The "Perfect-Application" Test

Applying to College
1

<p>Take this test, then total up your score (your “perfect-application index”) and post it.
–Feel free to post improvements to the test, etc. This test probably has balance issues. Major balance issues. :slight_smile: And I’ve probably left out some things since I’m mostly a math/science kid.</p>

<p>BASICS:

  1. Your UW GPA is
    (a) under 3.0 (+0 points)
    (b) 3.0-3.5 (+2 points)
    (c) 3.5-3.8 (+5 points)
    (d) 3.8-4.0 (+10 points)</p>

<p>2) Your old SAT score is
(a) < 1100 (-1 points)
(b) 1100-1250 (+2 points)
(c) 1250-1400 (+5 points)
(d) 1400-1500 (+8 points)
(e) 1500-1600 (+10 points)</p>

<p>3) You are ranked
(a) #1, baby! (+10 points)
(b) #2-#10 (+8 points)
(c) top 5% (+5 points)
(d) top 10% (+2 points)</p>

<p>4) Your average SAT II score is
(a) <650 (+0 points)
(b) 650-700 (+3 points)
(c) 700-750 (+5 points)
(d) 750-780 (+7 points)
(e) 780-799.999999999 (+9.9999999999 points)
(f) 800, what’d you think it was? (+10 points)</p>

<p>COURSELOAD:</p>

<p>1) You have taken more than 2 APs in your high school career. (+3 points)
2) You have taken more than 6 APs in your high school career. (+5 points, stacks with above)
3) You have taken more than 10 APs in your high school career. (+3 points, stacks)
4) You’re going for the IB diploma. (+10 points)
5) You have 4s and 5s on all your AP exams. (+5 points)
6) You have 5s on all your AP exams. (+5 points)
7) You’re a National AP Scholar. (+5 points)
8) You’re an AP Scholar With Distinction. (+2 points)
9) By the end of senior year, you will have taken (note: these all stack)
–Calculus AB/Calc I (+1)
–Calc BC/Calc II (+1)
–Multivariable Calculus/Calc III (+1)
–(Ordinary) Differential Equations (+1)
–Linear Algebra (+1)
–Real Analysis (+2)
–Complex Analysis (+2)
–Number Theory (+1)
–Graph Theory (+2)
–Abstract Algebra (+2)
–Other higher math courses (+2 for each. Bonus points if your parents and friends didn’t know they existed before you took them. More bonus points if you still have friends.)
–Both AP Physics Cs (+2)
–AP Chemistry (+2)
–AP Biology (+2)
–AP English of either type (+2)
–AP US History (+1)
–AP World History (+1)
–AP European History (+1)
10) You’ve taken mostly AP/honors classes throughout high school. (+3)
11) Your courseload is considered “most demanding.” (+5)</p>

<p>ECs:</p>

<p>1) You have over 200 hours of community service. (+5 points)
2) You have under 20 hours of community service. (-2 points)
3) You are an officer of a club. (+10 points)
4) You are an officer of more than one club. (+5 points total, stacks with above)
5) You are in fewer than two clubs, and have little involvement in either. (-5 points)
6) One of your main ECs as stated on the application was
–CollegeConfidential (-10 points)
–Your internship at writemyessays.com (-30 points)
–Procrastination (-20 points)
–The Ku Klux Klan (-40 points)
7) You have worked in a lab. (+5 points)
8) You have worked with professors at your first-choice school. (+5 points)
9) They wrote you a good recommendation. (+5 points)
10) They wrote you a bad recommendation. (-30 points)
11) You have published a paper. (+10 points)
12) …In a reputable journal. (+10 points)
13) …As first author. (+10 points)
14) …In Nature or Science. (+100000 points, and a professorship at MIT)
15) You play a sport. (+2 points)
16) You are nationally ranked in a sport. (+15 points)
17) You are nationally ranked in more than one sport. (+10 for each)
18) You have done something since you were three and are prepared to write an essay detailing how great it is and how passionate you are about it. (+5)</p>

<p>AWARDS/OTHER ACTIVITIES:

  1. You have qualified for AIME. (+5)
  2. You have scored >5 on the AIME. (+5, stacks with above)
  3. You have scored >9 on the AIME. (+5, stacks)
  4. You have qualified for USAMO. (+10, stacks with above)
  5. …Using the index. (+ bragging rights)
  6. …While in eighth grade. (+ more bragging rights)
  7. You have qualified for the national round of any of the other science olympiads (i.e. USPhO, USChO, USABO, US Informatics Olympiad) (+20 for each)
  8. You are nationally ranked in anything else (not including sports). (+20 for each)
  9. You have been to any of the Olympiad study camps (MOSP, etc.) (+10 for each)
  10. …and went to IMO/IPhO/IChO, etc. (+5 for each)
  11. …and won medals. (+10 for each)
  12. You have been to TASP. (+10)
  13. You have been to RSI/MITES (+10)
  14. …and are applying to MIT. (+10)
  15. You have done NIH. (+5)
  16. You have been to Mathcamp/HCSSiM/SUMaC/Ross/PROMYS (+5 per program)
  17. You have been to WTP, SSP, CCIS, that Cornell program, or HSHSP. (+5 per program)</p>

<p>ESSAYS:</p>

<p>1) You are physically disabled in some way and/or overcame enormous obstacles to get to where you were today. You identify yourself with the protagonist of *The Pursuit of Happyness.<a href=“+10”>/i</a>
2) You are mentally ill, and mentioned it in your application (randint(-10, +10), does not stack with above)
3) You are a good writer. (+2)
4) You have won local writing contests. (+5)
5) You have won national writing contests. (+20)
6) Your essay was stolen off the Internet. (-100)
7) In your essays, you refer to Harvard as “MIT.” (-5)</p>

<p>RECOMMENDATIONS:</p>

<p>1) Your recommenders have told you you’re the best student they’ve seen in ten years. (+10)
2) Your recommenders loathe your guts. (-10)
3) Your recommenders tried to get out of writing your recommendation. (-5)
4) Your recommenders are good writers. (+5)
5) Your recommenders haven’t written recommendations for college before. (-2)
6) Your recommenders give you gifts on your birthday. (+5)
7) At least one of your recommenders is a professor who has taught and/or mentored you. (+2)
8) Your guidance counselor knows your name. (+2)
9) Your guidance counselor likes you. (+5)</p>

<p>OTHER:

  1. You are
  • Female (+2)
  • Black/Hispanic/Native American/other URM (+5, +10 if Native American)
  • Asian (-2)
  1. You’re a legacy at your first-choice school. (+10)
  2. You’re a recruited athlete. (+10)
  3. You will be under 16 when you enter college. (-1)</p>
2

<p>- Asian (-2)</p>

<p>:'(</p>

3

<p>too bad you’re not female, or else they would cancel out! ^_^</p>

4

<p>i got a 96 i think, i probably did some math wrong</p>

5

<p>128.</p>

<p>I missed everything in Awards/Other activities.</p>

<p>Also, your system favors APs over IBs. I mean, an IB Math HL should count up for Calc 1 and 2. </p>

<p>Also, maybe the affirmative action part should be by percentage instead. Like -10% etc…</p>

6

<p>I get a 108 (minus 10^-10), apparently.</p>

<p>This is an entertaining little quiz, although some of the items are definitely a little skewed.</p>

7

<p>I’m at 97…decent, since I got, like, no points for extras (mine suck!). Cute quiz.</p>

8

<p>i dont think this is very accurate solely because it doesnt include anything about school type or opportunities. on this scale, someone at a small, competative private school will score the same as someone at a large public school. also, some schools dont have as many opportunities. my school only has 7 APs offered (none until junior year), but every course is an honors course anywhere else and sends more student to top schools than the school my best friend goes to which has 33 APs.</p>

9

<p>If you are a recruited athlete you don’t need to worry about this point scale and should therefore get the full points. If a coach tags you and you meet the minimum standards you are in with the exception of a very few schools. +15 points for being a nationally ranked athlete is an absolute joke. ANY nationally ranked athlete will have guaranteed admission into a myriad of schools by virtue of their accomplishment and once again does not need to worry about a point scale. ;)</p>

10

<p>…being a female is a NEGATIVE. isn’t this known on this board, yet? there are more qualified female applicants than male applicants for college. it should be (-3)…</p>

<p>you left out languages… (stacking permissable… for each extra language, add an additional 2)
you know spanish (if not hispanic, +1, if hispanic and scoring less than 790 o SAT II test, -5)
french (same for above, +2)
german (same ^, +3)
swahili (+12)
chinese (again, if NOT chinese, +8)
arabic (+10)
tagalog/cherokee/eskimo/etc. (+15)
etc…</p>

<p>GEOGRAPHY
applying to school within 100 miles (-5)
applying to school farther than 2,000 miles away (cancels out if you’re from the northeast, or if you’re from the LA/SF region of Cali. +8)</p>

<p>also… minority status doesn’t apply to and public california college.</p>

<p>and it counts for more than 5, i’ll tell ya!.. i’d say (+10 if black, +12 if hispanic, +20 if NA, and -8 if Asian and applying to a somewhat competitive college… otherwise, if to a much less prestigious college, prob around +6?)</p>

<p>=) who knows…look at other post</p>

<p>hey, does being part native american count?</p>

11

<p>…?</p>

12

<p>120… wow</p>

13

<p>46 but I got into 8 of my schools so idc lol</p>

14

<ol>
<li>But out of ? What is considered decent?</li>
</ol>

15

<p>153.99 (what’s up with the decimal?!) using only the original post.</p>

16

<p>141…but idk if being nationalyl ranked for spanish fluency counts…so that might make me 121 instead…</p>

<p>but i think i lose about 40 pts for not having heard of most of these acronyms…my bad!</p>

17

<p>“14) …In Nature or Science. (+100000 points, and a professorship at MIT)”</p>

<p>I volunteer as a camp counselor/naturalist at a nature camp. Does that entitle me to a +100000 point boost?</p>

18

<p>Well, 369 is nearly the maximum score, i.e. what you get if you add up all the positive points together, but disregard the (+blah for each) questions. And disregard the Nature/Science question.</p>

<p>A good score from what I’ve been seeing is probably somewhere around 100-120.</p>

<p>This poster scored ~160 (mostly because of homeschooling/no GPA/disregard of publishing, otherwise she probably deserves higher).
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=272448&page=8[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=272448&page=8&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

19

<p>120…</p>

20

<p>93 =( I feel horrible compared to everyone else on this thread</p>