I am a current junior who is beginning to think about applying to college. Below is a list of colleges that I am thinking of applying to. Please be brutally honest if you think I can or cannot get into these schools.
Colleges:
Cornell
Tufts Uni
Johns Hopkins Uni
UPenn
Boston University
More college choices still undecided
My Scores/Accomplishments
GPA: 3.9 out of 4.0
Current Classes: AP Bio, AP Lang, APUSH, rest Honors I have always taken the most rigorous courses offered at my school
SAT: 2200/2400 (CR: 710, M: 740, W: 750)
EC’s:
Boy Scouts - 8+ years- will get Eagle before applying
Kumon Math and English Tutor
Soccer Referee / Player
Model UN
Recycling Club
Babysitting Siblings
Accomplishments:
Am a Johns Hopkins Scholar (took a test many years ago and qualified as a Johns Hopkins Scholar)
Won a few awards in school bc of academic achievement
Served as Senior Patrol Leader (senior leadership position) for 2+ years in Boy Scouts
Won a New England Regional Math Competition in 2nd Grade
Got an Honorary Mention in my school’s Math Fair
Thanks everyone for taking time to read and consider my question/information.
Penn, Johns Hopkins, and Cornell will be quite difficult; you have the requisite qualifications but do not stand out. Tufts and especially Boston University, however, offer you a reasonable shot.
^I agree. Stat wise, you are a strong applicant, but your EC’s and honors (colleges really won’t pay much attention to what happened in 2nd grade) could be better. Perhaps consider picking up an internship over the summer or doing something else to demonstrate your interest in your subject of choice? Best of luck on your college search!
Your EC’s are fine especially if you have an interesting eagle project. If you can narrow the area you want to study it will make creating your list a little easier. (art, architecture, science, engineering etc…) Also, now is a good time to discuss a college budget with your parents to further narrow your list. Look at the NPC on college web sites to get an idea of what you can afford. Also look at scholarships.
I’d say that you are in good shape. Johns Hopkins tends to be positively inclined to those who did the CTY-can’t tell if you just got a high score or actually participated in their stuff. If just high score in years before high school, that is different. Your activities before high school really should not be listed and won’t be considered. If you did CTY then Hopkins is probable but if you just won a certificate for a high test score, then I’d say Penn and Hopkins will be a stretch but you seem in good shape for the others, Cornell if you apply ED.
I am looking for schools with a good pre-med track. I am interested in majoring in something related to the medical field.
I should mention that I have no budget for which schools I can attend. I will not be choosing/disregarding colleges solely based off their cost.
I also forgot to mention that I scored high on the 2016 PSAT and will probably be a National Merit Scholar. In addition, I am a member of the National Honors Society.
The Top 3 Choices from my list are:
Cornell
Tufts I live in MA so will that help?
Johns Hopkins
Which colleges do you all think I should consider for Early Decision?
Also, I have been considering BU to be one of my safety schools. Is BU too selective to be a safety school for someone of my caliber?
I would apply Early Decision to whichever one you like best; you sound the most like a Tufts fit to me (granted, I know very little about any of your top three institutions, especially Tufts).
From my son’s public suburban New York school naviance, the average accepted GPA and SAT/ACT scores are higher for Tufts than they are at JHU and Cornell. Also, maybe because we feeder school to Cornell (I think being instate helps), Cornell accepts just over 50% of the kids who apply from our high school. I think tufts too accepts more instate kids, but perhaps this is also true for Cornell and tufts simply because New York and Massachusetts are states that dominate at a lot of schools. There are lots of college applicants from those two states at the most selective colleges.
You dont need to retake your SAT but for some of the best schools you might want to boost it up a little (this also makes sense because odds are if you did well on the new psat youll do well on the new sat) try more ECs too that make you look more dedicated to being on the premed track (work over the summer in a lab, etc.)
I hate to say this, but this seems to much of an “average” Ivy application.
Your standardized tests are on the average side, although your GPA is definitely strong.
Your EC’s are a little too scattered and don’t tell a story about you. It seems that you’ve definitely invested a lot of time in Boy Scouts, so hopefully you focused your application on that. Your other EC’s don’t show you in a leadership role (besides Boy Scouts) and don’t show any achievements (e.g. winning awards in your clubs). The 2nd Grade award is irrelevant. Maybe the school awards might help if your school is notorious for being really academically vigorous.
Take my opinion with a grain of salt since there are definitely multiple details that could help you but just aren’t in your post (i.e. summer activities, work experience, demographics). Best of luck! (I hope I didn’t sound like a prick).
Ask your parents how much they’ll invest in your education, per year.
(Keep in mind that you’ll be limited to a $5,500 loan for freshman year so their contribution will be paramount).
Not all parents who can, will spend unlimited amounts of money on their child’s college education, and many simply can’t.
I’d apply ED to Cornell.
A safety has to have at least 40% acceptance rate and be affordable. You’ll need at least 2, especially if you apply to highly selective schools.
As a NMF, your best bets would be something like ASU Barrett, OU Honors, or UA Honors, plus UMass Commonwealth Honors. Apply in July, be done with it.
Right now, you have a list of all reaches.
You need to focus on the real work, which is, finding matches (3-5 colleges with admission rates 30-40% where, after running the NPC, your family agrees they’re affordable.)
BU is a match and run the NPC because they’re very stingy with financial aid.
I wouldnt attend JHU for premed. doing so lowers your odds of making it to med school and you’re better off attending JHU for med school. Choose a premed path somewhere that’s very affordable.
If you are Protestant, you may consider Baylor. They give basically full tuition scholarship for NMF (sliding scale based on SAT) and has a great health/premed program. Alabama gives amazing scholarship as well. Minnesota, if picked as 1st choice early, will likely award a full tuition scholarship through a combination of scholarships. University of Arizona will give about 18k a year or more for your stats.
try more ECs too that make you look more dedicated to being on the premed track (work over the summer in a lab, etc.)