Chance a 3.7/1560 NYC resident for Physics and Chemistry

Chance Me / Match Me!
, ,
1

Demographics

  • US Citizen
  • NYC
  • VERY competitive/prestigious public HS (Stuyvesant)
  • Southeast Asian male
  • Skipped a grade in elementary (might mention it in additional information idk)

Intended Major(s)
Physics, Chemistry
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.7

  • Class Rank: School doesn’t rank

  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1560 SAT (790M 770E)

Coursework
AP Chem, AP Bio, Honors Chem, Honors Physics, Projected 5 on AP Chem, Self-studied AP Physics C: Mechanics (projected 4), Will take 5-6 APs by end of senior year

Awards

  • National Merit Commended Scholar
  • School Chemistry Excellence award
  • Science Olympiad Regional Champions
  • Projected AP scholar :skull:

Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)

  • Paid Research Internship at MSK lab
  • Science Olympiad 2 years
  • Trusted volunteer/moderator for Brainly .com, answered over 200 questions, online community of over 300 million people
  • Co-president of Chemistry club (50 members)
  • Co-leader of Rubik’s Cube club (60 members), Member freshmen year, Officer Sophomore year, Co-leader Junior year
  • Puzzle-making: Made cognitive puzzles and posted them to own website, A few hundred people have solved or tried to solve them on Reddit :skull:

Essays/LORs/Other

  • AP Chem teacher LOR: 8-9/10, Teacher is known to write good recs and I participated and did quite well in the class
  • Comp Sci teacher LOR: 5-7/10, Didn’t participate in her class but did very well and they said good things about me during the parent-teacher call

Cost Constraints / Budget
Will be paying full

Schools

  • Safety
    SUNYBING

  • Likely
    RPI EA

  • Match
    UCI
    McGill
    William&Mary
    UCSB
    Bates ED2

  • Reach
    Middlebury ED1
    Colorado College EA
    Wake Forest
    UCSD
    Carleton

1 Like
2

To the extent that you will be deciding where to apply based partly on your interest in physics, this post may offer you further ideas: Where to undergrad in physics if grad school (PhD) is the goal? - #11 by merc81.

1 Like
3

It is definitely not a deciding factor. The campus environment, location, and community are much more important to me.

4

I think most of your matches are reaches, although that depends to some extent on what your UC GPA is, which you can calculate using Rogerhub. Bates had a 12% acceptance rate last year, so I wouldn’t categorize it as a match for anyone. And, William & Mary is a tough admit for out of state. McGill could be a match, depending on which program you’re applying to.

I would consider adding in some more match schools, but it’s a bit hard based on your list to determine what you’re seeking - you have schools in all geographic regions of the country, of varying sizes from very small LACs to large state universities, some with heavy Greek life, some with none, some in large urban areas, but some that are super remote. If you could calculate your UC GPA and also let us know what qualities you’re seeking in a college, we could suggest some good match options for you.

3 Likes
5

I like your list but your matches are reaches. If you are ok with Bing and RPI, then no issue.

UCs are test blind and for physics, you might consider Arizona or Colorado, the first a safety and the second a likely, and both are strong in physics/astronomy. And more reputed than Irvine and Santa Barbara (at least in physics). Cheaper too as a bonus.

1 Like
6

How would my list look if I were to write some extraordinary essays?

7

Like this quoted below…but you never know. As long as you have safeties that you’d appreciate (so if SUNY B is ok if that’s where you end up), then you can take your shots. I find it interesting that you say the environment and location are much more important - but have an eclectic list of large and small, urban, suburban, rural…warm and cold…campusy and more commuter-y.

8

Most or all of your matches are reaches. For McGill you might be in the ballpark due to your SAT score (GPA is on the low end for an easy admit). Both William and Mary and UCI look like matches on paper, but they’re much tougher admits for OOS students (and your SAT score will not be an advantage with UCs because they are test-blind). It looks like you’d be open to both universities and LACs, so you should fill out your list with those that have higher admit rates (including public universities that take a lot of OOS students) that check some of the same boxes. For example, if you’re interested in UCs, take a look at SDSU and Occidental. If you’re interested in Carleton, take a look at Macalester and St. Olaf. If you’re interested in small northeastern LACs, take a look at Skidmore, Conn College, Dickinson, and F&M. Also look at Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Indiana.

9

Others will speak in general, I’ll try to respond specifically for Middlebury.

For colleges like Midd which have more holistic admission, they could help. For UCSD, not much.

For most high schools, that would make it almost impossible. But from Stuyvesant you may still be in the running, though it would still be a challenge.

Asians are underrepresented at Middlebury, so that won’t count against you.

Unless a teacher is going to write you a LoR which is at leas a 9/10, there s no reason to ask them. Colleges with very low acceptance rates look very closely at LoRs. So if you cannot get at least two teachers to say that you are an amazing student who would be a huge addition to the college, that does not make for a very convincing application, especially if your GPA is on the low side.

I’ve only taught college students, and I’ve written LoRs for students applying to grad school. I have written LoRs to two students who got Bs in my class. The only reason that I wrote those letters was because I could truthfully write that the grades did not accurately reflect these students’ mastery of the material, and that I could confidently say that they would be wonderful additions to their respective programs (both were accepted).

A 5-7/10 LoR will not help you get into a college with low acceptance rates, and you should look for somebody who will write you a 8-10/10 instead.

You should also be asking for those LoRs now.

Comments on other colleges:

Neither UCI, W&M (OOS), nor Bates are even close to be a match for anybody.

If your parents are not wealthy, they cannot afford any UC as an OOS student.

WOuld you be happy to attend Bing if that were your only acceptance? If not, it isn’t a safety.

It also depends on whether these colleges know Stuyvesant. People on the East Coast know that it is one of the top public magnet schools, but in the Midwest, they may not be as familiar with it as they are, say, with Whitney Young or IMSA. So that 3.7 GPA could make admission more difficult.

1 Like
10

I think Stuyvesant is pretty well known nationally, at least within college admissions circles – especially at any school that gets a geographically diverse applicant pool. And if not, the counselor’s letter and school profile should make it clear.

5 Likes
11

I think most of your matches are reaches, and I think you need more safety and match schools.

I would add schools such as Pitt, SUNY Buffalo (UB is very strong in the sciences), Lafayette, and the U of Rochester.

With a balanced list you will have some great choices!

1 Like
12

DO you have access to SCOIR or Naviance? The comments on some of the schools being a match or reach are probably not relevant to Stuyvesant, previous class results are.

5 Likes
13

Have you visited Carleton? You might really like it, maybe even more than Middlebury, and its admit % is higher due to the Midwest location. You could consider making it your ED1. Terrific physics and chemistry.

1 Like
14

I agree, a 3.7 at Stuyvesant is not the same as a 3.7 elsewhere. I think your matches are matches 50/50.

4 Likes
15

Likely depends on the college. Some look at gpa as a # and not the school. Others know the schools. He’s got an all over the place list.

16

A school with less than a 20% admit rate (or less than 20% for OOS students if public) is a reach for everyone. But Stuyvesant should give a little bit of an edge.

3 Likes
17

This appears to be mostly true, but there seem to be few exceptions in https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/lowest-acceptance-rate : Wiley, Faulkner, Alice Lloyd, Ozarks.

18

Interesting. I am not familiar with these schools and did a little digging, just out of curiosity. Wiley College, for example, is listed on various websites with acceptance rates of 9%, 40%, and 100%. Acceptance rates for Faulkner seem to range from 13% to 70%. For Alice Lloyd, I’m seeing 13%, 35%, and 80%. Weirdly, the lowest numbers are appearing in USNWR, and the higher numbers come from other sources. I wonder which is accurate, and also what explains the wide range of published acceptance rates for individual schools – surely this couldn’t be that hard to figure out.

19

The USNWR acceptance rates for Faulkner, Wiley, and Alice Lloyd are not consistent with IPEDS or the CDSs:

Faulkner: https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/institutionprofile.aspx?unitId=101189&goToReportId=6

Wiley: https://www.wileyc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/CDS_2020-2021-Wiley-College5.4.21_v2F.pdf

Alice Lloyd: https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/institutionprofile.aspx?unitId=156189

Best to use primary info from the school and/or IPEDs. Third party aggregators, including USNWR, can have inaccurate information.

1 Like
20

Have you considered UChicago? Great physics program. The admissions dean likes Stuyvesant kids.

3 Likes