work MSC #240, Caltech
Pasadena, CA 91126-0240
United States

Pre-College Résumé

This résumé documents in detail my activities, achievements, and accomplishments before entering college. Most of these are not considered for placement in my résumé proper, but are available in this document for interested parties.

The main reason that I keep this document around—long after the vast majority of these achievements have lost their impressiveness—is as an archive of what I submitted to the Caltech undergraduate admissions committee. Thus, I suppose, the target audience is not future employers, but high-school students that are hoping to apply to Caltech or a similar institution. So yes, please don't think poorly of me because I put my 12th-grade math club president credentials on my website ;). I'm sure there are plenty of better reasons you could come up with.

Academic and School-Related Activities

Honors and Awards

  • (12th) National Merit Scholarship winner: awarded for a perfect score of 240 on the PSAT, plus selection via scholarship essays and academic evaluation.
  • (12th) U.S. Department of Education Presidential Scholar Program Candidate
  • (10th–12th) Advanced Placement Awards:
    • (11th, 12th) AP Scholar with Distinction
    • (11th, 12th) National AP Scholar
    • (10th) Perfect scores in Calculus AB and World History.
    • (11th) Perfect scores in Calculus BC, Chemistry, Computer Science AB, English Language and Composition, Physics C: Mechanics, and U.S. History.
    • (12th) Perfect scores in Biology, English Literature, Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism, Comparative Government and Politics, and Statistics.
  • (9th) Ayn Rand Anthem Essay Contest Semifinalist (with cash award)
  • (9th) Community Against Substance Abuse Essay Contest: 2nd place
  • Math and Science Contests:
  • School and Graduation Awards:
    • (9th) World History departmental award
    • (11th) U.S. Navy Science Achievement Award
    • (11th) Williams College Book Award for English Excellence
    • (12th) Los Gatos Lions Club Scholarship
    • (12th) Bank of America Achievement Award Certificate Winner: Science and Math
    • (12th) National Forensics League Degree of Merit Award
    • (12th) Sons of Italy Virginia Linda Memorial Award (William Para Lodge)
  • Middle School:
    • Golden State Examination
      • (7th) Academic Excellence in First Year Algebra with High Honors
      • (8th) Academic Excellence in Geometry with High Honors
      • The program was discontinued due to California budget cuts after my 8th-grade year.
    • ThinkQuest Educational Website Design Contest
      • (6th) ThinkQuest Junior Finalist for “Domenic and Josh’s World of Shakespeare”
      • (8th) ThinkQuest Semifinalist for “Everything I Know About Science I Learned from Science Fiction”
    • Golden Quill Writing Contest
      • (6th) Third place
      • (7th) First place
      • (8th) First place
    • WordMasters Nationwide Analogies Contest
      • (6th) Third place in school
      • (7th) First place in school
      • (8th) Highest national honors (perfect score), first place in school
    • Middle School Graduation
      • Valedictorian
      • Math departmental award
      • English departmental award

Community Activities

  • (9th–12th) Volunteer tutoring in mathematics and science
    • Formal and informal
    • Subjects: Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Trigonometry/Pre-Calculus, Calculus, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Science
    • I love helping other people learn to enjoy the subjects I find so fascinating
  • (9th–12th) Community Service: volunteer work at the American Cancer Society
  • (8th–10th) Academic Chess
    • Volunteer tournament coordinator and supervisor
    • Volunteer computer programmer and database manager: created a chess rating calculation and tournament data-manipulation program to help properly partition players.

Work Experience

Please see my résumé proper for work experience details.