Match me or Chance me Really Scared Rising Junior [3.82 GPA at elite private boarding school, 1560 SAT, low income, economics or biology major]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • US Citizen
  • State/Location of residency: One of the least college-educated states
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Elite Private Boarding (think Exeter Andover Trinity)
  • Other special factors: first generation, low income, URM (idk if I’m allowed to say that)

Cost Constraints / Budget
n/a

Intended Major(s)
Econ/Bio

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.82/4 (I would estimate top 20-30%). also huge upward trend since freshman year bc of major health and family crisis during that time
  • Weighted HS GPA: school doesn’t weigh
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1560

List your HS coursework

(Indicate advanced level, such as AP, IB, AICE, A-level, or college, courses as well as specifics in each subject)

  • English: AP Lang, AP Lit, 3 College Level Electives
  • Math: MVC, LinAlg, Abstract Maths, another course basically maxed out the rigor
  • Science: College Major Lvl Genetics
  • History and social studies: Independent Study (highest lvl @ school), APUSH
  • Language other than English: like french 3/4 ish?
  • Visual or performing arts: choir

Awards P.S.: when I say xxx olympiad vaguely I don’t mean like ICHO or IEO but comps of similar scale so I’m not doxxed

  1. XXX Fellowship Attendee, 0.5% AR out of 20,000 (Intl)
  2. Chem Olympiad T1 nationally T2 internationally out of 6000+ (Intl)
  3. Econ Olympiad T8 out of 4000+ (Intl)
  4. Business Comp T1/1200 (Intl)
  5. USACO Platinum (Intl)
  6. Business Comp T15/365 (Natl)
  7. Bio Comp T5 intl, T1 natl out of 5000+ (Intl)
  8. Chem Comp T10 intl out of 8000+ (Intl)

Extracurriculars

  1. Biology Related Startup, developing product w/ 5k+ waitlisted and developing first of kind test for a cancer type
  2. Deal Partner at $10MM venture capital firm
  3. Panelist Board of $180MM early-stage firm
  4. Portfolio Company Mentor for $150MM early-stage firm. 2.5% equity stake of firm’s carried interest in startups supported.
  5. HYPSM RA (history related)
  6. First Author of 480-page Academic Book (independent research) on the intersection of global health w/ entrepreneurship, peer-reviewed by prof
  7. Blog on Finance Topics w/ over 750k likes
  8. Publication to Graduate Journal on why an economic model is inefficient
  9. Publication to Graduate Journal on DeFi
  10. Publication to Graduate Journal on behavioral economics

Essays/LORs/Other
Teacher LORs are probably decent. Professor who read the book and oversaw it will be super good. My essays will probably be decent as I am a good writer

Schools
no clue, I was hoping for HYPSM/Ivies but idk if that is possible bc of my GPA. I was hoping to apply REA to Stanford bc I heard they didn’t consider freshman yr grades but idk. Thoughts???

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If you go to one of these types of prep schools, your college counselor at the school should be able to guide you. They will know how students from your school fare in admissions at colleges, and should be able to offer suggestions.

There is a great college waiting for you to become a student. Please open your mind to a lot of options.

There are a LOT of colleges where you can study these things.

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I think I’d start with them but like everyone you can want Ivy/Stanford and that’s fine but many outstanding universities are 1,2, and 3 notches below in selectivity and will have studs too.

I can’t chance you near as well as the resources you have at school but if it’s Tufts, Emory, Tulane, Rochester, Lehigh or Miami or a Lafayette or Connecticut College type, you’ll still land in a fantastic place.

Btw schools like Tufts, Wake, Lafayette and more love full pay.

Best of luck.

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With respect to your interest in economics, you probably could get into a top-10 LAC for this field, such as those named in this analysis: https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.uslacecon.html.

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It is usually more difficult to maintain a very high GPA at elite private high schools, and university admissions knows this. They will interpret your grades in the context of whatever high school you are attending.

This is very good.

This is also helpful. While there are some universities that do not consider freshman year at all, your sophomore and junior years will be more important pretty much everywhere.

Your guidance counselor will most likely be providing a reference for you for your university applications. They can mention any health and/or family issues that you may have experienced during your freshman year. Your ability to overcome this and still do very well at an elite high school will speak well for your likely ability to do well at an academically demanding and highly ranked university. However, this is something that your guidance counselor can explain.

This is superb.

And as others have said, you can study either economics or biology or both at any one of a huge number of universities. These are majors where a graduate degree is also a possibility. You can get into a very, very strong graduate program after getting your bachelor’s at any one of a very large number of colleges and universities.

To me it looks like you are doing very well.

Okay, so finances will matter.

I am not sure what you mean by n/a. Do you have an expected or known source of funding for the cost of attending university? Are you planning to focus on schools that meet full need?

Do you feel that Stanford would be a good fit for you? I am biased here since I got my master’s degree there and loved it. However, if you think that it would be a good fit then I think that it would be worth applying to, and very likely worth applying REA.

I also agree with others that if you are attending an elite private high school, then your high school guidance counselor will have a very good idea what universities you are likely to get accepted to, and what universities are likely to provide any needed financial aid.

And I also agree that you are doing very well and there is a great college or university out there for you, and probably a choice between multiple great colleges and universities.

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Ooooh missed the low income so my last line will be N/A. Apologies.

Are you low income enough to consider Questbridge - under $65kish family income ?

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You actually will be considered a resident of the location of your HS (NH, Mass, NY). Your AO will be determined by the school from which you are applying.

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This suggests that you need to check the net price calculator on every college. If not affordable based on need-based financial aid, the chance categorization must be based on getting a large enough merit scholarship, not admission.

Your high school should have dedicated college counselors who will be much better at telling you which highly selective private colleges are more and less likely to admit you (even if their basic admission stats like 25th-75th percentile GPA and SAT ranges are similar).

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For the reading of your application…not for instate tuition purposes…unless your family resides in the state.

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And I too wonder…N/A for budget? What do you mean? Do you have a funding plan for college or are you hoping for need based financial aid, or merit aid someplace.

Do you want suggestions of colleges where you likely will get great merit aid?

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The guidance counselor at your “elite private boarding school” will be the best source of advice for college admissions.

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I can tell you that at our not nearly as famous but feederish private HS, kids with a similar profile who worked closely with college counseling would be on their way to a great outcome.

That might be a HYPSM. It might be some other great private or public university, or LAC. It might be a big merit award. In a few cases it might be outside the US! It would really not be possible to predict exactly which offers would be coming, particularly with a complication in the grade story. But something great.

So my two cents is you should not be scared, you should be excited! As long as you are reasonably open-minded, and work well with college counseling, you are going to have a great result, probably multiple great results to choose between (unless perhaps you get into a favorite early).

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No, he won’t

The application will be evaluated by the AO handling the school. And NMSF status is based upon where the school is located. Or more accurately, the state in the region with the highest cutoff. But for classification purposes, the OP is a resident of the state of his permanent address. If the OP’s home address were London, they’d still be categorized as a UK resident.

Regardless, if you’re making the distinction for geographic diversity, it’s less important than many in small states hope it would be.

Having said all that, I’m closing this thread temporarily. If the OP wants to edit so that he clarifies which stats and activities are actual vs projected, I’ll reopen

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OP has informed me that everything listed is actual, so I’m reopening the thread with the clarification that he is a rising junior.

For the OP, I’ll add, arguably your school has the best college counseling office in the nation, with all sorts of data on past applicants. They are well-versed on guiding students to build an appropriate college list. These resources can answer your questions better than anonymous people on the Internet, even if any of these people has experience with your school.

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The fact that the OP is a male could be a factor in their favor under certain circumstances.

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I certainly think if the OP is at all interested in LACs, he should take a look at Vassar, and maybe Wesleyan.

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I am in complete agreement with the others that the guidance counselor at your school is best placed to help you craft a balanced college application list and to provide chancing information.

Thus, I’m interpreting your question or request as more of a “match me” with respect to offering suggestions of schools that could be of interest to you. You already know about SHYMP and the Ivy League, so what other schools might you want to consider that could be well-suited to your interests?

The first school that came to mind was Emory (GA). There are about 7100 undergrads here. There are many options to study bio sciences, economics, or math here. There’s also a concentration in Health Innovation within the business school and a joint major in economics and human health. The Hatchery, its center for innovation and entrepreneurship, might also align with your interests. The CDC is adjacent to the campus as well and their relationship offers a lot of opportunities. Plus Emory is part of Atlanta’s ARCHE consortium which allows students to take classes at other area schools, like Georgia Tech and Morehouse.

Some other schools you may want to consider include:

  • Amherst (MA): About 1900 undergrads

  • Boston College (MA): About 10k undergrads

  • Brandeis (MA): About 3700 undergrads

  • Case Western (OH): About 6k undergrads

  • Duke (NC): About 6600 undergrads

  • Howard (D.C.): About 10k undergrads at this HBCU

  • Johns Hopkins (MD): About 6k undergrads

  • Lehigh (PA ): About 5500 undergrads

  • Rice (TX): About 4500 undergrads

  • Tufts (MA): About 6800 undergrads

  • U. of North Carolina - Chapel Hill: About 20k undergrads

  • U. of Rochester (NY): About 6800 undergrads

  • Wake Forest (NC): About 5400 undergrads

  • Washington U. (MO): About 8100 undergrads

  • Wesleyan (CT): About 3100 undergrads

I’m seconding the suggestion to investigate QuestBridge to see if you might qualify. If you’re matched with a school, you get a full ride. Amherst, BC, Case Western, Duke, Emory, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Tufts, Wash U., and Wesleyan are amongst the schools that participate (in addition to most of the SHYMP/Ivies).

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Incidentally, sort of on a similar theme, I tend to suggest academic high flyers at “top” coastal secondary schools at least take a good look at some of the top academicky colleges in the Midwest/Great Lakes. The trick is you may have to convince them you are serious, which is easiest if you actually ARE serious. But if they buy it they may love to have you as a sort of diversity play from their perspective.

So this includes some obvious research university choices like a Chicago, Northwestern, WUSTL, Case Western, or Rochester (I consider Rochester Great Lakes even though it is in New York state). But also LACs like Carleton, Grinnell, Macalester, Oberlin, and so on.

And then there is Rice, which is obviously not in the Midwest but I think functions very similarly, and is such a fantastically desirable college (in my opinion at least) that you could very rationally prefer it to many of the Ivies and such.

And to be very clear, this is not a rankings thing (in my mind). These are colleges that for the right kid will offer great academics and a great experience, and in some cases even merit money. But they just don’t see quite as many applications from the “top” coastal secondary schools, which makes them potentially more likely than the “usual suspects” among coastal universities and colleges . . . again at least if you convince them you are really serious about considering them.

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