Chance/Match me: Asian, high GPA/test score, average EC's, applying to selective colleges [Midwest, 4.0UW, 36 ACT superscore, for Econ/Finance, <$50-60k]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • Domestic
  • Midwest
  • Public High School

Intended Major(s)
Economics, Finance, or Entrepreneurship

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 4.0/4.0
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.38/4.0
  • Class Rank: 4/451
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 35 ACT, Perfect 36 Superscore across two tests, 1510/1520 on PSAT

Coursework
AP’s: World History (4), U.S. History (4), Biology (5), Calculus AB (5), Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Physics C, Lang, Calculus BC

Foreign Language: 3 years of German

Awards

State Champion for National Economics Challenge
1st Place at a reputable Indian Classical Music national competition
1st Place at a reputable Indian Classical Music international competition
Mission Advocacy Award from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
Top 10 Violinist in All-State Orchestra
State Finalist in DECA

Extracurriculars

Indian Classical Music: Learning vocal for 13 years, violin for 7, help Mom teach and run her music school, actively help organize school events and play for local concerts as a paid musician

European Classical Music: Been learning for 10 years, concertmaster at highest-level Orchestra in school, part of Orchestra leadership committee, 4-year musician at a prestigious local orchestra

Local cultural organization: Started a youth committee for a local cultural organization and helped them rebrand by designing logos, promotional items, and built a new online platform

Leukemia and Lymphoma Society: Was team captain for a team that raised $18,000 under the cause of advocating for affordable healthcare, served as a team advisor for a team that raised $30,000 the following year. Currently part of a Junior Leadership team that advises teams all across my region.

Online Newspaper: Managing Editor for an online newspaper that covered tech, healthcare, and business topics. Actively wrote articles as well, and the website published 40+ works.

Startup: Currently working on an educational startup that aims to make the tutoring gig into a more unique business- I expect to have some milestones and higher revenue achieved by November

Essays/LORs/Other
Should be fairly strong- I’ll be working on my essays this whole summerr

Cost Constraints / Budget
Limited Cost Constraint

Schools
I don’t know where to do an Early application to

  • Safety- Miami
  • Likely- OSU, SMU, BYU
  • Match- UT Austin, Indiana, USC?, UVA, UNC, NYU, Georgetown
  • Reach- Wharton, Harvard, Stanford, Yale, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Northwestern, Ross (U-M), U Chicago
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What does this mean exactly? Is anything at all affordable? Looking at the UCs…About $75K/year for out of state - would that be comfortably affordable for your family?

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Did you take the PSAT twice? Which was your 11th grade score? Will you be a National Merit Semi-Finalist?

What does this mean?

As an out-of-state student, there is little to no aid at the California public schools (Berkeley and UCLA). Current estimated cost of attendance is in the $76K range.

If you are would like to be considered for a merit scholarship, you’ll need to apply EA. Some schools (ex. Stanford) have a REA exception stating that you can apply to another university with an early deadline for a scholarship as long is is non binding. Some schools on your list do not have that flexibility.

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@lkg4answers that was my only attempt and it was in 11th grade, and I’m gonna be a senior next year. I’m pretty sure I’ll be a National Merit Semi Finalist.

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By limited cost constraint I mean that our family has a somewhat high budget for college. However, to give a more realistic estimate, I don’t think we would be willing to pay more than 50-60k per year.

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Then you should reconsider investing the time in the UC app…The UCs don’t offer need based aid to out of state students. There is some merit aid available, but it is very competitive and even still might not get you within your budget.

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Ok… thanks for the insight, I appreciate it.

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(ETA:Cross-posted…)

What was your PSAT score in 11th grade? That’s all that matters for National Merit consideration.

While unclear, it seems you may not have significant budget constraints. Please clarify the budget…$50k/year? $90k/year?

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It was a 1510.

Ideally $50k to $60k is the budget. However, depending on the school, the budget may be stretched.

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BYU as in Bringham Young? Are you Mormon?

These are all probably reaches with the exception of IU.

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… is a much more religious environment than the rest of your list. Does it match your religious preferences?

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I guess I didn’t really think that one through. I’m trying to get into investment banking, so I’ve used a lot of the target/semi-target schools as a baseline to build from.

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I would remove BYU if you’re not mormon.

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See @Catcherinthetoast’s response on another similar thread:

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What would be the best place for me to do an early application? And what do you see as my chances with my reaches? (i.e. should I not be applying to so many?)

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Early action? Wherever it’s available. Early decision? At a school that is your clear first choice and that the Net Price Calculator (NPC) says is affordable for your family, and that you would feel no regrets about attending even if you get into other schools or schools with huge merit offers.

You definitely have a shot at your reaches. But your reaches are reaches for nearly all very strong candidates like yourself. Those schools simply receive too many applications from very strong candidates for them to accept. I’d peg your chances at less than 20% (but I don’t give anyone greater odds than 20% unless they have an Oscar, Nobel, or similar).

With respect to how many reaches you should apply to, there are multiple factors at play.

  1. Is your family willing and able to pay all the application fees? They can add up.

  2. How many applications can you submit with strong, individualized essays? Some of these schools might have 6-8 writing prompts that you need to respond to. Multiply that by each school (and how busy you will be during senior year with your regular schoolwork and activities), and that is also another limiting factor.

  3. How do you respond to lots of rejection? Some people can get 19 rejections/waitlists and 1 acceptance and use those rejections to serve as fuel to show how awesome they are. People like that can have a very reach-heavy list. Others can be mentally and/or emotionally damaged, particularly since the string of rejections are usually at the end of the application process (as most highly selective/rejective colleges are amongst the last to notify applicants of decisions). So, even people who received 4-5 acceptances earlier on might have feelings about ending the process with 15 rejections. Overall, I’d say that most people do best with more acceptances than rejections, but it very much depends on your own psychology.

Make sure your family runs the Net Price Calculator at the schools under consideration, particularly Harvard, Stanford, and Yale (start with those). If those prices don’t come in as affordable, then eliminate any school that doesn’t offer merit-based aid (because if those schools don’t offer enough need-based aid, nobody else will). Let us know if those schools come back as affordable or not (they are around $85k+/year, so outside of budget without need-based aid).

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The NPC calculator shows an affordable price for my family for these schools, so the budget constraints shouldn’t be as much a worry I feel. Neither will the application fees, as my parents are pushing me to do them as well.

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That’s great. Did they run them for all the schools on the list or just Stanford/Yale/Harvard?

I believe it was mentioned upthread, but UC Berkeley and UCLA won’t come in as affordable since you’re from out-of-state. Ditto for Ross at U. of Michigan.

UVA is one of only 2 schools (along with UNC) that offers need-based aid for out-of-state students, so check the NPC out for that one, if you haven’t already, but I’m optimistic for you.

Below are my guesses as to what your chances might be at the schools on your current list (minus the impossible-to-meet-budget ones I just mentioned).

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

  • Miami (OH)
  • IU

Likely (60-79%)

  • Ohio State
  • SMU

Toss-Up (40-59%)

Lower Probability (20-39%) (and I’d guess that all of these are on the low end of this category)

  • UT-Austin
  • UVA
  • UNC

Low Probability (less than 20%)

  • Georgetown
  • NYU
  • U. of Chicago
  • U. of Southern California
  • Wharton
  • Harvard
  • Stanford
  • Yale
  • Northwestern
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Thank you! How would you suggest improving my application to optimize for a school like Stanford?

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I think the main thing is just to be very thoughtful and intentional with all of your application materials, including your written responses.

You are a strong candidate, make no mistake about that. I would not be at all surprised if you’re accepted to Stanford, or any other college on your list. But so much more goes into college decisions than pulling the best stats and ECs. They’ll be looking to see how many students they have from each state, and rural vs. suburban vs. urban, and how many students with certain intended majors, and who has the skills for a certain EC that is getting ready to graduate a student with that skill, etc. It depends on how the application reader(s) vibe with the application, and depending on the day the reviewer is having, they may vibe differently on one day than they would the next. All of these things are totally out of your control and something that nobody on this board will know.

All you can do is to put your best foot forward on your applications and make sure that you have a well-balanced college list. Make sure that you would be happy to attend any college on your list for four years. If you wouldn’t be happy at a school, then it shouldn’t be on your list. I’d recommend having at least two sure things (extremely likely to be admitted and to be affordable), as that will ensure that you have a choice come the spring of your senior year.

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