Chance me for ivy/top schools (weird application)

Demographics

  • US Citizen, immigrated from China when I was little
  • NJ
  • pretty good Public High School
  • dad passed away couple years ago, also hospitalized after kidney disease in freshman year which made me miss months of school
  • Harvard legacy from dad
  • EBT and free lunch since mom doesnt work

Intended Major(s) Math, Public Policy, Computer engineering

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted cum. HS GPA: 3.75/4
  • Weighted cum. HS GPA: (4.35/5)
  • College GPA: (for transfer applicants)
  • Class Rank: top 10-15%
  • ACT/SAT Scores:1540

List your HS coursework

(Indicate advanced level, such as AP, IB, AICE, A-level, or college, courses as well as specifics in each subject)

  • English:Ap lang and Ap lit
  • Math: ap Calc BC, multivariable honors (1 of 3 to skip a year in math in the grade)
  • Science: AP bio AP chem Ap physics 1 AP physics C AP Psych
  • History and social studies: APUSH and AP Euro AP Gov
  • Language other than English: AP Latin
  • Visual or performing arts: AP Music Theory
  • Assume mostly 5s for ap scores and 2 4s.

College Coursework (Transfer Applicants)
(Include college courses taken while in high school if not included above.)

  • Major preparation course work: 1 semester of Linear Algebra and 1 semester of Game Theory at CMU (summer session)

Awards

Won the Private Prep LTT scholarship as 1 of 25 chosen nationally for underprivileged teens.

Completed NASA’s GL4HS biology program.

Summer Semester at CMU.

1 of 3 in school to skip a year in math, top 3 AMC score schoolwide.

  1. Commmunity Service - President of a couple of fundraising clubs, been on local selective student boards, honorary mayor of my town. Volunteers biweekly for a nonprofit, also work there as a senior camp counselor during the summer, made a fundraising team to raise over 140,000 dollars for the nonprofit through corporate philanthropy and community events. Won a state-level award last awarded to the NJ senator, also lifetime honor roll on p2p professional forum.
  2. Cello - Normal, chamber, and pit orchestra of my school, often principal cellist. Won a state-level award from Paper Mill Playhouse for involvement in pit orchestra in school play. Outside of school, has performed at Carnegie Hall and American Dream mall in private ensembles in music festivals. Raised over 5,000 as a primary organizer and soloist during a charity concert for nonprofit above. I will submit music portfolio of maybe hadyn concerto or bach suites or smth.
  3. Debate - Varsity Public Forum debate, did a lot of national/international tournaments in freshman/sophomore year of hs. Placed quarterfinals and #7 at different international invitationals, won a regional/local competition. Never got a bid and go to TOC, but ranked around #50 in the country on DebateLand at peak. Raised over $2000 by creating a debate workshop for kids for nonprofit above.
  4. Work - Works 10+ hours a week in multiple tutoring jobs, both private and at Kumon. Only member of my family with a job, ebt + free lunch.
  5. Robotics - Made it to states and won a local/regional competition for VEX IQ. In HS, led a robotics team using RC cars, nvidia jetson, and the roboracer platform. Basically autonomous racing, went to a couple international competitions, and published a paper on the subject.
  6. Soccer - played 8 years up to HS locally. Had to quit due to kidney disease.

I have pretty strong essays talking about resilience and how dad’s death and kidney disease affected my life/grades. I want community service and leadership to be main theme of my application, I have really good story of how i started small to raising 140,000k. My only concern is my GPA which was really weak in freshman and sophomore years because I missed multiple months of school since I was sick. However, my junior year gpa is really strong (4.8/5) despite taking 6 AP classes this year, like way higher than previously.

Do I have a chance of getting into harvard, yale, princeton, MIT for reach schools, maybe CMU level schools as a target? I think I am safe for rutger level school.

You are a strong student. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, and even CMU are all reach schools. It’s very hard to chance students for these colleges that have such very very very low acceptance rates. So…if you have applied, just wait and see.

I think you will get accepted to Rutgers and would urge you to apply to their honors college. @Mwfan1921 ?

Sorry about your dad. That’s tough.

You Aiways have a chance if you apply. Statistically you are not there but we just read of a 3.8 getting into Cornell. And your math is advanced.

You have high need so take your ■■■■ if the net price calculators show a # you can live with. But add other meets need schools and run their NPC - schools like BU, CWRU, Lehigh, Rice, Tufys, UVA.

Finally, what’s your local college where you can live at home - and get a deal from NJ due to low income? This is your most likely and important school. Getting into Rutgers if you can’t afford it (the room and board) is not helpful.

Also, if a Junior, look into Questbridge.

Good luck

Thanks for responding. I’m looking at Rutgers as a safe option very close to home. I also want to try for their honors college. I am also looking at QuestBridge and other scholarships as a junior.

How important is GPA specifically to the application? I am a junior who just recovered, and I feel like my rec letters, essays, story, extracurricular depth and impact, and overarching application theme of service looks good enough to be competitive for a top 20 school. I feel like if colleges see my additional information and read letters about my illness recovery and my family situation to explain a lower slightly lower GPA in 9th and 10th grade, my extracurriculars can close the deal at a good school.

Also, do you have any programs/scholarships for juniors you’d recommend? I’m thinking about YYGS, mites, CMU SAMS, and did the USSYP and Coolidge scholarship due to my community service track record, even though there’s little chance.

Yeah, I’m applying next year (class of 2027) but just trying to get some honest opinions/advice. Rutgers honors college is definitely on my list. Do you have any recommendation for programs for juniors? (refer to the other response)

All schools will tell you GPA matters so you’ll be at a detriment but I can’t speak for the schools. If you do engineering, the where matters little. You want ABET accreditation. Math and public policy - similar.

Your issue is budget, not a top 20.

I don’t know about scholarships. I’d get a summer job to add to your resume.

There’s lots of great schools - top 20 by who ? That’s for selling magazines or getting clicks. There’s no such thing. You will create your success - not a school name. If you decide against engineering , Betea may be worth an app.

Run net price calculators and apply to schools that you can afford, if accepted. Top 20 is irrelevant in your case.

Good luck

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