Chance Me Genetics/Bio major Fall 2025 applicant [IL resident, 3.4 GPA, 1440 SAT superscore, <$50-60k]

Demographics
US Citizen located in IL, top ranked public high school.

Cost
Flexible budget, max 50k~60k/year

Intended Major
I intend to do a double major in genetics & history. For schools that dont offer genetics I plan on majoring in biological sciences.

Scores
3.4 UW, 4.09/4.0 W, 1440 superscored SAT, no rank
(My UW is a guess based on calculation, my school doesn’t report UW GPA)

Coursework

  • English: 3 honors, 1 AP (Lang & Comp)
  • Math: 2 Honors, 2 AP (Calc AB & Stats)
  • Science: 3.5 honors, 2 AP (Chem & Physics 1)
  • History and social studies: 4 AP (World, Euro, Psych, US History)
  • Language other than English: French - currently in AP

Awards

  • AP Scholar w/Distinction

Extracurriculars

  • 2 part time jobs (1 for 1 yr, the other for 3 yrs)
  • National Honor Society & French Honor Society
  • Scholastic Bowl JV team(2 yrs)
  • Chamber music camp (6 yrs)
  • Chamber music holiday/summer recitals for veterans (Volunteer service/80 hrs total) (3 yrs)
    -Piano 13 yrs, completed IL AIM theory program

Essays/LORs/Other
I would guess mid/strong tier essays & a strong LOR from French teacher.

Schools

I’m applying EA for every school, RD for those that don’t offer EA. I’ve already been accepted into Mizzou. Please let me know if any of my categorization looks incorrect, & lmk if there’s anything to add! My top school is Purdue, tysm!!

Assured (100% chance of admission and affordability): Mizzou, UIC, Minnesota Twin Cities
Extremely Likely: Rutgers New Brunswick
Likely: Illinois Urbana Champaign
Toss-up: Purdue
Lower Probability:
Low Probability: University of Washington Seattle, UW Madison

Don’t guess on your unweighted.

Take your core classes - give yourself a 4 for an A, 3 for B, 2 for C.

Add up the points, divide by the # of classes.

Congrats on Mizzou. Assuming you are satisfied (fine school), the classifications of the rest don’t matter.

Are you in at UMN? I’d say likely but 100% assured? No - unless you are in.

Rutgers - I wouldn’t say extremely likely but likely.

I would put UIUC, Purdue, and U Wash together. I don’t think you are in with a 3.4 UW but - maybe you squeeze in one.

Wisconsin is a reach.

Mizzou is a great get.

Why Rutgers? To me it seems out of sync with the others - I mean geographically. The NE is very different culture wise.

Check out U Kansas - I think it’d be a nice fit for you as well. Or Iowa State for a Genetics major.

Good luck.

5 Likes

I see Rutgers as more of a good target school and not a school that is “extremely likely.” While it may be different location wise, it is very strong in the desired major. There are also competitive undergraduate certificate programs within the genetics major - cancer research, genetic counseling, and computational genetics.

Minnesota is also excellent as far as your intended major, but I am confused as to how it is 100% assured admission. Have you been accepted? Do you mean it is a safety?

I see Wisconsin as a reach…and possibly UW. Congrats on Mizzou! Take a look at the U of Cincinnati and Pitt.

3 Likes

Do you have a career goal? It’s fine if you do not.

The genetics major at Iowa State looks impressive. If the school-overall- is a good fit for you I recommend putting it on your list.

2 Likes

Your SAT score is very strong and you’ve shown longevity with your part-time jobs and chamber music activities as well. That’s great! In addition, you’ve already got an admission to Mizzou. If you’d be happy attending there for four years, then everything else from here on out is gravy!

That said, I think that some of your self-chancing is more optimistic than my own guesses would be. Below are my own guesses as to what your chances for admission might be.

Assured (100%)

  • Mizzou

Extremely Likely (80-99%)

  • U. of Illinois – Chicago

Likely (60-79%)

  • Rutgers

  • U. of Minnesota – Twin Cities

Toss-Up (40-59%)

  • Purdue

  • U. of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign

Lower Probability (20-39%)

  • U. of Wisconsin – Madison

Low Probability (less than 20%)

  • U. of Washington – Seattle (it is test blind so it will not see your SAT score which I think is the strongest part of your application, and all the bio-related majors are oversubscribed, meaning there are competitive secondary admissions to get in)
4 Likes

You can apply right now and have the acceptance in hand in a couple of days as long as you meet their RAI (Regent Admission Index), which you will.

I agree with AustenNut’s rankings, so if you are not sold on Mizzou, it might be nice to have another “assured” in hand.

5 Likes

Edited by moderator to comply with ToS.

Some on here don’t know the top selective enrollment schools that you’re tested into. Lots of colleges look at these schools slightly differently then the regular public schools.

Some colleges rate them a bit higher then their unweighted GPA. These are all honor/AP high schools. No regular classes.

Saying this your still ranked by the college AOs according to your own school. I think you made a nice list actually. Let the chips fall where they may. IIT could be interesting but I would think UIC is more of a campus and both schools have made great strides over the year’s.

@AustenNut has done a nice job and I agree with that so no reason to do it again. The GPA might be too low for some of the schools that were pointed out. Congratulations on your acceptances. The rest is gravy now. Iowa and Iowa State might be good to look into.

2 Likes

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