theta (president), science olympiad (president), FBLA (Vice President), JuniorAchievement (president), volunteer at a middle school for mathcounts -3 years
Sports: Varsity waterpolo and swim
-Research at ENN Solar on production of oil from seaweed and it’s efficiency from using carbon dioxide from burning coal
-Piano for 7 years
-NHS 3 years
-made nationals for FBLA in my division and JA as a company
-intern at One Eye Studios (video editing)
Other info:
State: SoCal
Race: Chinese/Asian
Gender: M
Household Income: >$100,000
School type: Competitive Public (ranked top 25 in the state of California)
Intended major: Chemistry/Premed, Econ, Math, Business</p>

<p>only B’s are in Freshman year, curious about how much they will affect me</p>

<p>B/B English 9H
A/B Bio H>>A/A Bio AP this year
A/B Chemistry H>>A+/A+ Chemistry AP last year</p>

<p>Also applying to Yale, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, Wharton (U Penn), Harvey Mudd, Columbia, Brown, UC’s </p>

<p>I also have a sibling at Yale, if that counts for anything
Thanks!</p>

2

<p>I find it mind-boggling that a person with a sibling at Yale feels a need to ask this question.</p>

3

<p>So that actually helps? Don’t know if you mean that I have a sibling at Yale,or just this thread in general.</p>

4

<p>It just seems to me that if you have a sibling who recently went through the process, and actually got into Yale, you’d have some inkling of how you measure up. What were your sibling’s stats?</p>

5

<p>Hunt, perhaps the sibling had better grades. </p>

<p>OP I think you are a strong applicant and provided you don’t have some other negative issue (like bad LORs, or terrible essays) I would be surprised if you don’t get into at least one of the schools on your list. Surprised, though not shocked- they are all very competitive schools.</p>

6

<p>She had 4.0 UW
A lot of singing awards (California icon finalist top 10)
Qualified for AIME
President of Mu Alpha Theta, Occopella, VP Junior Achievement
went to prestigious Science programs over the summer
2330 SAT I (800 M, 800W, 730 CR)
Numerous academic decathlon and Moch trial awards
and a lot more I don’t really want to list as of now</p>

<p>She was a lot more well rounded than i am and she got into every school she applied to except for Stanford</p>

7

<p>As a 2x USAMOer, you should understand probability. :stuck_out_tongue: Judging from your fantastic scores and great ECs, you have a high probability of being accepted to at least one of the top schools you’re applying to. I would guess that you will get into most of them.</p>

<p>So yes, you are a strong applicant. I believe you will be very successful in your college admissions endeavors. By the way, what’s your class rank? </p>

<p>One question: If I may, what’d you use to prepare for the USAMO? How much did you study? I’m presently trying to qualify. (sorry for the minor thread hijack)</p>

8

<p>Well I started during the summer before my sophomore year. Not only do you need to dedicate time, but you need motivation as well. Mine was trying to make up for my poor grades freshman year and my love for math. But take online classes at AoPS. They REALLY help. Also get the intermediate set of books too. I got lucky sophomore year and made the cutoff for USAMO, so I can’t say 8 months is all you need to study. Motivation is really all it takes to do well. Really think about taking the online classes though. May I ask what grade you are going into this upcoming fall?</p>

9

<p>I’m going to be a sophomore next year. I absolutely love math. I have the ‘Introduction to Number Theory’ book, as well as ‘AoPS Volumes 1 & 2’ and the ‘Precalculus’ book. Should I purchase any others? Also, what online classes do you recommend? It would be a dream to make USAMO.</p>

<p>Btw, how’d you score both times you went? Ever get close to MOSP level?</p>

10

<p>Not Even close. I didn’t even get my most recent USAMO score back yet for some reason. But i wasn’t a winner for sure. Get the Intermediate Algebra 2 and Intermediate Counting and Probability books as well. I’m not sure about any others. I heard art of craft of problem solving was good too. If you are getting 5’s on AIME’s take WOOT. otherwise, take subjects you need more practice in or the classes that specifically say "preparation for the AMC 10/12/ AIME</p>

<p>Oh and my first time at the USAMO I’ll just tell you i didn’t get the pts enough to get 1 full question right.</p>

11

<p>On the question of whether it helps you that you have a sibling at Yale: I have always believed that it does, but others say it doesn’t. There are plenty of siblings there, but there are also stories of the second sibling being rejected. So the real answer is that nobody knows–except I can’t believe that it would hurt.</p>

12

<p>I should get Intermediate Algebra 2, even if I’ve taken Algebra 2? And about how much time a day did you dedicate to math to make USAMO? Thanks for your help!</p>

13

<p>It certainly wouldn’t hurt, but they must have a good reputation at least.</p>

<p>Intermediate algebra is like algebra 3. It’s still one of the most important books, so still get it. For studying, I had water polo in the fall, so it was about 1 hour and 30 minutes per day. On the weekends, it ranged from 3-6 hours. If you have an activity that makes you really busy (like a sport), I really suggest you finish all/most of your schoolwork at school during breaks and whatnot.</p>

14

<p>An admitted sibling does not help in the admissions process when I last asked this of the Yale adcoms years ago. OTOH, I suspect the novelty of Yale admitting quads last year and perhaps general courtesy may have helped those four all get admitted even if one or two would have been borderline.</p>