Chance/Match a Sophomore [MA resident, 4.0 GPA, physics or math]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics
Asian American

  • US domestic (US citizen or permanent resident) or international student
    Us citizen

  • State/Location of residency: (state is important if you apply to any state universities)
    Massachusetts

  • Type of high school (current college for transfers): public

  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity (optional): Chinese

  • Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.):
    None

Intended Major(s)
Physics, astrophysics, applied math, something in the stem fields. Any thoughts on this would help!

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
School doesn’t rank, I don’t know my gpa yet, but I have all A and A+ (and I take most rigorous courses possible)

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 4.0

  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): don’t know yet, something around 6.1 on a 6 scale

  • ACT/SAT Scores:
    None yet

Coursework
(AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s))
Will have 10 ap tests taken by end of 11th grade

Awards
Scholastic writing silver key
Almost guaranteed pvsa gold (I’m nearly there already)
Various fencing competition awards

Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)

Science Olympiad (probably will be captain)
Chess team coach and captain
Physics club pres
Ultimate frisbee captain

Cost Constraints / Budget
(High school students: please get a budget from your parents and use the Net Price Calculators on the web sites of colleges of interest.)

Will pay in full

Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below)

Current schools I’m thinking abt

  • Safety (certain admission and affordability)
    Umass Amherst (rly popular in my school, almost everyone gets in there)

  • Likely (would be possible, but very unlikely or surprising, for it not to admit or be affordable)
    Dunno

  • Match
    Tufts
    Northeastern
    Bc
    Bu

  • Reach
    Mit
    Brown

Help me on my school list :slightly_smiling_face:

Any feedback on what to do in my last few years is helpful

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Forgot to mention, I am a board member in a cancer fundraising program which helped raise thousands for cancer institutes and hundreds of units of blood

I am also a TA for writing

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–You are doing very well so keep it up.

– As a sophomore it is too early to chance you.

– It is impossible to reasonably chamce a person at your reach schools which have acceptance rates well under 10%. There are simply too many worthy applicants than spots available.

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do you have any suggestions on what I should do in these few years?

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Get the best grades you can get. Do ECs that are of interest to you. And enjoy them. Socialize, and have some fun!

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I think that you should read the “applying sideways” blog on the MIT admissions web site.

As I understand it, it recommends that you do whatever is right for you, and do it very well. This approach has worked very well for us. However, what my younger daughter did, what my older daughter did, what my wife did, and what I did were four very different things. We each did what was right for us. I guess the common thing that we all did was to take education seriously. However, in terms of ECs we mostly did different things.

And look for universities that are a good fit for you, pay attention to your budget, and make sure that you apply to at least one and preferably two safeties. U.Mass Amherst looks like a very good safety for you assuming that you keep up your excellent work and continue to be in-state in Massachusetts.

Exactly right!

And here is the blog:

Also, to me it looks like you are doing very well right now.

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Keep up the great work Keep doing what you’re doing - and make sure that (next year) you interface well with your teachers so you have some recommendation writers. . Let us know when you have a score.

It sounds like you want to stay in the Northeast - so maybe visit a few schools casually - to get a feel for them (BC is different than BU which is different than UMASS, etc.).

Keep up the great work and all will work out just fine for you.

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Data science represents a good major for combining several quantitatively oriented fields. With this approach, you could select a second major too, of course.

In any case, as suggestions for the breadth of your academic interests, look into Hamilton and Wesleyan.

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Sure! I’ll look into those aspects. Thanks so much!

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These are all reaches.

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My school is really popular with these schools and people with good gpa generally get in.

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If you won’t qualify for fin aid, but your parents will not/cannot pay 85K/yr, then you really need to consider prepping for the PSAT in order to achieve a semi-finalist score in National Merit. It will give you a free ride at Alabama and Tulsa, and possibly open other doors for you. The PSAT is given in the fall of 11th grade. If you were to prep intensively for it this summer, you could possibly make semi-finalist. And it will greatly help your SAT score, too.

If you are thinking of Tufts, plan to show them a lot of demonstrated interest, to try to convince them that they are your first choice (unless they actually ARE your first choice, in which case you apply ED to them). Tufts is very concerned about yield, will reject highly qualified candidates whom they think are going to turn them down.

If your family, like many, doesn’t qualify for fin aid but is unwilling/unable to pay 350K for college, then really, your best option by far (if you don’t make National Merit) is UMass Amherst.

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That’s great, but unless you have a major hook, any school with a sub 20% acceptance rate should be considered a reach for all.

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Oh I missed that the parents won’t pay $85K - since Tufts has no merit aid, if this were the case, it’d be off the table as would many others.

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Perhaps I missed this too, as the OP said this in the original post:

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Yeah, I checked and saw the same.

I would say to every student though - if parents knew they could pay $25K or $50K or $90K, would that matter?

Many can pay but aren’t willing to pay - that’s me!!

So before you go on visits, do have that discussion with your folks - to ensure they know by the time you go, some of these schools will be $400K. Is that ok with them if you can go for half or less?

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Well first, I will try to get scholarships +national merit and I think I have a good chance

If I get into a prestigious school or a school with a great program for my interests, I will probably pay in full.

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Outside scholarships are tough, but not impossible but for most you will see, likely a waste of time and many are need based. The easier ones to get are the small, local ones - but they barely make a dent.

National merit is awesome - but not for your list (except maybe BU). But Alabama, Maine, UTD, Tulsa, some of the Florida schools and more - it’s great. I think as far as high end and in your area, I know Bowdoin gives $2K and BU has something but not assured…but that’s about it.

But when you are looking at physics, for example, schools like Arizona and CU Boulder punch well above their way and in many cases well above the so called prestigious.

But again, you are early - but - you should have those discussions. You say you’ll pay in full - but what will your parents say. And if you’re only looking near home than that will certainly limit your scholarship ability.

For now, keep up the great work - and if you do get NMF, then it’s just another tool to work with - and that’s a great thing!! You have lots of time before you get into this game.

For now, visit different local college campuses to see what type of environment works for you. No organized tours or info session - just go with mom/dad and check out the campus and area - and take note because again, BU is very different than say, Brandeis.

Good luck

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