Chance Me: HYPSM + UCs + Brown PLME! Biology on pre-med track, 1560 SAT, 35 ACT, 4.0 UW GPA, CA resident

Chance Me / Match Me
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Hi! I’m an incoming HS senior in the Bay Area looking to major in biology in college on the pre-med track. Would really appreciate any advice on my college list/chance me’s! Tysm!

Demographics

  • US domestic
  • State/Location of residency: California (Bay Area)
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers): large public high school
  • No hooks (except for full pay?)

Intended Major(s): biology (minor in chemistry/neuroscience)

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 4.0
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.4 (as of end of junior year)
  • Class Rank: unknown
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1560 SAT (760 rw/800 math), 35 act (35 math, 35 reading, 36 science, 36 writing)

List your HS coursework

(italicized = for senior year)

  • English: AP Lang, AP Lit
  • Math: AP Calculus BC (5), Multivariable Calculus, AP Statistics
  • Science: AP Biology (5), AP Chemistry, AP Physics 1
  • History and social studies: APUSH, AP Gov
  • Language other than English: AP Chinese (5)
  • Visual or performing arts: Band for 3 yrs (quitting senior year)
  • Other academic courses: Dual-enrolled at CC for Human Biology and Physics (both A’s)

Awards

  • 1st place team/50+ at niche science conference

    • Funded by NASA to go to this conference

  • 1st-author acceptance into medical conference

  • 2x USABO Certificate of Merit

  • Berkeley Math Tournament Honorable Mention

  • AP Scholar (probably will receive distinction this year)

  • National Merit Commended (likely)

    Extracurriculars

  • NASA GL4HS (11) - placed top 4/45 teams, funded to conference aforementioned

  • Research w/ top research university in artificial intelligence tools for doctor usage (11, 12)

  • Hospital volunteering (140+ hours) (10, 11, 12)

  • Middle school science bowl coach (11, 12)

  • Biology competition director (11, 12)

  • Varsity Swimming (5x league finalist) (9, 10, 11, 12)

  • Band & selected as band council rep (9, 10, 11)

  • Chinese Club VP (12), member (10, 11)

  • Either barista/link crew leader/library teen advisory board for last two (any guidance on which to put?)

Essays/LORs/Other
I don’t think my LORs will be exceptionally strong, maybe a 7/10 for both.

  • Schools

  • Harvard

  • Yale

  • Stanford

  • Princeton (REA)

  • MIT

  • Cornell

  • JHU

  • Northwestern

  • CMU

  • Caltech

  • UNC Chapel Hill (EA)

  • UMich (EA)

  • UVA (EA)

  • Georgia Tech (EA2)

  • Emory

  • Cal Poly SLO

  • Vanderbilt

  • WashU

  • UC Berkeley

  • UCLA

  • UCSD

  • UC Irvine

  • UC Davis

  • UCSB

Would I have any chance at Vandy/WashU/UNC Chapel Hill/Georgia Tech/UVA/Emory full ride merit?

  • Assured (100% chance of admission and affordability):
  • Extremely Likely:
  • Likely:
  • Toss-up:
  • Lower Probability:
  • Low Probability:
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btw am chinese female

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Do you need a full ride to attend college?

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She said she’s full-pay, so I’m assuming merit is a nice-to-have.

But US citizen, right?

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yes, uc citizen, born in ny

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no, family income >500k

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I would put the job. Many AOs /schools do really like work experience.. and being a shift leader (I assume that is what you are saying?) even better…In fact, some high-end college counselors require (as much as they can require such a thing:)) their clients to have a real job in HS.

You are a great candidate …I think you will get some acceptances from top schools, and those are very reach-y schools (as you know). I don’t think any are truly assured or extremely likely, but I am not a UC expert, and I know Cal Poly has a weird system so don’t want to guess on that one (the 5 years of English baffles me;)

Generally, most of those schools are lower/low probability for everyone - for some people, I think it is no chance, and for a vanishing few, it is close to toss-up. You certainly seem to meet the baseline criteria for having a shot - good course selections, excellent grades, and scores! It is hard to know who the other applicants are and what institutional properties, etc, etc. etc.

Honestly, though, I would see if you can limit it down by a few schools- that looks like a lot of supplemental essays to me. But if you can swing, it I guess shoot your shot.

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Just checking, is your family OK with being full pay for both undergrad and med school?

Assuming yes, I would point out you have a lot of midsize private research universities on your Reach list, but none I would think of as Targets or Likelies. You could consider adding some. Popular choices among premeds in my circles include Rochester and Case Western.

I also see you have a lot of tech-focused research universities, and frankly, I am not sure why. Like I am randomly somewhat familiar with Bio at CMU, and I personally would not usually recommend it for premeds, and possibly not in general. It has a very CMU twist to it, and you didn’t mention the sorts of Bio interests that would lead me to even thinking about suggesting CMU.

Caltech is also a very, very specific sort of experience, and I would not see it as being an obvious choice for you. Probably not Georgia Tech either. I’m also not sure why SLO.

Cornell . . . yet another college I think of as having specific appeal, not sure it makes sense to me on your list.

Finally, UVA isn’t a tech college, but it is very pricey. I have a hard time imagining recommending you choose it over some of the outstanding Bio UCs I suspect you will be considering. (ETA: In some sense UNC and Michigan sort of fit in this category, but UNC does have the Morehead-Cain, and Michigan is one I could see some people paying for even with decent UC options.)

OK, suppose in theory you cut those, you would be down to Brown PLME, HYPSM, Hopkins, Northwestern, UNC, Michigan, Emory, Vanderbilt, WashU, and your Cals. That is still 10 private Reaches in addition to Brown, and I would personally try to cut that down further. Like some people actually do have reasonably strong preferences between HYPSM.

But still, if you wanted, that would create room to add some private Targets or Likelies without ballooning out your list too much.

Also ETA: If this wasn’t clear, I should mention I think you have the profile to apply anywhere you like, assuming your overall list makes sense. For things like the Morehead Cain or Vandy, Emory, and WashU scholarships, who knows, but I don’t see the harm in trying. Those are all really nice colleges anyway, indeed the sort where I know Bio/premed full-pay types who chose them over Ivies and top publics and such.

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If your family income is over $500,000, maybe your family can afford to fund these colleges. Please clarify what they are willing to pay.

I think you are a strong applicant, and have the potential to be accepted to one of these reach schools. So, apply and see.

Are some of the CA publics your sure things for admission? And would you be happy to attend them if the reaches don’t work out? If so, go for it.

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For chancing, I don’t think anyone can other than to say - you’re an extremely strong candidate. I say this at the top tier. From UNC down, I think you have some admits - given your rigor in combo with everything else. Frankly, I’d be surprised if you didn’t have admits above that.

Now, if you want a full ride, then you need to change your strategy. For off, for Emory, make sure you meet the deadline - which is Nov 15th. But you’ll be applying RD.

You might consider other schools with full rides - to give yourself better options - if having a full ride or significant scholarship would trump Princeton even though it would be at a school you’d likely feel is beneath you I’m guessing, based on your list. Do you have a chance at Vandy/WashU/UNC Chapel Hill/Georgia Tech/UVA/Emory full ride merit? Sure - but should you count on it - no.

So if full ride matters moreso than Princeton, you need to add some schools - for example, Providence has the Roddy scholarship for pre-med, UNCC the Levine, etc. You’d be low 20s at Alabama - and they have the McCullough Pre Medical Scholars.

So given where you go undergrad may not significantly impact med school applications, this is the thing to discuss with your family - because there are much less expensive schools than all these.

Or if - for example, you were to get into a UC or SLO, would you attend over an Ivy - then maybe you can cull back your list - which is very long.

PS - Ga Tech is an interesting choice, given your majors - it’s the kind I might cull although it sounds like you want to earn the Stamps Scholarship. Same with UNC and UVA - I say why not you to score the full rides - but these are a lot of work and perhaps you should choose less to apply to. But it depends - on how important a full ride is - I can think of other schools that perhaps would be better to apply to (odds wise to earn one).

So figure out your priorities - but do I think you have admits on this list - yes. Would it help to add a school or two - like a U Wish or Arizona or UMD, etc. - sure - just in case.

But budget matters. Your family earns $500K but you are asking about full ride merit - so the question is - do they want to spend $100K a year or not? If not, then you’ve got to change up the list.

PS - why Cal Tech? It doesn’t fit - at all!!

Good luck.

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The majority of schools on your list are either need-blind or receive so many well qualified full pay applicants that being full pay is not a hook. Sorry.

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Scientific conferences are wonderful, and you sound like a terrific candidate for any college.

Brown PLME adcom’s need reassurance that you know what it means to be an actual working physician, not just a scientist. So volunteer hours at a hospital are great– but did that involve actual patient contact? Do you have experience with real live human beings who are in pain, or who are trying to manage a chronic condition (diabetes?) while unhoused or food insecure, or cannot communicate with their OB-GYN during labor because they speak Tamil and nobody at the hospital can translate for her???

PLME is a special program- it’s not just “Oh, I won’t have to apply to med school”. The adcom’s will not risk a spot on someone who may get a few months into their medical training and decide “This is not for me, no way, no how”. You need to demonstrate to them that you understand that being a physician can be gross and involves body fluids (lots of them, often squirting out at you) and that people aren’t at their best when they are ill or dying or angry about being ill and dying.

Biology is a wonderful academic fields but it is not the same as medicine. So if you’re serious about PLME you need to gain some more actual patient contact- more humans, less attending conferences. It is very hard for a HS student to gain actual patient contact experiences- which is why most physicians in the US are trained in med school, not in these “entry as a HS student” programs.

Good luck.

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Thank you so much!

I never knew about the Cal Poly 5 years of English, that’s interesting…

You’re right about the supplemental essays, but I think some of the schools (e.g. UNC) are removing them for this cycle? Unfortunate as that’s the only school I had written so far haha

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Thanks so much!!

My family said they can contribute a total of 400k for undergrad + med, so that’s the reason I’m trying to apply to full ride merit scholarships/more UCs, and not really private universities outside of the Ivy Leagues.

I agree about Caltech, having visited it the previous week & there being little to no focus on pre med. Would CMU & Georgia Tech have the same atmosphere?

SLO would be sort of a “safety school” for me, as it only looks at grades I think?

Could you please elaborate on why not Cornell?

I’m looking into UVA for the merit scholarship, but if my high school counselor doesn’t wind up recommending me for it, I probably won’t apply. But it’s the only college on my list I have legacy at (although I have seen that they don’t consider it).

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Thank you! They’re willing to pay 400k total for undergrad + med school, so I’m hoping to save a bit of money on undergrad and use the rest for med school.

I think I have the top 9% guarantee in CA, but that’s only for UC Merced. I would be happy to attend SLO if the reaches don’t work out, but that’s not a guarantee (also applying to UCSC, UC Riverside though).

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Thanks so much for your advice!

My family is willing to contribute 400k for both undergrad and pre med, so was trying to save some money through applying to merit scholarships.

The schools I listed were the ones w/ merit full ride that I’d be happy with going to over Princeton. Definitely no guarantee for Princeton though, haha.

The top school for me currently is actually UC Berkeley, but also no guarantees on that, so I was trying to cast the net further. I would probably attend UC Berkeley over most Ivy Leagues - probably all of them except for the Brown PLME program.

You’re right, I’ll probably remove Caltech haha

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Thank you for the PLME advice!

I’m not sure how to have actual patient contact. Currently in the hospital I’m volunteering in the rehab department, so I have a bit of patient interaction, but nothing that you mentioned like blood or body fluids. Do you have any advice on how to obtain something?

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If you want merit scholarships, you’ll need to look at schools that provide generous merit aid (typically in the South) or schools where your stats are well above the 75th percentile. That means applying to schools that are two or three tiers less prestigious and sought-after than the ones on your list.

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Expensive undergrad is around $100k per year, and medical school is typically around that. It is easier to save money on undergraduate than medical school, since most of those admitted to medical school get one admission, so no choosing by cost.

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There are various additional criteria, such as semesters of various a-g courses being the CSU minimum (math up to 10 semesters gives the most points; middle school algebra and geometry must be listed on the CSU application) and such things as local area residency.