Am I good enough for Stanford, UCLA, or Univ. of Southern California?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello,

I just finished my junior year at a really intense magnet program dedicated to students interested in Science and Math. It’s the most rigorous and intensive program in my county, and over 4,000 students applied but the top 50 were accepted. In this program, I haven’t done awfully but I haven’t been able to maintain straight A’s like I used to. I worry that my average performance in this program will keep me out of my dream schools because there are people out there with WAY better grades than me. I’d appreciate it if you gave me your honest opinions on my chances for admission. Thank you!

Freshman year: GPA - 3.5 UW 3.625 W
Classes- Honors Bio, Honors Alg 2, Honors English, Health, AP Environmental Science, AP Science, Research, and Technology 1 (S.R.T), Choir, Spanish 2, Honors American Gov.

Sophomore: GPA - 3.875 UW 4.476 W
Classes: AP Statistics, Honors Trigonometry, Honors English 10, Honors Chemistry, AP SRT 2, Acapella Choir, Spanish 3, AP World

Junior: GPA 3.625 UW 4.375 W
Classes: AP English, AP Calculus AB, AP Physics, AP US History, AP SRT 3, Spanish 4, A Capella Choir, Biotechnology, Ecology

Senior: GPA - TBD
Classes: AP English 12, AP Chemistry, AP Biology, AP SRT 4 Capstone, Kinesiology, Scoentific Writing and Composition, Choir

SAT: 1510 ACT: 34 Rank: 24/329

EC: Founder and Pres. of English Honor Society, Student Government Vice President, Key Club Vice President, National Honor Society, Tri-M, Red Cross Youth Regional Leader, Hospital Volunteer, 2 internships. I have a lot more clubs but I only want to put my main ones.

Idk if it matters, but I’m a minority as well.

2

I’m not going to lie, I’m really stressed out about this. I’m applying to other schools that will be within my reach like UMD - college park, American, and Howard. But I don’t love those schools like the others I previously mentioned. Any opinion would help me at this point.

3

Ok, 2 questions -
what is AP Science, Research, and technology? That’s not an official AP class, as far as I know.

Are you in -state for UCLA?

4

Im sorry I should’ve cleared that up. SRT is a class that’s AP weighted, not actually affiliated with College Board. It’s a class designed by my magnet program that introduces you to different aspects of the stem field. Freshman year students learned the basics of collecting data, material science , and basic coding. Sophomore year- was mainly computer science, many types of coding, programming robots to complete tasks,etc. Junior year- students conduct a mini research project in the biological science field, build and program electrical geocaches in which you have to complete an interactive game before you can unlock the cache, and more things in that area. The whole purpose of the first 3 years of SRT is to prepare you for your senior year capstone research project. Next year I will be evaluating the effectiveness of pediatric leukemia treatments at Johns Hopkins Hopsital. At the end of year we give a presentation on our findings.

5

Oh, and I’m not in-state, unfortunately.

6

Do you need financial aid? Admissions are rarely need-blind for international applicants, so it makes a significant difference whether you will be applying for need-based aid or not.

Also are you trying to get into Engineering/CS, or a pure math/science major, or other?

7

You are a competitive applicant. Your stats and ECs are good. Write great essays and you could get accepted to any of these schools

8

I would need some form of financial aid. According to Stanford admissions, if you’re under 125k then you only have to pay room and board. Tuition is covered. I’m not international, I’m from Maryland. In UCLA I would like to major in Human Biology and Society. In USC - Global Health, and in Stanford Science, Technology, and Society. As for scholarships, I’d be applying to many offered by local associations in my state.

9

Forget financial aid for UCLA if OOS-not going to happen unfortunately. Also UC weighted GPA takes into account AP/IB/DE only if OOS. Finally UCs cannot take into account race into admissions.

Stanford with a sub 5% acceptance rate is going to be a high reach for anyone and USC was close to 13% this year.

Why California schools though? East Coast has lots of good options and UMD College Park is a pretty good school and affordable.

Maybe try an Ivy-you might be viable for Cornell and possibly Penn as a reach.

10

I’m going to throw out a couple more options to consider as it sounds like you are really interested in California or at least, a warmer climate. Have you looked at Occidental (small LAC in Los Angeles) or the Claremont Colleges? The Claremont colleges vary in selectivity - Pomona is very hard to get into but Scripps (it’s a women’s college, I’m assuming you are female) is selective but not as crazy-selective as Pomona or Stanford.

Another place to take at least a quick look at is Barrett Honors college at Arizona State.

11

I might add Rice to the list of schools to consider if warm weather/prestigious school is a key.

12

Forget the above robo comment about being competitive. You have some issues and you know that.

You need to tell us which classes got less than A. What AP scores, any SAT2s? And for a health related major, just saying ‘hosp vol’ isn’t enough.

It doesn’t seem you’ve researched much - eg, if you didn’t realize a UC will offer no fin aid or that your stats may put you out of range. Or *will. *

Same problem with the more competitive Claremonts and certainly Rice.

They look for their types, how you match what they want.

13

Oh, duh, @Lola221 - I read “county” as “country.” Put me out to pasture now… sorry 'bout that.
Hamturtle is correct that UCLA, or any UC, is not likely to be financially viable for you as an OOS student who needs financial aid. But no worries - you have many other great choices.

Stanford could happen, but all you can do is take your best shot with the application and wait and see.
USC could be a very good choice for you; no guarantees but it’s definitely a good one to have in the mix.

But now you need more choices that you’re excited about, and you need some of them to be not so stratospherically competitive. Yes, colleges will take the rigor of your high school into account… and if you are on the proverbial bubble as far as an admissions decision, the “diversity bump” will help to tip it the right way. But it’s not a good scenario to have only super-reaches and safeties that you don’t like. (Of course, you know this, which is why you’re posting for advice!)

Since it seems like CA is calling to you, I agree that the Claremont Colleges could be a great fit.

  • Pomona is the most competitive, has the best no-loan financial aid, and is the most diverse. Selectivity is in between Stanford and USC.
  • Pitzer, Claremont McKenna, and Scripps all share the Keck Science program, which is where any biology-related major would be based. (And Scripps is all-female; not sure if your screen name means you’re female, or not. Many or even most Scripps students did not consider other women’s colleges. Being part of the consortium makes for a blended experience where the all-women aspect does matter, but doesn’t define the whole experience.)
  • Harvey Mudd would be like the college version of your magnet STEM program, which I sense isn’t what you’re looking for, but it would be a great school if you were.
    The 5C’s do a cappella jointly - many great groups, one of which went to ICCA finals this year.

As WashUGrad suggested, Occidental could also be worth a look.

You could also look at Santa Clara U, which is in the Bay Area about 20 miles south of Stanford. Excellent Jesuit college - less competitive than Georgetown and BC - similar competitiveness to Fordham, but smaller and with a higher graduation rate. They have a Public Health Science undergrad major that might fit your interests, especially given the school’s focus on global and social justice perspectives.

Outside of California… first of all, it strikes me that your interests seem to lie in the intersection between life sciences and population health… and Emory could be the perfect place for this, as they’re located right next to the CDC in Atlanta and are heavily involved in public health research and practice. Check out the options within the Human Health major at Emory: http://catalog.college.emory.edu/department-program/index.php?YToxOntzOjI6ImlkIjtzOjI6IjI0Ijt9 The competitiveness level of Emory seems like a good fit (definitely not a safety, but match), and you could hedge your bets by applying to the Oxford College option as well (a separate two-year campus that is part of the university and feeds into the same upper-division programs). (If you’re female, Agnes Scott could be a safety for you; this school is also in Atlanta and has cross-registration with Emory.) Emory also has a 5-year BS-MPH program is that interests you.

Tulane could also be a great choice for you. New Orleans is a unique and exciting place to go to college, and Tulane is an excellent school that is a good match for your stats. They have an undergrad public health major with combined degree options to continue to the masters level in public health or health administration. https://sph.tulane.edu/bsph/undergraduate-public-health

Vanderbilt would be a reach, but within reason especially with your high test scores. Nashville is a great city, and Vandy has not only programs that fit your primary interests https://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/major/factsheet/1072 but also phenomenal music programs because of the Blair School of Music that is part of the University.

If warmer weather isn’t a must-have, then there are more options to look at, but these should be a good start on broadening your search. Hope that helps - sorry about my reading fail on the first pass :slight_smile:

14

Thank you!! I’ll look at these suggestions @aquapt

15

I’ve done plenty of research. I’ve visited these schools and spoken to local admissions officers in my area, but thank you for your concern. As for my AP scores, I’ve recieved a 5 in all but AP World in which I got a 4. My junior year scores haven’t been released yet. I’m taking my subject tests in August as well. I knew an issue with financial aid may arise which is why I have 8 other schools on the east coast that I’m applying to. The UCs certainly are not my only options but I appreciate your honesty. @lookingforward

16

UMD is definitely on my list. A majority of the schools I’m applying to are in the DMV area. It just so happens that the CA schools are at the top of my list. I’ll definitely do some research on your suggestions. Thank you for taking the time to reply! @Hamurtle

17

I havent taken a look at these colleges yet but I definitely will! Thanks for your suggestions! @washugrad