Chance/Match me: 3.85 UW gpa, 1440 SAT. Plan to major in Neuroscience, NJ resident

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • US domestic student
  • State/Location of residency: NJ
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Public
  • Other special factors: n/a

Intended Major(s): Neuroscience/Cell Biology

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: ~3.85
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.13 on a 4.0 scale
  • 1440 SAT (700 r&w, 740 math)

HS coursework

  • Completed 2 APs, (bio, seminar)

  • Currently enrolled 4 APs (chem, calc AB, psych, eng lit IV)

Awards

Seal of Biliteracy (Turkish)

Honor Roll grades 9-11

Congressional Award Bronze Certificate

Extracurriculars
Internship & research at endocrine lab (2 weeks, the summer before 12th)

Shadowed Endovascular surgeon (Summer before 11th)

Working for Family business (Grades 9-12): Listing, fulfilling, and packaging orders for Amazon.

Volunteering at Hospital (Grades 11-12)

2-week French student in Montreal: Stayed with a host family, attended French lessons

Boston University Pre-College program (2 weeks, summer before 11th)

JV Track (Grades 10-11)

–There are a few more listed hobbies like guitar and the gym, but I included the most important ones

Essays/LORs/Other
LORs from:

- AP Bio teacher & regular Pre-Calc teacher.

- Mentor at 2-week internship

Schools
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I EA’d to: Rutgers New Brunswick (and its honors college), Stevens Institute of Tech, Stony Brook, UMass Amherst, Northeastern, and Fordham

I plan to RD to: Boston University, Boston College, Tufts, Amherst College, Brandeis

Thank you!

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Any cost concerns - some are $95K a year.

Any languages that you studied - I assume you are a heritage speaker in Turkish?

Admit wise, I imagine all your EAs result in acceptance with Northeastern being the exception. It could happen but….they accepted 5K of 97K kids so….and if you submitted an SAT (hopefully you went TO), you’re below where you need to be.

I don’t see the last ones happening but you never know - except maybe Brandeis if you are full or near full pay.

As long as you are happy with the first lot and can afford them, then you are good to go I’d imagine.

Good luck to you.

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Are all of these colleges affordable for your family?

Do you have a LOR from a humanities teacher?

My opinion only…I think you have a good chance of being accepted at most of your EA schools. I think that your RD are either targets or reaches…not sure things.

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I think that this is a good list of schools. Rutgers is very good in general and since you are in-state should be relatively affordable. I have known a number of Rutgers graduates over the years and they have all made Rutgers look very good (and most of them were quite successful in their careers, over a rather wide range of careers).

Neuroscience and cellular biology are areas where some form of graduate program is possible, and perhaps even likely. You might want to plan for this when considering your budget. PhD’s are typically fully funded, but PhD admissions is very competitive and even if you do go for a PhD the stipend is typically just enough to live on, and a small amount of parent financial help can make the marathon more tolerable (it can become sort of like an interesting job that pays badly, where if your research succeeds they eventually give you a doctorate). Master’s degrees and some other graduate programs are typically not funded, with MD’s and DO’s perhaps being the most obvious examples of expensive graduate degrees.

And you can go on to very good and highly ranked graduate programs with a degree from any university on your list.

With this in mind I also wonder what your budget is. I expect that you are likely to get some affordable acceptances, and some very expensive acceptances. You really do not need to go to the more expensive private schools to get an excellent education, and you probably should only consider attending an expensive private school if either you get very good financial aid or your parents can afford it while still leaving some money in the bank to help you with a graduate program if and when this becomes a possibility.

Someone I know with very similar stats got accepted to Northeastern but it would have been full pay. She went somewhere more affordable and did very well (and continued on to get her doctorate at a very good and well ranked program). Having saved some college funds for graduate school turned out to be a very good plan for her, and probably would be something for you to consider also. With this Northeastern might be a low reach for you, both in terms of acceptance and in terms of affordability. I think it could go either way (ditto for Tufts, which is again a very good private university that can be quite expensive unless you get good aid or your family is quite well off).

Having some research experience already as a high school student is a very good EC. Having helped with a family business is also a very good EC. I like the fact that you have some experience in Montreal and speak a bit of French (tres bien!).

Having some experience in a hospital is also good. For example your intended majors will overlap a bit with premed classes, and having some experience with both research and in a hospital with patient care can help you to decide when the time comes which way you want to go with your career. This is of course something that you have quite a bit of time to decide.

To me it looks like you are doing very well.

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I think you will be accepted to Rutgers (not sure about honors), Steven’s, Stony Brook, UMass, Fordham, and Brandeis.

The others can go either way, but assuming affordability I think your list looks good.

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Hi, thank you for your response! My parents are willing to pay for wherever I go, but considering grad school it would be smarter to not pay so much for my undergrad degree.

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I took French in the first 3 years of high school, and yes I am a native Turkish speaker. My parents are willing to cover the cost of any school, but considering the possibility of grad school I want to be financially smart.

Thank you for responding!

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This is very wise.

Some graduate programs allow you to see the list of students currently enrolled there, and also see where they got their bachelor’s degrees, or any other degree they might have already obtained. If you look at pretty much any of them, you will find students who got their bachelor’s degrees at a very wide range of universities. In most if not all very good graduate programs a small number of the universities where someone got a bachelor’s degree might be higher ranked than the schools on your list (such as Harvard or Stanford), but a very large number of students even at the very best private graduate programs will have come from schools that are ranked either about the same or lower than anything on your list. The students come from “all over the place” (this is an exact quote from a doctor I know, but it also applies to the students who I see for example in both daughter’s medical-related graduate programs). You are also likely to see quite a few students who went straight from a bachelor’s to a PhD, but also quite a few students who got a master’s degree along the way. Of course the master’s degrees will have represented an additional cost for the students or their parents.

I gather than you have not applied ED anywhere. I think that this is wise. I think that you will get a range of acceptances with a range of costs. This will allow you to see what actual offers you get and what each will cost you before you need to decide where to attend. Also, if you do visit a few schools with an affordable offer in hand, it will feel very real. You will know that you really can be there in September if you want. If you chat with a professor (which can be arranged at some schools) they too will know that you really can be there in September if you choose to do so.

From your list I do expect you to get a few rejections and a few very expensive full-pay acceptances. However, I also expect that you will get some very good acceptances to schools that will be relatively affordable (or at least way under the $100,000/year that the most expensive schools are getting close to these days).

Best wishes.

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Have they filled in a net price calculator ?

Maybe they qualify for aid?

Cheaper is good but a Brandeis will provide a different experience from Rutgers, whether better or maybe not as good for you.

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I agree with this. Are you considering med school or some other type of health related career?

All of the schools on your list are very good.

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Yes, i’m still not 100% about med school but i plan on going to grad school at the least.

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They haven’t, i’ll forward this to them, thank you!

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Consider Colgate and Union.

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I would budget for at least 6 years of school, and keep in mind that the rules for student loans are changing (this impacts many with grad school plans).

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Please give them a huge hug and a big thank you. This is a wonderful gift to you, and one that not every family will do (even if they can afford to do so).

I think you have a great and varied list. Looking forward to hearing where you land!

ETA…put medical school on the back burner for now. That decision can be made later. Right now…it’s finding your undergrad school!

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I would sit down with your parents and explain to them (if you have not already) that while you are not sure about medical school, you are sure (at least now) on some type of grad school.

I would also remind them that your major (neuroscience/cell biology) typically requires some type of grad school. Sometimes you can choose a less costly grad school, and sometimes you can’t.

I think it is amazing that your parents will pay for any undergraduate school (I am assuming they are aware of costs). I would ask them if they will also help pay for grad school…or…will attending a lower cost school leave money available for grad school, etc.

Finances are a personal discussion and you do not owe us an explanation, but I would definitely discuss it with your family and plan for the possibility of grad school.

Good luck- you have a nice list!

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Thank you!

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Once you have offers in hand and know what they will each cost, you might want to make sure that your parents will be paying for this out of current income, or out of a small percentage of existing savings. You should not want them to take out any debt at all for your bachelor’s degree if this is reasonably avoidable (and it sounds like is probably is) since you might be calling on them to help you again with the cost of a graduate degree.

I do expect that sometime around about March or April you will be looking at affordable offers to very good universities, and very likely some rather expensive offers to schools that are slightly higher ranked. Again any school on your list can help you to get accepted to very good graduate programs (most of what is needed to get into a very good graduate program will depend upon you, and not on which university you attend for a bachelor’s degree).

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This is true.

I just looked at some of the recent student bios from a graduate program (MS) that is very competitive and has a grueling admissions process. Students came from a variety of schools: University of Rochester, Northern Arizona University, University of Pennsylvania, Brown, TCNJ, Minnesota, Pitt, U of Maryland, UCLA, Cornell, Western Carolina, Rutgers etc.

What really struck me was what they accomplished in college and in the year or two following. That was on them.

With that in mind, choose a college that is a good fit for you, and where you would be happy for 4 years (while keeping grad school costs in mind and doing what works for your family).

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