Chance me maybe

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Academics:
cpa: 4.06/4.8 (Mostly due to B/B+'s in Spanish + English Courses – strict graders)
ugpa: 3.76/4
rank: 1st decile
SAT I: 2200 composite (800m, 710cr, 690w, essay: 9)
(Taking Math II & Physics) - Expecting >750s
AP: Eng Lang & Comp (5), Bio (4), Physics + USH (3) <- probably not going to submit these 2

Accolades:
1st place Team in Division 1 Teams/Jets Competition (2015)
2nd Place novice debate team (2014)
Spanish Honors Society
AP Scholar with Distinction

Leadership:
Software development team | President & Founder
Film Club | Co-president & Founder
JETS Engineering Team | Captain
National Honors Society | Treasurer
Student Senate | Treasurer
GHS Debate Team | Secretary

Extracurriculars:
Freelance Web Developer | Developed sites for robotics teams, non-profits, etc
Basic Science Research Intern | Yale School of Medicine (studied estriol’s effects on ishikawa cell histone methylation)
Yale Discovery to Cure | BPA’s role in selective epigenetic programming in the uterus
(will be applying for Intel Science Talent Search)
First Robotics Team | Member

Community Service (200+ hours)
Yale New Haven Hospital
Gables Retirement Home
Henry Whitfield Museum
Peer Tutoring + Math Lab
Website Development (non profits)
Misc.

Senior Schedule:
AP Human Geo
AP Stat
Study Hall / Capstone (research based)
AP Lit
AP Physics 2
AP Spanish
AP Calc AB
AP Comp Sci

Note: I am still test taking meaning SAT I is not finalized (studying ACTs)

Schools:
Stanford
MIT
Caltech
Cmu (school of comp sci)
Tufts
Uconn (safety)
U of Washington, Seattle
USC
Yale
Georgia Tech
UNC Chapel Hill
U of Mich, Ann Arbor
UCB

2

yo bump

3

what’s your major?

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@chubii Comp Sci or Microbiology

5

I think it would be a lot harder for compsci for these schools, especially since a lot of your EC’s/community service are more medical based

Your GPA is a little low for Ivies, Stanford, MIT, Caltech, and UCB (especially if you’re applying compsci), but at this level of competitiveness, the personal statement probably matters more. Also, private schools like Stanford and MIT really like it when the applicants are in won some kind of nationally acclaimed competition. I’ve never heard of JETS, but if it’s a big thing like Science Olympiad or AcaDeca, then that’s a very good award to emphasize.

I know Berkeley’s compsci has become extremely competitive these last few years (it’s a capped major now, I think)

I’m just another student, so it’s hard to be accurate, but I wish you luck!! :slight_smile:

6

@chubii hey thanks for the insight, I agree that comp sci is a very competitive field so I might just declare microbiology to make it easier for me to get accepted and then go for there.

Good luck to you too

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Bump

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For UMich, your course rigor is good, but your GPA is a bit low. Your SAT is within the mid 50 and slightly above average. Don’t worry about your AP score. You don’t need to submit any until matriculation anyway. What is your intended major? UMich is likely a low reach to reach for you from OOS right now due to GPA and low admission rate.

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@billcsho Microbiology and Comp Sci, I’m kinda relying on my STEM focus to negate my GPA a bit, since my bad grades fall in the English and Spanish courses. I’m hoping that my catch is filming since I’ve been doing it for the past 4 years and will probably write my essay on it. I agree though, UMich is really hard for OOS so its just a toss-up between me and the other applicants.

Thanks for the insight!

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Bump

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Bump

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What’s your parents’ budget? What’s instate for you?

Your course rigor is typical for the top colleges you’re targeting and you’re playing what Stanford specifically says it doesn’t want, ie “it’s not a game of who has the most Aps wins”. You need to show your course selection is thoughtful.
Are you taking all these classes “onsite” or are you self studying/taking some via virtual school?

AP Human Geo
AP Stat
=> un-necessary and looks like padding, unless you’re really interested in them (Human Geog is one of the few classes with APES where you actually discuss the world as it is; not sure why you’re taking AP stats, since you’re taking Calc, unless you love stats?) I honestly believe you’d have been better off taking Choir and Cooking or something a bit “different”.

AP Comp Sci
Study Hall / Capstone (research based)
=> good personal picks

AP Lit
AP Physics 2
AP Spanish
AP Calc AB
=> 4 core AP’s, in a good variety of subjects = good

Stanford
MIT
Caltech
Cmu (school of comp sci)
USC
Yale
====> you know the drill: odds are low. I’d say your odds, due to your research, are better than most, but that’s still about 10-15% instead of 3-6%…
Due to your research there, I’d apply REA to Yale.

Georgia Tech
U of Mich, Ann Arbor
UCB
U of Washington, Seattle (CS)
Tufts
====> those are matches for you. However, can your parents afford 50K a year out of pocket, with no financial aid? Do you know your EFC? Don’t expect FA or merit there. For GATech, I’d apply to the Presidential scholarship program (Oct 15) based on your research

UNC Chapel Hill
====> it’s a public university, therefore it’s dedicated to its instate residents’ children. Only 18% students can come from OOS, and those primarily include athletes and legacies. As for the few remaining slots, your odds are better than most but I wouldn’t bother applying.

Uconn (safety) => Honors is a safety too, but make sure to apply ASAP to lock that in

You should have other safeties: you could apply to UAlabama and get a full tuition scholarship, Honors college, Honors dorm, and compete for a spot in the CBHP.

In addition, RUN the Net Price Calculators. Then bring each result to your parents and discuss. Unless they’ve precisely stated they can afford any college full cost, many of your matches won’t work and you’ll need to find 4 more matches.

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@MYOS1634 Hey thanks a lot of the lengthly analysis, I really do appreciate it. My parent’s aren’t that well off, I’d say the low half of the middle class. My mom does work at Yale though and Yale does cut some of the costs, thought it’s not that significant. Connecticut is my home-state, so UCONN should be a guarantee, I’d wager even honors. That in itself is good for me, Uconn Honors is extremely prestigious and basically saves me a spot for med-school.

I agree with all of your odds, it’s a coin flip with those really selective schools, I’m actually hoping to write my essay about filming which I hope will make me stand out as it has been a hobby for the past 4 years. I honestly think USC should be a match or a low reach, but I’m not in Cali so its a little harder for me to get in (I guess this goes for UMich too)

I’m also going to apply to scholarships through my school and other small ones, hoping that can add up to a decent amount of money. If I do make semi-finals or finals in Intel Science Talent Search, I’ll get a lot of scholarship money, and that might also invoke some of the schools to offer me merit.

I’ll have to look into Alabama and see if it’s where I can imagine myself at for 4 years.

Thanks for the insight, I’ll definitely discuss money with my parents but honestly they’re just hoping I get into a great school.

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Okay, if your parents are lower middle class and your mom works at Yale, it changes things A LOT.

1° RemoveUCB and UWA: no financial aid available; UNC-Ch: do only if you have time because odds are low you’ll get in due to the cap + legacy&athlete priorities.
2° the ONLY way you’ll be able to afford GTech is if you apply to Presidential. You have two weeks to complete the application. Essentially, it’s for kids who’s been doing scientific research as HS students, but the competition’s fierce.
http://www.psp.gatech.edu/
3° Apply SCEA to Yale, since your odds are best there. You can (and must) apply to UConn Honors, UMich (&Honors*), GTech PSP, and UA Honors.
If admitted, you’re still free to apply to MIT RD as well as other programs, because SCEA only limits where you can apply ED/EA, not where you apply RD.

4° Find other match programs. I’d suggest URochester, Skidmore, Reed.

5° look and see if you can add Pomona, Carleton, Grinnell, Bowdoin - all excellent for science research and financial aid.

About Honors Programs:
http://www.examiner.com/article/the-nation-s-top-public-university-honors-programs?CID=examiner_alerts_article

http://honors.ua.edu/computer-based-honors-program/
http://honors.ua.edu/

*http://www.applytohonors.lsa.umich.edu/#!about3/crt

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Many parents hope that if their kids get into a great school, they’ll be able to pay for it. Unfortunately, the #1 source of scholarship is the school itself, so if the school is unaffordable from the get-go, as per NPC (or because they simply don’t have FA for OOS students, such as UCB or GTech outside of PPS), then the application time and fee are wasted. ah, if it were like the Sims and you had the cheat code for their magic money tree :smiley: :smiley:
Seriously: Better spend time on colleges you can afford.
You need to have a specific amount your parents are able to contribute and work from there.

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“Lower half of middle class”.

You need to ask your parents to run the NPCs for these schools. This is critical. You might be very surprised by your EFC (Expected Family Contribution) and possibly not in a good way.

I’d suggest you look at Rice University if it looks like you will qualify for financial aid. Rice offers limited merit scholarships, too, but they are difficult to obtain.

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@MYOS1634 I’ve actually never thought about it that way, and I’ll have to bring money up the next time I speak to my parents about colleges. I’ve just been thought to go to the most prestigious schools and to get a good education, then pay off student loans after college. This is definitely food for thought. I will definitely apply to the PSP; I’ve never really researched many honors programs, but after this I’ll have to look into them more extensively.

@txstella Thanks, I’ll make sure to ask my parents to do some calculations asap. I don’t really know about Rice – it’s a really good school and all but I’m can’t imagine spending 4 years of my life in Texas :stuck_out_tongue:

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bump :slight_smile: