Low GPA Asian Male with Ivy+ or bust mentality. PLZ chance me (junior) [DE resident, 3.82 GPA, 1400 SAT, neuroscience or molecular biology]

Chance Me / Match Me
, ,
81

The University of Delaware is a very good university. I can see the point that your parents do not want to pay quite a bit more for a school that is equally good compared to U.Del. This makes sense.

I have seen a few cases where students attended an out of state public school that was just as good as their in-state public school, and only twice the price. This is okay if the parents can afford it, but is an unnecessary expense.

This makes sense. It sounds like they know you well.

The experience that you get while you are in university can be very important. As one example, I have heard that it is difficult for someone with just a bachelor’s degree in biology to get a good job. My younger daughter graduated with just a bachelor’s degree in biology, and had the exact opposite experience. Once she started looking for a job she had 3 good offers in five weeks. The issue was that as a sophomore in university she discovered that she really liked lab work and was good at it. Then she spent three years getting as much lab experience as she possibly could. That lab experience was what appeared to help her get good job opportunities (all of which sounded to me like she would be doing something similar to what she had been doing for three years as an undergraduate student).

Similarly, my wife, my older daughter, and I all think that our work / lab / research experience was a big part of what got us accepted to very good graduate programs. What we each did was quite different, but was right for us and right for the graduate programs that we applied to. My younger daughter is only applying to graduate programs right now so we have yet to see how this goes.

The fact that you already have lab / research experience at U.Del is a very good start, and to me seems way better than average for someone who is still a high school junior.

When I was in grad school the other students in the same program had come from a very wide range of undergraduate schools. A few doctors have told me the same thing, as have people who went to other types of highly ranked graduate programs. I think that you can get a good start at U.Del. which will be a good first step towards either medical school or some other form of graduate school.

And also applying to a few reaches makes sense to me.

I think that you are doing well and thinking about the right issues at this point.

82

The challenge with LACs will be narrowing them to a manageable list, since quite a few would be excellent for the study of CHNOPS and offer neuroscience. Nonetheless, look into Oberlin, which would represent a match for your profile and offers some merit-based scholarships.

83

But then you wake up and realize your current #s say it’s a target maybe (which doesn’t mean assure), but more likely a low reach as their #s trend up. But you have time to raise them.

But if you are in state Delaware, and you are majoring in something requiring grad school, why would UMD even be on the list ? You need schools to come in at budget. SUNY - yes. Bama - Yes. Miami Ohio - maybe. South Carolina - maybe. URI - maybe.

UMD - near zero chance.

84

I suspect any merit award will be a fraction of that. I just saw a 33% oos acceptance rate of 33%, average gpa 4.0.

85

Ah, my mistake. I misread. UMD is still a tough admit OOS and financially will be tough to hit the budget.

1 Like
86

Agreed but you need to have the two key points down. And many of those other things are easier to get when you’re at a school than can offer a more personalized experience, where you stand out.

I’m just noting and the student (at least today) has little shot at their list - but their list in and of by itself would not necessarily be the best path anyway. It may be or not - but OP should throw the names away and figure what he likes.

A happier kid = a better experience = many of the areas you talked about - and including GPA. Most today still want a test best I can tell. Some, with experience, forgo it or like the LECOM program.

87

I have no issues with the OP’s strategy of UDel and a bunch of reaches. UDel is a fine school, more than an adequate launching pad for med or grad school and will be affordable. IMO, there is no reason to add expensive large school alternatives.

To optimize your chances, reduce your list to less than 10 (5-8) so you can focus on crafting your essays specifically to each school. You will need to get your scores up as a relatively high SES applicant from the NE megalopolis.

You cannot SCEA Princeton and also apply to any binding early application.

4 Likes
88

Oh 
it won’t even be close to $25,000 in merit!! He has a good chance of being full pay, if accepted.

1 Like
89

Gpa is one target point, but not the only
agreed. High gpa will not guarantee acceptance, while a “lower” gpa along with other things might get you looked at. Most schools do not even require the gre, although some programs might.

If he decides on med school he may consider working first (most do not head straight to med school) and gaining OOS residency for med school purposes (this was mentioned earlier and I do not know the details/how to etc) It was mentioned that Delaware does not have a med school.

90

Will your parents pay for it? If not, then it may not be a safety for the scholarships needed to bring the price down to the parent-acceptable range.

1 Like
91

Depends on the “grad school”. Law school mostly yes.

Medical school uses GPA and MCAT as a first cut, but there is a lot more needed (clinical experience, volunteer work helping the underserved, etc.). All medical schools in the US are reaches.

PhD programs focus on undergraduate research, upper level course work in the relevant subject, and recommendations.

1 Like
92

Sure, AOs will figure out a rough estimate, based on context, particularly if lots of kids are applying. Can they tell top 10 vs 20? I doubt it in most cases. This will very much depends on variability within a HS and number of applicants. My kids big public school you can see from navaince there is a huge cluster VERY close together.

That is very different than “they have to give schools some idea of what decile
”

93

100% agree, most will.

94

Absolutely, of the cohort who applied
.which is relevant. Many counselors also report a highest GPA in the class, for calibration purposes. I agree many counselors do not divulge anything that would get allow one to infer decile rank.

Anyway, this is getting off topic, but if OP knows their relative rank it can help set expectations, and inform their list to some extent.

2 Likes
95

I’m going to agree with many of the people above. I do not necessarily agree with your parents about the value of non-Ivy+ college experiences, but I also think Delaware is an excellent option for you. So if you end up at Delaware for lack of other options your parents will pay for, this is not a bad outcome, it is still a very good outcome.

And then a little more specifically–unless your numerical qualifications significantly change, a materially “better” research university (private or OOS) than Delaware is probably unlikely. You can for sure try, and I agree about being focused. But to be frank, those sorts of universities are typically looking for really high grades AND test scores from their unhooked applicants, and even that just gets you past the first stage–it is still unlikely even after that.

I think the main question should be whether you want a different, not necessarily better, college experience than Delaware. And again, already this is running into your parents’ values, but I also agree you might have a shot at merit that at least makes them think about it. But you have to want that too.

So, say, do you want to study Neuroscience at a small liberal arts college? Some of those are going to be reachy and expensive too, but some less so, and you could chase merit at the SLACs where you might be very well-qualified. Again, I would hesitate to insist that is better than Delaware, but it would be different, and maybe with enough merit you could get your parents to support it.

The College of Wooster, for example, has a pretty robust Neuroscience program for a SLAC. They also put a big chunk of their aid budget into merit. In fact, almost all of their enrolled students who were not getting need aid got merit aid instead, and the average merit award was like $37K/annually. Their average enrolled SAT was also under 1400, so . . . this seems like a promising possibility for chasing Big Merit at a SLAC with Neuroscience for someone with your numerical profile.

But some people would rather just go to Delaware, which is also fine.

7 Likes
96

Since my daughter was in the UD honors program, we attended the honors graduation, where each student was called up with their major, and it was announced what they planned on doing after graduation. The universities where they were heading for their masters, doctorate, med school, law school, and employers were very impressive.

7 Likes
97

UD is a top 100 university. It sounds like your parents might pay up for, say, Stanford, but not for a middling school. That actually makes a good deal of sense. Why drop $65k per year on a school that’s ranked, say, 58th, if you can go to 75th for 1/4 the cost? But yes, do some research and find some schools that offer lots of merit aid. You have an awful lot going for you and I imagine that many schools would try their hardest to land you. All of that is a lot easier knowing that your State U is a really fantastic option, and your parents can afford it. It’s easy to say don’t stress yourself out too much, but you are in a good spot. So don’t stress yourself out too much!

6 Likes
100

Yeah, at our feederish HS, some savvy kids with premed intentions and such are flat out targeting good publics like Delaware, with strong related departments, and good proximity to experience opportunities. And saving money for later.

That’s not the only way to play it, but it doesn’t have to be Plan B, it can actually be Plan A.

7 Likes
101

There are tons of kids in my area applying each year to UMD for CS. I assure you it is most definitely not a safety with your stats (plus they’re quite holistic in their admissions and merit). If you don’t get a direct admission into CS, transferring in later is going to be extremely hard.

COA is almost $60k

The highest merit I’ve seen them give (other than the B/K scholarship) is $12k/year, and that too for students far stronger than OP.

It’s actually 93%, based on what the AOs have said when visiting high schools.

3 Likes
102

My D21 had UW 4.0, lots of rigor and a one sitting 35ACT got no merit at UMD, VT and UW-Madison.

5 Likes