What can I do to make myself a better fit for colleges?

Applying to College
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<p>Hi CC! I’m a 15 year old Indian male from Illinois (skipped a grade). I go to a completely new school that opened my freshman year.</p>

<p>So basically, how do I make myself a better fit for colleges? I’m looking for tips on what to do. Anything to help is appreciated. </p>

<p>Colleges I’m considering:
Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, UIUC, UMich, Northwestern, Princeton, Stanford. </p>

<p>I’m also looking for some easier schools to get into that accomodate my interests. </p>

<p>I can speak English, Telugu, a tiny bit of Hindi, and i’m getting closer to becoming fluent in Chinese. </p>

<p>The majors that i’m most intrested in are Astrophysics, Physics, and Mathematics. Also, I would like to minor in Chinese. </p>

<p>These are my stats. </p>

<p>PSAT: 221 (80 CR, 72 M, 69 W)
SAT I: 2240 combined, 700 CR, 750 M, 790 W (E: 10). (I will probably be retaking in October of senior year, though it may not be all that necessary)</p>

<p>SAT II: Haven’t taken yet, but I will take Math II and either Physics or Chemistry. </p>

<p>ACT: 32 Composite, 31 English, 35 Math, 31 Reading, 32 Science, 30 English w/ Writing (got a 9 on writing). I took this ACT partway through sophomore year, and I’m planning to take one in February. My scores will have gone up by then. </p>

<p>Classwork:
Freshman Year:
AP Computer Science: A/A (4)
Honors Algebra 2/Trig: A/A
Honors Biology: B/B
Chinese I: A/B
Honors English I: A/B
AP Human Geography: A/A (5)
Gym: A/A</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:
Gym/Health: A/A
Honors Chemistry: A/A
Honors Precalculus: A/A
Chinese II: A/A
AP Euro: A/A (5)
Honors English II: B/A
Honors Physics: A/A</p>

<p>Junior Year:
AP Calculus BC: A
AP Physics C: A
Gym: A
AP US History: A
AP Chemistry: A
AP Language and Composition: A
Chinese III: A</p>

<p>Senior Courseload:
AP Biology, Calculus III (Multivariable Calc, in conjunction with the University of Illinois), AP Literature and Composition, AP Government, Honors Chinese IV, Gym, Modern Physics (Special Relativity and an intro to quantum mechanics, in conjunction with Wheaton College)</p>

<p>GPA: 4.543 (w), 3.829 (uw).
However, i’ve heard that some schools (like Princeton?) do not factor in freshman year GPA. 4.667 (w), 3.952 (uw)</p>

<p>Class Rank: My school does not provide class rank anymore, but I’m in at least the top 5% of a 650+ student body. </p>

<p>APs: Freshie year: Computer Science, 4. Human Geography, 5.
Sohpomore year: AP Euro, 5. </p>

<p>Junior year: Physics C: Mechanics, Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism, Chemistry, Language and Composition, US History, Calculus BC. </p>

<p>Senior Year: US Government and Politics, Comparitive Government and Politics, Literature and Composition, Biology, and probably Art History (self taught) and Psych (self taught). </p>

<p>Volunteering: Volunteered with an FEA tutoring station at my school, along with feed my starving children…probably 40 hours or less in total. I don’t exactly record hours I volunteer for, I just kind of do it for fun?</p>

<p>ECs:
QuarkNet: We work with Fermilab on experiments that utilize Cosmic Ray detectors in different scenarios. We built the detectors ourselves. We also occasionally go to Quarknet Masterclasses at Fermi.</p>

<p>Asian American Club: We do lots of different projects and generally embrace Asian culture, with heavy focus on Chinese culture. </p>

<p>Woldwide Youth in Science and Engineering: I’m on the WYSE Team for Physics and Chemistry. Regional competition on Monday. Hopefully that turns out well. </p>

<p>Math Team - Leader for 2, most probably 3 years (by end of senior year). Achievements include 2nd place at regionals freshman year, making state freshman year, leading 2 teams to 3rd at confrence sophomore year, 3rd place at Varsity Invitationals and MANY more to come junior year. </p>

<p>Science Olympiad - Leader for 1, most probably 2 years. Main event is Astronomy, I also partake in technical problem solving, fermi questions, and thermodynamics (and whatever else my coach tells me to do). Being a new program, we have yet to achieve anything except for the 2011 Spirit award…with me at the helm next year, hopefully that will improve. </p>

<p>Scholastic/Quiz bowl - Varsity player for 2, probably 3 years. Captaincy guaranteed next year. Started off as a reserve jv player, worked my way up with lots of studying and the like. I have attended a couple of camps for the purpose of increasing my quizbowl knowledge; I have improved a lot.
Achievements include 2011 Turnabout Tournament All-Tournament (answered the most tossups), 2011 New Trier Scobol Solo Category Champion (for both Biology and Architecture), 2012 TRIUMVIR 2 All-Tournament, won 2011 Confrence Tournament, 2011 Regionals Tournament, came 3rd at 2011 Masonic Regionals (earning us $200), came 2nd at SCOP Novice 2011. </p>

<p>Tennis - JV player for 1, probably 3 years. Made the team freshman year, didn’t make it sophomore year. I pretty much view tennis as a fun sport, and i’m definitly not extremely serious about it. I have gone to a lot of clinics and coaches to improve my skills, though. I have 1 JV letter. </p>

<p>Religious Group - I am Hindu, and have helped form a group from the ground up. Since then, we’ve had 3 public concerts, with attendance ranging from 50-400 people. We have performed at the Chicago Telugu Association, in front of famous actors from India. At that same performance, we earned a cameo on an international television channel (TV9 in India) that was broadcasting the CTA performances. </p>

<p>Chinese - By far, my biggest EC. I’m coming closer and closer to being able to speak the language fluently. My speech and tones are both superb; my writing, while extremely sloppy, is pretty good as well. My teacher sent me to a Chinese speech competition in freshman year, because she thought I was pretty good at speaking the language. I ended with a gold medal. I did the same in sophomore year. Next year, if I excel with the speech competition, I might earn an all-expense paid scholarship to Taiwan to study. I have also done lots of translating for Chinese ambassadors from Beijing that visited our school. I helped them learn about the American education system and culture, and in the process, I got to know about theirs. </p>

<p>Random stuff: I’m learning how to play piano and chess. Also, I enjoy long walks on the beach.</p>

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<p>anyone? any advice?</p>

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<p>Well what do you mean by better fit? By better fit, do you mean you are more competitive for getting into the school or do you mean you will integrate well with the rest of campus and take full opportunities offered by the college?</p>

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<p>both. i want to be well prepared for both the roulette game that is admissions and college itself :P</p>

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<p>I think you’re doing as much as possible in terms of academics & ECs… only suggestion I can give you is to try to come off as a sociable/likable person in your recommendations, essays, and interviews.</p>

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<p>thanks gradee, those are three pretty huge variables in the whole admissions process that i’m tackling right now.</p>

<p>I’m sure I could pull off some pretty good recs - I might get a TA position with my Phys teacher, which i’m sure will be great rec material. Also, i have my scholastic bowl coach and my chinese teacher, both of whom adore me.</p>

<p>I also think I have the capacity to write pretty good essays. I’ve always been strong at writing my feelings rather than conveying them personally. </p>

<p>However. that brings to light what is probably my biggest weakness. I am absolutely abysmal at interviews or anything like interview. Speaking in front of people with purpose makes me freeze up, even though i’m usually very, very social (TOO social) at school and stuff. anyone have any tips for that?</p>

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<p>Great- In terms of your writing, I would caution you it’s always a fine line between being confident and being cocky. Have several people read your essay to ensure you’re getting the right voice across.</p>

<p>I’m sure most of the schools you’re interviewing at will require an interview (either with admissions or alumni). I can give you three tips:

  1. Research the most common college interview questions and know them cold. Also, when appropriate, have a few examples in reserve for each interview experience. For example, I’ll often ask a candidate (I’m an alumni interviewer for a top 10 school) what their greatest accomplishment is and then follow-up to ask what their biggest accomplishment is to see how candidates think on their feet. </p>

<p>2) Practice, practice, practice! This one should be a no-brainer, but interview yourself in the mirror or record yourself and analyze your performance later. Also, mock interviews with friends, parents, teachers, etc are a great way to prepare.</p>

<p>3) Know your story! You should be able to communicate confidently what majors you are interested in (and why), what you want to do in life (and why), why you’re interested in the school (and why), etc. You want to leave the interviewer confident that you will take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the school if you are accepted.</p>

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<p>You have an excellent profile, but you indicate absolutely nothing about any need for financial aid. Sit your parents down and have The Big Money Talk with them. You need to know how much they are willing to pay. You also need to run the financial aid calculators at the websites of the colleges on your list so that you get a ball-park notion of what those places might expect your family to pay. If you find out that what your family will pay and what the colleges expect are two very different things, you should pop over to the Financial Aid Forum and look at the threads on merit-based aid. Your stats are good enough for you to score some serious money if you want or need it.</p>

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<p>Although this may sound cheesy, I would recommend making sure you come across as a kind and authentic person. Sometimes students put all their emphasis on being the best academic-wise and most accomplished EC-wise, and forget that your character/personality counts for something, too. </p>

<p>Be friendly, kind, and generous. These attributes may possibly help you in your college quest; more importantly, they will take you far in life. :)</p>

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<p>Thank you so much for your interview advice, gradee. I’m sure it will be EXTREMELY helpful when it comes time next year to prepare. </p>

<p>happymomof1, I don’t think financial aid is a HUGE concern at this point - however, getting a scholarship would undoubtedly be pretty sweet. I’ll probably go to the financial aid thread with the questions that are now starting to form in my mind, thank you for the suggestion. </p>

<p>familyof3boys, that doesn’t wound cheesy at all! i totally recognize that applications are holistic and they look at who you are as WELL as what you’ve done. i’m kind of banking on my essays to show that i have personality; however, are there any other things you think would help me out in showing that i’m more than just stats? thank you :)</p>

<p>anyone else have any suggestions? this has all been fantastic advice so far!</p>

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<p>Since your teachers and guidance counsellor will be the ones writing your letters of recommendation, make sure that they get a good sense of your personality as well. In addition to speaking about your academic accomplishments, they will be providing a character reference for you. So be nice to them :)</p>

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<p>Academically, you seem like a great fit for any college, keep up the hard work! The next thing is just to make yourself as likeable as possible. Academics are important, but colleges want to see that you’re a good person, too.</p>

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<p>Don’ think about becoming a fit.</p>

<p>Be who you are, do what you love and look for a college that fits you! </p>

<p>Don’t go exclusively by prestige. It seems like you are just going down the is news ranking. Avoid that, start your college search with exploring yourself first!</p>

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<p>emily adn Sophie: good advice but try not to resurrect old threads. Shrey got his/her info 9 months ago and hasn’t asked the question aagain.</p>