Chance/Match: Georgetown, Brown, WashU, UPenn [KS, 4.0/4.27 GPA, 34 ACT, NMSF, Below average ECs]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Hey! Thank you for reading this post, means a lot!

Demographics

  • KS resident, medium sized city
  • Below average? high school (~130 in my class)
  • Have large interest in int. relations, but my parents want me to go into science field (they said applying to Georgetown is fine though, because they like that area)

Cost Constraints / Budget
Don’t qualify for Pell Grant, parents will pay for all of college

Intended Major(s)
Georgetown: International Relations / School of Foreign Service
Brown, WashU/WUSTL: Biology / Biochemistry
UPenn: VIPER (though Biology if not)

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 4.0
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.27 (Normal 4, Honors 4.5, AP 5)
  • Class Rank: Valedictorian (1/~130)
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 34 ACT

List your HS coursework

  • English: regular (9th - no honors available), honors (10th/11th), DE with large state school (12th)
  • Math: Algebra 2 (9th, honors), Pre-Calc/Trig (10th - DE with same state school, honors), AP Stats (11th), AP Calculus BC (12th, didn’t fit with my schedule)
  • Science: regular research (9th), Biology (10th, honors), Chemistry (10th, honors), AP -Biology (11th), Physics (11th, honors), Anatomy & Physiology (DE with same state school), AP Chemistry (12th), AP CSA (12th)
  • History/SS: regular (9th), US History 1 (10th, honors), APUSH (11th)
  • Languages: Spanish 2 (9th) & Spanish 3 (10th)
  • Other courses: EMT (12th), 4 years of biomedical classes (9th-12th), psych/sociology (taking at state school)

I’ve taken every AP at my school (except for Studio Art) & I’ve taken almost every science course available (except astronomy)

Awards
NMSF (likely to be a finalist)
School science fair: got 2nd 2x times (researched medical diseases)
School district award for volunteering with kids
AP Scholar

Extracurriculars
Captain of Quiz Bowl (2yrs)
NHS Officer (1yr) - can only join jr/sr years and can only have a position sr year
Volunteering at a local elementary & tutoring kids (3yrs)
HOSA (3yrs) (went to internationals for it, 1yr)
Produce music (won online competitions for it)
Member: multiple cultural clubs, STUCO, Class of 2025 (usually I just create graphic design posts for them)
Freshmen orientation guide (1yr)

Essays/LORs/Other
Essay: 7/10
LOR: AP Stats Teacher (11th) & APUSH/NHS Sponsor (11th-12th) (7/10-8/10 for both), AP Bio & Biomed Teacher (11th, 5/10)
English teacher also said she would write me one, but it would be 4/10

Schools
Accepted to lots of state schools w/ good scholarships (UMN, Alabama, OU, KU, etc)

  • Applied biomedical engineering to UMN, biology everywhere else
    Waiting to hear back from Purdue (FYE, biomedical engineering)

I mainly just want to know if I even have a shot, especially for Georgetown as I don’t have any “classic” international relations ECs (also, I tried making a club, but people at my school just don’t really care for politics), but I do stay invested in international affairs.

For matching:

  • mainly just strength of any science programs (namely biology/engineering) and opportunities to grow a good application for future opportunities
  • just not extremely religious (ex: mandatory mass, strict rules, etc)
  • don’t care for size, location, distance, etc
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So they are willing to pay near $400k at Gtown when you can likely go to Bama for near free - and get a masters - assuming NMF. For Tulsa (not on list), you will be free even if not NMF. You should consider as it’s a fine school with 25%+ are natl merit winners.

This is a science major. Can they afford grad school too - which you’ll likely need ? Otherwise take the $$.

I suspect no to all four but being from KS may help.

You need to pursue your interests, not your parents interests!! That’s a bigger concern. I get it - IR/IS doesn’t give solid outcomes but neither does sciences in many cases.

In the end, you are going to school, not them. So hopefully you can pivot majors later. Studying what you don’t like is a bad idea.

Good luck.

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You’re extremely qualified and bright. That being said, your list is full of reaches (and some of the safeties you mentioned). You should add some targets imo.

UMiami FL is very good for premed and just a strong school in general- and I suspect you’d get merit (and they’re pretty good with need based aid if that applies).

Personally, while @tsbna44 has a very good point, you shouldn’t go to a school if you’d be unhappy there. If you can see yourself thriving at a Bama- it’s a great option. Otherwise, I think it’s important to have some targets that have a good chance of offering you some merit. This could perhaps offset some of the costs of private school while still giving you a fantastic education.

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Please give your parents a HUGE hug and a thank you for this wonderful gift. Some families won’t pay full price for any college even if they can. Your parents are giving you a wonderful gift!

Do you want suggestions of colleges that cost a lot less money? If not, we can move on from that discussion.

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And congratulations on your current acceptances…and good luck with those pending applications!

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Please note I qualified to ‘take the money’ around the possibility of grad school and affordability of doing so.

If they can afford and want to pay full for four years plus grad school, then great.

That the student mentioned pell grants tells me maybe there might be constraints, even if the family doesn’t recognize it. Most full pay students will never even have heard of a pell grant.

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Congratulations on all your achievements and I certainly don’t think you are heading for disaster.

The college application process can be a very emotional and vulnerable time. Please remain confident and communicate with your parents who seem extremely supportive from what you have written.

Good luck and you definitely have a good shot!

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So I agree one of the nice things about schools like Brown or WashU is they make it very easy to explore before actually committing to any given major, and to combine various interests in a large variety of ways.

Those particular colleges are very Reachy though, and I wonder if you could maybe look at some other colleges like that.

Like, to me one very obvious suggestion would be William & Mary. They are excellent for Life Sciences. They are also a top IR college, with lots of DC connections. They have a relatively flexible curriculum. They are basically structured like a top private university, but even at full pay OOS are significantly less expensive. In short, there is a lot to love about W&M in your circumstances–and maybe your parents would agree, even if for somewhat different reasons.

Or what about a Liberal Arts and Sciences college? A lot of them are Reachy themselves, but a college like Macalester is again very good for Life Sciences, but also very good for IR, and very flexible. They have a great location in the heart of the Twin Cities (good for internships and such), and they might well offer you merit, again making them cost competitive versus at least a full pay private college.

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@vrses congrats on your academic and admission successes!! Well deserved! You already know that the reach schools have low admission rates, but its also reasonable to hope that one (or maybe even more) of your top school choices could pull through!! Keep us posted!!

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Congratulations on your NMSF status, valedictorian status, and the many acceptances you’ve already received!

Are you sure that you’ve calculated your weighted GPA correctly? If you have an unweighted GPA of 4.0 (i.e. all As) and you’ve taken 7 honors classes (4.5) and you’ve taken 3 AP classes (5.0), I would think that your wGPA might be higher. Also, what have your AP scores been like so far?

As already mentioned, the schools in your title are all low probability schools, even for very strong candidates. You have a shot, but the odds are against you (as they are against all applicants).

Do you have any interest in the science field? You are likely to do best when you are studying what you want to study and doing the work that you like to do. It’s one thing if you prefer international relations but also like science, but quite another if you find science to be drudgery that you’re good at.

Also, have you given any thought to a degree in something like global health? Denison has strong academics and this major might be of interest. I wouldn’t call it a likely admit, but odds of admission are probably several times greater than at the low probability schools:

Have you thought about George Washington U.? It is ABET-accredited for biomedical engineering and is really well-suited for students who want to do internships and for those interested in international relations. Odds of admission are much higher than for Georgetown, too.

Two other schools that you may want to consider are Johns Hopkins and Tufts. They are both low probability schools, but are very strong in international relations and also have the biomedical engineering (and generally strong sciences) that appeals to your family.

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As a valedictorian NMSF from Kansas, you should do well.

I like you original post in this thread as it is both informative & concise.

You’ll do well. Good luck.

P.S. I, too, am curious why you mentioned Pell Grant eligibility status if planning to be full pay. Is it due to US News using it as a part of their ratings system ?

Unless wealthy, be sure to consider applying for financial aid at each school.

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Why do they want you to go into a science field?

Note that biology produces lots of graduates every year, so major-related job prospects at the BA/BS level are not great.

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In fact I think the best route to employability for most natural science majors ends up being getting involved in some other professional path where a strong foundation in science and math generally, or perhaps some scientific field specifically, is useful, but they are not actually scientists.

So personally I would not necessarily discourage kids who have a real interest in science from doing a science major, but I would encourage them to start thinking early about different paths they might follow after college.

And among the many other ways to think about that would be to consider using a science background in some sort of governance or policy profession.

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In a strange way, I think you have arrived on a solid list. Also, the schools you applied to are not limiting you much once you figure out what you really want to study. Did you send in the 34 to all colleges? It is an acceptable score for all your schools, but for me, it might further support your assertion that the high school is not quite a wow. Maybe I am overthinking. Good luck!

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This is what the student said. “Parents will pay for all of college”.

Re: grad school or professional school…students can fund those themselves one way or the other. And many do. The notion that the parents need to budget for grad school is poppycock.

We were clear with our kids. We fully funded undergrad for the equivalent of four years of study. Anything else was on them…including grad or professional school. We helped as we could for any post undergrad study.

The colleges listed in the subject are reaches for all students…but the OP is a strong student. Looking forward to hearing the outcome.

@vrses you already have acceptances to some affordable and fine colleges…so just wait and see on these reach schools.

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Thank you!! I will let you guys all know what happens :slight_smile: Responding to the comments now, as I just got out of school!

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Yes, I did send the 34 to all the schools! I agree that they aren’t limiting, especially for WashU since freshmen don’t declare a major offically until sophomore year. Thanks for your comment!!

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Can I ask why you estimate your letters of recommendation being not that great? Are you basing that on something the teachers wrote in your report card comments? Being the valedictorian at a school that may not see high achievement, should be netting you letters like, “he’s the best student I’ve taught in a decade” as opposed to “7/8” or “4” out of 10. That would be my first question.