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hey everyone! i will be applying to MIT and caltech soon and i want help to evaluate my chances. ok, here are my stats...

i am a 17 year old hispanic male and i go to a small public high school in CO...
SAT I: 1540-800M,740V
SAT II: 800 Math IIC, 770 Chem, and i will have to take writing or language this fall.
ACT: 34
ranked 1/170
uw gpa: 4.0
weighted gpa: 4.45
classes: ap:calc bc-5, bio-5, and english-5, these are the only ap classes offered.
junior yr: linear algebra at local cc, cisco computer networking, honors: history, chemistry, physics, govt.
senior yr: calculus 3, calc based physics at local cc, i may try to take the ap physics c test, independent study ap chem and ap computer science ab, anatomy and physiology, astronomy, psychology, and differential equations.
by the time i graduate i should be a cisco networking pro and i am starting on becoming a microsoft system engineer.

i have attended many summer camps, mostly leadership and engineering at the state and national level.

ECs: speech and debate, knowledge bowl captain, math club pres, NHS pres, elementary school math tutor, middle school science tutor, religious education teacher, student govt treasurer, vice pres of science club and chess club.

any help or comments will be greatly appreciated! Thanks a lot!

By Collegeguy (Collegeguy) on Wednesday, June 11, 2003 - 12:12 am: Edit

You are literally a shoo-in. You're obviously INSANELY qualified in your own right (linear algebra jr yr!?!??!!?), you're valecdictorian, insane leader...

You could top any brainiac asian kid at his own game. and you're a URM. You are in at every school in the country.

By Quarky (Quarky) on Wednesday, June 11, 2003 - 12:18 am: Edit

woah. Affirmative. I don't even know why you're wasting time on these boards. It should be obvious to anyone, including you, that your chances are very damn good. This reminds me of those posters with 1590's who are worried about retaking.

By Sunshine916 (Sunshine916) on Wednesday, June 11, 2003 - 12:46 am: Edit

thanks for taking my spot at every college Jacobi! i might as well forget about applying you are SO IN. not only do you have every credential needed, but affirmative action seals your acceptance envelope! enjoy your stay at MIT, Caltech, Stanford, or wherever you want!

By Jacobi (Jacobi) on Wednesday, June 11, 2003 - 11:24 am: Edit

thanks a lot everyone for the feedback! do you guys see any areas that i could work to improve? thanks again and i really appreciate the comments!

By Jacobi (Jacobi) on Wednesday, June 11, 2003 - 06:45 pm: Edit

bump

By Quakerboy2 (Quakerboy2) on Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 01:21 am: Edit

I think you look great and probably will get in, but since not everybody comes to these boards just to get patted on the back, I have some advice.

First off, it just looks like you are a straight academic. You academics are damn near perfect, so those don't need any work. On the other hand, do you have anything that you are a leader in? Leadership is apparently pretty important, so if you can show that you have pushed something that you were involved in to a new level, do it!

Secondly, you didn't mention anything about recs, essays, interviews, etc. The stats are important, sure, but I know MIT basically reduces your application to two numbers, both 1-5, 5 being the best. One number is your academic (you = 5), and they other is your personal qualities. Obviously, if you are a 5-5, you get in. So, since it is summer, you have the time to work on that second 5. You don't necessarily have to write your essays yet, but check out the topics, think about them, and think about ways to make your application really reflect your personality.

Again, I think that you've got a great shot at any school you apply to, no matter what, but if you're looking for stuff to work on, that's my 2 cents...

By Jacobi (Jacobi) on Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 01:51 am: Edit

thanks for the comments quakerboy2!

as for leadership, i would say that i am an active leader in knowledge bowl and the math club. i guess i can say that i pushed my knowledge bowl sponsor to increase the number and length of our practices and our team did very well this year at state taking fourth, our highest placing ever!! when i was a freshman, my high school's math club was in its final year because funding was being cut and the enrollment was dwindling. i rallied with my math teacher and club members to keep the club and did many events to keep the club going. now math club is doing fine and enrollment has increased.

i know my recs will be awesome because one of the camps i applied to last year required recs and my math,and bio teachers provided amazing recs. my counselor's rec was ok but i think over the past year she has gotten to know me more and she will be able to write a good rec. i am confident that i will have good essays because i have worked over the past couple of years with one of my english teachers on writing essays for college. they have helped me a lot and i am really familar with college essays and expressing myself in them. i also have a friend who is an admin officer at a college here in colorado and he also helps to critique my essays. the interview is the area i think i need to improve. i have done interviews before and i think i did well but i really want to do well for my MIT interview. i have a couple of books that help out with interviews and i think i will ask my speech teacher for some tips with the interview.

again, i really appreciate the comments, and i hope you guys keep them coming! thanks again!

By Jasontoff (Jasontoff) on Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 01:58 am: Edit

I think you have a great chance at caltech and MIT...regardless of your race, you have amazing stats. as someone else mentioned, MIT has a 5 and 5 system, and so you might want to work on an EC you're passionate about...the NHS presidency and math club presidency will show leadership and academic interest, but I'd suggest you take something you are good at, and make use of that to do somethin good for the community-- or somehow show your people skills

By Dxiw (Dxiw) on Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 02:10 am: Edit

collegeguy - linear algebra isnt that big of deal you know, i took multivariable calculus, differential equations and vector calculus junior year...


anyways, this guy seems really qualified academically but i dont see too much outside of academics. I think if you work on a nice passionate e/c you'd have a much better chance. While your academics are strong, you need some distuinguishing you from the other nerds. What your protrusion or bump on the well rounded circle? Do you dance/dj/jrotc/art something? You have to keep i mind that while leadership is shown in those clubs, math club and science club is like nerd club 1 and nerd club 2 and chess club is like nerd club 3. You want something that makes you different, so that your not just another smart kid applying but rather an academically talented _______ (<--- poet, athlete, modeler, painter, something that says to admissions "hey lets grab that piano dude or that astrology chick")

By Jacobi (Jacobi) on Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 02:35 am: Edit

jasontoff- i volunteer in my community a lot, and i think this is a strong point of mine. most notably at the local charity and senior citizen center. at the charity i am in charge of collecting cans and advertising. maybe i can step up and try to organize a community charity drive or something else. i volunteer at the senior citizen center on weekends. i read, talk, play games, and watch tv with the patients. i try to keep them company because some of their family members have abondoned them.
i think these 2 are my most important community service projects, but i have done others with my church, school, and work. do you think these projects will classify as helping out the community?

dxiw- i have been on the varsity basketball for two years and the varsit tennis team for the three years. i have never really considered these for my apps but i should. there isn't really much to note about basketball but in tennis i have qualified for state two years in a row for doubles but didn't do very well. my partner and my highest placing was 7th. do you think i should list this on my app?

thanks for the comments and keep them coming!

By Gotspice (Gotspice) on Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 02:44 am: Edit

You should DEFINITELY include the states thing! Just qualifying is a pretty big deal already (unless your state absolutely sucks at tennis..), so who cares how you did. You already had a really good chance, and this will just make you a shoo-in =D

By Jacobi (Jacobi) on Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 06:29 pm: Edit

bump

By Jacobi (Jacobi) on Saturday, June 14, 2003 - 07:14 pm: Edit

any more comments?

By Jacobi (Jacobi) on Saturday, June 14, 2003 - 09:54 pm: Edit

bump

By Jacobi (Jacobi) on Wednesday, July 09, 2003 - 01:23 am: Edit

any more comments or suggestions?

By Jacobi (Jacobi) on Monday, August 04, 2003 - 06:09 pm: Edit

anymore comments?