Semi-Competitive High School (~5 students admitted to T20s in last 5 years)
African American
No Hooks
Intended Major(s): Cognitive Science (undeclared for those where not offered)
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.76
Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.35
Class Rank: Top 20%
ACT/SAT Scores: 1560 SAT
HUGE EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES (domestic violence, 3 year divorce case, literally kidnapped at one point (!!)) (will be briefly discussed in additional info section, and expanded upon in counselor recommendation)
Coursework
Freshman-Junior Years: AP Human Geo, AP CSA, Ap Macro, APES, AP Lang, AP Physics, APUSH, AP Psych, AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC + 11 Honors Courses
Senior Year: AP Bio, Bio Prep Lab (HN), AP Stats, AP Lit, AP Gov, Anatomy and Physiology
7 Bs and 1 C+ in Chemistry HN– STEM grades historically much lower than humanities
Awards
(My State) 2x Young Entrepreneur of the Year
DECA Awards (2X International Finalist, 1X International First Place Winner, 2X State First Place Winner)
International Award for writing contest on Emerging Technologies and Ethics
Civics Unplugged Fellow
Regional 1st Place Science Fair Award
Extracurriculars
Neurotechnology Research: I conducted neurotechnology research with a professor from Cambridge on a novel method of combining generative AI and Brain Computer Interfaces.
Independent BCI Projects: I’ve created multiple BCI mini-projects, including one that tracks and modulates sleep cycles. Published all my tinkering and creations on my personal blog.
Anthology Sci-Fi Tech Ethics Series: I self-published a fictional book that includes multiple stories showcasing the ethical implications of various emerging technologies. Think Black Mirror Esque. Didn’t really get many sales, but I loved writing it regardless.
Advisory Board Member for Neurotech Startup: Was an Advisory Board member for this really cool startup which creates brain computer interfaces to help people with a specific subset of neurodegenerative diseases. Worked with their engineering teams to make their BCIs more accessible to people of different ethnicities and neuroabilities.
DECA Chapter Director of Written Events: I grew the number of top 3 winners in written and presentational events at the state level from 1 to 12 over the course of 2 years by working directly with teams to come up with ideas and communicate them in creative and effective ways.
Paid Museum Neurotech Makerspace Intern: Worked with this educational non-profit to design museum makerspace activities that help introduce neurotypical students to brain computer interfaces and cognitive science. One key part was trying to find a way to design a cheap BCI middle schoolers could build, so I worked a lot on the technical side of things.
Paid Intern at Education Startup: I worked directly with their team members to design and promote a platform connecting students with researchers. Contributed to marketing and design decisions that impacted hundreds of school districts and positively influenced the learning experiences of thousands of students nationwide, and ended up personally presenting in front of numerous educational/charitable authorities like Mackenzie Bezos and the founder of Duolingo.
Community Service Club Co-President: Through my work as Co-President, we have raised over 3k in funds so far. Created a variety of service projects to be implemented in our local community, and grew club membership from 15 to over 100 students.
Video Essay Youtube Channel: Purely a me thing-- I love overanalyzing the most random pieces of media and extracting the deeper meaning from them. My 300 subscribers are eating it up
Personal Diary: I wrote over 90,000 words of reflections, plans, goals, and ideas stored within it which I completed over 3 years. Including it in my as it’s such a huge part of my life even though it isn’t traditionally impressive.
Essays/LORs/Other
LORs: I think my recommendations from my AP Physics and AP Pysch teacher will be pretty positive, with emphasis placed on how much I have improved (especially physics…went from a 50 to a 99 in the class). My career advisor is a rockstar who has known me for 5 years and she will probably provide more insight on my extreme creativity and dedication.
Essays: I have a personal story about cutting off all my hair due to no BCI electrodes being able to penetrate through it, and how it launched me into increasing inclusivity and accessibility in the neurotech industry. I think I have a really interesting story to tell and I love writing so I’m surprisingly looking forward to writing them. Also will focus on learning to embrace the “mess” of my personality and me being a walking oxymoron.
Cost Constraints / Budget: Applying as Full Pay (but interested in schools offering merit scholarships)
Schools (really top heavy-- ok with going to state school!) (applying all RD)
As you can probably tell, I REALLY value an interdisciplinary education, so I would love to attend a school that places value on the intersection between different fields and encourages it’s students to explore many avenues. I want to enter the neurotechnology field after graduation, so I would also value a school with a culture of innovation.
Mainly applying to larger schools because it offers more variety/opportunities/diversity but open to changing my mind if you can convince me otherwise!
I’m also really curious to hear opinions on whether I should I apply in the first place to a lot of these, as I know my subpar GPA will really hold me back. A few weeks ago I was bedridden for days when I realized I would not be graduating with a 3.8+ gpa, and I was ready to give up then. But reflecting upon it now while typing all of this, I think I’ve had the COOLEST high school experience and I’ll do fine anywhere. Still going to shoot my shot regardless!
Yes, I always worry about OOS students applying to the UCs…They are expensive, and there is not much merit available to help offset the costs.
Aside from that, I just want to say that I think you’re amazing. You have excelled beyond measure given your significant life challenges. If you can succeed in that context, I have no doubt you will be successful at any college that you attend.
Did you take the junior-year PSAT? With such a high SAT in an “uncompetitive” state, I’d think you would have a good shot at National Merit, or National AfAm Recognition at minimum…
I only have time for a brief response right now, but I’m wondering if you’ve considered the Claremont Consortium. Terrific CogSci and interdisciplinary potential, and the patchwork of 5 LAC’s that are fully adjacent and have a fully-integrated registration portal (plus shared EC’s) mitigates the “too small” problem, giving you the resources of a mid-sized university with around 7K undergrads altogether.
Budget isn’t a huge concern for my family. I’m applying to a lot of merit scholarships and I’ll be able to contribute my internship/stipend savings towards college, but I think affording higher private school tuitions regardless wouldn’t be too big of a challenge.
I’m a junior currently, so I don’t have my AP Exam scores yet. In the past I have never studied for an AP exam and I’ve gotten 4s (AP Human Geography, AP CSP, AP Macro) and 3s (APES, AP CSA). Though I recognize that studying for AP Exams this year would be smart so I intend to put more effort.
I haven’t taken the PSAT. To be honest I didn’t really a use for it at the time but if it’s not too late, I’ll definitely look into it. I’m already have the National African American Recognition, but I’m not sure if it’s worth a space in my awards section. And thanks for the college recommendations!!
NMF > CBNRP in terms of number and size of scholarships that colleges give. The CBNRP that you have should be mentioned to any college that does have CBNRP scholarships.
There is an alternate entry for NMF if you could not take the PSAT, though I do not know if it is realistic now (you may want to check).
Pitt, Case Western, U Cincinnati, Syracuse, and Drexel could be good matches for your neuro interests, and you might receive significant merit aid. There are others in that category as well.
In general, your best merit aid will come directly from the schools themselves. Applying to external merit scholarships is likely not the best use of your time – you’d be better off focusing your energy on your college applications.
Have you run any of the Net Price Calculators for the schools on your list, and gone over the results with your parent(s)? That will give you a rough idea of what type of aid you might expect at different schools.
You are an excellent applicant and will have acceptances. But your reaches are reaches for everyone, no matter how accomplished. And if you’re seeking merit aid, most of your reach schools won’t offer any at all to anyone.
If you don’t have financial need, most of the schools on your list won’t offer you any aid at all, so you’d be paying >$80K per year at some. But there are other schools we can suggest that could be a good fit for you which would offer you significant merit aid.
Work with your guidance counselor on them telling the extenuating circumstances in their cover letter. You use your space to focus on you - your hopes and dreams, your educational aspirations. Unless your awful family situation were the basis for what you want to do, you don’t want to waste your space on what was done to you.
I’d say this - you’re a Junior and you’re going to have lots of options - $20k to $90k.
Don’t say cost isn’t an issue bcuz I’ll apply for merit and use internship money.
You need to know what your family can afford.
No need to stress. You’ll be fine with your stats.
Good luck.
Ps I’ll have to calculate but given the Bs and Cs and you are just a junior, your Uw GPA seems way too high. Please calculate using an 4 for A, 3 for B.
The Op has stated several times that finances are not an issue, and the family can afford the college costs. So…unless they state otherwise, I don’t think we need to belabor this point anymore. In my opinion.
@MissPlum you sound like a strong student. So really anything on your list is a possibility even if not guaranteed. I agree that your school counselor would be the one to best explain what transpired during your school years.
If you are happy with your instate options as sure things for affordability, and acceptance, then you are in a good place.
If you would like some suggestions of less costly colleges, let us know and we can give you some suggestions.
Thank you! Though my Dad says finances won’t be an issue, I suspect it might be more complicated than that, so I’ll be sure to have that conversation with him!
Yeah I don’t want to dedicate any more space on my application than what is absolutely necessary to talk about my personal situation. Thanks for the advice!
Thanks for the advice! I used a calculator online to get my UW GPA – my schools considers all As as 4.0s so my GPA here is actually much higher. I’ve done TONs of courses and my grade distribution is very extreme (A good chunk of my grades are 97+) so that might explain it.
Update: I was actually concerned about CogSci being too math/science heavy, especially because I’m aiming to concentrate in something computational neuroscience related. Based off my first semester of AP Calc as well as my research work, I don’t think I’ll struggle too much, and I actually really thrive in application based classes which most CogSci programs seem to have more off.
Congrats on your accomplishments! You are a strong student and should have plenty of options.
You indicated an interest in schools that provide merit. Take a look at Pitt, Case Western, the U of South Carolina, and SUNY Binghamton.
I believe you will get into Rutgers and if it is affordable you have another safety. Rochester is a great school, but very expensive. They do give merit, and if you get any you can decide if it is affordable. Have you looked at RIT?
You have a lot of reaches. Have you considered eliminating the UCs? You reported that budget is not a concern, but also stated that you are interested in schools that give merit. It is unclear to me what your family can spend. While you do not have to disclose this information, I think it is a good idea to have that discussion with your family (unless you already did).
@twogirls Thank you so much! A problem that I ran into often when creating my school list was finding schools with no (or very a undeveloped) cognitive science major. So many schools that offer merit scholarships don’t offer my major, including my state school, though with my state school I would essentially be going to college for free so I’m fine with keeping it as a safety. Maybe a computer science/pysch or neuro double major is possible though-- I’ll look into it!
UC Schools have amazing cognitive science programs-- that’s my main reason for including so many, but I’ll take a second look.
@tsbna44 Our school actually makes us do 8 classes a semester. I did two high credit courses in middle school and around 3 over the summer between years. I’m sure there’s a couple of A-s in there which also skews things. Regardless, thanks for fact checking me!
