Chance me? [LA resident, 4.0 GPA, 36 ACT, physics / astronomy]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Hi, with acceptances coming soon and my friends being accepted or rejected from places we didn’t expect, I’m just wondering where I should expect to get into and where I shouldn’t expect much so I’m not too disappointed. Really, I have no clue where I stand at some of these schools so I want a realistic view before acceptances start coming in.

demographics/background: White female, US citizen from Louisiana, middle/upper-middle class large divorced-parent family. 1,000ish-person Public magnet school. Ranked #1 9-12 public high school in the state recently, but Louisiana’s education is 48 or 49/50, so take that with a grain of salt I guess.

  • Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.): I’m carefully playing the big, traditional family card in some of my essays (6 siblings), but I don’t have much else that’s unique. I play the piano but not near a conservatory level.

Intended Major(s): physics, astronomy, or public health

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores: 4.0 UW, 4.85 W, school does not rank, 36 on all 4 sections of the ACT in one sitting :smile:

Coursework
AP Human Geography, AP World History, AP US History, AP Biology, AP Calculus BC, AP English Lang (5s), AP French (4), currently in AP stats, AP physics C mechanics, AP English lit, AP us gov, and AP music theory. My other core classes were honors or gifted, except french II which was enriched. My electives have all been music except the required PE.

Awards: basic stuff like local music competitions, AP scholar, school student of the year finalist, and a few local writing awards. Main big one is National merit semifinalist/expected finalist

Extracurriculars: my weakness.
Piano since kindergarten and high scores at competitions
President of mock trial and went to state last year
co President of NHS
Have worked as a piano teacher since junior year (1.5 hours/wk) and at an ice cream shop since this august (9 hrs/week), 2-4 hours/week helping with siblings
class rep in student council
tutored 2 people for the PSAT over the summer and beginning of this school year.
I got into a biomedical research program that had a 7 week internship over the summer (40hrs/wk) and I go for 2 hours of the school day now. 8 kids from the 4 major high schools in my city were accepted. I do mostly cell culture, tons of qPCR, and basic data analysis.

Essays/LORs/Other
I would guess my essays are an 8/10, one letter of rec is a 10/10, the other I have no idea.

Cost Constraints / Budget
I am on a budget but I’ve already asked about budget questions on this site. On this thread, I’m just trying to get a realistic idea of where I’ll get in. I am well aware that the chance of a merit scholarship at most of these is tiny!

Schools

  • Safety *
    Alabama (already accepted, NMF scholarship)
  • Match
    Lehigh (RD)
    Stony Brook: accepted EA
    Tulane EA (higher acceptance rate for LA kids, historically very high from my school)
    Richmond EA
  • Reach (I know my list is reach-heavy; I’m happy with Alabama, so the rest are mostly hail Mary’s. Anywhere that’s financial aid only had surprisingly good financial aid. If you’re familiar with me from other threads, these were either in budget or just over, and with my job I can contribute more than originally expected.)
    Amherst college RD
    Dartmouth College RD
    Duke University RD
    Emory University RD
    Might apply to Haverford RD
    Rice RD
    Swarthmore RD
    UNC Chapel Hill EA
    Vanderbilt RD

Thanks!

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It is very difficult to chance you for reaches.

However, I am impressed by everything that you have accomplished up to now. Good job!

I think that your ECs are excellent.

My guess is that you probably have more acceptances to come. I also am expecting you to do well regardless of where you end up next September. Best wishes!

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Linking previous thread for reference.

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Part of your issue is your school list - you have to wait. So it’s hard when friends are getting answers. Mine applied to one just so she’d have an answer quicker. A waste of an app fee but worth it to her.

You have a 4.0, 36, and have solid ECs.

So you can get into any school and will get into some.

But whether you can afford them is another issue - because as I remember, your budget is what your parents are willing to spend and not what they can afford to spend.

So Bama is your fall back. Not your desire but your fallback. If I have the right person, you visited Tulsa. I forget what you thought - but it’s not on your list.

You’ve also got Stony Brook - but is it affordable?

I agree with Richmond, Lehigh and will take your words on Tulane…but it’s not a question of in but can you afford.

So what do the NPCs say on the reaches because if they are $90K and your parents gave you $25K, why apply?

Listen - you can get into any school in America…you are that good…but if affordability is a question, applying to SMU and its Presidential (if not too late) would be money better spent than Haverford, etc.

Good luck and if you end up at Bama, you won’t be alone as a real accomplished student!!

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If it is affordable and you are assured your major, then move it to the safety category.

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