Chance Me for Dartmouth ED and overall Ivies: 3.77 UW GPA with high rigor from AP and Cambridge program, 1550 SAT

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • US domestic

Intended Major: Pre-Med Public Health with a minor in neuroscience or economics

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • 3.77 uw
  • School doesn’t do weighted gpa but I have high rigor with AP and Cambridge maxed out
  • SAT Score: 1550

Awards

Experience

Executive Youth Board Member
NEXUS
September 2025 – Present

  • Lead fundraising initiatives and awareness campaigns focused on mental health issues.

  • Created focus groups to improve outreach strategies

Executive Youth Board Member
NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness)
September 2023 – Present

  • Lead fundraising initiatives and awareness campaigns focused on mental health issues.

Volunteer
Jefferson House (Memory Care Facility) & Madison House
July 2023 – Present

  • Engaged with residents through activities and presentations, honoring their past lives while gaining insights into dementia and Alzheimer’s care.

  • Completed over 154 hours of volunteer service.

Sankara Foundation & Ampowering
July 2023 – Present

Participated in community service projects including tree planting & cooking meals & made 30,000 sandwiches for shelters, contributing over 700 hours to address hunger and environmental needs.

Volunteering & Shadowing
July 2023 – Present

  • Junior Cope Scholar volunteered over 168 hours in Swedish hospitals in Orthopedic & Neurology departments helping with patient needs.

  • Shadowed Dentist over 50 hours to see the processors

  • Shadowed Ophthalmologist over 50 hours to see the processors

  • Volunteering at Evergreen Hospital for over 30 hours

Internships

Harvard SRI Open Bio Program
June 2024 – August 2024

  • Conducted data analysis on depression rates in relation to social determinants using Python and R

· Contributed to a paper published in a Harvard undergraduate research journal

Projects

Harnessing Explainable Machine Learning Algorithms to Predict Brain Strokes
Independent Research Project | Washington State Science and Engineering Fair (WSSEF)
1st Place Winner – Computational Biology & Bioinformatics Category
Sep 2023 – Mar 2024

· Developed an explainable AI model to predict ischemic stroke risk using open-source clinical datasets.

· Applied machine learning techniques (Random Forest, XGBoost, SHAP) to enhance model interpretability and identify key health indicators.

· Created interactive visualizations to support early medical intervention and transparency in AI-driven healthcare.

An EEG-based Machine Learning Model and Mobile Application for Epileptic Seizure Prediction and Notification
Independent Research Project | Washington State Science and Engineering Fair (WSSEF)
2nd Place Winner – Biomedical Engineering Category
Sep 2024 – Mar 2025

· Designed and trained a machine learning model using EEG data to predict epileptic seizures in real-time.

Using Novel Riemannian Geometry method to Predict the genetic risk of Alzheimers using EEG which is published in JEI and 1st in category in WSSEF

· Integrated the model with a mobile application via Arduino and Bluetooth to provide timely seizure alerts and caregiver notifications.

· Utilized tools such as Python, Scikit-learn, and real patient EEG datasets to ensure medical relevance and technical robustness.

Moon Rover Project

  • Collaborated with peers to build a Moon Rover using Arduino, achieving finalist status in the Washington TSA competition.

Leadership & Involvement

Vice President
Biotechnology Club
November 2023 – Present

  • Organized club activities and fostered discussions on the integration of technology in healthcare.

Founder
Coding for Medicine
September 2023 – Present

  • Established a club focused on bridging coding skills with medical applications, encouraging innovation among peers.

Seattle Neuro Education Initiative

Leads neuroscience conferences to outreach for teens

Mind Matters Movement

Created a novel calligraphy software that guides Alzheimer’s and dementia patients and teens through guided exercises for brain health and held workshops partnering with NAMI which impacted over 400 people

Awards & Honors

  • 2 Babara James Service Gold Award (HOSA) – 2024

  • International Babara James Service Gold Award (HOSA) – 2025

    • • 2 PVSA Gold Award for community service initiatives – 2024

Overall volunteering hours by the time I apply to college will be over 900 hours.

Schools
-Let me know my chances for all the ivies early and regular decision

-T20’s

-T30’s

-The UC’s as a out of state student

-Vanderbilt

-John Hopkins

-Emory

-USC

-NYU

-University of Washington Seattle

-BSMD’s

Also please let me know what other colleges I should consider and what you think I have a good chance at!

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Wonderful profile. And while odds would be against you, I wouldn’t be surprised if you got into a school you list. I don’t think you will - but you seem to have an impressive profile.

I don’t see anything about cost - have you run NPCs, can your parents afford these? Now add $100K a year for med school - so do they have $800K? Or do you qualify for need aid.

I think it will be tough with the GPA and you don’t share anything about your academics other than rigor but I’ll assume you have at least through Calc, 3 lab sciences, 3 years of FL, 3 years of social science and 4 years of English. Note - ECs, as good as they are, don’t typically overweight the academic profile.

If you’re going to med school, I’m not sure rank matters. If you’re not and you’re doing a public health degree, you’ll likely need more school - so I don’t want to name names.

What I worry about is you are picking names. Some UCs are very large - Emory isn’t, etc.

Dartmouth is rural. Most of your list isn’t. Since you have schools cost to cost, you’re talking about going far from home. Many get homesick and struggle - is that an issue for you? You can’t afford to struggle with med school.

I’m assuming you are picking names and that’s the fear. You will be somewhere day after day for four years - so find a school the right size, environment, weather and more. Does #35 matter vs. #85? Really - especially if going to med school - look at top hospitals like Vandy and see where residents went - you’ll see schools you never heard of and others like K State.

So not sure what state you are a resident of, but make sure you look at the flagship as well as any schools in a regional program they might have like WUE or the Midwest Exchange.

And then you have specialty pre med programs like McCullough at Alabama.

You can go top - but can you afford it - and then still afford med school?

You need to build school lists based on a budget and not on - impressive names - if that makes sense. You need to build for med school too.

Looking at your list - and having no clue what might interest you, other schools to look at - UAB and Pitt - both strong med schools, College of Charleston where you might qualify for Fellows (down the street and lots of integration with MUSC), William & Mary, and more.

But honestly - figure out what you want in a school - and talk to mom and dad about expense - that drives your list more than anything else.

Good luck.

Program Description – McCollough Scholars

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Hi,

For cost my parents have saved enough to cover my undergrad for all these schools and are right now saving for my medical school costs. For my class schedule in freshman year I took IGSCE biology, Puremath 1, IGSCE English, IGSCE world history, AP CSP, PE/Health, self studied AP Bio, and took Spanish 1. In Sophmore year I took AP Chem, AP CSA, IGSCE physics, AS level Global Perspective and Research, AS English (AP Language type of course), Pure Math 2, and Spanish 2 (self studied AP Physics 1 and Environmental Science). In junior year am taking Biotechnology 1 which is a college credit class, AS English (AP Lit type), AS History (US History), AS level Biology, Spanish 3, and Puremath 3 (self studying AP Calc BC). In senior year I plan to take A level Biology, A level English, A level History (GPR), AP Statistics, AP psych self study, AP Business, Spanish 4. My dream school is Dartmouth due to their amazing pre med program and my parents plan to move near me to support me through college. I don’t really know what exact kind of college I want but in my high school I have a very small cohort that is like a family which I like so a school like Dartmouth seems to be a good choice. Also, I am very interested in pursuing research during college so that would be a priority when picking out a college. Thank you for your help and feedback!

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You might edit out some of the things you posted that make you identifiable…the board roles and the two projects/awards.

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What’s amazing about it vs other schools?

How will this help you ? College is about growth, maturity and independence. If you want your parents nearby, why not choose a school near home ? Moving is a huge deal, another expense, and you’re not going to college to have your family as a crutch - in my opinion.

I’d figure out what you want in a school. You can do pre med anywhere. More important will be your MCAT score. You’ll also need a committee letter from Dartmouth - in essence, they decide who is most likely to succeed in med school. Other colleges don’t have these - so you aren’t eliminated.

I’d say - take med school out. Have mom and dad take you to some schools - urban, rural, small, mid size, etc.

You’re so focused on name but you need to be happy - to do well. Rank doesn’t bring happiness. Being in the right environment helps. Maybe it’s Dartmouth - maybe after visiting it’s not.

You need to do more work - and not sure what saving for med school is but it’s $400K - and undergrad matters. If they’ve saved $400K for undergrad, imagine if you went for $50K - you’d have 2 years of med school paid for.

Money is a family issue - but I’m not sure Dartmouth gives you an advantage over any other school -unless, of course, you excel there.

I know a Tufts student who came from a very regional and lowly ranked New England public.

The name is far less important than you think - but you and what you accomplish aren’t.

Please do more homework - i.e. physical visits to expore a variety. If they can afford school, I’m hopeful they can afford that.

Good luck.

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The first thing that I notice in your post is “Pre-Med”. The second thing that I notice is something related to medical research. Doctors can do biomedical research. Frequently PhD’s do biomedical research, and sometimes a few students get both an MD and a PhD but this is rarer. Which is the right path for you is something that you can figure out over the next few years. There should be no rush to figure out which path is right for you.

I do like that you have so much experience in medical-related areas.

However, when I see “premed” (or “Pre-Med”) the first thing that comes to mind is that this is a very expensive path requiring 8 years of university, followed by a residency that does not pay very well. When you are seriously considering 8 years of university, budget does matter. It seems unlikely at this point that 8 years would cost $1,000,000, but you might get closer to this number than you think and could very well get to $900,000. Right now there are some universities that are very close to $100,000 per year, medical school can cost a bit more than this, and the cost will go up over the next 8 years.

And you really do not want to take the cost of medical school as debt. Even half of the cost of medical school would be a huge amount of debt. And it is easier to save money on the undergrad part than on the medical school part.

So, what is your budget for a full 8 years of university?

The next thing that comes to mind is that there are a huge number of universities that are very good for premed students. You really, really do not need to attend an Ivy League university to go on to a very good medical school. You do need to find an undergraduate university that you can afford, preferably without loans, and that is a good fit for you. You also need to find an undergraduate university where you will be able to do very well in very tough premed classes.

If you attend a university ranked somewhere in the 100+ range, you will find premed classes to be tough and to be full of very strong students. As one example, my older daughter attended a university that is usually ranked in the 100 to 120 range, and had a boyfriend who was premed and who had never had a B in his life. Why did he attend a school that was not “top 100” ranked? Because where he attended is very good, prepared him very well for medical school, was a good fit for him, and was affordable. This particular former boyfriend is an MD today, and this particular daughter is a DVM (the required pre-vet and premed classes are the same classes, which is how they met). Another friend of my daughter was also premed and had only had one or two B’s in her life, and she is also an MD now. This is from an undergraduate university that is not ranked in the top 100. The ranking didn’t matter. They got a great education and were very well prepared for the MD (or DVM) program.

One difference with the highly ranked universities that you are considering is that they are less likely to give merit based financial aid. Another difference is that you are likely to find a higher percent of the other students there are in the “never had a B in their life” category. This does not necessarily make these schools likely to be affordable, nor likely to help you get a medical-school-worthy undergraduate GPA. You really can attend a university that is not quite as highly ranked, and go on to a very good and highly ranked MD program (or in my older daughter’s case, a very good and highly ranked DVM program, or in my younger daughter’s case a very good and highly ranked biomedical PhD program).

You should be looking very seriously at your in-state public universities.

A 3.77 unweighted GPA is low for Ivy League and “top 20” or even “top 30” universities. Your medical-related experience is good, which might help for some BSMD programs. You SAT is very good.

When I see a student who wants to attend pretty much any Ivy League or top 20 school, another issue comes to mind: These schools are looking for students who will be a good fit. If you can articulate in a well thought out way what makes a particular school a good fit for you, this is likely to come through in your application and improve your chances. I cannot imagine how this could be possible for any one student at every Ivy League school and every one of the top 20 ranked universities.

Attending a college or university that is a good fit for you is important, and will help you do well in university, and thus indirectly is likely to help you with graduate admissions. However, a good fit for you and a good fit for my older daughter and a good fit for my younger daughter might be three very different things. It is important for each student to think about what would make a good fit for them.

As one example, Dartmouth College is in a small town in rural New Hampshire, with real winters. Columbia is in New York City, and is also way larger than Dartmouth. These are not the same. Which would be right for you?

Regarding the various universities of California, as an out of state student these are going to be very expensive for you. They are great schools. I do not think that they are worth the price for an out of state premed student. You could for example instead attend an in-state public university, save a ton of money, and probably have almost exactly the same chances of getting accepted to a very good MD program (although in the USA “very good” and “MD program” are close to redundant, they are all good).

Another thing that we hear from students is that they worked so hard in high school, it would seem like a waste to attend an in-state public university. However, this misses the two main points. Premed classes are tough. The most important part of working so hard and doing well in high school is not which university you attend, rather it is to get you ready to do well in these tough premed classes. Your hard work will help you to be ready when you show up in university to do well in these tough classes. Also, the goal is not to get a bachelor’s degree from a famous university. Rather, the goal is to get ready for a good career, which might include getting an MD, and to do this without being overwhelmed with debt.

By the way, no one in my immediate family has an MD. However, my wife and both daughters had majors that overlapped a LOT with premed classes, and both daughters had multiple friends from these classes that were premed. Both daughters have mentioned how tough these premed classes were. However, which class any particular student finds tough may vary from student to student. One daughter for example referred to organic chemistry as “the most difficult B- that I ever had in my life”, but then thought of all required math and physics classes as solid A’s that would help offset the B’s in organic chemistry. Some other student might find the math and physics classes tough. That is okay. Each student just needs to show up ready to do as well as they can in each class, and do not be too upset if a few B’s happen (or even a C or two).

I also think that you should visit a few universities and see what you think and what seems right to you.

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I agree that normally a 3.77 would be low for the most selective US colleges, but it sounds like you attend an atypical HS. It is hard for outsiders like us to assess a situation like that reliably, but perhaps your HS has college counselors who can help give you a more informed assessment, based on their experience of what sorts of students from that HS have been admitted where.

In terms of places to consider, the University of Pittsburgh has an excellent Public Health program, top Neuroscience department, and lot of convenient experience opportunities for premeds, should in fact you continue on that path. It also has rolling admissions so you can potentially get a very early offer, which is quite nice. It also has OOS merit, and a good Honors program.

The University of Minnesota would be another excellent choice academically and for convenience of experience opportunities. It also has a version of rolling admissions and OOS merit, and actually it will tell you about merit in its NPC.

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I would second this, and even for an atypical HS it is fairly low but a counselor / local naviance is better advice than us for a non-typical school

I also second making your ECs a bit more generic…

Also…

As someone who does Alum interviews for an ivy, you seem like a lot of the students I interview in terms of ECs. Most don’t get in (which should be obvious by acceptance rates!) but the fact it seems about the same is good.I think you could get into a very good school assuming recs are great and transcript has good rigor and course selection.

Dartmouth doesn’t have a public health major, FWIW (just minor I believe), though it has neuro and certainly tons of econ and lets you mish/mash majors (underrated aspect of it IMO), but just pointing that out.

I think you need to narrow down what sort of school you want from “all T30s and UW and BSMDs” that is a HUGE range of school in terms of vibes, setting, offerings, curricula, etc.

Day-to-day life at NYU and Dartmouth is VERY different.

GWU has solid public health, and maybe an add for a higher acceptance rate for you (and has its own hospital, etc., etc.).

BU has one of (maybe the biggest?) MPH program and an undergrad degree- at this point, a very hard admit rate for undergrad, but you would be a good candidate - Boston (and BU) is a health care hub, so a fantastic place for pre-health folks to do research..

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hi a lot of your ecs listed here r rlly specific it’s really easy to figure out your identity i’d suggest hiding the names of the non profits ur a part of and paraphrasing ur research paper names

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If either you or your parents require a close proximity, then I agree that you really should attend a school that’s close to home. They need to save money because if you’re lucky enough to get into med school, you’re going to be paying at least $400,000. They can’t expect large loans from the government anymore because that has been curtailed.

Have you visited Dartmouth? Are you aware about the location?

Our daughter did med school (UCSF) and what she expected, versus what she experienced, were two completely different things.
You have to make hard decisions based on personal needs and independent experiences, all the while, learning and working with your peers.

Having Mommy and Daddy in your back pocket is not going to help you build and develop the maturity needed to make independent decisions. Part of it comes from having to rely on yourself when problems arise. Difficulties do arise, often. You have to be able to problem-solve quickly, on your own, without your parents. That’s when you find your “tribe”. You find out who will support you and watch your back.

If you don’t get into med school, what then? There is a great possibility of that happening. Are they moving back home? Will they be working?

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This is the only thing that jumped out at me in your posts. College is a time for you to learn independence, and to do the things you need to do without parent support.

Also, Dartmouth is an excellent college. But you can take the required courses for medical school applicants at just about any four year college in this country. I’m not sure why you are focusing solely on Ivies and tippy top elite colleges. Getting an undergrad degree from these schools is not a guarantee for medical school admission…anywhere.

You have a strong list of ECs. And an excellent SAT score. Many folks applying to these elite schools will be similarly strong. But they might also have 4.0 UW GPAs.

I am not an adcom so I can’t give you the definitive statement…but you have a chance at these colleges.

I do think you need a sure thing for admission that you will be willing to attend, and I don’t see that in your current list.

Please read the thread I’m going to link here. Read the whole thing. This was a tippy top student, NMF, excellent ECs and LOR, and essays. No one expected he would be rejected everywhere he applied his senior year of HS, but that is what happened. He didn’t have a true sure thing on his list either. He did land on his feet after a well crafted gap year, but his senior year in high school was not a happy time. You don’t want this to be you. It does no harm to have a sure thing on your list…just in case. I’ll add…this thread is old…and admissions have only become more competitive!

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I strongly agree with that. Part of the problem IMO is that we are use to “potentially” inflated GPAs being thrown around… “i have an unweighted 4.0…” In my head that means something different from what is actual. I think straight As, no A-s ever. Besides that almost never being the case, it could mean many other things.

A 3.77 might be ok. It might also be too low. Who knows for sure because of the many calculations and interpretations. Generally speaking, 3.8 is where you need to be IMO. The 3.8 needs to be calculated/interpreted by the adcom who is evaluating the application and nobody else. And yes, some schools do not offer 4.0s, so 3.77 is pretty damn high.

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Right me too - though so many here disagree!

So a 3.77 UW at my kids’ HSs means all A-s with a couple of As. (potentially)

Comparing GPAs is really, really meaningless most of the time

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I assume that you are a junior who will be applying next year. You have a very solid academic profile with strong ECs so there will definitely be schools that will be delighted to have you. The issue I see with your list isn’t that you don’t have a chance at these schools, it is that your chances are low (as they are for any unhooked student). You need to expand your list to include a few more “likely” schools and at least one safety so that you are not shut out. And, respectfully, I’d talk with your parents about following you to college - it should be a time of independence and personal growth for you and that can’t happen if they are there treating college as if it is an extension of your HS years.

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My kids’ HS doesn’t weigh minuses and plusses. So every A/A-/A+ is a 4.0, etc. There might be other schools like that, but I gather the system is a bit unusual. In any event, it’s possible in that case to have a 4.0 UW with a few (or even all) A- grades.

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This is true at one of my kids’ schools as well. It is a nationally recognized “elite” prep school, though it’s not in the northeast US. Each year about 20% of the class goest to an Ivy/Stanford/MIT and another 20% go to other T20. 3.77UW is actually really good for that school and in the average range of those who go on to T20.

At my other kids’ HS, which is a very good school but not “elite” a 3.77 UW would be on the low end of what could possibly get in to a T30 school. Possible but not common. At that school probably need more like 3.85 UW to be competitive at a T30.

I think it’s really hard to compare GPAs across schools. UW helps, but still not apples to apples.

One thing I never understand is when people report their GPA on a scale of 100 and say they have an unweighted GPA of 99+. Does that mean they never missed a question or problem on any assignment anytime for four years?

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Thanks for sharing and totally agree.

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At the risk of veering (even further) off the original topic, I think it’s worth acknowledging that the idea that a student must fully distance themselves from their family in order to be “independent” in college is a very culturally specific - primarily American - expectation. In many parts of the world, staying closely connected to family is not only normal but valued, and interdependence is seen as a sign of maturity rather than a lack of autonomy. It might help to keep that cultural lens in mind before criticizing a student who simply mentioned having very supportive parents. Even if it’s something we wouldn’t do, it doesn’t automatically make it “wrong.”

That said, I completely agree with the broader points that have been raised – a magazine’s rank and prestige of colleges shouldn’t be your driving factors in building a college list. You’d be better served by identifying strong matches that align with what you actually want from your college experience (size, location, major, activities, housing, sports, whatever). And when it comes to understanding how competitive your 3.77 is, your high school is going to give you the best context, we can’t know that.