Intended major
Physics (probably specifically astrophysics but I don’t know yet) and a minor in philosophy
Basic Stats
Unweighted GPA: 3.9
Weighted GPA: 4.3 (I can’t tell what its out of from my schools system)
Rank: School doesn’t do ranking
ACT: 30 superscore (30 math, 30 science, 28 English, 32 reading) taking again to get it up to like 33-34 range
Coursework
AP Human Geography: 5
AP World History: 4
AP Physics 1: 2 (I’m taking the test again this year to get it up)
AP Physics 2: taking this year
AP American Gov: taking this year
AP Precalc: not taking the test
AP Lang: taking this year
Honors Biology
Honors Theoretical Chemistry
Pre-AP ELA 1
Pre-AP ELA 2
3 Years of German
Concert Choir (highest auditioned class at my school)
Doing my school’s Early College program next year and I’ll be taking Calc 1 and 2, 2 ELA classes, American History, and probably a Physics and Philosophy course as well
Extracurriculars
FRC Robotics: Board of Directors, basically I manage all of the organizational tasks, head up projects, and teach new members. Drive Coach: I work with teams at competitions and select and teach the Drive Team. Dean’s List Semi-Finalist this year (We’ll see if I get to be a finalist!) Almost 150+ hours of outreach through robotics
All-District Choir: 2x SSAA Honor Choir
Choir Solo and Ensemble: Gold’s on solo and ensemble at state (I’m doing this again this year too)
NHS: General member for now but I’m going for leadership next year
Summer camp last year where we built little satellites and sent them up on a weather balloon and analyzed the data.
Essays/LORs/Other
Common app essay: 8/10? How playing sudoku has helped me apply problem-solving to struggles in my life with ADHD, social stuff, academically, and at robotics especially. My gifted counselor says it is really good.
Supplements: we’ll figure this out later
Schools
Purdue
Ohio State
University of Michigan
Kansas University
University of Colorado - Boulder
Boston University
UC Santa Barbera
UChicago
Brown
Cornell
CalTech
Don’t waste your time. Just focus on the rest of your AP tests.
I would leave out the ADHD part. I would also limit the time frame covered in your essay to HS. Don’t write about struggles in 3rd grade or junior high, for example.
I assume you mean University of Kansas…that will be a safety for you, assuming it’s affordable. If you want other safety ideas you might look at ASU and U Arizona.
For the schools on your list that offer EA, I encourage you to get those apps in during that round (unless you apply early to a school that restricts other EA apps.)
Are you considering applying ED anywhere?
CalTech seems to be an outlier on your list…what appeals to you about it?
The timeframe is within High School I’m making sure of that.
Yep, my bad! That is my main safety right now.
For the schools on your list that offer EA, I encourage you to get those apps in during that round (unless you apply early to a school that restricts other EA apps.)
Are you considering applying ED anywhere?
I will be having most all of my apps done in the EA period just to get them out of the way. I’m not super sure where I will ED yet but I’m thinking maybe Cornell, Brown, or Purdue.
CalTech is the dream of the dream for me. I love California and they have good connections at JPL, and the way they run their campus and curriculum is amazing and really appeals to me. The emphasis they put on the sciences and being well rounded and it just being an overall nerd hub is amazing.
If you need aid, focus on colleges that meet 100% of need. You may want to check out some of the schools listed here: Top Feeders to Ph.D. Programs. Look at schools like Rochester and some of the smaller schools like Grinnell, Reed, or Kenyon - all have well regarded Physics programs that will set you up quite well for undergrad AND they meet full need.
Highly ranked out of state public schools are unlikely to grant you enough aid. For example, UCSB is an example of a school that is highly unlikely to grant you enough aid to make it financially possible for you to attend. It’s a separate time-intensive application as well so I personally think it’s not worth it unless your parents are rich.
CU- Boulder has a top notch physics program, but I would not count on merit. Many students that thought they would get it this year got nothing. It is not auto merit based on GPA. The GPA is just a bottom cut off to be considered.
Its not that I’d be getting a lot of financial aid but I should be okay financially with what I’m getting from my parents, what I’ll be covering, and what I’ll get in financial aid as well.
When the term “financial aid” is used, it is generally being used to describe need-based aid. With the exceptions of UVA and UNC, I don’t think any out-of-state public schools provide need-based aid to students, barring what is federally available (i.e. Pell grants and the $5500 loan mentioned above). If your family is able to provide a substantial amount of money towards your college education, it is unlikely to qualify for a Pell grant.
So, essentially, your budget will be what your parents are willing and able to contribute annually, a portion (say, 20%) of any savings that you have from work or other means, and potentially a federal loan (which is a max of $5500 your first year, and a total of $28k for your entire graduate education).
Scholarships (aka merit aid) can help bring a school’s sticker price down within your budget, and a number of schools have scholarship charts on their webpages or will ask for your academic stats on the Net Price Calculator (NPC) and then indicate a minimum amount of scholarship money that you may receive.
Do not sleep on Missouri S&T. It’s a great school and since you’re in-state, it’s an even better deal for you.
Like everybody else saying, some of the private schools on your list such as Cal Tech will be close to $100K a year by the time you enroll. Other OOS public such as UCs will be $80K. Will your parents able/willing to pay for it? And do you think it is worth it compare with in state options or lower ranking private offering merit? Good Luck.