Date: April 1st, 2012 5:08 PM Author: indecent death wish
this is what it takes these days. this post is from college confidential.
Decision: Accepted
Objective:• SAT I (breakdown): 2400 1 sitting
• ACT:
• SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Chem, 800 Physics, 800 World History, 780 Bio E
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/500
• AP (place score in parenthesis): Calculus AB 5 Calculus BC 5 Physics B 5 Chemistry 5 English Language and Composition 5 World History 5
• IB (place score in parenthesis):
• Senior Year Course Load: AP Statistics, AP Biology, AP Macroeconomics, AP Government, AP Spanish, English 4
• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Intel STS Semifinalist, AIME 3x, USABO Semifinalist, 2nd Place California Math League, AMC12 School Winner 2x, National Merit Scholar, AP Scholar with Distinction, Rennselaer Medalist
Subjective:• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Local youth symphony 1st violinist (4 yrs, assistant concertmaster), private violin teacher (3 yrs), private tutor (3 yrs), school Math Team captain, Science Bowl member
• Job/Work Experience: Research intern at Stanford School of Medicine
• Volunteer/Community service: NHS, District coordinator for UNICEF Tap Project, School UNICEF Club Treasurer/Secretary, volunteering at local food pantries and homeless shelters
Common app was about volunteering at a local food pantry and how that inspired me to fight poverty in my area, and how I plan to go into health care legislation to help the underprivileged obtain affordable health care.
Supplement was about my work experience with an autistic boy at an elementary summer school and how that shaped my aspirations to be a professor.
• Teacher Recommendation:
Math teacher for 3 yrs, and math team coach. Knew me well.
Spanish teacher for 2 yrs, saw a lot of growth in my personality and character as I tried to master a new language.
Biology teacher who helped me on my research. Knew me well and described my humor.
• Counselor Rec: Superb
• Additional Rec: Letter from Stanford professor. Said that I was one of the most brilliant high schoolers he has ever worked with.
• Interview: Didn't get an alumni interview (odd, because everyone else at my school did) but had an interview with an adcom over the phone 2 weeks ago. Went well, but I was really nervous.
Other• State (if domestic applicant): CA
• Country (if international applicant):
• School Type: Large Public (2200 students)
• Ethnicity: Chinese...
• Gender: Male
• Income Bracket: 200,000+
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none
Reflection• Strengths: Solid test scores, great recommendations, overcoming some adversity?
• Weaknesses: Ethnicity...? On paper my application looks like a cookie-cutter Asian
• Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Our school is rather diverse and our school district is rated one of the worst in the nation. I think it helped that no one has gotten into Harvard for the past 3 yrs.
• Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Date: April 1st, 2012 5:29 PM Author: Useless Aphrodisiac Menage
hug>tpg>hbs is the very top of american society for someone in their 20's. such a person will make shit tons of cash. lol if you think that's unremarkable.
Date: April 1st, 2012 6:53 PM Author: Medicated Shrine
The guy's parents earn more than $200K per year and he probably went to a rich suburban high school. He plays fucking violin and wants to be a doctor. People bitch about reverse discrimination against Asians, but it's not about their race. They're all. the. same. Can you imagine how shitty the college experience would be if the class were 85% Asian as it would be if they accepted people solely based on GPA/SAT scores? Blacks have lower numbers but at least they improve the sports teams and liven up the parties.
Date: April 1st, 2012 6:56 PM Author: Useless Aphrodisiac Menage
it's not just the gpa/sat scores. this asian kid is objectively a superstar. i don't see how accepting an upper-middle class black (most blacks at harvard are at least middle-class) with subpar credentials really adds to the strength of the harvard class.
Date: April 1st, 2012 7:00 PM Author: buff bateful indian lodge
I interviewed some kids for my undergrad, and a lot of kids today look like superstars. It would be really difficult to have to select a class from all of the superstars.
Date: April 1st, 2012 10:00 PM Author: Floppy Fanboi
yeah, i'm actually surprised he got into harvard, to be quite frank. the asian guys i know from california public high schools who went to harvard were far more impressive than him.
making aime is ok but not that hard. the gap between aime and usamo is massive. it's like only 250 people vs. 10,000 or so.
Date: April 1st, 2012 7:06 PM Author: buff bateful indian lodge
I think the legitimate argument is that colleges are supposed to function to make the US a truly socially mobile place. A smart kid from the projects can actually escape his poverty if he gets into HUG. If HUG started to select only upper middle class and upper class overachievers with tons of money to afford the internships and education then it would be standing in the way of functioning for social mobility.
Date: April 1st, 2012 8:30 PM Author: Motley puce turdskin
LOL at fuckin math team. WTF? I'd rather be fuckin poor my whole life with a football state championship ring. LOL at this. He probably took some bowl face to Math league formal
Date: April 1st, 2012 8:38 PM Author: mildly autistic point
This just shows what intel and accomplishments are shit in America. This guy is an AZN faggot. If you saw him anywhere you wouldnt think anything. The MAX he can do in life is be some fucking paper pushing piece of shit.
I'd rather have much more average credentials but know how to work the system, how to be social, and have a penis bigger than 2 inches.
Date: April 1st, 2012 8:44 PM Author: supple gay chad trailer park
Math team is NBD - you show up at a classroom at lunch time a few weeks out of the year and take a math test. Maybe have a practice session sometimes. Not really much of an extracurricular.
Date: April 1st, 2012 8:53 PM Author: razzle-dazzle pink ticket booth people who are hurt
false, he made it to the USAMO competition and he's not just another Mu Alpha Theta member. That's pretty impressive because it requires you to take a nationally administered test and score high enough to advance to subsequent rounds. The next level above that is IMO, I believe. That's the International Math Olympiad. Basically, the 6 most genius math students in high school are selected per country and compete in Greece.
The jump from USAMO to IMO is a big one, but most of the dudes participating in USAMO are fucking hoss at math and science.
Check out the past members of IMO though, they're pretty sick. I knew one of them in 2004. He is making multimillion dollars at dat hejfund in NYC. Parties it up just about every weekend.
Date: April 1st, 2012 8:57 PM Author: Floppy Fanboi
credited. the other posters are jelly bros who have no idea what they're talking about. this asian dude was not someone who just won some local math contests. USAMO is VERY hard to get; you have to get a high combined score on both the AMC and AIME to qualify. if i'm not mistaken only around 250 high school students in the country are invited to write the USAMO exam, which is all proofs. to be on the IMO team you really have to be a fucking genius.
one of my best friends did USAMO all 4 years of high school, got a 800 math SAT when he was in 6th grade and got a 5 on the BC calculus exam in 7th grade. he ended up going to harvard and first week of freshman year he decided to take math 55, arguably the toughest math class at harvard. he said he felt like the dumbest kid there because they were all IMO members and gold medalists. so he dropped it and went down to math 25.
Date: April 1st, 2012 10:21 PM Author: underhanded house-broken dopamine
Berkeley.
I will try to found a startup in Asia hopefully within the next year. I don't know what I will do after that, either continue to do the entrepreneur thing or go to business school at some point.
Date: April 1st, 2012 10:28 PM Author: underhanded house-broken dopamine
like i said, going to business school would be a last resort type of thing. i don't see it happening tbh.
and lol @ trying to talk shit about one of the most prestigious universities in the world, even though school prestige means jack shit in the vast majority of professions, or getting laid.
Date: April 1st, 2012 9:53 PM Author: supple gay chad trailer park
Yeah, he wasn't USAMO or anything. So maybe they already got all the super math doods they needed and his other stuff (violin) wasn't interesting enough to distinguish him.
Date: April 1st, 2012 9:54 PM Author: Bipolar impertinent area patrolman
Keep in mind that actual IMO participants tend to prefer MIT over harvard. He's not even close to being auto-admit to MIT based on math/science ability alone.
Date: April 1st, 2012 10:00 PM Author: Floppy Fanboi
i think this used to be true, but it's gotten more even between harvard and MIT. the imo kids who do harvard ug almost always do math phd at MIT. or in the case of gabriel carroll, econ phd at MIT.
Date: April 1st, 2012 10:05 PM Author: Stimulating party of the first part
what the fuck is a high school kid supposed to be doing if not studying? nothing wrong with being a "drone" if this guy's a drone. and, tbf, he also has a few hobbies, which are intrinsically no more or less positive than sports or videogames (violin; competitive math).
the world would be a better place if more kids were like this one, but most kids are incapable of focusing that much on anything or understanding that much of anything
Date: April 1st, 2012 10:09 PM Author: underhanded house-broken dopamine
"what the fuck is a high school kid supposed to be doing if not studying?"
seriously? what about hanging out, playing sports, making mistakes, being young and in love, i.e. living, instead of chasing after some deranged Asian American house chink pre med dream?
Date: April 1st, 2012 10:22 PM Author: razzle-dazzle pink ticket booth people who are hurt
why are the two lifestyles mutually exclusive?
Playing sports - why is it a better use of time than learning the math/science that this dude is? You can still exercise and be healthy without committing the time to team-sports.
Making Mistakes - this happens throughout life no matter what you're doing. Don't see why being an average american doing jackshit in hs makes it any more meaningful.
Being young and in love - you know he wants dat wgwag. Most people on xo probably can't touch this guy's resume and intelligence and still have 0 success with their love life.
It sounds like you're just mad at the stereotypes?
I'd rather my kid be like him than an avg american.
Date: April 1st, 2012 10:28 PM Author: razzle-dazzle pink ticket booth people who are hurt
in what way is it important? I'm not saying it's not good... obviously can (not will) teach teamwork and recovering from failure, getting beaten up and humbled etc... i'm asking if there's an appropriate substitute
Date: April 1st, 2012 10:32 PM Author: Hairraiser peach international law enforcement agency tattoo
teamwork aspect, camaraderie, working towards a common goal, socialization, physical fitness, school spirit, respecting authority figures, just plain fun, etc. I'm not sure there are academic endeavors that can combined all these, nevermind the fact you do academic shit all day at school and need another outlet
Date: April 1st, 2012 10:38 PM Author: razzle-dazzle pink ticket booth people who are hurt
Not gonna deny that those are some possible benefits... but I honestly think they are only reaped by those that are successful at it, i.e. big, fast, athletic negroes, whites, and latinos. Do you think the shittier players on a team feel awesome when they are a bench warmer? Do they have respect for an authority figure that doesn't give them playing time? Do they have school spirit and camaraderie with people who could likely make fun of them for their meek, beta physical attributes?
Maybe he plays basketball at the YMCA? Fuck if I know, but this dude has way too high of an opportunity cost to be dabbling with athletic teams.
Date: April 1st, 2012 11:38 PM Author: supple gay chad trailer park
Yeah, I just don't think generalizations about "Asians" in US culture apply to Indians, Persians, Arabs, etc, although of course they are part of the physical continent of Asia.