<p>So I'm a 16 yr old S. Asian female in WI going to be a senior at a smallish public school (300ish class size). The top people from my school have historically gone to UW Madison, which is an okay choice to me but I feel like my stats are higher than a lot of those students'. I was initially looking at Ivies (as well as Northwestern) but found they give no merit aid (real heartbreaker as I LOVE NW), which is a must for me as there is prob no way I will get need based aid (my brother applied with FAFSA a few years ago and got nothing, so likely I won't either) and my parents would like to pay up to Madison's tuition (around 15K) which is totally reasonable, as they want their savings for my education to go toward med school so i'm not drowned in loans.</p>
<p>So now I'm looking at schools such as Wash U, Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, and U Chicago.</p>
<p>My question(s) are, how likely is it that I will receive high enough merit aid to get to less than 15K/yr from these institutions (including Madison) based on my stats and are there any other places that would offer it to me? Personal experience/advice would be super helpful, and if it's your own experience stats would be nice too :) </p>
<p>Also, which one(s) of these colleges would you suggest for my intended major of either biochemistry or neuroscience (want to eventually go to med school)/best fit for me.</p>
<p>My college preferences:
Any size, but prefer small to med class sizes
freshmen research/internship opportunities
honors program would be nice
on campus housing
distance/location not a big issue, but lean towards urban locations
acceptance of AP's for credit would be very nice</p>
<p>My stats:</p>
<p>First time (in high school) ACT: 35 Composite, 33 English, 36 Math, 35 Reading, 36 Science, 32 Comb. Eng/Writing (10 on just Writing)</p>
<p>First time (in HS) SAT: 2380 Total 800 Reading 780 Math 800 Writing</p>
<p>All A's throughout HS, cum. GPA @ 4.833 on 5 scale. AP's and Honors are 5.0 with A grades, regulars are 4.0 with A's, class rank is 5 of 292 right now due to stupid regulars courses >.> pretty peeved abt that if you couldn't tell :P</p>
<p>Summer School before 9th grade:
R Healthy Choices
R Fit for Life (both required and 1/2 credit each)</p>
<p>Freshman:
Honors English I
H Geometry
H Early American History
H Biology
H Chemistry
R Spanish 2 (no H choice)
R Choir (also brought my weighted GPA down :/)
H Computer Applications (required and .5 credit)
had a study hall one semester (GASP)</p>
<p>SS pre 10th grade:
R Indiv. and Dual Sports (req. .5 credit)</p>
<p>Sophomore:
AP Lang/Comp
AP U.S. History
AP Bio
H Spanish III
H Physics
H Algebra II
H Biochemistry (.5 credit)
H Principles of Biomedical Sciences (full credit but dropped after 1st semester so .5)
AP Psych (took after dropping PBS - .5 cred)
AP U.S. Gov't & Politics (.5 cred)</p>
<p>All 5's on AP's = AP Nat'l Scholar w/ Distinction</p>
<p>SS pre 11th grade:
R Team Sports (req. .5 credit)
R Personal & Consumer Finance (req. .5 credit)</p>
<p>Junior:
AP Economics (Macro & Micro)
AP Statistics
AP European History
H English III
H Spanish IV
H Pre-calculus BC
AP Environmental Science
H Anatomy and Physiology
AP Chemistry</p>
<p>Took AP Human Geography test w/o class. All 5's except Macroeconomics which was a 4. Will be AP National Scholar.</p>
<p>Intended Senior Schedule:</p>
<p>AP Calculus BC
AP Physics B
AP Comparitive Gov't (.5 credit)
AP World History (.5 credit online)
AP Literature
AP Art History
AP Spanish
H Oceanology (.5 credit)
H Meteorology (.5 credit)
may take either Choir as pass/fail so does not affect GPA (not sure if this will work) - if not, will take either AP Human Geography (just to take an AP class, will not take test) or H Astronomy (.5 cred) and some other 1/2 credit Honors class. As far as I know, no other AP I want to take.</p>
<p>will have 19 AP tests done hopefully by end of senior year, unless I don't take AP Spanish (possibility)</p>
<p>planning on taking SAT II tests in Bio E and M, Chem, and Math 2. Bio E and Math on Oct 6 and Bio M and Chem on Nov something. this will affect where i apply early action bc some scores will arrive after the EA deadline, but can i send those scores after the application deadline? I know the most any college ever req is like 2 or 3 (?) but I still want to show my proficiency in the math/science field.</p>
<p>My EC's/Honors/Activities (advice on prioritizing these for applications? what to get rid of?)</p>
<ul>
<li>National Merit Semifinalist (waiting on letter to find out if I'm a finalist - anyone know good colleges abt the level of the colleges i previously listed that guarantee/offer high merit aid/full rides/full tuition scholarships for being a semifinalist/finalist/scholar??)</li>
<li>National Honor Society member junior/senior year, NHS president senior year</li>
<li>Spanish Honor Society member junior/senior year</li>
<li>SMART (Students Modeling a Research Topic) Teams member (1 of 6) in 2011-2012 (11th grade school year) - chose to study protein that causes MRSA (bacterial infection) with a mentor, compiled research, information, and graphics on professional poster, and presented poster at undergrad poster session at annual ASBMB (American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) conference in San Diego, CA</li>
<li>HOSA (Health Occupations for the Students of America) member 10th through 12th grade
-- 1st place in Individual event of Knowledge Test: Human Growth and Development and 1st place in Team event of Biomedical Debate in 2012 (11th grade) at statewide conference
-- went to National Leadership Conference in Orlando for team event (can only pick one event) and earned 6th place </li>
<li>Science Olympiad member (Team B 9th and 10th grade, Team A 11th and 12th)</li>
<li>Department of Energy Science Bowl school team member 10th through 12th grade
-- won 1st place 10th and 11th grade - B team 10th grade (beat our own A team) and A team 11th grade
-- competed at National level in D.C. in 11th grade</li>
<li>Ocean Bowl school team member all 4 years of school
-- won 1st place at state Lake Sturgeon Bowl in 2009 and 2011 (9th/11th grade)</li>
<li>volunteered at local hospital for past two years with about 100 hours</li>
<li>Performed as MC or dancer in annual Indian cultural festival of Diwali for past 6 years
-Taken voice lessons and participated on and off in choir(s) for past 5 years
-- competed in regional solo & ensemble for 4 total pieces: 1 solo 8th grade, 2 solos and 1 duet 9th grade
-- competed at state level both years for solos, had to discontinue b/c school choir enrollment is required and could not fit choir into schedule after 9th grade due to its status as regular class (lowered GPA)
-Taken Tae Kwon Do lessons since age 7. Became a black belt in 2010 (end of freshman year) at age 13</li>
<li>Played JV tennis 9th and 10th grade</li>
</ul>
<p>Sorry for such an information overload, but I thought the more detail I gave, the easier it would be for you guys to help me out! All help is MUCH appreciated and thank you in advance (especially if you can stand to read through everything) :D </p>
<p>Random ?: def don't want to do early decision but does early action inc. my chances of acceptance/merit aid? any particular college this is true?</p>
<p>Last note - if any of you know of a great BS/MD program with realistic requirements for the guaranteed acceptance to med school (unlike the program at WashU... 3.8 GPA and 36 on the MCAT could get me to Harvard Med anyway...) that I could be accepted to, please let me know the details! Still considering this option, but would like to gather more info. THANK YOU!</p>