Chance/give advice to a rising senior aiming for Ivy League+ [African American, 3.9 UW, 35 ACT, Neuroscience major, Valedictorian, PA resident]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics:

  • US citizen
  • Suburban PA/ Greater-Philadelphia
  • Public non-magnet high school
  • No legacy, female, Immigrant parents
  • African-American descent (Ethiopian)
  • High-Income

Intended Major(s):

Neuroscience/Neurobiology (Maybe pre-med)

Minor in general chem?

UW/W GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • UW GPA: 3.9/4.0 and W ~5.2/4.0
  • Rank: 1/492
  • Test scores: 35 ACT

Will be taking a total of 14 AP classes by the end of high school (in 5 right now so I don’t have many scores to put on here but my record is pretty good as of the 3 I already took)

Awards/Honors

  • Public Speaking 5th place Pennsylvania - TSA
  • Biotechnology 6th place in Pennsylvania – TSA
  • Debating 7th place in Pennsylvania - TSA
  • Audio Podcasting 4th place in PA
  • AP scholar w distinction (projected)
  • Class treasurer
  • Valedictorian

Extracurriculars (incl. summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)

  • Yale Young Global Scholars Alum
  • 2 year researcher/intern @ Drexel College of Medicine with Harvard Alum professor
  • Intern @ medicinal chem. biopharmaceutical firm for 3 years w/ PhD professionals
  • Neuroscience youth network - founder and executive manager of int’l neuroscience network for HSers founded with fellow students @ Brown pre college
  • TSA (3 years) - Worked with fellow students to develop projects to compete at the regional, state, and national levels (see above for awards)
  • Leukemia and Lymphoma society student visionary of the year – 1.5K raised individually, 40k+ raised with team for leukemia research and patient help
  • Environmental club president – Led school chapter in planting over 500 native plants around the school, attended conferences and gave speeches on the importance of environmental help
  • Orchestra - 10 year violinist, volunteer in helping students learn violin throughout HS
  • Community service – 200+ hours/year in volunteering misc.
  • NHS member
  • Brown PreCollege programs (2 neuroscience courses)

Essays/LORs/Other

  • Essay will be written about how I lose a part of my Ethiopian identity when I straighten my hair and I ended up quitting sports and finding myself in neuroscience because of it (probably)
    • I plan to get it reviewed by some amazing writers i know in my life (teachers, friends, etc.) so i think its safe to say this could be like a 9/10?
  • LOR #1- PI @ Drexel Uni lab (Harvard Alum) (10/10)
  • LOR #2/#3 - either my 2 year bio teacher or 2 year chem teacher (9/10 for either)
  • Should be a good counsleor rec (probably around a 8/10)

School list:

Reaches:

All ivies, MIT, JHU

Targets/Hard-targets:

Villanova, Lehigh, NYU, Boston College, UMich (Ann-arbor)

Safeties:

University of Delaware, University of Pittsburgh

Please let me know what you think/ what I can do to still improve my app!!

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With respect to your list itself, you may want to look into Amherst, which established the nation’s first undergraduate neuroscience major.

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Based on this thread, you were a junior last year. How are you still a junior 13 months later?

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I would suggest that you move BC, NYU and Michigan to the reach list. Sure, you have the potential to be accepted but these are not targets…they are reaches with very low acceptance rates.

In April 2023, you said you were applying for college admission that fall…which was fall 2023. What happened? Did you apply and not get accepted? Did you take a gap year and if so, what have you been doing? Or were you planning to graduate HS early and changed your mind? Please clarify.

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Congrats - it looks balanced to me - that you have Delaware and Pittsburgh - that might be as good a choice as any on the list - tells me you’re in good shape.

I’d offer this - somehow (essays or activities), ensure your ethnicity is known as they cannot look at it today via a box check. Personally I think you’re great as is and don’t necessarily need the boost but they are allowed to give the boost if they are aware of it- via other ways.

Obviously, you’ll need great essays and LORs - but I’d say you’ve done really well and are in good shape.

I would question all Ivies. Some kids say that - but they are not all the same and perhaps you’d find an alternative you’d prefer to one or more of them - for example a JHU or Duke vs. a Dartmouth, if living in a rural area didn’t fit you, etc.

But all in all, it looks terrific to me.

Good luck.

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Most selective schools want 2 letters of rec from your HS teachers. Ideally, they should not both be science teachers. So choose 2 HS teachers from different disciplines. Some schools allow another letter of rec from another person outside your school so the Drexel one may be used there.

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Please note that JHU appears on the OP’s list. Nonetheless, I concur that a list with fewer Ivies, such as, say, a maximum of six, would seem more suitable for the OP.

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I feel that your targets are reaches, and I would think about adding the University of Rochester. Pitt and UDel are excellent choices.

According to your other post ….you were a junior in April, 2023 and planned to apply to colleges that fall (2023).

I am confused.

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As was said upthread, your targets are reaches due to their low acceptance rate.
Beside URochester, I would add colleges with a 20-25% acceptance rate, perhaps women’s colleges (Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke).

Udel honors and Pitt Honors are excellent choices, but you should add PSU to your list for Schreyer and https://www.huck.psu.edu/institutes-and-centers/neuroscience-institute

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Temporarily closing thread to get clarification from the OP.

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