Chance me for T20s after not matching [VA Resident, 4.45/4.00 W, 1500 SAT, Fire ECs, -1500 SAI]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • US Citizen
  • State/Location of residency: Virginia
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Poor Older Public High School (In very competitive district however) AND CTE Magnet School (Certified Nurses Aide program); 40/350 are accepted to this program.
  • Other special factors: First Generation, Low Income

Cost Constraints / Budget
SAI: -1500 :frowning:

Intended Major(s)
Biology Pre-Med, Minor in Chemistry + Poli Sci (Maybe), Something in Music Performance, Something in Environmental Science

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 4.08 (District Calculated), 3.95 Actual
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.45/4.00; +0.5 for Honors, +1.0 for APs/DEs, “Real A+”; A+ = 4.3
  • Class Rank: N/A
  • SAT Scores: 1500

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: Honors Level 9-10; AP Lang; DE English 12 (ENG 111/112) (In progress)
  • Math: (Pre Recs in Middle School) Algebra II, Pre-Calc, AP Calculus AB, AP Stats (In Progress)
  • Science: Honors Biology, Honors Earth Science, Honors Chemistry + AP Biology DE; Self-studying for AP Environmental
  • History and social studies: Honors 9th Grade, AP World, AP US History, AP Comp Gov (In Progress), AP US Gov (In Progress)
  • Language other than English: French I-III
  • Visual or performing arts: Band Honors (Dropped Senior Year due to personal reasons)
  • Other academic courses: Certified Nurses Aide Class DE (Equals 3 Courses (In Progress))

Awards

  • Questbridge Finalist I didnt end up matching :frowning:
  • Jefferson/Walentas Scholarship Nominee (Full Ride to UVA): Recognized for leadership, academic excellence, and community impact.
  • Headhunted and awarded $3,000 grant/endowment for non-profit work and independent research
  • Non-Profit Recognition: featured in local/school/regional/state news & radio
  • Awarded $2,950 full scholarship for Stevens Institute Biomedical Engineering/Pre-Med Summer Program
  • AP Scholar with Distinction
  • Presidential Volunteer Service Award: Awarded through contributions in county park service
  • Virginia Tech Honor Band: Performed in 1 of 4 bands, earned 4/15 chair, recognized for excellence
  • 5 Honor Societies

Extracurriculars

  • Founded Largest Conservation in my County; Head Director & Founder/Owner | Webmaster
    Lead 160 members, organize 10+ cleanups, restoring 2182+ acres; collaborate/partners with 14 parks/schools, ~506,022+ impressions, educate with parks.
    -Feature in Regional News
    -Produce educational content on park etiquette, AI & environment, conservation, and invasive plant/animal removal; Supported Student Research
    -Was Headhunted for a $3,000 Grant/Endowment
    -Incorporated in Virginia & 501(c)(3)
    -A lot of other things in Additional Information

  • Medical Assistant Intern; Family Medicine Wellness; Family Medicine

    Oversaw M.D. office, registered 100+ patients & maintained charts, recorded vital signs, assisted 20+ consultations, performed parts of physical exams

  • Independent Research Study Author; Water Health

    Lead 12-site 13-week study backed by 3 parks & grant, compile 504+ data points, analyze water health trends/ecology; publishing & presenting research. (I submitted my abstract to any school that would take it)

  • Blood Donor Ambassador; Scheduling Team Admin; The American Red Cross; Blood Services

    Recruit/schedule 30+ BDAs across 4 counties, coordinate check-in for 250+ donors, serve 5+ blood drives, promote Red Cross membership/blood donation

  • Music Writer/Arranger | Member; Band/Music Program Collective (Marching, Concert, Pep, Jazz, Pit, Brass Band) | Musical Hobbies

    • Founded Brass Band, Performed in 6 ensembles, play 5 instruments; mentored students across all ensembles, stirred musical interest

    • Member of Marching Band, Pep Band, Jazz Band, Brass Band, Pit Orchestra, Wind Symphony (Honors Symphonic Band)

    • Performed on Trumpet (Seven Years of Experience), Piano (Nine Years, Mellophone (Two Years), Percussion (Two Years), Traditional Khean (Five Years)

    • Musical Arranger/Composer/Transcriber; writing 25 scores for Brass Band (compositions) & Pep/Marching Band (Stand tunes)—performed at 20+ football/basketball games, public appearances, etc; published writer, amassing 10,000+ views/streams & ~2,000 downloads.

    • ASCAP Writer/Publisher

    • Founder/Conductor of Brass Band

  • President (2x) | School Musical Advocate; Modern Music Masters (TRI-M, Music Honor Society); Advocating for Music Education

    Advocated for music education at school board, led 36 members & initiated musical volunteer events; increased music involvement, organized recitals

  • Communications & Outreach Officer | Math Tutor; Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honor Society) | Personal Tutoring

    Tutor 40+ students(Algebra 1–Calculus/SAT) in school; Online SAT Tutor, Tiktok—600K likes, 3.5M views; promote math outreach/literacy; organize meeting

  • Clinical Radiology | CDU | Service Volunteer; Medical Center Volunteer

    Volunteer in CDU, Radiology, & front desk; aid 30+ patients daily with wheelchairs & check-in; support M.Ds, R.Ns, etc; streamline patient intake

  • Volunteer Caregiver | Food Bank Volunteer

    Aide 8+ seniors with ADLs, cleaner; ensuring senior home cleanliness, strengthen hunger relief through food bank, engaging in social visits/errands

  • Clinical Shadowing & Volunteer; Shadowed PT, PRN, RN, Radiology, CDU, and M.D.

    Shadow 9+ healthcare professionals (PT, R.Ns, ARRTs, & M.Ds across 8 disciplines); assist with tasks in 15+ physical therapy sessions; gain experience

  • Personal Filmmaking: Director, Cinematographer & Editor

    Pursued film making, dedicating 800+ hours in directing, cinematography, & editing. Developed videography skills, garner recognition in the school newspaper, showcasing achievements in visual arts. Composed music for films. Co-founded a small film company, producing short films. Received 2.2M Views, 400K Likes on film Social Media

Extra ECs; I also had a lot of clubs which I will leave below

  1. All Honor Societies (They are service based)

  2. Math Club

  3. Key Club

  4. Thrift Club

  5. Parks Volunteering Program

  6. Youth Advisory Council Board member

  7. HOSA (We won first place out of 30 competitors; 9 teams; moved to State Competition)

  8. Green Team

  9. Technology Student Association

  10. Students for Cancer Research

  11. Full/Part Time job as host/server

  12. Depop Personal Business ($1000 Monthly Revenue before quitting)

  13. Virginia Tech Honor Band

  14. *>650 Volunteer Hours (This went into additional information)

  15. EMT & CMA (Starts Next Year over Summer)

Essays/LORs/Other
Counselor: Nothing to note, my brag sheet was solid. Has a fair impression of me

AP Biology DE Teacher: Had to work hard in her class, 17 years of teaching and only does ~8 LORs a year.

AP Lang Teacher: She loved me no debates, had an A+ in her class and said my college essay was incredible; Harvard Graduate.

Essays

Personal Statement: Talked about my musical journey; really solid essay and I am really happy how it turned out. Got feedback from like 9 of my teachers and 6 college students.

Claims

  1. Music is my creative platform
  2. I work past obstacles through pure effort
  3. Music is my platform for communication and organizing events (in school)
  4. Music is now my guiding notes in Medicine.

Supplemental: Solid all around; superior in some parts, spent about 300-500 hours writing supplemental

Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if unsure, leave them unclassified)

If a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below; also, for colleges that admit by major or division, consider that in chance estimate.

I honestly don’t know which school in my list would I get into. So I will leave plain text to most of the schools I applied to. I APPLIED TO A LOT BECAUSE I HAVE A FEE WAIVER

Common Application

  • Virginia Commonwealth University

  • Virginia Polytechnic Institute

  • University of Maryland

  • George Washington University

  • William and Mary

  • Case Western Reserve University

  • University of Rochester

  • University of Pittsburgh

  • University of Virginia

  • Emory University

  • Georgia Institute of Technology

  • Carnegie Mellon University

  • University of Southern California

  • Rice University

  • University of North Carolina

  • Cornell University

  • Northwestern University

  • Dartmouth College

  • Columbia University

  • Harvard University

Questbridge

  • Boston College (QB RD)

  • Boston University (QB RD)

  • Grinnell College (QB RD)

  • University of Pennsylvania (QB RD)

  • Brown University (Did not Match

  • Johns Hopkins University (Withdrew and submitted SCOIR) I felt my QB application was widely out of date

  • Duke University (QB RD)

  • Yale University (Did not Match

  • Princeton University (QB RD)

  • Stanford University (Did not Match

  • California Institute of Technology (QB RD)

Coalition on SCOIR

Redacted a few schools since its ridiculous

  1. Vanderbilt University

  2. University of Notre Dame

  3. Claremont Mckenna College

  4. Washington University at St. Louis

  5. Swarthmore College

  6. Colby College

  7. Northeastern University

  8. Pomona College

  9. University of Chicago

I think I got a solid shot, but my district is insanely competitive. I really hope I can get into Harvard, that is my dream school. Realistically I know I can get into UVA (alongside the full ride I got an interview for).

The early BS/MD rejection and Gates rejection threw me for a loop but I hope that my decisions are a little more favorable.

Thank you and tell me what yall think

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I also applied to these schools. Forgot to mention
Separate Portal
UC Davis
UC Santa Barbara
UC Irvine
UC San Diego
UC Berkeley
UC Los Angeles
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Rutgers University
Pennsylvania State University
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Florida State University
Georgetown University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

I know its alot, but I have no frame of reference on where I can get in!

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If you are low income, the UCs are likely out - they will cost upwards of $75K/year. Outside of QB, did you run the NPCs for the schools on your list? You are likely a competitive candidate, but I am concerned about your ability to pay for the schools on your list if you don’t get QB.

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These are highly unlikely to be affordable as an out-of-state low income student.

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Yeah the UCs I kinda applied for fun since I had a waiver and really wanted to see if I could get in. Im hoping to get my tuition waived for some top school or get in QB RD.

All else fails, im likely to win the Full Ride for UVA (my interview is coming up) and take my likely acceptance there

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Figured as much

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You have a great background.

Sounds like you are interviewing for the Jefferson.

UVA meets need - did you apply UNC? Also meets need.

I believe W&M does for in state.

Not sure if Virginia has a low income plan.

You may look at a school like Troy, where you “could” get a full ride. You need to plan for the worst.

Good luck.

The Scholars PLUS Award

  • Students with a 33-36 ACT/1450-1600 RSAT and a 3.7 GPA will receive tuition, full housing, and meal plan

APPLY THROUGH THE TROY SCHOLARSHIP PORTAL

The Scholars Award

  • Students with a 30-32 ACT/1360-1440 RSAT and a 3.7 GPA will receive tuition and basic housing

Best of luck.

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UVA is a very good university, and would be a very good choice for an academically strong premed student.

One thing that might be worth mentioning: Premed classes will be very demanding. You have clearly worked very hard in high school and done very well. All of the effort that you have already put in is going to be valuable regardless of which university you end up attending. In particular, all of this effort has helped to prepare you to do well in very tough premed classes.

No one in my family was premed, but both daughters had majors that overlapped quite a bit with the required premed classes (one daughter was pre-vet, so she completed all of the required premed classes, although her clinical experience was in veterinary situations). Generally these classes can be tough, but what class one student finds tough and what class a different student finds tough might not be the same. Plan to work hard and keep ahead on all of your classes and you are likely to do well. When (not if) you get into very tough exams be aware that these exams are tough for everyone, and they will be graded on a curve. Do your best and you will be fine. Also be aware that you are not likely to maintain straight A’s in all of your university classes but that is okay.

And I wouldn’t worry at all about rejection from a BS/MD program. They are insanely difficult to get into and the large majority of doctors take the more traditional route of getting a bachelor’s degree and then applying to medical school.

Also be aware that the very large majority of students who start off thinking “premed” end up doing something else. Some have trouble keeping up sufficient grades in the tough premed classes. However, many just decide that they prefer to do something else. As one example, my younger daughter after briefly thinking of medical school decided that she would rather do medical research, and is currently studying for a PhD in a biomedical field. One advantage here is that PhD’s are typically fully funded (and is funded in her case), but the main issue was just what she wanted to do. Similarly you should keep an open mind. You will be exposed to a lot of opportunities in university and are very likely to find things that interest you.

You are applying to a long list of schools, many of them are reaches, and you are going to get multiple rejections. That is okay. You can only attend one university in September and I expect that you will also have a list of acceptances (to the point that you might have trouble deciding between them).

If you have any applications still to complete, I would prioritize safeties and the ones that are likely to be affordable.

I agree with others that you are likely to get a number of acceptances that just are not affordable (including whatever UC’s you get into). Pick from among the affordable acceptances and just say no to anything that is going to be too expensive. You should do your best to minimize or even eliminate debt for your bachelor’s degree as much as is reasonably possible.

And to me it sounds like you are going very well. Best wishes.

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Assuming you are interviewing for the Walentas. Please don’t take it for granted and prepare accordingly.

To give you an idea of the selectivity (amongst those interviewed) please consider the following….

“The number of students interviewed for the Walentas Scholarship at the University of Virginia (UVA) varies from year to year, but typically around 181 finalists are selected for the final round of interviews:

  • Selection process

UVA alumni and friends evaluate nominations from high schools around the world. The finalists are then invited to Charlottesville for a final round of interviews and two recruitment weekends.

  • Number of finalists

In one year, 181 finalists were selected for the final round of interviews.

  • Number of scholarships awarded

The Jefferson Scholars Foundation typically awards around 12–15 Walentas Scholarships to first-generation college students each year. However, the number of scholarships awarded can vary depending on the number of nominations received.

The Walentas Scholarship is a full four-year scholarship for first-generation college students who have demonstrated academic excellence and leadership potential. The scholarship was established by the Jefferson Scholars Foundation through a gift from philanthropists David and Jane Walentas.”

Good luck.

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Oh wow, that is super competitive okay! I will definitely take a lot of time to prepare in the coming weeks.

Thank you

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What is your plan if you have nothing affordable ?

Applying to places just bcuz is fun but not helping you if you know they don’t work.

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VCU is pretty cheap, guaranteed admission, decent pre med, got some merit scholarship.

I’m hoping to get my tuition waived or full need based financial aid at some top school.

UVA will waive my tuition since my family income is quite low.

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Oh my NPC! Its 0 for simplicity, all T20s schools. I only checked like the top 10, but According to Brown yell stuff like that, my net price is 0

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Is uva assured - as a scholarship finalist ?

Yes vcu is assured but can you afford room & board etc ?

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At this stage of Walentas, I do not believe UVA admission is guaranteed, unfortunately.
Please do take time to prepare for Walentas! Based on previous timelines, the regional interviews are the upcoming ones; there will be another cut to the final round of interviews referenced in the previous post, which are typically not announced until February, then the selection of 12-15 winners comes from that group (of 180 or so final interviews). Good luck! You have a lot of options, including some great in-state ones which are more likely than UVA (VCU, VaTech).

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William & Mary is another excellent in state option. Tuition and fees are covered for all Pell grant eligible Virginia residents. Although not guaranteed,there are other scholarships available. My son’s roommate is an in state F.G.L.I. student and has a scholarship that covers housing - including a very generous allowance for off campus housing. It may not be a “top 20”, but it’s a fantastic back up if the others don’t pan out for you

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Agree on William and Mary being a good option. And, with Yale and Brown on their initial QB ranked list (if I’m reading it correctly), W&M might be more of a fit for the student than UVA.

@Throwaway1021 have you been able to visit any in-state schools yet? (Totally understand if you want to wait to visit until you know where you get in.)

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Ive toured JMU and Vtech, love VT i just wish they had better programs for med students. Havent visited UVA or William and Mary but Planning to do so in March

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Yeah im definitely pell eligible. Hmm, i will definitely look more into that

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But at least they have great food….

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