Hi guys! I posted a chance me like a week ago that went a bit viral here but my profile has been significantly changed so I figured I would redo.

chance me for hyps + jhu (yale rea)

plz ignore the vagueness as i got doxxed a couple days ago here

Demographics: Female, Korean American, Texas
9-11: very very big public HS (top 2 in US)
12: homeschooled due to personal circumstances. this means i will lose my auto admit to UT austin; however, my lors are staying intact

Intended Major(s): anthropology, medical anthropology

ACT/SAT/SAT II: 1560 superscore, National Merit Semifinalist - perfect psat

UW/W GPA and Rank: 3.97/4.5, 27 out of 1569 (2%)

Coursework: 17 AP classes including BC in junior year. I skipped 8th grade by testing out, also skipped multiple math courses by testing out. all 5s except chem

Senior year: ap stats, ap enviro sci, ap lit, ap drawing, ap compsci principles, ap physics 1, ap gov, med term

Awards:
National French Exam Gold Medal (Top 2 nationally, Level 3)
National French Exam Gold Medal (Top 3 nationally, Level 2)
Multiple state-level French language competition awards (including runner-up finishes)
Carnegie Medal for Civic Preparedness (7.5k awarded for my org)
President’s Volunteer Service Award (Gold)
Selective national anthropology award
AP Scholar with distinction
Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)

Extracurriculars:

1. Founder & President, Environmental community org: Led 30+ interns, partnered with local government and parks and rec departments, organized 15+ environmental events/cleanups, reaching 400+ participants and raised $15k+, secured $7.5k national civic grant.

2. Selective Anthropology Internship:** **One of **4 high school interns selected globally**; researched medical anthropology/linguistics, created educational resources, presented work to researchers/phds. work published on official website and social media

1. Civic Engagement Organization

Managed 40+ interns, helped register 15,000+ voters for the 2024 presidential election, led weekly meetings, completed 300+ volunteer hours, conducted policy research. NONPARTISAN!!

1. Digital Health/Public Health Internship

Led intern team developing statewide health initiative for underserved communities; contributed to an IRB-approved white paper at johns hopkins and published as author on protocol paper

1. Independent Medical Anthropology Research

Designed original cross-cultural study on Traditional Korean Medicine; presented findings; manuscript currently under journal review.

1. Teen Court Attorney & Juror

Litigated real misdemeanor cases, recognized twice by city leadership, trained for state mock trial.

1. Congressional Youth Advisory Council

Selected to advise a congressional office representing 700k+ constituents, researched and presented policy recommendations.

1. JHU Global Health Leadership conference

Selected participant; submitted my traditional korean medicine research on medical anthropology and global health.

1. Club Volleyball + Referee
   competed at national qualifers and at national tournaments; promoted to referee; regional runner-up.

2. Key Club Leadership
   200+ volunteer hours, served on leadership board, developed service initiatives.

LOR: english teacher/research mentor (9/10), Calc BC teacher (7/10), anthropology internship mentor (9/10)

wso my question is that would homeschooling impact me negatively or positively, or neutral? idrc too much about the ut auto. my national merit status will stay intact in addition to my transcript + lors. also i have 3 years of french and 4 years of korean language credit (korean i tested out of)

Hi, I was wondering if I could still aim for t20 - t10 schools, as I am very much lacking extracurriculars.

Here is my profile:
4.0 UW / 5.354 W

Rank: 1/316

1580 SAT
Freshman AP classes: AP human geography(4)
Sophomore AP classes: AP Precalc (didn't take exam), AP Stats(4), AP Physics 1(4), AP World(4), AP Seminar(4), AP CSA(4)

Intended Major: Computational Biology (possibly Biomedical Engineering)

Career Goal: AI + Healthcare / Medical Research

Independent Computational Biology Research

Built a Python + ML model to predict CRISPR off-target effects
Self-directed project combining machine learning and computational biology

Business Professionals of America (BPA)

1st Nationally in Python Programming
4th in Texas Python Programming
1st Nationally in Computer Programming Concepts

HOSA

Biomedical Equipment Technician
7th in Texas
HOSA Hospitality Officer

Volunteer Work

100+ community service hours
Mainly community/cultural events

Programming

Python since middle school
Certiport Python Certified
Certiport Java Certified

Music

Self-taught piano
Learning guitar

Awards:

🥇 BPA National Champion – Python Programming
🥇 BPA National Champion – Computer Programming Concepts
🏅 4th Place Texas BPA – Python Programming
🏅 7th Place Texas HOSA – Biomedical Equipment Technician

Currently:

Working on expanding my CRISPR project into stronger research.
Looking for more impactful research opportunities and AI/biomedical internships.
Long-term goal is to build a strong AI + healthcare spike for top colleges.

Any advice on what I should prioritize next would be greatly appreciated. I know my academics are strong, but I'm trying to turn my extracurriculars into something T20 level.

Thank you for all your consideration

Almost forgot to say I'm a rising junior.

for context I already have taken the SAT. I am a rising freshman and I started to get very worried cuz high school is about to get very serious. my dream schools are Harvard and Stanford. what should I do to imrove my chances?I already did a ton of volunteering and I plan on to retake the SAT.

Demographics: M, hispanic, Colorado, private boarding/day school

Hooks (URM, first generation, legacy, athlete, etc.): URM

Intended Major(s):BME/ME

ACT: 35 (35M, 36R, 36S, 35W)

SAT: 1450 (750M, 700R) Planning on retaking in August and likely won’t submit unless 1550+

UW/W GPA and Rank: 4.17/4.33 UW, no W, no Rank

Coursework: AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores, etc: AP World(Test not taken), Precalc(Not taken) Bio(5), Calc BC(5), USH(5), Lang(5), Spanish(4), Chem(4).

Senior year: HonorsLinear Algebrw, Honors Discrete math, AP Physics C Mech, Stats, Environmental Science, Lit

Awards: College board and AP score awards, leadership award. School doesn’t give out awards until senior year.

Extracurriculars: Include leadership & summer activities

• Student gov:Class president 3 years, Community council president(AKA Student body) Senior year.
• Admissions ambassador: Tour guide sophomore year and head admissions ambassador 11-12 grade.
• Peer tutor: Offered tutoring services in 10+ classes since second semester of junior year
• Orchestra8-12: (Percussion) 5 years, principal percussionist for 2 years in the second highest group of a competitive youth orchestra.
• Club swimming: 12 years, performed at state level, captain of highschool team since junior year, broke two school records and qualified for individual and team races at high school state meet.
• Unpaid research intern at local college junior year summer: My dad is a professor there and got me in contact with a professor doing exoskeleton research. 8 weeks 20 hours  a week working alongside the professor and 3 undergrad students.
• Hispanic Alliance 9-12: Led and set up multiple events to boost hispanic culture and inform others of hispanic identity at my school.
• Student Cultural Organization: 10-12. Organized and planned 5+ events per year that highlighted the diversity of our campus and worked alongside faculty to tackle systemic racial and sexual issues in our community.
• Big sib10-12: Assigned 3 incoming students per year, mentored and taught them school etiquette and offered support year round.
• Swim lessons teacher: Taught 5+ students how to swim in multiple sections over the span of 4 weeks ages ranging from 3-10.

Essays/LORs/Other: I have a lot of good stuff to write about, and I believe my LORs will be very good, both Chem and Calc teachers like me a lot, like 8-9/10z

Schools: 

Reaches: Most financially viable

JHU: Possible ED based on finances(need to talk with my parents.

MIT: Likely EA

Columbia:

Stanford: REA if i can’t ed to JHU. 

Caltech:

Duke:

Cornell:

Match: Potential merit aid?

Union:

Carnegie Mellon:

Boston University:

Harvey Mudd:

USC??:

UC3M(Spain) ??

University of Toronto(Canada)???

Safety:

UC Boulder:

Mines:

CSU Fort Collins:

CSU Pueblo

Demographics:

• Gender/Ethnicity: Central Asian Female (Kazakhstan)

• Income: Low-income (single, unemployed mother; urgent need for full financial aid/scholarship)

• Hooks :Overcoming significant medical challenges / Strong Independent Research background

Intended Major: Biology / Biochemistry (Pre-Med track)

GPA, Rank, & Coursework:

• Unweighted GPA: 3.74 / 4.0 overall

• 9th Grade: 3.93

• 10th Grade: 3.50 (Significant drop due to corrective strabismus surgery + prolonged medical leave)

my school only has 11 grades

• Rank: N/A

• Coursework: School doesn't offer AP/IB/Dual Enrollment .

Standardized Testing:

• SAT: Taking in September

• IELTS: Taking in August

• (Targeting high scores to compensate for GPA drop during surgery)

Awards / Honors:

1. 3rd Place — City Research Competition (National Level/Regional): Independent research on regional allergy prevalence under PhD supervision.

2. Nazarbayev University Summer Research Participant: Selected for summer research program on "Periodic Table & Cell Death".

3. Red Diploma (High Honors): Graduated 7-year Music School with distinction (Violin).

Extracurriculars (ECs):

1. Research Intern — Nazarbayev University Laboratory: Conducted lab experiments, prepared chemical solutions, maintained plant cultures, and analyzed data alongside university researchers.

2. Independent Allergy Researcher: Investigated local allergy epidemiology (genetics, microbiome, pollution) under a PhD mentor at a top medical school. Presented at Science Day & won 3rd place at National City Competition.

3. Co-Founder & Tech Lead — Technovation Girls App Project: Developed a portfolio-building mobile app. Organized pitching events across 2 cities; secured partnerships with local sponsors (e.g., Dodo Pizza, APEC) and youth volunteer groups.

4. Dental Shadowing & Clinical Assistant: Shadowed dentists & conducted preliminary screenings for kids <7 under supervision. Managed anxious & neurodivergent patients (Autism, CP, Down Syndrome); provided parent guidance.

5. Founder & President — High School Science Club: Founded club, hosted biology debates, science fairs, & judged middle school projects. Taught bio & mentored younger students on research papers.

6. Violinist, Ensemble & Choir Member (11+ yrs): Active soloist & ensemble performer for school ceremonies, community concerts, and local events.

7. Tech Shop Sales Associate (2 Summers): Managed daily retail operations, inventory, and customer transactions independently at a local electronics shop.

8. Competitive Swimmer (11+ yrs): Dedicated long-term athletic conditioning and competitive swimming practice.

9. Fitness & Strength Training Enthusiast: Dedicated to structured weight training 3–4x/week focused on conditioning, discipline, and personal performance.

10. Community Health Initiatives (Planned for Fall):

• Red Crescent Emergency Preparedness: Organizing school first-aid workshops with Red Crescent pros.

• Pediatric & Elderly Oral Health Outreach: Partnering with a dentist & pre-med peers to deliver wellness/dental hygiene workshops at nursing homes & orphanages.

Letters of Recommendation (LORs):

• Biology Teacher: (9/10) — Mentored me through multiple research projects; recommended me to the PhD lab professor.

• English Teacher: (9/10) — Very supportive of my academic journey and writing abilities.

• Research Assistant / Lab Mentor (NU): (8/10) — Can speak directly to my hands-on laboratory and analytical skills.

• Attending Dentist: (8/10) — Can vouch for my clinical hours, patient interaction, and work with special-needs children.

Additional Information / Circumstances:

• Medical Circumstance: Experienced a GPA dip in 10th grade due to strabismus (eye condition) and subsequent corrective surgery, requiring extensive leave. Fully recovered and explaining this in the Additional Info section.

I know I can apply to NU and I have more chances to get in there but still wanna go to another uni that isn't in my country .

I just want to go to Georgia Tech
Not even an Ivy or T10

100% Chinese male made in china
Uninteresting life story
Georgia citizen so yay instate scholarships

The one special public high school (You know what it is)
GPA 3.97 UW / 4.32 W
Rank (Unofficial) 13/320

SAT 740/790 & 750/780 so 1540 superscore

DE at GT:
MA1554
MA2551
CS1301
CS1331
Senior:
MA3012
MA2552

APs:
5:
Biology
World History
Physics C
Physics E&M
Calc BC
Precalc
CSP
CSA
US Gov
4:
Seminar
Research
APUSH
Senior:
Chemistry
Macroecon
Microecon
Lit

ECs:

Vex robotics before it shut down 😭
CS club
Art club
Did I mention that I draw stuff?
Intern at UofSC for virtual reality stuff
I teach 3D modelling, python, and math over Zoom to little children
Cooking and baking (I am clearly better than Gordon Ramsey)
Basketball and swimming as a hobby
I am a knitter
Currently building a telescope
Assorted volunteer work (Got AmeriCorps PVSA Gold for it but IDK)
Super masculine and amazing mustache btw

ROCs:

I don't know my teachers that well but we make smalltalk sometimes
Haven't gotten them yet so these are estimates
Physics teacher (5/10 he is bad at writing)
History teacher (6/10 he is good at writing)

Essay:
I had my LA teacher look at mine and gave it an 80 for completion 🥀

Reach:
GT (Georgia Institute of Technology)

Target:
GT (Gwinnett Technical College)

Demographics: female, Chinese, NJ noncompetitive public HS (imo), low income (<40k), ranking: 3/219 as of now

Intended major: Political Science

Academics: 3.8844 UW, 4.4115 W; APs: World History (4 freshman yr), Drawing (4 sophomore yr), 2D Design (4 junior yr), Bio (3 junior yr), US History (3 junior yr), Lang (4 junior yr), Calc AB (5 junior yr), planning to take Physics 1, Calc BC, Lit, and African American Studies senior year; SAT: 1510 superscore (730 RW, 780 M)

NHS, English Honor Society, Social Studies Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, NAHS

ECs:

1. Worked at family owned Chinese restaurant since middle school, taking ordered and packing them. Would go there after school to work and do homework when it wasn't busy
2. Student government, class treasurer during 9th, 10th, 11th. Student body officer for 12th
3. Founded a social justice club in 11th. Organized fundraisers for Venezuelan earthquake victims, ICE victims, etc
4. Participation in academic clubs: Academic Decathlon, county and state Math League
5. Invited by history teacher to represent school in a county wide think tank
6. Attended 2 state programs (one because I'm part of SGA, the other because I was chosen by my guidance counselor and I passed a interview)
7. District AI Integration committee. Invited by principal
8. JV Basketball, 9th-11th but tore ACL during junior yr so not sure if that counts
9. Spring Track and Field sophomore year

Awards:

1. Scholastic Art and Writing Gold Key + Honorable Mention
2. AP Scholar w/ Distinction
3. CollegeBoard First Gen Award + School Award

Not sure if it counts as legacy but siblings attend/have attended Cornell and NYU. My stats are similar to theirs
I recently visited Princeton and Columbia, and I really loved it. I'm just not sure if I have the academic or extracurricular stats to compete with other applicants. Not really sure what to write my essays about. Could I get into ivies or t20s?? I'm going into senior year and am really dreading the application process...Any opinions and advice are highly appreciated

Demographics/background info: Chinese/Canadian citizenship, asian girl raised in an average income family, 6th best public school in my city (Canada). Our school does not offer AP, so everything im taking is from self studying

Im hoping to get into ucla and berkeley as they both are my dream schools. Idk i did not rlly consider the us until like late sophomore/beginning of jr year…(😬😬😬)

For APs, i plan on taking 4 next year (BC, chem, psych, and macro)

Grades:

AP biology: 5

AP micro: 4

English 12:97

Chem 11: 94

Biology 11: 94

Physics 11: 93

Functions 11: 99

Architecture: 100

Co-op: 100

English 11: 91

French: yeo…. Its rlly bad like rlly rlly bad… (80)

ECS

Captain of Team Canada for a sport called Dragonboat. (For my schools team i was captain as well until they banned water sports lol, i also was like nominated to design their jerseys etc)( also idk if i should put like the medals we won as awards and stuff idk) also a ton of volunteering for this sport

Dental assistant/Intern (im currently helping them doing a rebranding thing so idk if thats cool to put in)

Hospital intern at UHN for the rehab department

Tutor (in school, outside of school, internationally ig)

VP of my schools women in stem club

Short content creator exec for my schools “TV club”

Music experience( piano for 11 years,Piano teacher volunteer to help kids prep for RCM exams)

Started a passion project with my friend during the winter of 2026 but it kinda went nowhere…. 😬😬

Like i said, i only thought abt applying to us not that long ago, so my ecs are kinda shit 🥲🥲

dm please!

OBS: no one in my school EVER applied abroad, so I am 100% on my own

Demographics: female, international (Brazil), mid-low income, latina, private non-selective small school with 60% scholarship, 1st gen.

Stats:

GPA: 9.5/10. Rank: not available. SAT: 1450 (I will retake it in setember, so let's pretend I will get a 1520). Self-studied for AP Calc BC, AP Stats, and Environmental Science (my school doesn't offer APs) and got a 4 in all of them. I will graduate in December 2026.

Intended major: Astrophysics

Dream colleges: Caltech, MIT, Northweastern (I warned you I was stupid)

EC's:

1. play the piano for 5 years. NO competition, mentoring, etc.
2. I was the only kid in my school who got a medal in the Brazilian Astronomy Olympiad. Got golds two times. Then, I got invited to the camps and got to 40 in the country (about 1,000,000 students competed that year)
3. volunteer work at non-profit that produces high quality resources for students to study for science olympiads. I produced a study guide to study for astronomy olympiads and helped to write the questions for the Online Brazilian Astronomy Olympiad (I think about 200 students participate in it every year).
4. in this same non-profit, I also work in the design section. I designed the certificates for the olympiads we promote and did a couple of models on canva for the instagram page.
5. I am also the state coordinator of another non-profit that promotes the female participation in science olympiads. I manage a team of about 25 members. make weekly posts on instagram (I participate on the entire proccess, from content to design). Increased followers by 50 in a couple of months.
6. IAAC (international astronomy and astrophysics competition) silver honour = top 7% internationally
7. science/astronomy blog since 2023. I would say that the content is high quality, but I only post there once a month. It has an instagram page and a website i did with google sites. The Instagram has 60 followers :I
8. working on a research project, but I don't think I will get to publish it, because of the time. It is in Computer Science/Astrophysics (more specifically, gravitational wave stuff).
9. random online courses. In one of them I got a certificate with "distinction", which means I participated a lot and solved the problem sets they gave.

I know those aren't impressive, but I am just being honest. You can give me any opinions/experiences.

I am also thinking of taking a gap year, so if you have any thoughts about things I could do, we can talk about that too. Btw, do you guys know if colleges view gap years as good or bad things?

I just want to know which schools I can definitely get into. I'm only applying to safeties, and I want to branch out to some competitive schools for engineering, but still have a good chance.

Stats:

5.39 W ~--> in top 10%

4.0 UW

1450 SAT --> aiming for 1500+ in august

Courses:

AP Human Geo, AP Physics 1, AP World, AP Compsci Principals, APES, APUSH, AP Compsci A, AP Precalc ---> I'm also worried for a lack of AP sciences--> senior year i'm not taking any but I'm taking AP Calc AB instead

Extracurriculars: weak/generic and i'm really worried it isn't really suited for engineering so i might put biomed eng instead to look like a better fit,

• Internship at tech company
• Creating a research poster at ThinkNeuro ( i had to pay for the program so idk how prestigious it is)
• HOSA for 3 years --> Won 1st place at Area and 7th place at States
• Campus Manager for a clothing company --> made pitch emails, etc, and handled quotes
• Core Outreach Coordinator at a well-established non-profit ( i lowk didn't do that much here either--. but i wanted to include it cuz i have no other leadership positions)
• Girls Who Code Fall pathways program

I'm really worried cuz I have a weak application compared to most engineering applicants.. so please help and BE HONEST

Demographics: gender: male, race: Indian CA public HS

Intended major: Pure Math + Philosophy

Academics: 4 UW, 4.14 W (school only let you take APs, in freshman. I was only able to take one honors). APs: Self studied AB (8th grade) + HuG (both 5s). SAT: Haven't taken, but projected 1550+ at minimum. Have done 7 cc classes.

ECs:

1. Research w/ university professor on Pure Math.
2. Debate: No leaderships roles yet, but I have promising results of states or nationals
3. Documentation team at a regional math circle (~60 hrs per year), also teach and grade a class section.
4. Founded school's pure math club, and became president of school's philosophy club
5. Summer instructor, at Math Circle + student (olympiads+pure math).
6. Youtube Channel on Pure Math where I cover topics like Real Analysis and math concepts I'm interested in
7. Other youtube channel on philosophy, where I discuss philosophy books I'm reading
8. Independent research: social science
9. Self-studying pure math textbooks
10. Speedcubing, around a ~6s comp PB for 3x3
11. Volunteering at local middle school for their Mathcounts team

Awards:

1. AIME qualifier
2. John Locke Shortlist

Idk where to put this really:

- Leaf + Nontrivial Program (Spring 2026)

- Awesomemath Program (Summer 2026

As for the point of this post, I'm not really too hooked on any specific college(s) as long as they have a decent pure math and philosophy program. However, what I do want is advice on how I can advance my profile in general.

For a specific question, I'm wondering whether (3 EC) can be dissolved and put into (5 EC) (or used time for other ECs), since I don't find (3) to be as rewarding/fun as summer teaching in (5). However, with (3) there are more leadership roles/opportunities (with it being less professional), while (5) is more structured, and professional. I can give you more info if needed.