What are my chances for elite colleges?

Chance Me / Match Me
1

What are my chances for colleges like Johns Hopkins, Tufts, Penn, Dartmouth, Carnegie Mellon, Brown, Colgate, and University of Rochester?

I plan on majoring in neuroscience with a concentration in psychology (biopsychology/biological basis of behavior).

I have a 4.0 unweighted GPA, weighted GPA of 4.66, ranked 2nd in my class, highest Composite ACT of 33 (34 English, 35 Reading, 33 Science, 30 Math), superscore ACT of 34 (35 English, 35 Reading, 35 Science, 30 Math), SAT subject test scores of 790 Bio, 760 U.S. History, and 680 Math II.

I have gotten A’s in all of my classes and have taken the hardest course load offered to me including Honors English I, Honors American Lit, Honors Bio, Honors Chem, Honors Anatomy, Honors Spanish II, Honors Spanish III, Honors Ancient History, Honors Algebra II, Honors Pre-Calc, AP Bio, AP Physics I, AP Physics II, AP Calc AB (as a junior), AP Calc BC, AP World History, AP U.S. History, AP Chemistry, AP Government, Honors Molecular Genetics, AP English Language, and AP English Literature.

Extra Curriculars:
President and Establisher of the Science National Honor Society at my school (12)
NHS (11,12)
Math Honor Society (9-12)
Science Bowl Member (9-12), Captain 11,12
Varsity Quiz member (9-12), Captain 12
Softball (JV 9-11, Varsity 12)
Church Volunteer (9-12)
STEM Academy (9-12)
Honors Institute (9-12)
Peer Mentor (9-12)
Internship with Spine Surgeon (100 hours)

Volunteering:
Over 100 hours of service with same organization.
Also President of service oriented SNHS chapter
Math and Science tutor (9-12)- over 200 hours easily
Church Volunteer over 70 hours

Awards:
National Merit Commended Scholar
AP Scholar with Distinction
Honor Roll 4.0 (9-12)
Member of 9th place Regional Science Bowl team
Math Student of the Year (10th)
Science Student of the Year (9,11)
English Student of the Year (10th)

Thank you for your time!

2

Your grades are strong, though your ACT is a bit low relative to your GPA, so it might help to try and get that score up. You have lots of extracurriculars, but besides your internship with a spine surgeon nothing stands out as differentiating you. Most of the people applying to the elite schools (Dartmouth, Penn, etc.) are going to have the exact same grades and test scores as you. You need to differentiate yourself using your essays/supplementals. Why should they take you instead of those other similar candidates?

Your chances at the tier 1b schools you mentioned (Tufts, Carnegie) are a bit better, but there is still no guarantee. I’d be confident about Colgate and U of R (U of R offered me an academic scholarship and I had similar grades to yours).

3

Johns Hopkins, Tufts, Penn, Dartmouth, Carnegie Mellon, Brown, Colgate, and University of Rochester?

Colgate and Rochester i would say you are pretty set for, as the scores and grades are there.

For the rest of the schools, its harder to say, but you are definitely extremely competitive since you are number 2 in your school.

CMU, it really depends what you are applying. can i ask what it is?

Good luck!

4

I am applying to the Mellon College of Sciences as a B.S. in Biological Sciences and Psychology. @andyprep

5

@CP3333 Why do you say a 33 is a bit low relative to a 4.0? You do realize that 33 Composite is 99th Percentile?

OP, you are competitive. No one can tell you more than that. How were your essays? Recommendations? Did you apply EA anywhere? (I’m not familiar with EA/SCEA/ED of those particular schools other than Penn’s preference for ED).

6

@ Sportsman88 Regardless of national percentile, which AO’s don’t take into consideration, if you look at any Ivy’s admissions stats, a 33 ACT often won’t even get you to the 75th percentile of their incoming class. A 4.0 GPA is great but standardized testing is used to balance the differences in high school rigor. Someone with a 3.95 GPA but a 36 ACT is often viewed more favorably than a 4.0 GPA with a lower ACT.

7

For all of those colleges I applied Regular Decision. I would say my essays are all pretty solid and would also probably say that my recommendations are pretty solid as well.

8

Well @CP3333 many of those colleges superscore, so I’d actually have a 34 and Brown’s average ACT is a 32, which I have above, so I’m above average at many of these schools as far as standardized testing. Correct me if I am wrong, but the way I view standardized testing is a way to get your foot in the door. You have to hit a certain ACT score to then have the rest of your application really given a more thorough look. Am I correct in that assumption? I also think that rigor in high school classes and succeeding in those means a lot more than standardized tests. Am I also incorrect in that assumption? I would think that AO’s would value a student doing well in their rigorous coursework throughout the year than doing well on one four hour test. There is no difference to be balanced as I see it.

9

I think you definitely could get into any one of these schools depending on your essays. Did you send your Math II to all of your colleges, seeing that it is a little on the lower side for the more selective colleges on your list? Overall, I like your odds of getting into atleast a couple of these schools.
Good luck!

10

I did not send my math II to all of them, just the ones that suggested/required that I send math II given my intended major in the sciences which were U of R, Carnegie Mellon, and Penn. @PleaseStan

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Update: I am currently 1st in my class and have gotten A’s for my first semester of senior year. I have completed interviews with Penn, which wasn’t the best interview but it wasn’t awful, with Rochester, which could have gone better, with Dartmouth, which went really well, and with Carnegie Mellon, which also went really well. For Dartmouth and Carnegie Mellon interviews, the interviewers and I really clicked and so it was a really good conversation and the CMU interviewer even told me that she felt that I would be a great addition to CMU. So with that I think my recommendations from the CMU interviewer and Dartmouth interviewer would be very good.

12

I think you have a great shot at all of those colleges. 33 ACT is not optimal, but definitely does not put you at a disadvantage, especially given your GPA and courseload.

13

To those who are telling OP that a 33 is not a good score. STOP IT. OP has already applied to schools and the deadline to test has already passed in December. The only thing you’re accomplishing is stressing out OP with something not worth stressing. With a rank of 1st in class and his ECs, OP is competitive for all these colleges.

14

@bubblepop12444 Thank you for that. I know that my ACT is not ideal, but it isn’t awful so hopefully it will get me a fair read and the rest of my application can do the rest. Thank you to everyone who has responded!

15

I disagree with @CP3333 for more reasons than one. A 33/34 ACT score DOES correspond with a 4.0 GPA. Getting that ACT score up is virtually useless. And grades in classes and course rigor show a lot more about the academic capabilities of a student than a measly 4 hour test.

A couple years ago, Harvard reported that 54% of its student body had a 4.0 GPA in high school. Harvard’s 50th percentile ACT is 33, meaning that half of the students scored a 33+ on the test. Since more than half of the student body had a 4.0 in high school, one can assume that some were accepted with test scores at or below the 50th percentile (although this might be faulty logic on my part).

But, nonetheless, your stats are more than good enough to get you past the “academic threshold” at every school. Good luck, and make sure to take people’s input on CC with a grain of salt.

P.S. I may be a little biased since I too have a superscore of 34 with a GPA
of 4.0 lol

16

could someone chance me for colgate and bc?

GPA.
3.9 uw 4.4 w

Tons of Ap and college classes that I have A’s with. Close to 30 credits from college classes alone and the lowest I’ve received is an a-.

Act: 33. English-35, math-33, reading 32, science-31

Essay for common app was very good while supplementary essays were okay.
Great reference letters.

Extracurriculars.
5 years playing soccer at the US developmental academy program (very high leveled)
This final year focused on distance running and ran my first marathon. Worked as a ski instructor for children. Volunteered a decent amount at various places over the high school years. Tutored a middle schooler in math (which should be helpful since I’m interested in majoring in math).

17

@CP3333 I would completely disagree with you. Your high school GPA is a reflection on 4 years of your life while the test is just 1 day of it. Anybody can just redo the ACT but you can’t “retake” your high
school GPA. In terms of the OP, I think a 33 is excellent, but they will put you in comparison with others so the essay has to be great.

@jacksnoah you should put that in a seperate topic. But i would say you are competitive.

18

Bump