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Chance me for my colleges
jay201sharma
5 replies1 threads New Member
Hi, I am a current senior applying for colleges, could you please chance me for Amherst, Vanderbilt, Brown, Yale, Columbia, and Stanford?
I have a 35.25 ACT(35 in math and 36 science) with a 4.00 UW GPA and 4.92 W. I go to a small high school(~80 in my graduating class) and am rank #1. I live in southwest Mississippi in a town with a population of around 20,000 and my school does not offer any AP classes but I've taken all Honors classes. I am a first-gen student and was actually born in India and moved here as a child(can also speak 2 Indian languages). Planning on majoring in Biochem.
ECs: I founded my own Environment club and became president in my junior year. I am Captain of the math and science team(top 10% Chemistry at the state tournament), science olympiad team(over ten top 3 state placement medals), and quiz bowl(state semifinalists) and have done all three for three years. I am president of NHS and vice president of my local Mayor's Youth Council. Also part of the school student council and organized a chess team to compete at the state tournament. I have over 400 hours of volunteer service tutoring, doing a camp for special needs children, volunteering at the animal shelter, and helping out at the Boys and Girls Club. My parents have a gas station and I often work there. I've also spent time shadowing a local pediatrician and an ophthalmologist.
My common app essay is extremely personal but its basically about me living in my small town as a closeted gay teen and how I gathered the courage to come out to my best friend last summer and my English teacher this year. I am not applying ED anywhere.
Thank you so much for your help!
13 replies I have a 35.25 ACT(35 in math and 36 science) with a 4.00 UW GPA and 4.92 W. I go to a small high school(~80 in my graduating class) and am rank #1. I live in southwest Mississippi in a town with a population of around 20,000 and my school does not offer any AP classes but I've taken all Honors classes. I am a first-gen student and was actually born in India and moved here as a child(can also speak 2 Indian languages). Planning on majoring in Biochem.
ECs: I founded my own Environment club and became president in my junior year. I am Captain of the math and science team(top 10% Chemistry at the state tournament), science olympiad team(over ten top 3 state placement medals), and quiz bowl(state semifinalists) and have done all three for three years. I am president of NHS and vice president of my local Mayor's Youth Council. Also part of the school student council and organized a chess team to compete at the state tournament. I have over 400 hours of volunteer service tutoring, doing a camp for special needs children, volunteering at the animal shelter, and helping out at the Boys and Girls Club. My parents have a gas station and I often work there. I've also spent time shadowing a local pediatrician and an ophthalmologist.
My common app essay is extremely personal but its basically about me living in my small town as a closeted gay teen and how I gathered the courage to come out to my best friend last summer and my English teacher this year. I am not applying ED anywhere.
Thank you so much for your help!
Replies to: Chance me for my colleges
Hopefully you have applied to match and safety schools in addition to these reach schools.
Re: being an ORM (overrepresented minority)- your geographic diversity may be of some value - hard to know. Your EC's are fairly typical of others in the same pool. The number of Asian American students with high stats aspiring to a STEM major at an elite university is extremely high (relative to percentage of population) . Living in the deep south, away from the east and west coast suburbs, you may not be aware of just how highly competitive this demographic is. But who knows - the small southern town stuff may also turn out to be in your favor.
As others have said, apply to a full range of universities - matches and safeties. Lack of course rigor is an issue. Also, is money a concern? There are southern universities that give substantial merit scholarships to students with your stats. If you're planning to be a physician, aim for a good university that will limit your debt for undergrad. Best of luck to you!
You have not yet identified a safety - one that you can get into and be affordable. Most likely your in-state flagship, because i think you can get good scholarships there. You're probably not liking that suggestion, but if your long term goal is med school, that may be your least expensive route. Jan. 5 is their deadline for scholarships and honors programs, so don't let that slip by.
Even if you go to a private university, med school is crazy competitive. If you think being an ORM for undergrad is an anti-hook, med school entrance is even worse. I have a niece (ORM) in the South whose instate med school was the only one she got into. She had stellar stats and EC's from a well known private college for undergrad. She is now a resident with very good opportunities. Miss. has a good acceptance rate for in-state applicants for med school.
You can also look into other schools in the South that will give close to a full ride for someone with your stats.
Look at your in-state options because if you’re targeting med schools, they will expect perfect GPAs, high MCATs (and your parents will be paying $300k [minimum] in fees). In-state schools could be the best for your funding, grades and state diversity.
Scholarships for med schools just aren’t there because, well, “everyone” qualifies. (Most of the students, at my dd’s med school, are on some bone-crushing loans or have very wealthy parents.)
Some of the schools you’ve listed consider any form of education on the part of the parents, past high school, to be non first gen. This won’t be a hook for you at those schools.
As an Asian Indian student, are ORM, and your stats/ec’s are very similar to everyone else applying to these schools.
Consider this reality check: there are ~35k high schools in the US, with 35k valedictorians who will all be applying to these schools, many with 3 yrs+ of rigorous AP/college courses. Some schools, like the ones in my county, have gone to trimester systems of 10 week courses. So, in a shorter time frame, they complete their AP classes. These are the students you will compete with for a finite number of seats.
Do yourself a favor, and get some safeties in state. Looking at prestigious and expensive undergraduate schools could backfire in that you could be rejected from all of them. It happens.
You are a First Gen if neither parent earned a four-year undergraduate degree. You qualify given what you typed. This is a nice hook.
I would apply to a Safety, perhaps in-state to set your floor and then go for it with the other Reach and Match if you like.
From what you've written you may have net costs lower at the elite private schools than in-state safeties. You will not know until you receive the financial aid packages. Be prepared for rejections, but you can only attend one college at a time anyway.
I wouldn’t consider it a hook, since I work with many high school students, in which neither parent, attended any school after high school. Many just barely got their GEDs.
As an ORM, this student needs safeties and affordable options.