Chance me a bunch of high reaches and targets

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Note: still a junior, and planning on improving much of my profile this year and hopefully attend summer camps, but wondering how I would do if I had to apply with just these.

Demographics

  • US domestic (US citizen or permanent resident) or international student
  • State/Location of residency: California
  • Type of high school (current college for transfers): Public, T500 ranked
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity (optional): Male/Asian
  • Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.):

Intended Major(s)
Astronomy/Astrophysics/Computer Science

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 4.0
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.5 (5.0 scale)
  • College GPA (for transfers):
  • Class Rank: 5/600
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1570 no intention of retaking.
  • PSAT: 1480 (No NMSQT for CA)

Coursework
(AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s))

Awards
This is doxxable so I will be vauge, and I can only include 5 of these.
Award sponsored by T5 national scope, only awarded to top 2% of applicants.
Award sponsored by NASA international scope, only given to 20/14,000 applicants
Good placement at USAAAO.
Congressional App Challenge for my district 2019
Large local science fair, 1st place award + special award
CSEF top 30 CS project.
(Looking to do project for Local Fair/CSEF this year)
Selected to attend program from school out of 70 applicants at my competetive public school
USACO Silver
Cyberpatriot Platinum
AIME x2
AP Distinction

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

Internship at T30 selective (5%) Program as sophmore
High level of involvement and creditation on current satellite project sponsored by NASA and T30.
Co-discovery of multiple exoplanets
5 Astronomy papers in varying scientific journals.
IEEE Paper (Not the full journal one of its many subsidiaries with lower Impact factor) Computational Chemistry and ML.
One of two high schoolers working in grad/undergrad astronomy outreach program (major organization)
Speaker at multiple astronomy conferences
Taught college students astronomy courses
Club president of 3 clubs, high ranking board of 1 50+ members

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)

Still a junior, my essaywriting is somewhat strong, but not overly strong, above average 7/10.

LOR’s should be decently strong, 8/10

Cost Constraints / Budget
(High school students: please get a budget from your parents and use the Net Price Calculators on the web sites of colleges of interest.)

No issues with cost.

Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below)

  • Safety (certain admission and affordability)
    CSU System (Certain admission through California policy)
  • Likely (would be possible, but very unlikely or surprising, for it not to admit or be affordable)
    UC system saftey due to in state
    UCSD
    UCI
    UCR
    UCSB
    UCSC
    ASU
  • Match
    (My school has a 80-90% acceptance rate for these colleges with my GPA Rank)
    Berkley
    UCLA
  • Reach
    MIT
    Stanford
    Harvard
    Caltech
    Yale
    Princeton
    UPenn
    Cornell
    Columbia
    UChicago
    Duke
    JHU
    Dartmouth
    Brown
    Rice
    Vandy
    Northwestern
    Carnegie Mellon
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Not sure how you improve yourself? Perhaps get a job?

I’m being facetious. I laugh when someone puts out a title and you’ll think they’re struggling - and they’re like the greatest student ever.

That said and you won’t need it - but Arizona outperforms ASU in Astronomy - and both are strong in CS. The merit at AZ for a 4.0 brings cost down to $3K a year too so you score better there.

So unless you love ASU, you may want to swap.

I’m sure your classifications are fine.

Your test score won’t help in CA publics but will all others and no doubt you will get into some reaches.

A lot will depend on how you present yourself to the schools in essays; showing them why you are right for them - because you have such a diversity of names that it seems you are chasing prestige vs. fit - if that makes sense.

If you do Astronomy and not CS, your chances go up markedly.

But you should do what’s the right major for you - and you’ll be fine.

Good luck.

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Your list is quite long. You might want to think about which ones would be a good fit for you and why. If you trim the list make sure to keep safeties on the list.

Otherwise I think that you are doing very well. I think that you are competitive at any university and that you will do well wherever you end up.

One obvious question is whether, if you do get accepted to UCLA and/or UC Berkeley, whether the additional cost for the private universities is worth the cost. This is often not an easy question and will depend upon each family’s situation.

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Your reaches are…reaches. And that’s a pretty long list of reaches. Other than rankings…what is it that attracts you to ALL of these reaches many of which are very different from each other.

I don’t think you can be positive about UCLA or Berkeley. @gumbymom can comment and also post the acceptances for your other CA schools.

For the CA schools…standardized test scores will not be considered…at all.

Summer camps? What makes you think these will make you a more competitive applicant?

Your GPA and SAT score are not in need of improvement.

If it were me, I’d start thinking about the “why this college” essays you will need to be writing.

In addition, I would suggest you look at that long list of reach schools…and figure out which ones are what you really want…and why (prestige and rankings are not the reason).

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You have an excellent profile, and if there’s anyone in your environment who makes you feel otherwise, they don’t know what they’re talking about and shame on them.

Your lists seem appropriately categorized. But this looks more like an initial list of places you’re interested in researching than in the list of where you intend on applying. Which Cal State campus(es) do you think would be the best fit for you? Which UCs? Which of what looks like the USNWR T20?

What are you interested in for your college experience? What are your goals for after college? Do you prefer a smaller, more intimate environment? Or do you like a huge campus where there’s lots of anonymity and lots of possibilities? Do you like the astronomy/astrophysics/CS offerings at the college? The frequency that they’re offered? The research being done by the professors? Are there particular extracurriculars you would like to pursue in college? Which part of the country do you want to be in, or what kind of climate? How do you feel about Greek life? Do you want to study abroad? If so, which colleges offer options for people to study the majors your considering while abroad (or will you then have to use that time on electives and distribution requirements)? If you’re hoping to double major in astronomy and CS, for instance, how feasible is it at the institution? Does CS have an enrollment cap?

I know you’re an excellent researcher; now is the time to delve into all of your options to see the places that you think are going to be the best fit for you (and choosing in all of the categories, not just the reaches category). Then it will also be much easier to write your “Why this college” essays as well.

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With your excellent credentials, I think you need excellent letters of recommendation. Is there any reason that they wouldn’t be 9/10 or 10/10? Your activities and honors are specific and seem to be impressive (not my field, though). I think the reaches will have a high bar for your letters.

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Regarding UCLA and Cal, your chances change significantly depending on if you apply into Astronomy/Astrophysics in the College of L&S vs CS in the College of Engineering.

UCSC has a very highly ranked AstronomyAstrophysics program.

Realistically, you aren’t going to be able to complete that many applications and essays and do them justice. Make a spread sheet of pre-reqs for each school, cost of application, number of letters of rec, numbers of essays, and tuition. See if you can eliminate some that way.

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Forgot to put course load haha AP Chem, calc ab, bio, euro, human geo, all 5s,

Phys C both, calc bc, music theory and compsci this year

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Idk if I put this, but the reason I put UCLA and UC B as targets instead of reaches is because our school for >4.2 GPA has a 90% acceptance rate to both I think good connection with LA and B’s counselors so hopefully that works out…

I will be applying L and S I think, I was planning on doing CS as a minor if possible, but idt that would be possible at UCs

About SC, I’ve actually published with an SC grad and their Astro program is really nice he’s said :slight_smile:

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I think my problem is with the Humanities rec, I think that’s going to be very average, as I don’t have a good connection with any humanities teacher, stem rec wise, my Phys teacher unfortunately doesn’t give recs to people not in her club (which is very very time coinsuming , FRC), and I might have to use my chem teacher, who normally gives 9/10 recs, and I’ve built up a good connection, and he’s written a ton of recs and been the teacher contact for most of my stuff, and I was like #2 overall in his class, however I took his class in 9th grade…

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I can’t wait to write my Why College for Caltech and MIT since I’ve done research there (funnily the hardest for a male to get into), but yeah in general I’m still thinking abt my list rn, and if I even want to apply to most of them.

I’m not optimistic about my chances, but I’ve been applying to a ton of summer camps of SIMONS/SSP quality, so hoping that that would be additional research as well as more of a “feather in cap” type thing for college apps due to selectivity of the camps.

you got me there for copying most of the most prestigious schools, but yeah I think it’s more of a bit of wanting the prestige, but I think I’m interested in addition to Astro in CS, as well as data science, so want to go to a place with high ranking programs in those as well, but also hopefully a private so I could get classes more easily and double major without MET or something super selective like that.

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I haven’t had the time to really research any colleges, outside of falling in love with Caltech, but I think i’ll definitely thin the list down significantly before actually applying.

I think our EFC was on average 10k more than the UC system, which I guess over 4 years is quite a bit of money tbh, and a very fair point. It wouldn’t be something my parents would have to go into debt over, but I think it would be awkward as the year I graduate college, my brother enters…

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I haven’t done tooo much research into safeties, but ASU has been a historical safety for my high school, so that’s why I tossed it in, I’ll definitely do more research into them though! (Sorry to everyone on this thread criticizing my list, its just USWNR with my own sort + a couple safeties and the entire UC list)

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It seems to me, as said earlier by all and you’ve now admitted, you picked high ranked schools on an overall basis.

For astronomy, these schools (well most of them aren’t highest but Illinois, CU Boulder, Arizona, Santa Cruz, Cal Tech are tops. My son initially pursued Astronomy and facilities are critical in the major.

But what is right for you ? Large. Small ? Urban rural ? Warm cold ? Sports or no sports (ie big time football, basketball). Is cost an issue ? You could go for $20k a year or $80k or it doesn’t matter ??

A big name by itself gets you little. It may open doors but it’s what you do, not the school. And sometimes it’s better to be the tallest rather than the same height as the rest…in other words to stand out which is unlikely at top schools.

Make a list of things you want in a school. So you can narrow and find the right schools to apply.

You have to be on a campus for four years…day after day after day.

You’ve chosen big names. Bit not necessarily big names in what interests you. Not big names that fit your needs so that you are a happy and productive studen over those four years.

You’re a smart guy obviously. You’re going to do well no matter what but I do question your judgement with this list which is clearly not researched.

Personally and others may disagree - I’d love for you not to do more academic things this summer but rather to find a job. Fast food, grocery store, car detailer, lifeguard, hotel, bike shop….whatever. Make some money. Socialize.

You don’t need to one up everyone in the world of academia to get to the next level. In fact, balance in life will be healthy and often desired.

I hope you really research what you are looking for…size, curriculum, geography and more. I promise you, successful people come from schools of all shapes and sizes.

Good luck.

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I completely deserve to be criticized for my lack of any research into any school, although I was planning on doing that after AP tests ended this year.

I live near UCLA, and outside of the college I taught at for a bit, I’ve only ever visited Caltech for science olympiad state, and UCLA for a couple of events, but yeah I’ve done close to no research into anything so far mostly as I’ve been trying to focus on just ec’s for now.

I completely agree with your point about leaving ec’s this summer, last summer felt awful grinding ec’s the entire time.

With the way the CA housing market is, I know I’ll probably never be able to live here again and get those awesome 72F beach days (maybe why I like UCLA and CIT so much), so I’m hoping to really be able to enjoy this summer and the next, without spending a ton of time chasing ec’s : )

Thanks for the reply and those articles were rly useful!

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Sure. Not criticism. And you always start with a big list and narrow down to whatever number is right for you. For some it’s 5 or 8 or 10 or more.

I think you know you’re an incredible candidate.

Note that you’re still a kid. Enjoy that.

Think about what you want in a school. Set up a trip to go visit 3 or so over spring break. A tiny like Cal Tech…u know the school but go to an info session. A mid size and large.

See what feels right so you can see what will work for you.

Good luck.

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As a general consideration, physics tends to represent the more comprehensive and respected major for an undergraduate interested in astronomy/astrophysics. Choosing electives that would lead to an astronomy minor would balance this approach. Students interested in planetary science would benefit from geoscience courses.

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This is the 2020 acceptance rate data for both UCLA and UCB. Although your HS has good historical data regarding acceptances, both schools should not be a given. You are an excellent candidate for all the schools on your list. Best of luck.

2020 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 4.20 or above capped weighted and not major specific:
UCB: 37%
UCLA: 38%

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Please don’t take comments here as criticism. You are a junior so have time to evaluate schools which is fortunate. I would rather see you focus your energy on the UC application and the private schools that you could really see yourself attending rather than spreading yourself thin and trying to apply to 25+ schools. What is it about Caltech that you love?

Have you had an honest conversation about money with your parents? They may be telling you to apply wherever you want, but, if it came down to Berkeley (tuition only: $56K/4 yrs) vs UChicago (tuition only: $236K/4 yrs) would they care which one you chose?

It is a long shot but some of the schools on your list offer extremely competitive merit scholarships (Vanderbilt, Duke, Rice) while others offer no merit (Ivys, MIT, Caltech, Stanford). There are also competitive private scholarships but that means more applications and more essays. Look here for examples.

Most schools want LOR from an 11th grade teacher. 11th grade English and social studies teachers know that they are going to be asked to write LORs.

In general, the LOR tells the schools what type of student you are in the classroom, not about your EC activities. Think about the impression that your English and/or SS teachers might have of you. Do you participate in class? Are you hard working? Are you collaborative with other students? Are you inquisitive? Do you work just as hard in those classes as you do in your math and science classes? Do you meet the teacher outside of the classroom (lunch, before school, etc) to ask questions or get feedback on your assignments? Fortunately, you have another semester to make an impression on them before you ask for a LOR. And ask for the LOR early as some teachers have limits on how many letters they will write.

When did you take physics? What about math? Does that teacher write well? Does he/she have a reputation for writing LOR to any of these top schools? It sounds like you go to a HS that sends a lot of kids to college. If so, top colleges know the reputation of certain teachers and a strong LOR from those teachers might be significant. Talk to your guidance counselor, college counselor or principal for suggestions on who you should ask but you are going to have to narrow your list first.

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Hi! Thanks for responding!

I have some extremely talented friends (don’t attend my HS), so USAMO x3, USAPHO/USAMO, USJMO x4, (mostly math) as well as someone who went from 8th grade to college, and I just in general like being around people that are smarter than me, as we tend to have alot of really nice conversations. I got the vibe from Caltech and MIT that both schools would be places that in the off chance I got in, would be similar a ton of extremely accomplished people and a strong sense of community. It’s also the only campus I’ve visited, and their work seems extremely impactful and cool.

I haven’t thought about money to much, I think the way they put it since they have the capability too, they would definitely pay for a HYPSMC fully through, but for anything outside of that it would be a strong consideration and probably a lean towards UC’s if I got in.

About LoR’s, that is exactly why I put them as an 8/10.

My supps from my reasearch advisor are definitely 10/10, but teacher wise I don’t have any strong teacher connections, right now.

My Physics (11th grade) teacher, is very busy and has her TA’s do most of the student facing stuff outside of lectures, so I haven’t been able to make a real connection with her, outside of being good at the class. She also makes few exceptions for writing LoR’s outside of her Robotics kids. I’m hoping to do well enough in either F=MA or USAAAO this year to build up more credibility outside of her class, as well as TA for her next year, as I really don’t want to have to use my chem teacher due too how long ago I had him and that’s more of a last resort type of thing.

In English, my 11th grade teacher just saw me as another kid, I wasn’t that good at the class, and I was honestly struggling through most of it (not that good at English). I did ask for help now and then, but she was pretty busy, and she had a ton of kids always coming to her (This is my fault for sure for not trying harder in the class to build a connection). I was thinking about my non-AP US History teacher, who knows me as extremely involved in his class, as well as tryharding the assignments, and even though my class with him just finished this semester, I’ll probably go in. The problem with him is that he’s new to the school, and came from (described by him) a really rough area of California, so I have no idea how well he writes.

I just started math (quarter system) and have no real gauge on my teacher yet.

My Physics, Math, and last resort Chem teacher are all known for being the best non-humanities LoR writers in the school, and I think even ahead of most humanities teachers, and have sent many kids to T20’s so I’m confident all of them would be good writers. I have no idea how my history teacher is, and I don’t think many kids from his old school even went to college, let alone applying for T20 and T30’s, which is why it’s a huge uncertainty.

I haven’t thought about asking my counselors thanks! I will try that.