Match & Chance an Asian female, 4.0 UW, 1570 SAT, ISEF grand award, environmental policy+data science interests. Dream=Stanford [NY resident]

Chance Me / Match Me
,
1

Demographics: Asian girl, high income, public school in a competitive area dual citizen US+Australia, graduated sibling Harvard legacy

Intended Major(s): environmental science/engineering

GPA: 4.15 UW 4.45 W (4.3=[97-100], +0.5 for AP classes, +0.25 for honors classes), no ranking but within T10% of class (300)
SAT: 1570 (770 R 800 M)
19 APs: 8 5s, 3 4s
Senior Year: 8 APs, multivariable calc, AP Spanish

Awards: ISEF grand 4th, USACO gold, one of 150 students internationally selected to attend a major environmental policy conference with industry leaders, one of 15 students internationally accepted to free summer data science research fellowship abroad (other stuff like research awards/publications, AP Scholar, writing contests I prob won’t mention)

ECs: collaborated with meteorologists collecting/analyzing data for local weather radar, intern writing local environmental public health legislation, cofounded environmental science educational network, volunteer organizing local park cleanups, sustainable biomed engineering research intern at local university, school clubs (sci olympiad captain, environmental club, mathletes, robotics) + all honor societies (national, science, math, social studies, English, Spanish)
Personal project: collecting data to code GIS for local pollution management policy

LORs: research teacher (def gonna be good), math teacher (average probably), research mentor from fellowship abroad in Europe
Essays/Approach: gotta tie together my profile by emphasizing the intersection between environmental sustainability + data science + public policy

Schools: not sure where to early
Stanford is the dream but do i have a shot REA?? would Harvard be a better idea to take advantage of legacy

High Reach
Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Columbia, Yale

Reach
Cornell, Upenn, Dartmouth, Rice

Target (need some help w/ this)
UC Berkeley, Northeastern, Tulane, Purdue

Safety
University of Rochester, Binghamton, Stevens Institute of Technology

1 Like
2

For admissions, Harvard defines legacy as a parent attended undergrad. A parent with a graduate degree from Harvard doesn’t count. All other relatives don’t count.

Other universities may use different definitions

3 Likes
3

I like your list as long as you are happy with your sure thing application choices. I do think Berkeley should be moved to the reach category. Admissions there have been unpredictable even for high stats students.

I don’t see any reason why you should not try SCEA at Stanford.

1 Like
4

UC Berkeley is definitely a reach, Tulane is also a reach, unless you apply ED. Northeastern is a reach, if you want the Boston campus - better shot if you are open to Oakland.

What state residence do you have and what is your budget?

5

For most unhooked applicants, yes. I would agree. But OP is an exceptionally talented student IMO so I think NEU and Tulane are a match despite their focus on yield and ED commitment.

3 Likes
6

NY residence; I don’t have a clear budget but would loveee to take advantage of state tuition at CUNYs and SUNYs, also why i’m applying specifically for cornell cals

7

That could be, although they seem to get tougher with each year, even for very accomplished students. Which of course is not to say that the OP will not get admitted, but they have become harder admits in the past few years from what I’ve observed.

1 Like
8

You should clarify with your parents exactly what that means. UC Berkeley is upwards of $75K/year for out of state students - no need based aid is available and very little merit. Before investing the time in the application (as you likely know, the UC application is its own beast separate from the Common App), make sure it will be affordable, should you be accepted.

5 Likes
9

I meant that we don’t have any budget, but I personally don’t want to make my parents pay too much for a school that isn’t “worth it” (NYU in my opinion), since we don’t qualify for need-based aid

1 Like
10

For continuity, what is your UW GPA on a 4.0 scale?

A-, A, A+ = 4.0
B-, B, B+ = 3.0
C-, C, C+ = 2.0

The UCs are test blind. As @worriedmomucb mentioned, the UC application quite long and is very different from the Common App. I’m not sure that it would be worth it to go through that process for one reach school where you will receive little to no aid.

1 Like
11

4.0 unweighted, if A- is also 4.0.
otherwise, 3.97ish (A-=3.67)

1 Like
12

That’s a good point, I’ve also been having doubts about UCs as I don’t really like how big the undergraduate population is. I think peer pressure to apply and the option to submit to multiple schools with the same application got me ahah…

13

Thanks. I updated the title.

14

If you would like to pursue environmental policy, colleges appearing in these sites may be especially well suited to you:

In terms of your interest in data science, you could choose an environmental field as your “applied domain” through some combination of majors or minors.

1 Like
15

If you were applying to several campuses - and sincerely interested in several campuses - AND your family can comfortably afford the out of state sticker price, then it might make sense. Right now, I only see Berkeley on your list. If you wanted add to UCLA (also a reach), and maybe Davis or San Diego or Santa Cruz, then it would be worth the application. But again, that only makes sense if you’d reallly be interested in attending those campuses, if accepted, and you could comfortably afford them.

3 Likes
16

Just a thought, but have you looked at the Environmental Engineering program (EVEN) at Colorado?

17

Congratulations on building such a strong high school record!

@hebegebe, would OP’s awards cause any significant changes in chancing?

Have you thought about the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry? You’d get in-state tuition, the college seems perfectly tailored to your interests, and it’s adjacent to Syracuse where you can cross-register for classes.

Can you share a bit about your methodology in terms of why you selected the schools you did? There’s some surprises for me on the list and knowing your rationale might help in suggesting other schools.

1 Like
18

The most notable individual award one is ISEF Grand Prize 4th place, but I also like that there is a set of supporting activities and awards. She should have much to write on the Additional Information section.

I think applying to Stanford REA is reasonable.

4 Likes
19

Completely agree that academically Tulane is a Match. Actually for ED I might even consider it a Safety. But for EA or RD, without a ton of demonstrated interest and some great “why Tulane” essays it’s a crap shoot.

20

I agree about ED here for this applicant. But if an applicant, especially a very strong applicant, doesn’t show a lot of demonstrated interest and a strong rationale for picking Tulane, then I don’t think it’s a crap shoot, I think it’s a don’t bother. That means that anyone who wants an acceptance to Tulane needs to show demonstrated interest and WHY they want to attend Tulane in a way that’s very Tulane-specific.

2 Likes