Chance/Match a Chem E + Business Rising Senior [MI resident, 3.990 GPA, 36 ACT, 1570 SAT]

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Asian Male
US Domestic
Public HS
(A East Asian Muslim ethnic group? Only like 10 million of us so maybe unique?)

Chemical Engineering + Business and maybe CS or Chemistry or Econ

Unweighted HS GPA: 3.990
ACT/SAT Scores:1570 SAT 36ACT

Coursework:

8th grade: Took APCSA test. Got 4. -.-
9th grade: AP CALC BC, AP CHEM, French, Orchestra, nothing else very noteworthy. B+ AP calc first semester, but all A’s otherwise. 5s in AP CALC BC AP CHEM and one 4 in AP Chinese that year.

10th grade: AP Micro/Macro, AP Stats, APUSH, french, and orchestra again. Other classes are not worth noting. All 5s and all A’s

11th grade: Calc III at CC, Honors Organic Chem at U of M, AP lang and AP Gov. French and orchestra still. A- in First Sem Orgo A in second sem orgo

12th grade: Don’t know yet

Awards:

Qualified AIME 10th and 11th grade, certificate of distinction (Top 5%)
2023 USNCO Top 150
2024 USNCO Local section #1 (No Top 150 this year unfortunately)
2023 DECA international finalist
Two-time gold president volunteer service award winner

Extracurriculars:

1.Eagle scout and Assistant senior patrol leader.

2.DECA Chapter president (100+ large chapter) and district officer

Organized symposiums at HS with Ross clubs + organized chapter budget + held board meetings

  1. Chemistry Research at UMICH Lab 2023, 2024

Presented at UMICH undergrad symposium and ACS National meeting in 2023. Too fundamental for most admissions officers to know what it is probably :sweat_smile:

  1. Electric guitarist and keyboardist

Played in Shoegaze cover band from 2021-2023. Various local venues.

5.Econ club president and (re)founder. Captain of A team in the Wharton stock challenge and Chicago Fed Challenge

  1. Violist

Won various Solo and Ensemble Awards, 1st stand in concert orchestra

  1. PIanist

SATD piano level 12

8.Swimming + Waterpolo

9th 10th swimming 9th 10th 11th 12th waterpolo Never made varsity in either :rofl:

I am thinking about enlisting in the airforce for 2-4 years after high school. The future looks quite bleak compared to when I wrote my optimistic 2023 post. I would appreciate it if anyone could give any guidance on how doing so would affect my chances.

Safety MSU:

Target-ish: UMICH

Reach: EA/ED2 UChicago (sibling legacy)

High Reach: ED1 Jerome Fischer M&T (I believe chem E + Biz will be less competitive. Perhaps this is delusion)

EA MIT + UMICH

RD Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, Northwestern, Pomona

Money is not an issue, but I don’t think I can look my parents in my eye and ask for money after disappointing them once again. (This is where enlisting comes in)

Given that I have only experienced rejections and defeats this past year, I am well aware of the extreme optimism this list is created under. I do not need to be told.

If this post looks familiar, it is. I created a similar one as a rising junior with projected possibilities. I apologize for lying.

2

MSU is a safety as you note. You might want to add UMN and Delaware, which are two of the top ChemE programs in the country - and both have business. So they are better known for your major, have business (vs. many that don’t), and will be safer admits.

Pomona makes no sense to me - given it doesn’t have engineering.

You didn’t mention budget.

You’re certainly very accomplished and if you’re ok with Michigan State, then you’re fine - although you could certainly get in somewhere else as well.

Good luck.

2024 Best Undergraduate Chemical Engineering Programs | US News Rankings

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3

I will enlist if MSU becomes the only option. (Not a drag on MSU, I would rather just get the GI bill money at that point.)

4

Then your list stinks:

  1. Why would you have MSU if you won’t go?

  2. It’s why I suggested UMN and Delaware which are better (or at least more known) for ChemE than your higher ranked overall schools?

  3. You didn’t respond on why Pomona - which doesn’t have engineering.

5

Here are my predictions…
Waitlisted to MIT (as you know it’s very competitive but that early decision should help)
Accepted to Columbia (Chemistry research and AIME stand out a lot to me. Expand on those a lot in your application.)
Deferred from Harvard, Yale, Stanford (I see commitment in your extracurriculars and many well-known awards but you don’t have any passion projects. Your extracurriculars/awards are above average but a lot of them are not exceptional. Very strong community service though.

And accepted into everything else

I think you are a very strong applicant and I wish you the best of luck. Honestly, my advice would be to create a passion project but it may be late now. Remember, this is still a lot of time to add to your application. You are truly an impressive student and your hard work shows! Again, best of luck.

6

  1. I decided to do it just so others know that I know what a safety is

  2. I appreciate the suggestions. I think I will add them to the target list. I probably should have clarified but I would be applying to engineering and ross at UMICH ( I am instate)

  3. A certain Pomona professor I am very familiar with conducts research extremely similar to the work I have been doing for the last two years.

7

I believe MSU is his safety. He would go to it if he is accepted into nothing else which is unlikely given his outstanding application.
I agree, I wonder why he wants to apply to Ponoma.

8

#3 - ok - but you want to be an engineer - so why Pomona?

It’s up to you of course, but I think you can conduct research and find folks to sponsor - wherever - so personally don’t think that’s a good fit for your academic interests.

9

This was his response to that - it’s why I asked.

After doing this a long time, you can tell which kids (at least in some intsances) who list safeties - but have zero interest in them.

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10

I think UMich is a solid target for ChemE but Ross would be reach - its a reach for everyone, including someone with a stellar profile such as you.

Also, as others said, Pomona is an odd choice given that there is no ChemE there. Also, some of your other choices are not even that reputed for ChemE - why not Cornell and Princeton both of which have a greater ChemE reputation than Northwestern or UPenn.

It looks like you are trying to thread the needle between ChemE and Business. I generally recommend optimizing for the engineering major, in which case you should also look at Delaware and UMN or at the minimum consider the Ivies that have a stronger ChemE program.

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11

MIT does not have early decision. And they defer two-thirds of EA applicants.

He is applying RD to these schools. So I think you meant to say waitlist?

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12

[quote="HaknirDeathbrand, po
No Princeton since they don’t allow for dual majors, I haven’t considered Cornell yet since I haven’t visited their campus yet.

13

There does not seem to be anything disappointing about your academic history, or are your parents disappointed by you getting one B+ grade and one A- grade?

In any case, if you are interested in the US Air Force, Michigan State University has an Air Force ROTC detachment, and you can apply for Air Force ROTC scholarships which may be up to full tuition. Air Force ROTC scholarships come with an obligation to serve as an officer in the US Air Force for at least 4 years (greater for pilots or navigators).

Note that enlisted service in the US Air Force is 4 or 6 years of active duty, with 4 or 2 years as Inactive Ready Reserve (total 8 years of service).

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14

Penn M&T is a very difficult admit. Applying ED might give OP a slight bump but it’s far from a sure thing.

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15

Add UDel, UVA, CMU as reach/target (CMU if you can pay)

Add Wisconsin and Lehigh as target

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16

Very True. I am only applying in the hopes that Chemical Engineering is a far less common major and that strong chemistry students will be applying to colleges that have better chemical engineering/chemistry programs than UPenn. (There are many)

17

Quite a long string of things. USNCO is just the latest. Stung quite a bit, especially considering I technically placed worse than I did last year with 3x the effort on both my and my mentor’s part and 11 more points in the local exam (Which is a considerable increase in a 60 question test).

18

Geez-go easy on yourself!

  1. Find yourself a volunteer opportunity-passion project this summer that you can really lean into for your essays.

  2. Find some more Target schools with opportunities for merit money. Not a Target necessarily, but what about WUSTL?

  3. Focus on writing killer essays (this one is really key).

My son has maybe a fourth of your resume and he did just fine! One question I do have, how do you rank? I know that any school you apply to will be looking at how you fare in comparison to your school peers.

19

I’m not sure of my rank. Our school is really grade inflated so it may be lower, but there is nobody with equivalent course rigor. (UM Ann Arbor, is unfortunately not grade inflated yet)

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20

It stinks that your high school doesn’t weight.

Do you have a good relationship with your school counselor? Nicely ask them to mention the rigor of your courses in their letter of recommendation.

I feel that your essays are going to be crucial. If you can swing it, get some professional editing .