Chance me: HS junior, 4.0 UW, 1570 SAT, International, Asian female, Biology/Public Health, Yale REA

Congratulations on your achievements.

I can’t chance you but you have a strong profile. I second the school recs made so far.

You mention REA at Yale (it’s actually SCEA), EA at both UMich and Ga Tech, that’s all fine. But don’t miss the EA deadlines at UW Madison or any other public that makes the list. If you apply to Pitt (you should!), get that in by end of August and you should have an acceptance in October.

You can also apply SCEA to Yale and to private schools with EA, as long as they notify after Jan 1…so that puts USC and Northeastern EA on the table (assuming they have similar release dates for class of 2025 that they did for 2024), so make those deadlines too (and any others with similar EA decision release dates). Here are the Yale SCEA rules: https://admissions.yale.edu/single-choice-early-action

You need two core teacher LoRs for some of your schools, so get those nailed down before summer. You can ask a state senator for an LoR, but not all schools will take extra LoRs. You can send it to those that do accept additional LoRs, but having an LoR from a state senator likely won’t move the needle anywhere.

For your ECs: figure out a way to get your math competition and ISEF into this section. Are you doing the math comps on your own or as part of a math team? Ditto ISEF…alone, or as part of science olympiad? Use the additional info section if you need to.

If affordability is an issue, I would rethink USC. Maybe also Georgetown, UCLA, Stanford, UCSB, and UCB too…all are in high cost of living areas. Of course the UCs have lower tuition/room/board costs than the private schools, so maybe that will work for you.

Good luck.

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