Chance/match me: astrophysics, Oregon, 1570 SAT, 3.98 gpa, unique health circumstances

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Hello! I would be super grateful for a chance me and/or any other advice regarding my school list/anything else :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Demographics

• Gender: female
• Race/Ethnicity: white
• Residence: domestic
• Income Bracket: upper middle, full pay
• Type of School: mid-sized public, kinda mediocre
• Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): none :frowning:

Intended Major (s): physics/astronomy

Academics
• GPA: 3.98 uw, 4.36 w
• # of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc: AP Physics 1 & 2, AP Biology, AP Lang, APUSH, AP Calc BC, AP CSP, AP Stats, AP Comp Gov, DE multivariable calc, DE linear algebra (mix of 5s and 4s)

12th grade courses: AP Lit, AP Chem, AP Physics C (self-study), AP US Gov, AP Spanish, DE real analysis/differential equations

Standardized Testing
List the highest scores earned and all scores that were reported.
• SAT: 1570 (770R, 800M)

Extracurriculars/Activities
List all extracurricular involvements, including leadership roles, time commitments, major achievements, etc.

  1. Astrophysics research (combo of independent and mentored), presented at ISEF, AAS, AGU, published twice

  2. NASA SEES intern

  3. FAA private pilot - very involved with aerospace stuff, requires a ton of dedication

  4. Astrophysics software developer (related to my ISEF project, computational tool, open-source)

  5. Lead volunteer at local science center (200 hours) and camp counselor (300 hours), created public exhibit, currently working on program to have researchers present at the planetarium

  6. jazz and classical pianist (jazz combo, paid accompanist & arranger, play for school choir/orchestra/musical theater stuff). nationally selected to perform at disneyworld

  7. Member of university math circle

  8. Lots of science advocacy stuff (writing formal testimonies for senators regarding budget cuts, newspaper op-eds, stuff like that)

  9. NASA citizen science

  10. Project Euler problems (over 200 hours coding, not sure if i’ll include this)

Awards/Honors
List all awards and honors submitted on your application.

  1. 2x ISEF finalist

  2. 2x sole author pub in research notes of the AAS

  3. FAA certified private pilot

  4. AGU BrightStars presenter

  5. AAS presenter/undergrad member

  6. various science fair awards (yale award, naval research award, etc)

  7. some state-level music awards

  8. AP scholar with distinction

  9. National honor society member

Letters of Recommendation
computer science teacher - known for 2 years, great relationship, she wrote my letter for SEES, 8/10. 12th grade english teacher (see additional info), hopefully strong. also from my research mentor at my state uni, should be 8-9/10.

Essays
Have not started yet. diamonds created under pressure ig… i have no idea where to start, but i’m a good writer and they’ll probably be strong

Schools
HYPSM, Caltech, Berkeley, Hopkins, UCSB, UMich, UChicago, CU Boulder, UW Madison, OSU

question: do I need more safeties/targets? My current list is quite reach-heavy but maybe that’s normal?

Additional info
Feel free to skip this part; it just gives context for some aforementioned stuff. In fall of 11th grade, I developed chronic neurological symptoms (severe migraines, dizziness, fatigue). Although I had a 504 plan, because i missed so much school, I ended up getting a medical withdrawal from AP Bio, Spanish 4, and AP Comp Gov in semester 2. the reason my gpa isn’t a 4.0 is because i got Bs in AP Bio and AP Comp Gov in semester 1 (these classes have a heavy lab/in-person component, which I wasn’t allowed/able to make up). I ended up taking Spanish 4 and AP Comp Gov this summer and got As on both, so my transcript will show an initial MD WD and then As.

The health issues meant that I couldn’t really get to know my junior year teachers, even though they recognized that i’m a strong student when i do attend. this is why I have to ask my 12th grade English teacher for a LOR. hopefully my 11th grade teacher is willing to provide some excerpts from this past year to showcase my writing, and with a 5 on the AP exam and counselor support, I think it should be fine. (any advice would be amazing though!!)

last thing: I am spending this summer getting my health under control. I’m on some new medications and am doing a lot better, so it should not be a problem in 12th grade/onward!

2

While your list is reach heavy, as long as you are assured admission to OSU, it is affordable and you would be happy attending there, then reach away. You seem like an extraordinary candidate.

You can add University of Arizona to your list for a top astrophysics program with a very high admit rate if you think you’d prefer that to OSU.

3 Likes
3

Looks like a preliminary list of colleges to seriously consider for undergraduate physics. You may want to drop the the number to a maximum of 10 schools after you’ve disqualified a few that don’t really appeal to you. If you end up dropping below 10 then add a few more safety options. The approach to physics in each ugrad program is a slightly different variant. Don’t bother retaking the SAT which is already solid. The non-4.0 GPA should be of no concern in your case either. I would mention the Project Euler problems; you enjoy working on intractable problems & finding solutions. Schools like Caltech and MIT want students that enjoy spending 200+ hours solving problems. Are you self-studying both AP Physics Mechanics and E&M or just one of them? Are you pondering a PhD in physics post-undergraduate? Women currently earn about 1 in 4 bachelor’s degrees in physics. The world definitely needs more female physicists. Winning admission to every option on your list is no guarantee, however.

1 Like
4

This may already be on your radar, but I would highly recommend applying to UCSB’s College of Creative Studies, which requires an additional application in addition to the UC app. Physics | UCSB College of Creative Studies

Seems like a good, balanced list, particularly if you throw in UofA. Good luck, and glad your health has improved!

2 Likes
5

Thank you so much! U of A is definitely on my radar!

6

Thanks, that sounds good! I’m self-studying both mechanics and E&M, and I’m hoping to get a PhD in particle/astrophysics.

7

Thank you for the recommendation!!

8

You have a great profile and I think you’ll have a lot of great schools to choose from next spring. If I could give one piece of advice, it would be to get started ASAP on your essays. Most of the schools on your list have several supplemental essays on their applications. You should not use blanket essays for most of these. So you’re looking at around 30-40 separate supplemental essays with your current list. So either trim your school list or get busy writing.

5 Likes
9

You’ll also need to check the college/university for any explicit or implicit policies disallowing or discouraging the admission of PhD students that completed their bachelor’s degree at the same college/university, in case you are planning ahead & already targeting a few doctoral programs. This is usually the case with natural and physical science fields at many colleges. This could affect some schools you end up applying to, not applying to, or choosing to enroll at for ugrad.

1 Like
10

This is often more of a department, not overall college or university, policy.

2 Likes
11

You have a strong record. I am glad that your health is getting better.

Can you afford all of the colleges on your list?

For additional safeties and targets, you may want to consider:

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

UMass Amherst

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Michigan State

University of Minnesota at Twin Cities

1 Like
12

Since your profile is competitive anywhere, it is pretty natural to start off with a Reach-heavy list. However, I think a good process of investigating and reflecting on colleges can naturally lead to eliminating some Reaches, and finding some more Target and Likely colleges to include.

The basic nature of that process is to go beyond just field-specific research rankings (let alone US News generic rankings), and start thinking about what you would really want your four-year college experience to look like, academically and non-academically.

Like, there are different formats of colleges, including undergraduate-focused institutions as opposed to doctoral universities. Each sort of format has different pros and cons, but some academicky kids end up choosing undergrad-focused institutions, including because those can sometimes be quicker paths to doing interesting research as an undergrad. Others, though, may want the greater variety of upper-level courses, specialized tracks, and so on in their intended major that a good doctoral research department might offer. That is up to you.

Then there are questions like what do you prefer in terms of the immediate setting, or region (including climate issues). Housing and dining. Built environment. Campus culture/vibe. Possibly specific non-academic student activities. And so on.

I note, for example, you have some big sports publics on your list. Is that something you would value? Or would you maybe prefer something with a different vibe? Totally up to you, but as a general observation I see a lot of kids who seem to prefer academicky private colleges, but then only apply to Reaches for those, and then some “Safeties” which are only big publics. That typically doesn’t make much sense, as they could at least have a nice list of private Likelies and Targets too.

I don’t really know, but I also am imagining you might have some considerations relating to being a pilot.

And finally, there are things like merit scholarships and honors programs. I note you may not strictly NEED merit if your family is wealthy enough, but it can be nice anyway.

This in fact can be a “bonus” to private Likelies and Targets, some of those might well have very realistic merit opportunities. And in fact, some kids actually end up choosing offers like that over Reach offers.

OK, that is a lot, but that is what I would have in mind if I were you. You can afford to be picky about the nature of your four-year experience with your credentials. You can also basically try to monetize your credentials in the form of merit and/or honors programs. You can in fact do both of those things at once. So I would reflect on ways in which you might want to do that, and consider making sure all your colleges actually really suit your preferences and other possible goals.

1 Like
13

Congratulations on making yourself a strong applicant for just about any college in the country!

I’m going to share two sites that might be of interest to you.

The first shows the top feeders to physics doctoral programs, with the left-hand side by the total number of PhDs earned and the right-hand side adjusted by the population of the school.

https://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/dataverse/top-feeders-phd-programs#physics

This snip reflects the first 17 (out of 50).

image
image905×936 72.7 KB

The second site provides information on the number of doctorates earned by undergraduate institution.

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/jonboeckenstedt/viz/DoctoralRecipients1958-2023/AllData

The snip below is filtered for physics and astronomy, and I narrowed the period to 2010-2023.

image
image931×690 119 KB

In addition to time, you can also select various filters. In the case of the snip below, I chose Baccaulaureate institutions which are colleges which primarily issue undergraduate degrees and have that as their focus.

image
image925×805 40.7 KB

Is there any interest in merit aid at all? For instance, Johns Hopkins has a small number of scholarships that pay up to full tuition. If you were to receive one, would that sway your decision between one school at $20k/year and another school at $100k/year? Or if you attended a school like Ohio State or U. of Maryland and received a full ride, would that impact your thinking? Obviously there is no guarantee that you would receive any of those highly competitive awards, but I suspect you would likely be considered for them. If those amounts of money would be a consideration, then let us know.

Additionally, as @NiceUnparticularMan indicated, it’s helpful to let us know what kind of college experience you’re hoping for, as that is the best way for us to provide feedback on your list and to potentially offer suggestions of other schools to consider.

14

No!!

You need one, preferably two, assured. You have but Arizona, UCSC, Purdue, Penn State and UMN Ate others to consider.

But if you applied as you listed, you would have at a minimum two but I think three schools.

You said recruited athlete - where does that come in ?