If you were in a racial category that received preference in admissions, the anticipated Supreme Court decision banning racially preferential admissions would decrease your chances. If you are not in one of those categories, your chance may improve, as did the chances of Asian students at the UCs right after consideration of race in admissions was banned in California, and before thry went test blind.
Ok I understand now, thank you!
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Do so if you want (or if you need more APs to apply to international schools), but it will not impress AOs, so don’t do it thinking it will give you an admissions bump. Imo your time would be better spent elsewhere.
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What do you plan to do with a degree in biology? Are you considering being premed? If so, have you thought about how to budget for a full 8 years? If you are premed, then by the time that you get to medical school it is likely to cost at least $100,000 per year. Even for a newly graduated doctor, having as little debt as possible is helpful (I have a daughter who is not quite half way through a DVM program, which is just as expensive and is an area where minimizing debt is even more important).
Your guidance counselor might know better than us what your chances are at top schools. Most of us here on CC have experience with relatively normal public high schools, even if some of us come from places with highly competitive suburban high schools. That said…
To me these make Cornell look like a high reach, even with your being legacy and coming from an elite private school.
The exception might be if you are recruitable for a sport. If you are, then your GPA is probably high enough for the top schools.
That being said, I think that your chances are probably quite good at Rutgers. It is common for biology majors to consider some form of graduate school, and Rutgers will simultaneously give you a great education, set you up for admissions to very good graduate programs, and save you a bundle of money that might be put towards some form of graduate program.
Students will frequently under-appreciate their in-state options. As one example I know someone from Vermont whose daughter did not want to go to UVM, but instead went to U.Mass Amherst. I also know someone from Massachusetts whose daughter (same age) did not want to go to U.Mass Amherst, but instead went to UVM. Both sets of parents “only” paid an extra $80,000 because both daughters were academically strong enough to get good merit aid at the out of state university. Of course they could have saved that $80,000 in-state and ended up in the exact same place where both daughters are right now (and both are doing very well right now).
I think that you have a good range of universities that you are applying to, and I think that within this range you will get some very good acceptances. It is hard to say whether or not any of these acceptances will be from your reach schools. However, that is okay since your safety and match schools are also very good.
I am not personally a fan of ED. If you do not apply ED, then you do lower your chances to get into your #1 preference, but you also get to compare offers from multiple schools before deciding where to go.
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I’d probably move Virginia Tech to a match and U. of Maryland to a reach, but generally I agree with how your schools are categorized.
Have you spoken with your high school counselor(s)? What has their advice been?
Kids want a fresh social start, are afraid that if they go to their in state flagship, their high school social persona will follow them. They dont realize that their flagship U will have a class that is so large that they will hardly notice the kids from their high school.
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I have some encouraging remarks and some possibly discouraging ones.
Encouraging first: if you go to one of the truly tippy-top NJ private schools, it’s likely that students “only” in the top quartile or even top third or lower have been accepted to your reaches, even unhooked students. Confirm with your college counselor.
Possibly discouraging: if you are considering applying to CHE because it has a higher acceptance rate, you should be aware of two things. One, the acceptance rate at the contract colleges is likely lower for out-of-state students. Two, the rates are somewhat misleading because of self-selection and high yield. The contract colleges put a lot of emphasis on fit and transcripts and ECs that can answer the “why” question convincingly and specifically. As someone alluded to above, your case for HBHS needs to be strengthened.
Note that it doesn’t matter which specific college your parent attended, you are considered a legacy for all of them, and your aunt’s connection, while a nice story, will not help you in any meaningful way with CHE.
Good luck.
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