Chance for Northwestern, WashU, Columbia ED, others! Thanks!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>It's almost Common App Time, and like many of you, I'm nervous :) I'm not exactly a college chancing expert, but feel free to leave a link to your thread in your reply and I'll do my best.</p>

<p>General
-Female, half eastern Indian/half white, middle class
-Applying to biomedical engineering programs (with the exception of NYU)
-I go to a rigorous prep school on a scholarship, it's considered among the top 3 in the state. Has a reputation for grade deflation.
-Our GPA scale maxes out at 4.33, no rankings are disclosed
-Our transcript only has our weighted GPA, but I could find out unweighted if it's important</p>

<p>Classes and Grades
Freshman year: English, World History, Spanish I, Geometry Honors, Bio Honors (I took the only honors classes available to freshmen). GPA: 3.93</p>

<p>Sophomore year: English honors, AP Euro (5 on test), Spanish II honors, Alegbra II honors, CP Chem. GPA: 3.8</p>

<p>Junior year: English honors (will take AP Lang), APUSH, CP Spanish III, Precalc honors, AP Bio, Creative writing. GPA: 3.94</p>

<p>Senior year: I've signed up for a semester each of Programming and Global Issues, Political Theory Honors, AP Lit, AP Physics, AP Calc, and Environmental science. Hopefully I'll get into all of of those.</p>

<p>Overall GPA will <em>hopefully</em> be around 4.0 weighted if I really do well first semester of senior year. I know, it's a little lower than you'd usually see, but like I said-- my school does have a bit of a rep for grade deflation. The GPAs of accepted kids from my high school are usually lower than those of any college's average. For example, the average accepted GPA of a kid from my school to Columbia is 3.93 weighted.</p>

<p>ECs
-I'm starting my first job next week-- I'll be working as a lab assistant at the research institute of University of Dayton
-100ish hours volunteering with horseback riding program for kids with special needs
-12ish hours volunteering with river stewardship program, involves monitoring stream quality
-Will have at least 30 hours of volunteering with animal shelter
-Volunteer as a counselor in training at summer camp for the past few summers, I help kids in horse camp learn how to ride horses and whatnot
-Model UN, four years. Will be president next year. I have various awards from conferences.
-Junior Statesmen of America, three years, will be president next year. I also have a fairly major leadership role in the organization itself-- I'm in charge of setting the schedule for conventions.
-Science Olympiad, three years. Our team did well this past year and went to state-- unfortunately, I couldn't attend, but I won an award at the regional.
-Unified for UNIFAT (local charity), three years. I was on the executive board all three years, and this past year was vice president. Our school will probably be discontinuing the chapter next year, though.
-Elected student senator sophomore year
-Roundtable, political discussion group, three years
-Science fair: I did a project on a method of removing toxic blue green algae from lakes. I won quite a few awards (including Governor's Award for Excellence) at the regional and state levels, and was invited to join the Ohio Academy of Science. I recently presented at the University of Findlay and will probably continue research with one of the professors there. My abstract has been published in an Ohio journal, and I'm submitting the rest of my paper for national publication. Hopefully I'll eventually present to the National Academy of Science.
-Horseback riding: 7 years so far. I ride once or twice a week during the school year, more during the summer. I compete once a month during show season and sometimes volunteer to help manage things at shows.
-I helped an architect at the University of Cincinnati design/construct a solar panel model thing he uses for demonstrations with younger kids. I used it to collect data on optimal solar panel positions.
-I went to a week-long women in engineering camp at University of Dayton
-I've sort of been playing piano since the age of 5 but my crippling musical stage fright means that I haven't performed publicly since I was like 8
-I was in the school play freshman year... I don't know if this even counts because my role was literally Tree #3</p>

<p>Scores
-5 on AP Euro, 5 on APUSH, 5 on AP Comp, 4 on AP Bio
-2250 on first SAT: 800 CR, 720 Math, 730 Writing. Will take again this fall, hopefully I'll get my math score up a bit.
-SAT II: 750 on Bio, 740 on Literature, will take both Math I and Math II this fall and see which one I do better on.
-212 on PSAT. My college counselor gets a list with high scorers in the spring and she says everyone on that list goes on to qualify as a semifinalist. My name was on it, so I guess I made the cut.</p>

<p>Other
-I have potentially the best college counselor to ever walk the earth, she should write me a stellar rec. I'm counting on ones of similar quality from my English and Precalc teachers. I'll probably include a rec from the professor who helped me with science fair project-- he's also the one who is hiring me to work in his lab.
-My essay writing skills are pretty solid, so those shouldn't be a problem. I'm doing the Common App question about challenging an idea.</p>

<p>I'm pretty much set on applying to these 14/15 schools. It's maybe a little more than recommended, but I really want to give myself as many choices as possible.</p>

<p>If you have other suggestions you think may be more appropriate, however, I'd love to hear them :)</p>

<p>Columbia (possible ED? It's my dream school but I'm not sure if I should even bother)
UChicago (will apply EA)
Northwestern (possible ED?)
UC Berkeley
Vanderbilt
WashU (possible ED?)
Tufts
Johns Hopkins
USC
George Washington
Lehigh
UNC Chapel Hill
Georgia Tech
Purdue
NYU? I love the school and the location but the engineering program at NYU Poly isn't great. Still up in the air.</p>

<p>My top choices are Columbia, UChicago, Northwestern, and WashU. I don't know if Columbia is worth wasting my ED app on-- I'm pretty sure I can't get in, but I don't want to not even try. It's a bit of a predicament.</p>

<p>Thanks for reading if you made it this far ;) I appreciate any and all help!</p>

2

<p>Columbia (possible ED? It’s my dream school but I’m not sure if I should even bother) Reach
UChicago (will apply EA) Reach
Northwestern (possible ED?) Low Reach
UC Berkeley High Match
Vanderbilt High Match/Low reach
WashU (possible ED?) Don’t waste your ED here. High Match
Tufts Match
Johns Hopkins Match
USC Match
George Washington Match
Lehigh Low Match
UNC Chapel Hill Match
Georgia Tech Safety
Purdue Safety
NYU Low match</p>

<p>In all honesty your stats are fantastic and I am frankly pretty jealous. And your ECs are pretty well rounded yet suited towards your major</p>

<p>I wouldn’t bother with math 1 no good university takes those serious. Just get a study book for math 2
I am planning on getting this <a href=“http://www.barnesandnoble.com/listing/2689489103235?r=1&cm_mmca2=pla&cm_mmc=GooglePLA-_-Book_25To44-_-Q000000633-_-2689489103235[/url]”>http://www.barnesandnoble.com/listing/2689489103235?r=1&cm_mmca2=pla&cm_mmc=GooglePLA-_-Book_25To44-_-Q000000633-_-2689489103235&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I love columbia too and would apply Ed if I had your stats unfortunately I don’t and have to apply Ed to uPenn just to have a chance there. If anyone can get into columbia it would be you. I put reaches just because it is for everyone</p>

3

<p>Honestly…I’m very jealous of your GPA haha</p>

<p>The Ivies are a high reach (as they are for most everyone)</p>

<p>Purdue, Leigh, Tufts should be safeties or close to.
The rest should be a match based off your qualifications. </p>

<p>Also, I know UNC takes many students from NC so the out-of-state applicants are usually fewer than other public schools such as UC Berkeley.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

4

<p>The SAT scores, grades and ECs are all very competitive!</p>

<p>Columbia - Reach
Northwestern - high match
Wash U - high match
Tufts - match</p>

5

<p>Don’t apply to NYU. NYU Poly ( soon to be called NYU’s School of Engineering) does not have biomedical engineering UNLESS you do the BS biomolecular science and MS Biomedical Engineering and that can be completed in 5 years or less and you will need to apply to the BS/MS program.</p>

6

<p>Thanks everyone! Bump? :)</p>

7

<p>JHU has the best BME program out of the schools you listed, and from reading multiple other BME posts, WUSTL and Ga Tech are probably a close second. WUSTL really tracks interest (which would really be demonstrated by a campus visit, info session, and most importantly be applying ED). Your stats and EC look pretty stellar. Good luck!</p>

8

<p>Thanks for the input! </p>

<p>Bump :)</p>

9

<p>Chances:</p>

<p>Columbia ED - High Reach
Columbia RD - Low Reach
UChicago - High Reach
Northwestern - High Reach/Match
UC Berkeley - High Reach/Match</p>

<p>Top 2 Weaknesses in your application:

  • Some more national and state awards
  • Not sure where you stand in terms of class rank
    ****</p>

<p>TBH, if you want to go to Fu @ Columbia, you have a really good shot. At the normal college, you have a pretty decent shot too.</p>

<p>You should be aiming higher i.e. MIT, Stanford, HYP (just for the heck of it apply and see wha t happens). Your ECs are good, show leadership and commitment.</p>

10

<p>Good, but with the ivies there’s always a bit of dubiousness.</p>

11

<p>You said your weighed GPA in 4.33 scale will be around 4.0. Can you estimate the unweighed GPA in 4.0 scale? It seems to be a bit low for top engineering schools if it is around 3.8 or below. Your SAT1 score is at the border line for top schools while your Math section score is not very high particularly for engineering.</p>

<p>Columbia: reach
UChicago: reach
Northwestern: low reach
UC Berkeley: high match to low reach
Johns Hopkins: reach
USC: high match to low reach
UNC Chapel Hill: high match
Georgia Tech: high match
Purdue: match</p>

12

<p>@AIExpert Is there a reason you think I have a better chance at Columbia applying RD rather than ED? Or did you get those flipped?
Also, just out of curiosity, what do you think my odds are for HYP? I never thought I even had the slimmest chance at getting into one of those schools, haha.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone so much for the help so far-- I’d appreciate some more input, and I’ll chance you back :)</p>

13

<p>Seeing how so many people are echoing the same sentiment, I am inclined to agree. You are definitely very well qualified and have very impressive EC’s. Also, your scores are great and congrats on NMSF!</p>

<p>I agree with the general consensus that Columbia is a reach regardless of scores, grades, or EC’s. However, recently, applying to Columbia ED has not worked out for a lot of students. Many even consider it to be pointless because it does not increase one’s chances significantly unless he or she is already a standout applicant. Keep on looking into other schools. If you choose wisely, you can increase your chances of being accepted ED by almost 15%. Why waste your chance on a college that has shown in recent years that it doesn’t care one way or the other?</p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

14

<p>I agree with soontobegrad except for WashU. They’ve shown recently that they don’t really like the fact that many top students (like yourself) consider WUSL to be a ‘safety’ as it has become an elite school (and I’m not saying you personally think it’s a safety. I just mean in general). Make sure to show some interest. Again with Columbia though, it’s a toss up. Every year students with 3.6 GPA and 30 ACT with no great ECs make it while 3.92 GPA and 34 ACT students don’t. But I think with your well rounded stats, you have a shot. Definitely apply ED (I am too!)</p>

15

<p>Yeah, I know WashU is really into demonstrated interest-- I’ve done a campus tour, engineering tour, and an interview, so hopefully that covers it :)</p>

<p>Thanks for the input!</p>

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<p>@DancingK what is the GPA needed for WashU?</p>

17

<p>^there is no cutoff GPA for WUSTL- they, like most other schools, look at everything, though a higher GPA in the most rigorous curriculum available certainly looks better.</p>

18

<p>Bump :)</p>

19

<p>Bumping again, sorry</p>

20

<p>I’d say Johns Hopkins is your best option. It is a great school (Top 15 nationally), probably the best medical school, and it has a (relatively) high acceptance rate. You’re stats are also well above average for their. I’m probably applying there too. But I’m still definitely doing Columbia ED (Lol, we can dream right?)</p>