<p>Currently a rising senior
Female (will be 17 when I apply)
I am eligible for financial aid.
I was born in India, moved here when I was 5, green card holder
I speak 4 languages (English, Hindi, Marathi, Telugu) and I’m learning French in school (IB level)</p>
<p>My application to the best colleges will probably be regular decision, since I want my senior year grades to be seen by the admissions. Right now, I haven’t decided everywhere I’m going to apply but I’m looking at Johns Hopkins, Stanford, UPenn, UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke, Wake Forest, Northwestern, and other schools. I want to do neuroscience and go on to medical school. </p>
<p>I have a 3.5 unweighted GPA, but I am one of the top students in my class (I go to the largest and most difficult public school in my state) and my weighted GPA is high, although I do not know exactly what it is. My freshman year: I have straight A’s. From there, it has not been great. I jumped to taking many AP classes and didn’t know how to take care of that so my grades dropped significantly my sophomore year. I made much better grades this year although I took more AP classes (I’m also in the IB Diploma program.) Overall, my GPA is low for Ivy League colleges but I do have a very strong upward trend. I’m hoping to get all A’s my senior year, so the upward trend stands alive. </p>
<p>Test Scores:
AP Exams - some 3s, many 4s and 5s
IB Exams - 5s and 6s (out of 7)
SAT - 1650 (Freshman year, I can’t remember subscores)
2240 (M780, W760, CR700) Junior Year December exam
I’m taking the October 2014 exam for my final attempt
Subject Tests - Math II, Chemistry, French (Results have not been released yet, but I’m expecting mid-high 700s)
ACT - 33</p>
<p>I have lots of extracurricular activities that I am well involved in, including school clubs where I have done a lot of service. I also do swimming and badminton outside of school, but I’m an amateur. Other than this, I sing - I have awards and certificates for my classical Indian singing and I’ve been trained in other types of singing as well (more western and English music.) I also do a lot of photography where I have taken lessons and learned how to take professional photos. For the singing and photography, I may even submit an arts supplement, but I do not know how that works just yet.</p>
<p>I have some job/research experience as well in the neuroscience and biology field that I’m interested in. I’ve been involved with a lot of medical related walks (hemophilia, sickle cell anemia, cancer) and have worked closely with many specialists - oncologist, neurologist, optometrist, internal medicine, orthodontist, ob-gyn.</p>
<p>I’ll have some pretty good teacher recommendations, and I am pretty good at writing. So they aren’t something that will bring my chances down. They might only make my chances better. </p>
<p>So, my question to you after all of that is: Do I have a chance at Stanford, UPenn, or JHU? I know these things aren’t predictable, but I want to know where I stand. My unweighed GPA is what brings me to an extreme low, but I do have a strong upward trend through sophomore, junior, and hopefully my senior year which might be all A’s. </p>
<p>Thank you in advance for your help!</p>