Hey CC Community. I didn’t know whether to put this here or in my what are my chances, but I figured it would be best here to start here for your opinions on what colleges I should consider. When using various sources such as CC’s Find a College search tool, I am paired up 100% with nearly all Ivy’s/1st Tier schools. Of course, there is a small chance of me actually getting accepted.
Here are somethings about me: Current Junior
SAT: 2190 ( CR 710 Math 750 W 730)
SAT II: Math II 710 US History 670 (Freshman Year)
GPA: UW 3.93/4 W 4.61/5 (Nearly all Honors/AP Classes except requirements such as gym)
APs (including next year): NSL, US History, World History, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Calc BC, Statistics, Lang, Lit
National- Technical, Spanish, Math, and Science Honor Societies
Magnet, PLTW (Engineering), Science, and Humanities Academies
ECs:
-LEO Club and Project Change
-Health Careers Club (Co-President) and STEM Club (6th Place Chemathon)
-Dos Banderas (Tutoring Spanish Speakers English)
-Asian American Club (Vice President)
-FCA (President)
-2 Year Varsity Track (Qualified for Counties), 3 Year Varsity Volleyball (Captain), Karate (Eastern Regional Karate Championships- 2nd and 3rd place), Student Athlete Award
-Medical Surgical Unit Volunteer at Hospital
-Other church/youth group activities
-Over 200 community hours
*Possible published scientist following this year (Wakksman Project) and summer internship with research on effects of cholesterol
So my questions are, will my EC’s be enough to makeup for my high yet imperfect SAT/GPA for ivy league schools? What schools are not as selective as Ivy, but are in the next tier “down” such as Duke or the UC? Would it be realistic to consider such schools?
I intend to either major in a Biological Science/ Bioengineering, or PreMed
Really not worried about cost constraints at this time- Not the richest family, but I have a supporting cast and I am sure I will find some sort of way to pay/scholarships.
Md. No student rankings in my district, but I am sure I’m in the top 3
You do seem like a great fit for ivies academic wise. Your EC’s seem to be quite good not too bland but not extremely diverse either. I think with a good essay and interview you could have a very good chance for ivies.
Colleges with acceptance rates of at least 20-25%, or schools, such as some public universities, with largely statistically based selection criteria, represent likely “match” schools for you from an admission perspective. Many of these colleges would still be considered most selective by USNWR. What tier they fall into is a matter of opinion.
Considering Duke next tier down … wow, I have no idea how that college match works. Are you top 5% in a really competitive high school with good Ivy League placement history ? Are you top 1,2,3 in your class ? Otherwise, you fellow students will already take up many of possible spots.
All the schools other than UC-Berkeley that are top 20 are small and have really low acceptance rates (and you can assume that 80% of the applicants have similar stats to you).
So in my opinion, all the schools are reaches for almost anyone who is not spectacular (I am not sure what Wakksman is but that is the only activity on there that sounds possibly spectacular) and you need to find some matches and even safeties. If you want merit aid, you will have to open up even more schools.
So look at your top 10 only list and pick a few as your reaches, more if you like writing essays and have money to waste. Then pick schools say from 1-40 on USNWR and some top LACs. Then pick some merit possibilities and/or safeties.
If you could get recruited for karate … maybe. URM would also help.
Also take another SAT II and try to get something higher than 670 and maybe even bring up the math. I don’t think anyone will notice about taking them as a freshman.
If you aren’t in-state for the UCs, you will pay OOS tuition with pretty much no aid or scholarships from the schools. You can’t afford to ignore finances, or you will just end up with a lot of schools you can’t afford. Each college has a net price calculator on their website. Have your parents help you run them. And I’d suggest you don’t worry so much about prestige and “Tier”. You have too many reaches now. You need some matches and safeties.
You’d stand a “good” shot (and by that I mean you’d be competitive; nobody except Malia Obama and Malala Yousafzai actually have a good shot at top-tier schools) if you got the SAT up a bit. GPA is completely fine.
Thank you all for your advice and opinions! At this point I’m trying to get rid of the “prestige” mindset, and I will just try to find some schools that have the best programs and costs suitable for me.
One big concern is that even though I am sure I am one of the top 3-5 students at my school, the school nor district that I am is competitive. Hopefully my essays and teacher recs will help me a lot!
I will talk to my parents about costs soon, hopefully that will tremendously narrow down my options. I appreciate all your advice again
Minimizing total debt (after both undergraduate and medical school) can be important if you want to practice medicine without debt pressure that can cause one to compromise one’s principles (see [Doctored](http://www.amazon.com/Doctored-The-Disillusionment-American-Physician/dp/0374535337)), particularly if you want to go into a lower paying specialty like one of the primary care ones.
Any university where the acceptance rate is below 25-30% should be considered a reach due to selectivity - the odds of a student, even with excellent stats such as yours are too unpredictable to make it anything else.
Therefore, you need to find universities (and, especially, LACs) that admit 30-40% applicants for your matches, and 45-60% for your safeties. You’ll end up with A LOT of universities. Then, run the NPCs and cut all of those which don’t match your parents’ budget. (If you don’t know what the budget is, now is the time to ask - too many students wait till senior year, only to apply to colleges they can’t afford, or to find in the Spring that they can’t attend any of the colleges they got into unless they get into major debt or that their parents don’t want to/can’t pay their cost of attendance.)
UMD-CP and UMD-StMary’s should be on your list, as well as UMD-CP. That’d cover your bases.
Then, look into Dickinson, Kenyon, Skidmore, Rhodes, Denison, Centre; then Allegheny, Goucher, Loyola-Maryland, Ohio Wesleyan, Wooster, Hobart&William Smith, Muhlenberg, St Lawrence, Hendrix; UScranton. (For your reaches, you won’t have any trouble :p).
You’ll find good biology classes at most Top 100 colleges. However, biology is a major that doesn’t have many professional outcomes if you’re among the 1:2 who don’t make it into any med school. Completing the premed core while majoring in something else than biology might be a good idea (statistics, computer science, a social science, a foreign language…)
Be careful with using admission rates as the sole indicator of selectivity. For example, http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/lowest-acceptance-rate/page+2 says that Mississippi Valley State University has a 16.3% acceptance rate, but, like other state universities in Mississippi, it auto-admits frosh applicants with (a) 3.20 HS GPA, (b) 2.50 HS GPA with ACT 16, (c) 2.00 HS GPA with ACT 18, or (d) NCAA D1 academic eligibility (applicant does not have to be an athlete), according to https://www.mvsu.edu/prospective_students/admissions/university/standards.php . Meanwhile, UT Austin has about a 40% admission rate, but can be a safety for Texas residents in the top 7% of their class and not trying to get into a selective major, but a reach for those who are not Texas residents in the top 7% of their class.
You may find several schools that would be suitable for your interests on this online list: “The Experts’ Choice: Colleges with Great Pre-med Programs.” Use judgment when reviewing the schools as the source’s inclusions and exclusions may be somewhat arbitrarily based.
Hate to bump this but
with the incoming snowstorm my January SAT will most likely get moved.
Is my current SAT (2190, 1460 CR+M) good enough for schools such as UCI, UCSD, UNC, UMD?
Should i just take the refund and be done with my SATs? Or is it worth trying to improve that score to 2250+?
Should you believe that your 2190, as high as it is, does not reflect your capability for whatever reason, then that could create a somewhat “natural” reason for retaking the exam. You would be the best judge of this.
Your scores are fine. If you are in the top 3 to5 students your grades are too. Your ECs look fine, good luck on getting a published article, that would be a definite plus! I think you can apply to reach schools and BTW that’s everything from Duke and Tufts up to Harvard and a couple of safeties. I recommend rolling admissions and EA schools for safeties. Or if you like LACs look for schools that offer merit aid. And yes find out what you can afford, especially if you think med school is in your future.
I’m saying you can’t count on getting into any college when the admissions rate is under 20%. They are all reaches. Many think Tufts is some kind of safety for students gunning for Harvard. It isn’t.