So I happen to have one of those high scores, low grades profiles. Here’s what I mean.
ACT: 36
Unweighted GPA: 3.5 (ouch!)
A quick note, I am enrolled in the absolute most rigorous course at my high school, in which the typically, the hardest course load is a total of 6 APs (Fresh and Soph can’t take APs). I’ll end up with 7. I’ve also only taken high honors courses (there’s three levels, regular, honors, and high honors=AP), when I haven’t taken APs.
A few notable Extracurriculars:
-Volleyball Athlete (attempting to be recruited DIII : Will take any and all advice)
-Choir for nine years
-Teaching theatre at my high school next year with another girl
-College Courses over at Duke University (Both Genetics classes)
-Cancer Research at Northwestern University (My research team and I had a couple interesting discoveries so we will probably publish a few papers on it)
-CoHead of German Wheel club (If you don’t know what that is, please look at it on youtube, you won’t regret it!)
-Published several articles on the education system in America
And a few other ones that I’m forgetting.
Some miscellaneous info. My first semester of Junior year was my worst semester due to a concussion. My college counselor has written a note explaining the drop. My second semester was a straight A semester (well, and a couple A-'s).
I’m also a white woman looking to major in biomedical engineering with a minor in computer science. Colleges do have a tendency to be more biased toward women going in STEM, so I expect that to help me out a bit.
If you were an Admissions Officer, how would you judge me? What kind of schools do you think I should be applying to?
That’s not the right approach, depending on when you will look at where you can afford. Don’t apply to schools you can’t afford. You are just setting yourself up for heartbreak if you get in.
I think you are well-rounded for sure. Your extracurriculars show passion for your interest in BME. Great test scores. You need to write killer essays. But most importantly, pick the right school for you. Which schools will offer research in your areas of interest? What can you afford because with BME, you will be looking at grad school at a minimum…not easy to find work after only 4 years. If your looking at med school, need great grades undergrad.
Getting admitted to a school that is too expensive is effectively like getting rejected.
If a school is only affordable with a merit scholarship, then reach/match/safety must be assessed on the merit scholarship, not admission. I.e. a school that may be a safety for admission becomes a reach if you need a merit scholarship, and the large-enough merit scholarships are competitive enough to be reaches.
Paper publishing takes a long time. It may not be fine by the time you are applying.
“What kind of schools do you think I should be applying to?”
Schools you can afford. Run the net price calculators found on the web site of each school you are interested in. No point in wasting time on schools you can’t afford.
First off, it is impossible for me to know how I would consider your application as an AO. I have nothing to compare you to. Classes are not created in a vacuum, you would be compared to all of the other BME applicants. BME is probably the engineering major with the most women applying so that may not give you the advantage you think it will. From my perspective you have a strong application and would be a good candidate for a number of good programs. Those programs that are reaches for everyone will be a reach for you (including Northwestern). Larger programs such as UIUC and Purdue you would have a pretty good shot at being accepted but they would be matches not academic safeties.
I assume you’re entering your senior year and will be applying this fall. Now is a time to look seriously at the school’s you wish to apply to and not engage in fantasy. Costs have to be a consideration. By now you should know what your parents can/will contribute and what kind of scholarship/financial aid is necessary for you to attend any school you apply to. To have the best choices choose schools that are strong in BME and that your GPA and test scores are in the top 25% and that have reasonable acceptance rates. Once you know what your costs constraints are you can get some much better suggestions.
Good question, @bjkmom . I would like to know for sure too.
OP, is your GPA cummulative from three years of high school? If so, 3.5 might be more problematic. If it’s only junior year, and you had a concussion, you are in a pretty good position.
I suggest you post in the search and selection forum with more details. Post the stats and ECs, and give more info about the type of environment you want, along with your financial constraints.
DIII does recruit, they just cant’t give money. It can help with admissions though if a coach backs you or gives you a slot. There’s lots of info on this on athletic recruiting threads.
OK, you remind me a lot of my daughter. She was a theatre kid with a strong interest in science who is also practiced a lot of circus arts including cyr. My daughter is going to Stanford in the fall. At her Stanford Accepted Students reception, the regional Admission Officers listed off some of the accopmlishments/interests of the admitted students. Many of the kids worked in labs, published papers, created apps with 250,000+ sales, etc. The AO ended the list of interests with and one of you practices circus and spins fire. The entire group of very accomplished kids gasped and started wondering who it was. It’s very, very different. I would highlight it. Standout! If you do that new Zeemee thing (my daughter did not because it was so new), add a video of German Wheel.
DIII’s definitely have athletic recruits. There are no athletic scholarships, but coaches of varsity sports have a number of slots (varies by sport and school) granted to them by Admissions. The athletic recruits (individually and as a group) at the more academically selective schools have to meet certain academic standards. The AO does have final say over whether the recruit will be admitted, but coaches will get their recruits “preread” by the AO (provide test scores, transcript and schedule of senior classes) to ensure they don’t spend their slot on a kid who won’t be admitted. There are lots of threads under Athletic Recruits on this board that go into great detail about the standards and process.
@bwaygirl1, a 3.5 GPA isn’t going to get this student far with Stanford unless she has an AMAZING national level type EC accomplishment. Even with a 36. Just seems like setting an unrealistic expectation.
OP, tell us your financial situation. We probably could suggest schools that meet financial need if do. It should be near the top of your criteria, not the caboose. Unless your parents can readily pay a quarter of a million dollars for your education, of course.
Agree. For any meaningful suggestions we would need to know:
financial constraints if any;
any other constraints your parents may have (geographic etc.);
how your grades stack up against your HS classmates (in some high schools that GPA can put a student in the top decile, in other schools much lower); and
are you being actively recruited by coaches who say they will help you in the admissions process?
Also agree that “publishing a few papers” is not likely to happen so quickly. My D worked with a college professor to publish a paper in a peer reviewed journal and it was quite an arduous process that took close to 8 months from submission to publication.
Regarding my financial situation, my parents have some money put aside for college, and since I am my grandparents (successful small business owners in Romania) only grandchild, they said that they will cover the remaining cost for college. While I would like to get a scholarship in order to help my parents try to save some money for retirement, I would be able to pay for college in full should I need to. I know I am extremely lucky to have this opportunity, and part of me also feels very guilty for being born without the need to worry about finances.
In my highschool, there is no rank, but we do know what the quartiles are (25-50-75). With my weighted GPA, my college counselor told me that I am significantly above the top 75%, and hinted that I am in the top 10%.
If you do take my unweighted GPA, I am right at the 75% mark. My high school gives me the choice to send weighted or unweighted. I will be sending my weighted GPA.
I am currently talking to two Coaches about recruiting. One at MIT, and another at Johns Hopkins. I’ve heard that colleges can’t do very much regarding recruiting until the fall of my senior year.
What is serious pulling down my gpa is my freshman year and the semester in which I had a concussion. Otherwise, there is a growth trend. My GPA without my freshman year is about a 3.65-3.7.
Thank you for letting me know about the length it takes to publish papers. I didn’t realize it would take so long.
Academic DIII’s will reach out to their top prospects in the summer prior to senior year to collect data (transcript, test scores, senior schedule) for their initial pre-read for the admissions office (they could have been talking to and recruiting the student athlete well before then). If the initial pre read looks good, they may invite the prospect for a visit in the fall. Transportation will not be paid, housing and food for a limited number of days will be provided as the prospect stays with a member of the team. Then there is a “dance” as coaches rank their recruits and try to get an indication of whether their top prospects will commit to applying ED (or EA) to that school in exchange for one of the coach’s spots. Kids that apply early, if they pass muster with Admissions, will often receive a “likely letter” prior to ED/EA results being made official.
For most academic DIII’s, once you pass muster on the initial pre read, you are pretty much in if the coach offers you a spot unless you totally screw up your application or your fall grades or do something stupid. This however is not the case with MIT. The MIT coaches do not receive slots. They can recommend you to admissions, which makes that EC “enhanced”. I am not familiar with JHU’s process.
If I had a dollar for every student whose grandparents who said they’d pay for college, then backed down when they realized what a top school costs in the US, it would have paid my own kids’ tuition. They may be thinking $10K a year will be needed, when it is really $50K a year. Find out specifically how much each can contribute. Run net price calculators with your parents. Understand that after your first year, colleges are going to know that you have a source besides your parents for money, and may reduce any need based aid.