Chance me for MIT (EA), Caltech (RD), Stanford (RD)

Demographics

• Gender: Male
• Race/Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)
• Residence: Southwest
• Income Bracket: 200K+
• Type of School: Large public, reasonably competitive, no MIT/Caltech/Stanford admits in recent years that I know of
• Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): none

Intended Major(s): Mech E

Academics

• GPA (UW/W): 4.0 UW/4.7 W Academic/4.5 W Total
• Rank: 10/670
• Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: 14 APs, including Calculus BC, Physics 2, and CSA, 10 Honors classes including Cybersecurity, Intro to Eng Design, Eng Sci, Aero Eng
• Senior Year Course Load: AP Chem, AP Gov (1st sem), AP Econ (2nd sem), AP Lit, Eng Des Dev, Orchestra

Standardized Testing

• SAT: 1530 (750RW, 780M) (took in junior year, one sitting)
• AP/IB: 5 on most (4 in Physics 1/2, and AP Lang)

Extracurriculars/Activities

1. Robotics: Team Captain (2025-2026) Subsystem lead, drive team member (2024-2025) specializing in CAD/manufacturing, and robot operation, on district-level, 60-member FRC Team (2025 World Semifinalists). Mentor elementary team (20 students) since 2022, Certified head referee for VEX district/regional competitions, volunteering ~180 hours.
2. Scouting: Eagle Scout; various leadership positions. Active since 2014, developing outdoor and life skills through 24 merit badges, 7 ranks. Various service projects, including leading 10+ volunteers in Eagle project (>100 man-hours) to design and create educational STEM resources for elementary students.
3. Science Fair Regional Award Winner, 13 year participant: Engineered full-stack microcontroller device using FFT algorithm (District Grand Award Finalist 2025). Currently designing low-cost prosthetic.
4. Violin: School Varsity Orchestra Member, 4-time Royal Conservatory of Music Regional gold medalist, passed Level 5 (Violin) RCM exam.

Awards/Honors

Scholastic

1. Semifinalist / National Merit Scholarship Corporation / National / 2025
2. Divisional Champions and Einstein Round Semi-Finalists, World Championships (out of over 600 teams) / FIRST Robotics Competition; FRC Team / International / 2025
3. Special Award / Regional Science and Engineering Fair / 2025
4. First Place in Category; Grand Award Finalist / District Science and Engineering Fair / Regional / 2025

Non-scholastic

1. Eagle Scout / Scouts BSA / National / 2025
2. Certified Head Referee / VEX Robotics / Regional / 2023
3. Four-time Regional Gold Medalist (awarded to RCM exam top scorer in 4-state region) / Royal Conservatory of Music / Regional / 2023
4. Varsity Orchestra Member / School / 2022

Jobs/Internships

1. Office assistant and stage technician at local arts nonprofit with responsibilities including running lights and sound for events, greeting visitors, managing traffic flow, maintaining inventory, technical and custodial assistance, and general facility upkeep.
2. Summer Intern at local large museum: Independently Designed first iterations of virtual control panels using scripting API in new beta version of open-source universe simulation software, for use in museum outreach programs. Modified software configuration files to add new features, controls, and change output.

Letters of Recommendation

• APUSH teacher - probably decent 8/10
• AP Phys teacher - based on earlier letter, probably 9/10 " I can say with pure confidence that he will continue to be a success in all his endeavors as he has the maturity and intelligence beyond many seniors in college."
• Robotics Coach - known me for six years, 10/10 "He is a fine, capable young man who would be an excellent addition to your engineering program. After he finishes his degree, please send him back to me. I would love to have him work with me at [extremely well respected workplace]"

Interviews

• MIT interview: Went well, easy conversation, nothing spectacular.
• Caltech, Stanford: not applied yet, so no interview

Maker Portfolio

includes video of microcontroller device, basic chem calculator website, concept and initial design for low-cost mechanical prosthetic, and CAD and final product for educational STEM kits. GitHub shows code behind microcontroller device and website.

Essays

• Why MIT: I made a specific connection between my maker portfolio and MIT lab
• Other essays: I spoke about coming from an academic (non-engineering) family but blazing my own path in engineering; about school curriculum limitations that prevented me from taking MultiVar, playing an instrument for fun, my Eagle scout project, and rejecting performative 'service' for real-world impact.