<p>Hey guys, just found this site when looking up info about SAT scores, and I was curious what you think my chances are for HPYS, MIT, and then “second tier” top schools like WashU and Duke? I took the SATs for the first time since 8th grade in January and got 770 CR/ 720 W/ 680 M. I have no idea what happened with math, but I just retook yesterday so hopefully that will increase. For writing I got only 1 multiple choice wrong, but they graded my essay really poorly, so I’m expecting that to go up this time around as well. My grade average is probably an a-, but I go to a school that doesn’t calculate GPAs. I get maybe 4 A’s, 2 A-'s, and a B+ a semester. My school is one of the top private high schools in the country (usually a good third of our class goes to top 20 schools) so our grading is tougher than most and I hope that is taken into account. Not big on APs (my school isn’t really either, our honors courses are much more challenging) but almost all my courses are honors and I’m taking a full schedule this year with double history and double science. I play only one sport but a 4 year varsity letter winner. Only community service is the 10 hours a year required by my school. My writing is generally regarded as good so I think I will write a nice admission essay, and our college counselors and english teachers are really awesome at helping us with these. I know I can get pretty great recommendations. Here is where I hope to stand out- I have a really stellar CV. I have been working on scientific research since the end of my freshman year now (currently a junior) including summers. Even during the school year I probably spend more time doing my research work than my class work (including time spent in class). I already have sequences published on NCBI, I have abstracts that were accepted for a medical conference this May, and I hope to have a published paper by next fall. I’ve been involved in numerous different projects (leading 4 and helping out with another 2) and am currently the student leader of my schools research team. The number of skill sets I have on my CV is better than most people entering grad school for biological sciences (according to who I’ve spoken to anyway), there is actually some concern that labs won’t believe me. I am currently working on designing my own project from the ground up which I don’t want to detail here (don’t want to risk idea stealing haha) but it’s going to be pretty stellar and the techniques that will go on my resume due to this will be pretty unheard of in high school students. What should I do to make sure I stand out to colleges because of my lab skills, and what are my chances at top schools?</p>
<p>Such. A. Long. Paragraph.</p>
<ol>
<li>Bullet list next time please :)</li>
<li>Wow… You’ve got a lot of solid stuff, esp. everything you do with research. You’re definitely a strong candidate at HYPSM, but those are a crapshoot for everyone. You’re probably in at Duke and WUSTL.</li>
</ol>
<p>Ya, I probably should have spaced things out but either way you’re reading a decent amount of text since it takes some explanation. Now it won’t let me go back and edit (maybe that’s just the mobile version though?) so it’s too late for that. Thanks for your feedback!</p>
<p>When people give you constructive criticism, thank them and move on. Don’t say things like “you will be reading the same amount of text anyway”. If it were as simple as that we wouldn’t need paragraphs at all. I mention this because adjusting this attitude is critical for applying to colleges and when you get to college. Having a chip on your shoulder or making excuses doesn’t cut it.</p>
<p>Listing stats is crucial for people here to give you a meaningful answer. But you did essentially give your stats, so not even sure why you said that.</p>
<p>What I meant was listing just stats. I will certainly take the advice into account next time I post, and I wouldn’t have said it at all if not in response to the first poster. I would not consider what he/she said constructive criticism.</p>
<p>I am baffled, I don’t see anyone that said you should just list stats. They said it was too long of a paragraph. Concise, constructive criticism.</p>
<p>The person that said you should “bullet” doesn’t mean you should just list stats, but that you can list your “resume”, including stats (which is like 2-3 lines in your case) and also including accomplishments in bullet form. That is only an option of course, but it does indeed beat a dense paragraph.</p>
<p>Now, to address the question you actually asked, your chances at HYPSM with the scores you currently have are somewhat slim. Realize that everyone’s chances are slim, Harvard only accepts 6-7%, the others are also quite competitive. So no matter your new scores, the odds are long. That is just reality.</p>
<p>Repost after you get your new scores, and it will be more meaningful to comment on your chances at schools like WUSTL and Duke. The person that said “you are in” at these schools is totally wrong. Anyone reading the threads about those schools would know that students with higher stats than you currently have get turned down by these schools, and I am confident many of them have resumes other than stats that are similar to yours.</p>