Ivy League or Community College?

Chance Me / Match Me
1

To all you helpful members,
I am hoping that some of you can provide some insight on my actual chances for admissions. I know that this question is very common, yet I would still be very appreciative.

Basic: I am a Caucasian female from a Midwestern farming community. I am a rising senior. One of my parents is a teacher while the other lacks a college education. We have a small meat farm that annually loses money.

Scores: ACT composite 29 Superscore 31 (Hoping to approve this in June)

Classes: Highest Classes that my small school offers. As of junior year, I have taken 6 sciences.
I have taken classes through a community college and one AP class (Biology).

GPA: 4.0 UW (I do not my weighted GPA at the moment.) #1 in my class

Extra Curricular:Pep Club, Science Club President, Book Club, Spanish Club, FCCLA, Yearbook Staff. Quiz Bowl Captain and District Champions
Sports:JV volleyball, Varsity Track, Varsity Basketball District Runner Up and School Record Holders

Community Service (I consider this my strength.): Member of a youth council of a charitable foundation (there are a bunch of affluent white kids on this besides me of course) we decide on grants, over 100 community service hours junior year, NHS Community Service Project Planner, summer reading tutor, library volunteer, local nursing home bingo caller.

BIGGEST Accomplishment: Wrote and won a grant for a service project that incorporates youth into a project painting flower pots and giving them to senior citizens. Hundreds of people affected. Over 100 hours of volunteering for this project alone

Awards: Have received an award for the highest grade for every one of my high school classes save for Science 9 and Spanish 1. Voice of Democracy Local Speech Winner

Merit Scholarships for Summer Learning: Junior High fully paid robotics day camp, Rising Freshman Year fully paid overnight medical camp, Rising Junior Year rural electric representative in DC, Rising Senior Year: 3 week medical camp at state university and fully paid 3 weeks at Summer@Brown

Work Experience: Summer Janitor and Year-round Childcare

I have received the highest marks in all my science courses where I am the youngest student. Hoping to attend an elite school to further my knowledge of life and chemical sciences with a premed direction in mind.

I have NO connections or legacies. I have little guidance or support; subsequently, I am posting this.

2

What are you asking?

No one can tell you your actual chances. Most people who apply to Ivy League schools are well-qualified. You should indeed improve your ACT scores, they are not Ivy League level without a significant hook (athletics or URM).

If you can get a recommendation from someone at Brown from the summer program, go for that. With your parents owning a farm, financial aid may be a bigger issues than your grades. Look into whether your state has special programs for children of farmers, that may be your best bet.

Community college is not a great path for someone interested in biochemistry and/or medical school. But again, financial aid may be your issue.

3

Despite your fine GPA, your ACT and lack of challenging comparisons probably takes you out of the running for ‘elite’ schools.

If you got it solidly into the 34-36 range, that would help some, as would winning some state academic honors.

Has anyone from your school gone to HYPSM?

4

Thank you for honesty. There is no farm land involved with the farm, so financial aid is NOT a problem whatsoever. Basically, I used the title as “hook.” I currently attend community college while in high school, and it makes me want to pull my hair out some days. ACT workbooks, here I come. @rhandco

5

When you say financial aid is NOT a problem, are you saying that you are full pay?

6

No, @JustOneDad . No one from school has attended these schools. In the late 1980s, one of my friends parents attended Cornell for a agricultural banking program the school was starting. I am in a frustrating situation due to my school’s class offering. I am currently taking the highest level of senior courses as a junior but am still not up to par.

7

Not up to par on what?

8

Just because “no one” attends Ivies from your HS doesn’t mean you can’t. That in itself is sort of a hook.

My spouse was the first person in 20 years to attend an Ivy from his HS, and two years later another student did. Since then, in 25 years no one else has gone to an Ivy.

I don’t understand “we have a small meat farm” but “there is no farm land”. What does that mean? If it is not a farm, then it is a small business, and yes that has financial aid ramifications especially at private universities.

9

My parents’ combined income is under 100 grand, and I have used financial aid calculators. At Ivy League Schools, my total aid subtracted from the sticker price results a price of under 10 grand. @JustOneDad

10

@rhandco As you most likely can tell from my lack of understanding of business, I am no economics aficionado. My father raises approximately 5 steers per year, which are sold to friends and friends of friends. Expenses for these animals are written off as farm expenses; however, the “business” or whatever it may be is filed as losing money.

11

Do you have a Grange or other local farmers association? I am sure such issues have come up before for children of farmers (even small farmers).

One of the realities of getting into college nowadays is that you’ll either need to get into your parents’ financial business, or they will have to do it all for you (which IMHO was worse for me than doing my taxes every year). There are many threads where a parent owns a business, and the student is shocked that the FA just is not there.

So a point may be to look at the honors college at your state university as an option, if they only use FAFSA that may help a lot for FA. Maybe it is time to talk to your parents about college and college costs, not after you apply.

12

Depending on what state you live in, your ACT may be competitive at your state flagship.

13

Okay, so I see why you’d like to go elite; because of the good financial aid.

You can apply to the elites all you want, but you need to have a backup plan involving other schools. Frankly, your chance at the elites is very small.

The good news is that you can go to nearly any college and get into medical school.

14

@JustOneDad So is my major sore my ACT or classes taken?

15

Because of your location and HS, you likely haven’t had a chance to challenge your academic abilities. Applicants like you can get into the elites, but you have to have some way of showing you are up to it. Typically, very high standardized test scores can help do that.

While we are at it, you will have to have some killer recommendations from the teachers, something on the order of them saying you are the best student they have taught in ten or twenty years.

And, you will have to write a powerful and engaging essay or essays.

16

Hence my note about finding someone at the Brown summer program to recommend you, and see if anyone at a past summer program would recommend you. In addition to those required from your teachers.

(when you are at a small or low-ranked HS, it helps if the teachers say you are “one of the brightest students in my 20 years of teaching” or so on)

17

Okay, thank you for the advice, @rhandco and @JustOneDad ! I have just noticed the “approve” mistake. As someone who prides herself on speaking and writing eloquently, that sure has contradicted that. Since my class at Brown is taught by a real Brown professor and my class is very small, I am very hopeful that a relationship can be built. One of my letter of recommendations from a teacher of mine is very good in my opinion!

18

Agree with others, re: state flagship honors program. Definitely look into it. As someone stated, you don’t to go to a fancy school to get into med school. I also agree that the lack of challenging academics will make it tricky for you at a lot of competitive schools, but you never know. You’ll need to knock out killer essays, no matter where you apply. I would also take the SAT and maybe some SAT II tests as well, as a way to show the elites your potential (also some schools prefer SAT to ACT).

I would focus on schools that offer merit aid, as your father owning his own business could have ramifications, re: your FAFSA and fin-aid that an EFC calculator won’t show you. Look into Alabama, which is a CC favorite.

19

I think you have a great chance at elite schools. It really, really, comes down to the essays though. PM me if you need help with any of them- I applied to all the Ivies and did get into one (Dartmouth), and my GPA was “under the standard” like your ACT is “under the standard.”

20

I think it’s not useful to spend that much time sussing out your Ivy chances. Decide on a few of them to apply for. Let the chips fall where they may. That’s all the mental energy you need to expend.

What you do need mental energy for, however, is coming up with some non-Ivy schools to apply for - matches and safeties, and affordable ones - in case the Ivy thing doesn’t work out.

Make a decision about reaches, move on to other pressing matters. College isn’t rocket science. Unless rocket science is your major, in which case it is.