Demographics
-KS resident, small city
-Large public high school with decent ratings
Cost Constraints / Budget
Looking to avoid paying more than $40k/year. I’ve found that most private schools would offer enough aid and I’ve gotten some good merit scholarships from large state schools.
Intended Major
Chemistry
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
4.0 UW
~4.05 W, cap is 4.5
Top 10% of class
36 ACT
Coursework
English: Advanced in 9th & 10th (highest level offered), reg in 11th, DE with large state school in 12th
Math: Adv in 9th, Pre-Calc before it was AP, AP Calc BC (5), AP Stats
Science: Adv bio & chem, AP Chem (5), AP Physics C - Mechanics
History and social studies: Regular level 9th-11th, AP US and Comp Gov 12th
4 years of Spanish
Visual or performing arts: many visual arts courses, especially photography and graphic design, as well as 2.5 years in journalism
Other academic courses: 3 semesters of an enrichment class
Awards
National Merit Semifinalist (likely to be a finalist)
a few regional/state journalism placements for writing
Finalist in 2 state photography contests
2 years top scholar award from local university
Girl Scout Silver Award - parks accessibility project
Extracurriculars
4 years working for a community nonprofit growing produce for low-income families; in charge of keeping records and weighing everything
Journalism - news/yearbook lower level editor position + photographer (2.5 years), attended a few workshops/summer camps
Chem club secretary (2 years)
Girl scouts (8 years)
NHS - many hours volunteering at chemistry related events
Led freshman orientation groups for 2 years
Piano (never competed)
Volunteer with Girls Who Code and local soup kitchen
A few art clubs
Completed a few independent research projects related to photography and chemistry
Essays/LORs/Other
I only have one LOR from my Calc teacher, which should be at least an 8/10 because she understood me very well and I did extremely well in her classes.
Considering asking my boss to write one, though it may be too late
Common app essay is probably a 7-8/10
Teachers say I’m a good writer but I don’t enjoy the process, so procrastination is my main issue.
Schools
Already accepted to a few state schools with good scholarships.
Waiting to hear on CU Boulder and Northeastern
I’m currently focusing all of my efforts on Northwestern, which is my top choice. Also planning to apply to WashU, William and Mary, and UMich.
I’m looking for a few more target/reach schools before many of the deadlines in January. My top criteria are the strength of the chemistry program and research opportunities, but I’m also looking for schools with a good balance of things to do outside of class.
As far as location, I’d ideally like to be within 15 or so hours of Kansas, and don’t want to go south at all.
All that we can say regarding Northwestern and WUSTL is that you are a very competitive applicant. Unfortunately so are the large majority of other applicants, and the acceptance rate for these schools is quite low. You will mostly just have to get your applications in, wait, and see what happens. This does assume that the NPC shows them to be likely to be affordable.
There are a lot of universities with very good chemistry programs and very good research opportunities. As an example two of my family members attended universities ranked in the 100 to 120 range, got great research or internship opportunities, did very well, and got accepted to very strong graduate programs. There are hundreds of universities that are very good…
… and it sounds like you are already accepted to a few of them. Congratulations!
I would guess that your chances for CU are pretty good. Whether it will be affordable is hard to say, but it might be close one way or another. I would guess that Northeastern could go either way. One daughter was accepted with stats that are marginally lower than yours, but it was years ago and it was not affordable for us (she went elsewhere and then ironically she changed her major to something Northeastern does not offer – something about a lack of cows on campus).
This is normal. I have written quite a bit in my career. One common experience is that people sit and think and seem to be stuck, then they sit some more, then they go for a walk, then they sit, then suddenly it comes clear in their mind and they write a lot of material. Then they go back and clean it up.
I think that you are doing very well. You will have a good university to attend in September, and before then a potentially tough decision to decide where to go among multiple offers. Make sure that you look for a good fit and keep your budget in mind. You will find a strong chemistry program and good research / internship opportunities at any of a wide range of schools.
Best wishes and congratulations on your great results up to now.
As an alternative to the big state schools, there are a lot of good midwestern liberal arts colleges with solid chemistry programs and you’d probably get good merit at some of them.
Grinnell and Carleton are both outstanding (same general league as Northwestern and WashU in terms of raw prestige) and are known to meet need (Grinnell also gives merit I think?)
Macalester and Oberlin would both be matches for you. Mac is in a terrific St. Paul neighborhood – bustling, with all the city amenities nearby (including other universities), but still a liberal arts college where the focus is on teaching. We were impressed with the activity level in their science building. Oberlin is worth a visit – I think a lot of people have preconceived notions about the school but we were utterly charmed. It’s got serious science chops and the world-class music conservatory draws in a lot of performers. The town itself is small but vibrant – lots of great restaurants and cafes, a terrific bookstore, etc.
Easier to get into but still really solid:
–Wooster, in Ohio, requires graduates to do independent research. They are a lovely school and give good merit.
–St. Olaf is fantastic, easier to get into than Carl or Grinnell, gorgeous campus, nice students, lots to do.
–I’ve heard good things about Kalamazoo and Lawrence, although we didn’t visit either.
For smaller universities w/ R1 research, you might also look at Case Western Reserve. I think University of Rochester is a bit too far away, depending on where you are in Kansas, but if you’re willing to stretch, also worth a look.
Great! Not that you should stop applying to other good options, but that establishes a very high floor as it really is a particularly good fit given your stated criteria.
I know you ideally want to be within 15 hours of Kansas, but it might be worth considering some schools on the coasts, especially if they are located in cities that are airport hubs and thus have frequent and relatively inexpensive flights even from smaller cities (flying to a hub may end up being faster and cheaper than driving to a school 15 hours away.)
So Boston (actually I see you have Northeastern already), NYC, LA etc. For example, might you have any interest in Barnard (a liberal arts college which is part of Columbia University, giving you access to all those classes.) Or any interest in the schools of the Claremont consortium in the greater LA metro area? (Harvey Mudd, Pomona, Scripps…if you are at one of these schools you can take classes at any of the others.) To some schools you may be an attractive candidate because you may represent “geographic diversity.”
On the other hand, your list already includes some great schools closer to home, so no need to add others if you don’t want!
You bring up a good point. I haven’t researched many LACs, but I do want to add a few East Coast schools to my list. I’ll look into your recommendations!
Unless you have need, you are not getting to $40k short of schools that cost $40k which is likely UMN after merit. Tulsa is free for SF and Bama is free for 5 years tuition, 4 years housing plus money each year. Others like Houston, UTD and more have great NMF too.
You have a budget. If you don’t have need, adding pricey schools makes no sense - especially when you are budget constrained.
For Chen, the where won’t matter. The NMSF/F is your golden ticket to make budget issues disappear and leave your family flush with cash.