Chance a Wisconsin kid.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Edit: Should clarify, I'm wondering if the places I'm showing you here are reasonable and I'm hoping that by looking at my stats, you might be able to tell me what I can do to try for some higher places. 'What should be the focus going into the summer after Junior year?' is basically what I'm looking for. Thanks in advance!</p>

<p>Schools I'm Looking at:</p>

<ul>
<li>UW-Madison (top choice)</li>
<li>Purdue (double legacy if that's worth anything)</li>
<li>Ohio State</li>
<li>Marquette </li>
<li>Loyola Chicago</li>
<li>Iowa State</li>
<li>UW-Parkside (safety + possible running scholarship)
(recommendations would be great)</li>
</ul>

<p>About:
Caucasian Male
Private Catholic School
State: Wisconsin
Intended Major: Genetics/Microbiology (pre-med)</p>

<p>My stats:
GPA uw: 4.0 so far
GPA w: n/a
Class rank: n/a (Tied for first, I guess)</p>

<p>Tests:</p>

<ul>
<li>PSAT: 202 </li>
<li>SAT: n/a</li>
<li>PLAN: projected 31</li>
<li>ACT: 31 comp. (will probably take again to bring science up)</li>
<li>APs: Took an AP psyche class over the summer and got an A. Planning on taking AP Psychology and Human Geography exams next week. At a small Catholic school, I don't have access to many APs but I will have taken all of them before I graduate. </li>
</ul>

<p>ECs (weakest part):
- 3 years varsity track by the time I graduate.
- 4 years varsity Cross Country by the time I graduate (state qualified Junior year)
- NHS (1 year so far)
- Environmental Club (1 year so far)
- Medical Prep Club (1 year so far)
- Will probably have about 200+ volunteer hours at local hospital over the course of last 3 summers.
- Various volunteer activities.</p>

<p>Awards:
- Bausch (sp?) and Lomb Science Award (Junior year)
- I have been winning history awards all four years from that department. (Above 95% average for whole year, best history average etc.)
- High Honor Roll (all four years)
- National Merit Scholar (Commended)
- All State Academic/Athletic Honor Roll (or whatever it's called lol)
- All County 2nd Team (Cross Country)
- Various other athletic awards (8th at conference meet etc.)
- I could probably think of a few more but they wouldn't really be worth anything. =/</p>

<p>Work Experience:
- Erm...I'm trying. (Bad position because I have no work experience outside the volunteering...and no one will hire a guy who doesn't have work experience XP)</p>

<p>Other:
- Recs: Shouldn't be a problem. My track/CC coach is also my history teacher so he could do one. The general sentiment is that teachers like me because I'm the quiet guy who might not lead discussions but gets all the work done. They like my work ethic.
- Essays: So long as they're open ended and I can make a thesis out of it, I'll be fine.</p>

<p>Misc:
- My hobbies include luthiery (guitar-building) and breeding guppies (Yea...I know...it's lame lol BUT I'm a geneticist, so...)</p>

<p>^ Good sources for essay topics? I'm thinking "taking initiative/mad scientist" themed.</p>

<p>So, what do you guys think?</p>

2

<p>hullo :slight_smile:
first of all, you should really take the SAT soon. like really soon. what with your other scores, you should do fine on it.
secondly, since your school is small, admissions people will understand a lack of APs. but if there is a college nearby, you could always take classes from there, too.
as for your ECs:
since you want to be a geneticist, there are a couple programs/awards you could try for:
(just remember, you need to have a good background in science, like bio and chem, before you take/try out for anything.)
Penn State, Genetics, Ecology & Evolution<br>
Brown, Techniques in DNA Based Biotechnology
Brown, Molecular Basis in Human Disease
^^ these three programs are a bit far away, so if you can’t go to them, that’s fine. but if you live near the U of Wisconsin, then you can take similar courses there over the summer.
Since you are almost done with high school, you should try to get into a lab to conduct some genetic research this summer. usually research will take at least 2 years if you wanted to enter it into competitions, but you can always work with a scientist on his/her research. you just couldnt enter said research into actual competitions.
try internships too, at labs, at the U of Wisconsin, etc. </p>

<p>if you get an internship, or are able to do research, then i think you should have a good chance at any of your college choices :)</p>