Chance me/Match me for my daughter [AZ resident, 4.0 UW, 36 ACT, biochemistry, $80K/yr]

[Jadebai]

Demographics

• US domestic *(US citizen): US citizen
• State/Location of residency: * Arizona
• Type of high school *: public high school (4000 students total)
• Gender/Race/Ethnicity (optional): Asian
• Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.): none

Intended Major(s) biochemistry

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

• Unweighted HS GPA: 4.0
• Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.75
• College GPA (for transfers): NA
• Class Rank: NA, school doesn’t do ranking
• ACT/SAT Scores: ACT36

Coursework
(AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s)) 11 APs (US history, World history, Calculus BC, biology, chemistry, English, Physics-1, Spanish, psychology, Music Theory, environmental Science); senior APs (differential Equation, Physics -C, English

Awards

Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.) strong from chemistry and physics teacher

Cost Constraints / Budget
(High school students: please get a budget from your parents and use the Net Price Calculators on the web sites of colleges of interest.) ~80k/year

Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below)

• Safety (certain admission and affordability)
• Likely (would be possible, but very unlikely or surprising, for it not to admit or be affordable)
• Match:
• Reach

[DadOfJerseyGirl]

Your daughter looks like a very competitive candidate. You’ve tagged “Princeton”. Has she already applied?

You’ve also tagged this thread “first gen”, but said “none” to special factors including being first gen. Which is correct? Has either parent gone to college?

Have you run the NPC at Princeton and other schools to see how much financial aid, if any, you qualify for? (Princeton and other private colleges like it will cost more than $80k/year).

What is your daughter looking for in a college? (Location, size, sports, greek life, outdoor activities, etc)

[DadTwoGirls]

Your daughter is a very strong student, and is likely to do very well regardless of which university she attends. She appears to be academically well qualified to do well at Princeton, if she gets accepted and chooses to go there.

However, somewhere between 80% and 85% of the applicants to top universities such as Princeton are similarly very strong students. The acceptance rate for Princeton is probably somewhere between 4% and 6%. Also, of the students accepted, a large number (perhaps half or slightly more?) will either be athletes, under-represented minorities, or legacy students. This suggests that your daughter’s chances for admissions to Princeton is probably no better than the overall acceptance rate.

With a degree in biochemistry, it is possible to get a good job with a bachelor’s degree – particularly if the recent graduate has quite a bit of related research experience that can be obtained through internships and research projects while an undergraduate student. However, quite a few students with biochemistry degrees go on to some form of graduate program, such as an MD or a master’s degree (either of which is typically not funded) or a PhD (which typically is funded by the university). If some form of unfunded graduate program is likely, then saving some money in a college fund is a good plan. Avoiding or minimizing debt is usually a good idea for any student, if this is possible.

Princeton might or might not cost more than $80,000 per year depending upon your family’s financials. You might want to run the NPC to find out what it is likely to cost you. If you Google “Net Price Calculator Princeton University” you will find the NPC for Princeton.

Students should think about what they want in a university, and look for schools that would be a good fit for them. What is a good fit for your daughter might be completely different from what was a good fit for either of my daughters (and my two daughters went to universities that were quite different, but both were good fits for them).

The most important “job one” is to find at least one or preferably two safeties to apply to. Given that you are in-state in Arizona, these might be in-state public universities. You are also in a WICHE/WUE state, so various universities that participate in the WUE program are possibilities as well.

Also, it sounds like your daughter is doing very well. I expect that you are very proud of her.

[1dadinNC]

So here is the thing, after a certain point, SAT/ACT and grades do not matter. Your daughter is more than qualified based on those and the fact that your budget is $80K is also a huge boost/hook. I don’t see anything about ECs so I will just lead will schools that prefer academically strong candidates…

My three would be Vandy, Northwestern and Hopkins.

[NiceUnparticularMan]

My two cents is with academic qualifications like that, the really fun part is not trying to assess your chances at colleges like Princeton–you have a chance, so that is worth knowing, but beyond that there is not much to say that is of practical use.

Instead, the fun part is exploring all the OTHER cool ways you might be able to benefit from such qualifications. Like, possibly getting big merit offers, honor program admissions, and so on. Or, being really picky about college format, setting, location, vibe, academic programs, non-academic programs, and so on.

And if you really dive into all that and a college like Princeton still stays at the top of your preference list, OK then. But it can be really interesting and exciting deciding where else to apply.

And sometimes–maybe a college like Princeton won’t stay at the top of your preference list after all. I definitely think people should be open-minded to that possibility, because again there are so many different ways to potentially benefit from really good academic qualifications.

[DadOfJerseyGirl]

@1dadinNC

the fact that your budget is $80K is also a huge boost/hook

Not at Princeton or other private elite schools, as they are all need blind.
This includes the schools you’ve suggested:

@1dadinNC

Vandy, Northwestern and Hopkins.

[1dadinNC]

True and I should have elaborated more.
Clearly, an aspirational applicant.
My suggestion was based on schools that prefer very high stat kids and/or where stats weigh as much or more than other factors.
Notwithstanding, for selective school admissions, everything matters.
But 80K will tip the scale at many “prestigious” schools that could be OP’s safeties.

[tsbna44]

I see great grades and ACT.

What else do you have?

Those two things alone won’t get you to sniff Princeton.

Good luck.

[lkg4answers]

Has she applied anywhere?

[thumper1]

You want to know your daughter’s chances…but I don’t see any colleges listed on your OP.

Are you looking for private or public university suggestions? Any geographic preferences? College size? Urban/suburban/rural?

Did I miss something?

From your other post:

My daughter wants to apply SCEA with Princeton, she wants to know whether she can EA USC (university of Southern California) which is a private institute to be confedered for merit based scholarship. Both Sandford and Harvard are Ok with it. Thanks

Did your daughter apply early to any of these colleges? Is she interested in any other colleges?

[coolguy40]

She could get a full ride at U of AZ or ASU. That’s a win-win for everyone, plus an honors graduation is a tangible accomplishment you can put on a resume.