Hi my daughter is thinking to apply to these schools. Can you please give me your opinion about her chances? Will really appreciate it.
Yale,
UPenn (LSM)
JHU
Stanford
Duke (Robertson)
Washington University St. Luis
UNC (Morehead-Cain)
UMich
Wellesley
Here are her credentials:
GPA: Weighted: 4.58; Unweighted: 4.0
Class Rank: Top ~2% in a class of ~200 students in a suburban rigorous and competitive private school.
SAT I : 2390 (2nd attempt. 1st attempt: 2230)
SAT II: Bio 770; Math 2: 790
AP Taken: Calc AB (5); Bio (4); English (Self-study 5); APUSH (5);
AP Senior Year: Physics; Calc BC; Spanish
AP Scholar
National Merit Semifinalist
EC’s and Awards etc:
Joyce Ivy Foundation Mentor: 2+ years and continuing
Varsity Soccer: 3 years
MUN President: 2 years
Madrigals: School’s Advanced Choir by Audition: 3 years
State Vocal Finalist (2 years)
Piano: 13+ years
Wilderness Expedition Leader
Summer Internship Research at University of Michigan, Neuroscience department culminated in a 1st author paper to be submitted to a leading journal.
Authored various “English Prized Papers” published in school’s annual Literary Works Collections.
Resident (Paid) writer for local community magazine: Published more than 6 articles.
Six weeks volunteer for Women Rehabilitation Center in Nepal, and also helping them to write project proposals for submission to international donor agencies.
Wellesley Book Award
Nominated by the school for Morehead-Cain scholarship award at UNC
Volunteer in a local hospital.
Volunteer in local schools.
Volunteer in various other local organizations.
Lead and coordinated to raise funds in the school and in the local community to help the Earthquake Victims of Nepal.
American Asian (Nepali) Female
Applying for Financial Aid/Scholarship (if available and applicable).
Congratulations on your daughter’s record. She should be very proud, and you of her.
Her academics are fine. GPA, class rank, SAT I and II scores and APs plus curricular rigor all show that your daughter is academic qualified for any school, even those at the top of her list. Her combination of neuroscience research, volunteerism, and literary endeavors is strong.
Out of curiosity, was the Wilderness Exploration Leader through a particular program? I’m interested in learning more.
What I don’t understand is why your daughter is interested in applying to Vagelos LSM. It’s a fabulous program, but I don’t see any evidence of your daughter having a business focus. It seems like she is a bit all over the map - Robertson is a program with a focus on community service, which I can understand, but applying to both Duke Robertson and Vagelos LSM seems like she is blowing in the wind a bit. I think it’s important for your daughter to be clear in terms of her interests and priorities, and to craft a coherent narrative. If she does that, then I think she stands a solid chance at any of those programs, with the understanding that they are some of the most competitive ones around.
@renaissancedad, thanks for your response. Yes, I do feel that she is more of a Robertson/Morehead kind of girl than, should I say, LSM kind. Though she does have some business interests (runs own custom handmade greating card business, she has a cookie business that she runs with other girls to raise money for some local charity), she is not sold into the idea of applying to UPenn LSM yet – just considering! As for the Wilderness Exploration – it is through her school. They go on ten days backpacking in Nanthahala (in the Smokies) during their sophomore year. She liked it so much that she is going there again this academic year as a leader (in March – but the physical training starts from Jan).
Penn’s a wonderful school, but I’m glad to hear that she at least didn’t apply to LSM, which never seemed like a true fit for her. My impression is that applicants who stay true to their focus generally do better than those who try to hit too many different targets, tempting though that approach may seem.
Update: She got Deferred by Yale, Accepted by Michigan, Accepted by UNC EA with Full-Ride but Denied Moog-Merit Scholarship from WASHU, Advanced to Robertson Semi-finalist at Duke, Advanced to Morehead-Cain Finalist at UNC, National Merit Finalist, “Best Delegate” and Other Awards from MUN (Chicago Conference), Wilderness Leader Final.
^ Congratulations! I thought your daughter was a strong candidate for Yale SCEA admission. I’m hoping she’ll get in in the RD round, though the odds are long. UNC Morehead-Cain or Duke Robertson would be fabulous.
Thanks! Wilderness Leader Final means it is now final that she will be leading a group of 10 (I guess) sophomores in the wilderness trip in Smokey Mountains in March for about three weeks. Which may not mean much.
Congratulations on her acceptances so far! Her stats look great and I think that she stands a great chance anywhere she has applied. If her essays and LORs are equally good, then I’d wager that she’ll get into most of the places from this list.
Have you asked her to send a letter of continued interest to Yale? That should help her in the RD round.