I am a high school junior right now, and I am looking ahead to college admissions. after the first trimester of junior year I have a 4.10 gpa. I’m currently taking APUSH, AP lit, AP physics 1, and AP precalc. I plan to double major in both fine arts and molecular biology, and I know washu has plans for students planning to double major in addition to great programs in both biological sciences and art.
I have 3 years of track and field, two years of wrestling, and two years of cross country so far. I plan to continue with all of these sports. I also teach taekwondo outside of school, and am in orchestra and have played the violin since I was 7. what are the chances of me going to washu? how can i increase those chances within my junior year? any answers are appreciated!
Keep doing what you are doing, put in your best effort into standardized testing, visit the school for a tour at some point if possible, apply ED if affordable.
Not WUSTL specific, but adding EC related to your future chosen field may be helpful.
It’s a recent phenomenon (at least in the last 20 years) that applicants are expected to discuss why they chose a given major and your list of EC would need to reflect that.
Ehhh. Disagree. Many do sports, work etc. ECs needn’t match the major.
They should show tenure, commitment and impact.
Three things come to mind.
Perhaps the most important thing is that it sounds like you are doing very well. You are a very compelling and very competitive applicant to any university. I think that you just need to keep doing what you are already doing.
Secondly, other than maybe winning a Nobel Prize or having a parent who is the popular leader of a medium sized country, I do not think that there is anything that you can do to ensure that you get accepted to a school with a 13% acceptance rate. I think that you just need to do your best and keep an open mind. There are a LOT of very good universities in the USA. WUSTL is one of them (and I have visited it), but there are a lot of other very good universities also.
My last thought is with regard to double majoring in molecular biology and fine arts. I do not think that you will need a double major. You can just major in molecular biology and take the fine arts classes. Anything that you do with a double major, you can do with the degree in biology plus having taken the fine art classes.
I think that the point of ECs is to show responsible behavior, the ability to focus on an area and excel in that area, and the ability to interact with other people. I do not think that ECs need to be related to your potential major. My ECs were not related to my major, and this did not cause any problems way back when I was applying to a few highly ranked schools.
I think that you are doing very well, and you just need to keep doing very well. When the time comes to apply to universities, keep an open mind, keep your budget in mind, and apply to at least one and preferably at least two safeties.
I do a lot of undocumented volunteer work( i.e. I make meals for my local DVIP on holidays), and i tutor kids from my church without pay. none of these things I can write down on a college application, but it leaves very little time for extra curriculars. any advice on that?
what’s a DVIP. If it’s regular, then yes, you can note it.
Why can’t you document it? tutoring kids is an EC.
Just be honest - don’t say you’re doing something that you’re not. But there is no check - if you truly did it, then get it down on paper!!!
Not everyone has “documentation” for an EC or what they actually did in that EC. But you know what you did!!
Why not?
DVIP is the domestic violence intervention program- they don’t have special meals for holidays due to budget and covid 19 measures, and i feel as though the people there deserve a special holiday meal. I just dont see how I could write something like that down, if that makes sense.
You can write this down in your applications to universities. These are very good ECs. This shows responsible behavior and a willingness to help others. You have also shown a long term commitment to violin, three year commitment to track and field, and I am guessing that you have multiple years of taekwondo if you are teaching it.
To me these look like very good ECs. ECs do not need to be academic in nature, and do not need to be through your school. Having ECs that are not through your school show a willingness to be creative and thoughtful in terms of coming up with other ideas. Also, having ECs through a church is relatively common.
Just these words as is are very good.
My take on having a “dream school” might be summarized by my experience applying to graduate programs. I was turned down by my “dream school” graduate program. I went to my second choice. I LOVED IT! My second choice had always been a better fit for me. I just didn’t realize this until long after they handed me a master’s degree. Admissions at both universities got it right (including the “dream school” that turned me down). You have great grades and great ECs. I am betting that you will probably get great references. It will work out one way or another. Whether it will be at WUSTL or somewhere else none of us can predict.
It doesn’t. That’s your passion. Share it.
If you can, you should visit and/or engage with them at college fairs or virtual events.
For some schools it’s important they do…such as schools that admit by major, like UIUC.
All of these activities should be in the Activities section of your apps. They are fine ECs.
also, does anyone have any suggestions of colleges in the midwest that have good programs in both visual arts and biological sciences?
Are you looking for colleges at universities like WUSTL, or also LACs?
For universities, Northwestern, Michigan, Wisconsin, Carnegie Mellon maybe (if you consider Pittsburgh Midwestern enough, and are into their take on Bio stuff).
For LACs, definitely Oberlin, and maybe Kenyon.
Many more will be at least pretty good in both.
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