I am planning on applying Early Action to both schools. I feel as though I have shown my academic talent throughout my first three years well enough to represent me. I am concerned, however, that these schools are probably just out of my reach. I doubt that I will be a strong enough applicant. What do you think?
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White
GPA: W 4.32 UW 4.0 (A in every single high school course)
ACT: 33 (34, 31, 32, 34, 10 Writing)
Rank: 1 of 202
Residency: Michigan
Course Load: 9/9 AP courses taken at my high school and 4/4 honors courses, 4 years of Honors Spanish
Extra Curriculars:
Varsity Tennis (4 years)
Backstage Crew Member (4 years, stage manager for 2 years, awards)
Language Club Member (3 years, officeholder)
National Honors Society (2 years, very selective)
Working at a Pizza Place (2 years, shift-leader in charge of new-hire training, opening store, opening/closing cash drawer, 30 hours a week 52 weeks)
Drama Club (4 year member)
So, do you think that these schools are out of my reach?
They’re a reach for anyone. Your stats are solid, but most applicants will have the same or better. You really need to work on your essays to stand out, because frankly your application lacks extracurricular excellence. Chance me back.
Being able to stay number one in your class despite working 30 hours a week is very unusual. Read the Yale and Harvard admissions website to understand the REA and SCEA rules fully. Your ECs aren’t incredible like some CC posters but I think you have a chance. Might be better to use your ED opportunity one tier down like Georgetown, Williams, Amherst or Swarthmore. You sound like a very hardworking, accomplished student.
Your stats are excellent. As you prepare your application and supplementary materials, I suggest stressing two things:
Your job is huge. 30 hrs/week will keep anyone from amassing a big list of other activities. And that's OK. It shows commitment and character. Even more so if, as I expect, it's necessary to ensure your family's household runs smoothly. So play that up.
I notice two drama-related activities. For some reason you have obscured their relationship by not putting them together in your list above. I suggest putting them together and making DRAMA a feature of you application and your life, whether you plan on making it part of your future or not. And FWIW I think it's a strength that you are involved in the technical side. Pretty kids who wanna be actors are a dime a dozen. Committing yourself to actually making plays function is a good thing. And maybe you have other stuff going on -- like maybe you're an Ibsen junkie -- whatever
Either or both of those items could become the focus of an essay. Your guidance counselor might reinforce the first. A teacher might reinforce the second in a letter of recommendation.
Hopefully you were thinking about that strategy anyway. All I can go on is the way you presented yourself above.
@WasatchWriter@Wje9164be@GnocchiB@DaAfrican Thank you all for your replies and advice; I really appreciate it. I am thinking that I will write my common app essay about identifying as someone whose life has been affected by mental illness. Anecdote about finding my brother’s suicide note, seeking help for him, seeing his condition improve, etc. Then tying this in with my love and ability in math/science and how the combination of intrinsic drive to help others and love for math and the sciences will help me to become a psychiatrist and positively impact thousands, hopefully somehow millions, of lives. Is this a good essay topic?
That sounds like a really good topic! It’s very inspired, make sure to tie everything in with your activities and extracurriculars. Also, ik other people may have said this already; your EC’s are solid, but you may not have enough for Harvard and Yale. If your essays and other application materials are good enough, you might just have a chance. chance me back?
Agree with above post about 30 hrs/week work on top of school is something important that you should highlight in our app and/or ask your GC to emphasize.
Be very, very careful with this topic. Obviously it had a big impact on you and your family, but you do not want to throw your brother under the bus for the purposes of writing a good essay.
Your a tad light on your ACT, especially as a white male applicant–however, I think, you might still stand an outside chance (which is about as good as it gets at HY) if you make a compelling personal statement, and tie together your interests and how you would add to their student profile. Best–
@GnocchiB Thank you! And yes, it is a very touchy topic. Although it is sensitive subject material, it really did have a huge impact on my life and the path I have chosen to go. I feel that it is vital in explaining my desire to go to a fantastic medical school.
Can be a good topic, but you will want to work to take it past the ‘want to do good and ease pain for others’ level. That is a good and noble aspiration, but it is also something that AdComms read a LOT. I don’t know how to advise you except to say that you will probably need to re-write it from scratch several times to develop the thinking.
OP, I recommend starting a separate thread to seek thoughts on how/if you should approach the topic of your brother’s suicide attempt. If you look at previous threads about sensitive essay topics you will see lots of viewpoints. I can completely see that it has impacted you but I think you need to tread very lightly and try your best to protect your brother’s privacy. Obviously you’d want to avoid details about the method, contents of the note, etc. Maybe even refer to him as your sibling?
Anyway, it might be helpful to mine the collective wisdom on these boards since the topic is especially sensitive.
Best of luck - you sound like a wonderful applicant and good brother.
chance me back?