Recieved a 5 on Bio + Calc AB; 4 on Chem + Lang + Env Science
Everything else I took in HS was mostly honors classes and electives like Band.
Awards
National Merit Semi-finalist
[Redacted] International Music Competition; First Place in Solo Category
Scholastic Writing Gold Key
National Finalist in Annual World Marching Competition (4 yrs)
Presidential Volunteer Service Award (PVSA), Gold 2x
Extracurriculars
Started restoration initiative at a coastal preserve to conserve banana slugs and diminish invasive species.
A Marine Mammal Hospital: was a volunteer to care for seals/sea lions in hospice; repurposed mussel shells to regrow coral on bleached reefs.
Salon Assistant (Family Business): Created reservation website for my family (around 11k bookings as of date), trained staff, served diverse clientele, translated for parents
Pre-Vet Club: Founder and President; Launched new workshops like dissections, Donated 250+ necessities to local animal shelter.
Marching Band: Section Leader and Soloist; Won/placed at 20+ competitions regionally and nationally. 5-year involvement (year-round, not only in fall)
Veterinary Clinic Intern: Interned at [Redacted] Vet Clinic for a couple years; streamlined efficiency; recorded patient behaviors
Beekeeper at [Redacted] Zoo: Launched program enabling teens to care for 3 on-site bee colonies
Worked at [Redacted] Aquarium: Educated 1.5k guests on ocean conservation
Asian American Orchestra: Not the actual name of it, but this is just a cultural organization for my ethnic group. Principal and scholarship recipient; promoted cross-cultural appreciation through traditional performances.
All State Band: Selected as 1 of the top 2% of musicians statewide (4 years)
Essays/LORs/Other
Probably one of the better parts of my application IMO
Umich:
Personal Statement: reconciliation with a friend through a musical duet and how I grew from it (hard to explain kinda).
Supp about leadership: growing up in a hair salon and how it taught me valuable lessons in my passion in working in animals (like when I worked at the aquarium, zoo, etc).
Supp about Why UMich: includes a lot of information about ecology courses, labs, biological stations, museum of zoology, program in the environment. Which all ties back to the experiences I have already been a part of.
Berkeley:
Shortened version of personal statement
Supp that is about helping school community through starting a dissection program + other things
Intellectual curiosity regarding animals
Greatest talent of being dependable through working at family business.
LOR
Counselor: 8/10 Would write about my first-gen experience and give context, as well as talk about my passions for animals.
AP Calc Teacher: 7/10 I am a TA for him; pretty close but not quite sure what he would say exactly.
Foreign Language Teacher: 8/10 Very close!
Marching Band Teacher: 10/10!! I have known him since 4th grade and we have an extremely deep relationship. He knows me very well and he’s known for writing the best rec letters at our school.
Questions
Is this a unique enough profile for the T-20s? I haven’t seen too many animal-related apps but I still feel pretty sub-par.
UMich EA and UC Berkeley? They are 2 of my top schools.
You look like a great candidate to me! I volunteered as a docent at an aquarium in the Bay Area for a number of years - curious if it’s the same one lol. And I suppose I can guess the Marine Mammal hospital
What are your long term plans after getting a bachelor’s degree? Are either medical school or veterinary school (DVM) a possibility? One daughter got her DVM this past spring and so we do have some experience in this area.
For top ranked schools, my recommendation is that in terms of ECs you do what is right for you, and you do it very well. This seems like pretty much exactly what you have been doing. I like your ECs.
However, admissions to any “top 20” university is very hard to predict.
Also, if you are interested in either medical school or a DVM program, there are hundreds of universities that would be very good for your bachelor’s degree. You really do not need to attend a top 20 university to go on to attend a very good MD, DO, or DVM program.
I think that my daughter’s applications to DVM programs was helped quite a bit by her having both large and small animal experience. However it never occurred to me that small animal experience might involve slugs, and large animal experience might involve sea lions. Now I am wondering whether dealing with sea lions is any safer than dealing with bison (which she has dealt with, and you do need to be very careful with them).
To me it looks like you have done very well in high school, and have a very interesting set of ECs. I think that you are likely to do very well regardless of where you go for your bachelor’s degree.
UM is over $80k and more expensive the final two years.
You say this - does it mean none - ie you have $350k plus grad school ?
NMSF and impending NMF will get you as low as $5k a year ((NMSF is Tulsa - you’d pay for food. NMF other schools with Alabama likely most aggressive at 5 years tuition, 4 years room and $4k a year so can include grad school). But UTD is aggressive. Others would give free tuition.
I think you’d have a decent (better than average) shot at UM. But you’ll have grad school too. Is that worth it at $300k more and not sure it changes where you go to grad school ?
It may be but I’d have that discussion with mom and dad given what you’ve accomplished by being National Merit. Not many are this lucky.
I’d also talk to your private school counselor - where do kids like me go ?? They’ll know best.
Hoping others give you good news on the UC schools.
While both Berkeley and U Michigan have amazing programs in Ecology and Evolution, there are equally excellent programs which are as well regarded in universities that have higher acceptance rates.
While it may have changed somewhat, the ecology program at UC Davis used to be considered as good as that of UC Berkeley. But it also really depends on whether you have a preference in the areas that interest you. For Marine Ecology, I would have different recommendations than for somebody who is interested in Plant Ecology.
I’ve seen you multiple times on r/chanceme you have one of the most unique ECs I have seen from most T20 applicants this cycle and that is going to do wonders for you standing out in the pool!
Earlier this year I was in the same place nervous and stuck in a cycle of being obsessed with college applications (see my post history lol), and I just want to say it doesn’t help in any way. Try to relax and j get all your applications submitted, sadly the decisions are out of our control but I’m sure this process will result in you getting in somewhere great and it’ll be the best fit for you!
