By luck and some other odd factors? I honestly do not know how the admissions people pick their classmates, but I suppose they found me interesting enough to let me in.

I can only tell you about my college applciation experience… if you want more details, I can provide them.

Here were my application “stats”:

• GPA: 3.8 (our school didn’t rank us)
• SAT I: 2310 (800 in Math and Reading, 710 Writing, Essay Score 6)
• SAT IIs: Scored 800s in Biology (E), Physics, Chemistry, and Math IIC; 710 in US History
• ACT: 34 (I didn’t do the writing section)
• APs: Scored 5s in Calc BC , Biology, Physics C, Chemistry
• IBs: 6 in History HL, 5 in Spanish SL

Other application details

• My essay I wrote about Pokemon and art and how it shaped me (reading it now it is one really embarrassing piece of writing I have ever done)
• I did was eboard stuff with Math team, Science Olympiad team, and did various research internships (a mouse lab, an industrial fragrance/flavor company, a drug research lab)

I actually applied early action to MIT and was accepted there. I applied to Yale and other places regular decision. The reason I applied to MIT first was because all my best HS friends were doing it… I also had communicated with a biology prof there asking about research oppurtunities (I just picked up his email from MIT’s Open Course site).

In the end I was choosing between MIT, Yale and Princeton. After visiting them I decided Princeton was not for me..I was also expected to think the same for Yale but was surprised that I liked it a lot more than I thought. After some agonizing (back then it seemed it) decision-making I chose Yale. I really did love MIT and knew many people there that could help me along, but I enjoyed being at Yale too much.

And I don’t regret my decision at all.