can I get in?? or nah- Northeastern, UW Madison, BU, U of St. Andrews, UBC, U of Toronto, UCSB

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): will not submit
ACT (breakdown): 33C (35E, 32M, 35R, 28S) one sitting, retaking in October
SAT II: Did not take
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.79
Weighted GPA: 4.15 (10-12), 4.07 Cumulative
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): School does not rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): World History (3), AP Lang (4), AP Bio (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stat, AP US Gov, AP Psych, Sci-Fi Lit, 2 Classes of Choir, Honors Physics
Awards/Honors: Honor Roll 4 years, AP Scholar, Poetry Out Loud School Finalist
Intended Major: Neuroscience/Cognitive Science

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
-Choir 9-12, In 2 Choirs- Our elite, Chamber group and our Concert group (Choir Librarian- organize thousands of music pieces into a neat system) 12+ hours/week,
-Acapella groups 10-12, 2 hours/week
-Women’s Empowerment (Vice President and Co-Founder)
-Science with Kids (11-12)- Help kids design their own experiment and present research at science fair (Mentor)

Job/Work Experience:
I tutor kids in math and English at a local tutoring center 11hrs/week

Race: Asian
Gender: F

Applying to:
Boston University
Northeastern
U of Miami
U of Washington
UW Madison
UCSB
UC Davis
UC Irvine
UC Santa Cruz
U of Toronto
U of British Columbia
McGill University
Queens University (Ontario)
U of St. Andrews
SDSU, Cal Poly Slo

I’m pretty spread across the board in terms of which colleges I’m applying to, so feedback on my international schools would be appreciated. Right now UCSB and Northeastern are my tops, but UBC and St. Andrews are pretty high up as well.

2 
    So money is no object at all? But you are instate for your UCs? And you don't need merit money or real significance at the privates? BTW, your choir and tutoring etc ECs  adds up to 25 hours plus a week. You might want to just not worry about counting such hours at all.
3

I’m instate for UCs and money isn’t a problem. Most of my choir hours are during school, however, we do a lot of outside of school performances and competitions.

4

St Andrews is not a runner for neuroscience: you need at least 2 APs in some combination of Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics or Physics, with scores of 5.

5

I’m considering applying psychology for St. Andrews, is there a similar requirement for that?

6

ish.

The standard offer is AAB, including at least one of the following subjects:

Biology or Human Biology
Chemistry
Computing Science or equivalent
Geography
Geology
Mathematics
Physics
Psychology.

Of those, you have have a 4 in Bio and (presumably) a predicted 5 in Psych?

St Andrews likes Americans and your ACT & GPA are strong, so it could happen. Imo, it would be likely to be a conditional offer (so you wouldn’t know definitively until AP scores are out in July), and you may well find that you are under-prepared compared to your classmates.

@VickiSoCal might have some thoughts on the standard for psych students at StAs

7

I concur it is a maybe, and the course will be tough.

8

McGill admits by stats only. It would be a match. For Science, where neuroscience is located, your S subscore is at the minimum, which could be a problem.

9

McGill science might be a heavy lift - students there are VERY prepared and the standards/competition fierce. But you’re not forced to choose right out of the gate so it might work. Are you set on neuro? Psychology for example I believe would fall under general Arts at McGill which would help I think.

10

OP, the common thread for Canada & the UK is that your peers are likely to have a much stronger background than you will have, and both places will expect you to be ready to hit the ground running, and to fill in any gaps on your own.

11

@mimibee I’m more interested in the B.S. in Psychology than the B.A. Is applying for a B.S. in Psych just as tough as Neuro/Cog Sci?

12

@TomSrOfBoston Last time I took the ACT I went into it unprepared, so I’m definitely predicting a better science score once I nail the timing for that section. I’m aiming for at least a 32 in science, but aiming for a 34-35 composite. If I get the boost, will it negatively effect me if my science section is still not my strongest?

13

Note that at St. Andrews you can start with either Neuro or Psych and if you do well choose one after first year as required modules will lead to either.

14

Hi! It depends on which school/college your intended major falls into. Different schools have different admit criteria, so you may be safer applying to one than another, especially if you don’t have to declare 1st year. I’d just be sure to confirm that switching schools/concentrations would be possible in theory (should be)!. Hope this is helpful!!