Guidelines
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Demographics
- US domestic *(US citizen or permanent resident)
- State/Location of residency: Nevada
- Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Graduated from a charter school
- Other special factors: none
Cost Constraints / Budget
*I am more thinking about which schools than budget currently
Intended Major(s) Pre-med, but also want to explore business and psych
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
- Unweighted HS GPA:4.0
- Weighted HS GPA: 4.95
- Class Rank: 1/365
- ACT/SAT Scores: act 29
sat 1290
List your HS coursework
- English: English 9 H, English 10 H, Ap Eng Lang/Comp, Dual enrollment Eng 101/102
- Math: Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Precalc AB H, Ap Stats
- Science: Biology H, Chemistry H, Physics H, AP bio
- History and social studies:AP Human Geo, Economics,AP world history modern, AP US history, Psychology 1, AP psychology, American government H, Dual enrollment Sociology 101, Econ and Financial literacy H
- Language other than English: Spanish 1, Spanish 2 H
- Visual or performing arts: History of pop music
- Other academic courses: Computer literacy, PE 1, PE 2,
Awards
AP scholar
4th place in US figure skating national series
Extracurriculars
-competitive figure skater 2018-2022
-volunteering in Hospital in Vietnam 2024
-Summer medical assistant as Beverly Hills heart and vascular center as well as Beverly Hills Otolaryngology
-Medical research assistant (published nationally)
-Co founder of Gen Z athletics club, a club at my school that raised money for local athletes
-co-founder of the first Journalism club at my school
-NHS
-Speech and debate secretary
-UNLV School of Medicine volunteer 2022-2024 (OSCE workshop, LGBT+ equality series, STAND FOR THE KIDS fundraising where we raised $10,000+)
-Tutoring
-Figure skating coach- employment
-Babysitting
Essays/LORs/Other
I haven’t written my essay yet, I also do not have my letter or recommendations with me now but I have some from the doctors I interned with.
Schools
UCLA- RD
UC BERKELEY-RD
UC IRVINE-RD
UC SANTA BARBARA-RD
BU- RD
NORTHEASTERN-EA
CHAPMAN- EA
COLUMBIA- RD
CORNELL- RD
DARTMOUTH- RD
DUKE- RD
HARVARD-RD
PRINCETON-RD
STANFORD-EA
UT AUSTIN-EA
TULANE- EA
U OF CHICAGO- EA
U OF MIAMI-EA
U OF MICHIGAN- EA
NOTRE DAME- RD
U OF PENN-RD
USC- EA
VANDERBILT- RD
YALE- RD
I would like to earn some scholarship as well
I know this is a long list but pls chance me or recommend some schools.
I forgot to add some things! I dont know rlly anything about college so dont judge me for this list.
If you recommend any colleges I would prefer a big city. 
thank you again for the advice
1 Like
4.95 i think you will get literally almost anywhere, but 1 thing you should do is SAT, you are doing RD for the most part so you would have the option to take the October or November sat. as for ACT score its much better than sat IMO. But the thing is if you get like ~1400-1500 on sat retake you should be fine for any school from what I see
okay. I will do this, however for my gap year im volunteering at a hospital that is out of the us. do you know if it is better to take the sat in the US or out. or if there is not a difference. Thank you for your response I really appreciate
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Weighted GPA is a bit of a misnomer because all schools weight differently. A 4.0 tells me what I need to know. But how many APs have you taken?
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You cannot say - budget doesn’t matter now. Budget is the very first thing that you need to have. The UCs are going to cost you $300K+ - can your family afford that or are they willing to afford it? If not, find out what they can afford.
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Pre med is not a major. It’s an intention. You can major in anything and be pre-med.
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Many of the schools you list don’t have scholarships - Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford. Others like the UCs and Michigan - you get nothing - so back to budget. Now if your family has need, you can get grants at the Ivies.
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Your skating might be a way to get money but it seems like you are past it.
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There are schools that would “pay” for your stats - Arizona $20K, Miami of Ohio at least $15K. Alabama $15K. But more important than how much in scholarships you get is the total cost. For example, Florida State full pay will be less expensive than Colorado with its typical merit.
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If costs matters, in addition to up and coming UNR and UNLV (not on your list), you can also have access to low cost WUE schools - including Utah, Colorado State, Washington State and more - fine schools. UC Merced is on the list too. So these are Western schools that have aligned with Nevada to give you low tuition.
So you really need to understand the money - because if it’s an issue, your list will be far off. Many of your schools will be $90K a year - but perhaps you qualify for aid. I put a net price calculator - have your folks fill it out. Many families are full pay (so in your case it could be $400K) but set a budget much less. Also, where you go to school likely won’t impact med school.
I think you get into Chapman and maybe Miami. The rest - it’s hard to know about the rest - all high reaches so it could be none but could be some as you have an impressive skating background.
But if you are looking to get scholarships, this is not a good list. Also, don’t forget, if you go to med school or grad school, that’s even more years at maybe $100K a year.
Please get that budget and come back to us. And in the meantime have mom/dad fill out the attached.
Good luck.
USC Financial Aid : Net Price Calculator
2 Likes
1.I have taken 6 aps, my school gives out limited. I scores mainly 4’s
- your right, I think I qualify for financial aid though, but for tuition around 40k a year max.
- your right again, I was thinking bio/biochem.
- I am pretty sure my family has need how ever, I will figure this out and get back to you.
- I had to stop skating for a bit because I broke my foot
- I forgot to mention, I did apply last year but decided to take a gap year for many reasons. When I applied I did it 10 days before and my essay was extremely bad. however I got into ucsd and waitlisted at other schools
do you have any recommendation of what I could do to make my application stronger?
Please re read my message.
You need an application strategy.
Building a list without having any idea of a budget is fool’s errand. So in that sense, you can make your search stronger by understanding the most important aspect.
Obviously, you can improve your test score. A higher math class would be helpful but you’ve graduated. EC wise you are very good - especially your prominence in figure skating.
Talk to your parents about funds so you can build a proper list vs. a list of big names.
If they say, you can spend $375K+ over four years, your list is fine.
If they say no, then you have to build one within budget.
If you have financial need, I gave you a net price calculator above for USC. Please have them fill it out and tell us what it says.
Thanks
Congratulations on being a competitive applicant.
For the UC’s, can you calculate your 3 UC GPA’s? GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub
Note on the UC GPA calculation, that only 10-11th grades are used for the a-g courses and only AP/IB or DE/CC classes that are UC Transferable are weighted for OOS students.
Since the UC’s are test blind that works in your favor.
Intended major can make a difference for admission to the UC’s so what subject do you plan to pursue?
As noted above, make sure your family can afford full costs at the UC’s especially if Medical school is your goal. You will want to budget for 8 years vs. 4 years.
3 Likes
OP stated:
Are out of state applicants eligible for financial aid at the UCs?
@donkeykong.com
OOS students to the UC’s are not eligible for need-based aid except for Federal aid which amounts to very little towards the overall costs of $75K/year to attend. There are some merit scholarships available at the UC’s but they are highly competitive so not worth counting on.
In general, OOS students should expect to be full pay to attend any UC with the exception of UC Merced which does participate in the WUE program.
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When you start looking at finances, you might check out WUE schools.
2 Likes
I will do this now and respond soon. Also for like total cost, my max is around 60k
Per year or $15k per year to get to $60k?
Has your family run a net price calculator ? I put USC above. It will help us learn if you will potentially qualify for need based aid. Every school calculates differently but you had USC on your list. So it’s one of likely many you need to look at. But if you don’t qualify for aid, you’ll need a complete redo of schools.
Sadly, the UCs are unlikely to meet this budget constraint. They are around $70-$75K/yr for out of state students.
3 Likes
Same with Michigan and all the Ivies unless the student has need.
1 Like
What happened with UCSD? Was it too expensive, or you just decided you’d rather not attend?
family issues, I was asked to push back school a bit
I think I can make it work
60k or a little more a year. my father will run it, however he’s on a work trip so it will take him some time, like a week. sorry 