Chance me! Appling as astrophysics major through QuestBridge

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Demographics: Female/Gender apathetic, Half white, half Sri Lankan , Colorado, Queer, Low income

I am applying through the questbridge national college match to a few schools, and if I dont rank, then regular decision to a lot more.

Hooks: legacy @ harvard , Founded non profit to teach self defense on reservations, Questbridge, Waldorf High School (my graduating class is 7 kids), perfect pitch, got hit by a truck
Intended Major: Astrophysics, minor in law/government
Stats: 3.8/4.0 for 9-10th grade and 3.95/4.0 for junior and senior, school doesnt do weighted, School doesnt have APs, submitting my 1470 SAT, no class rank. transferred to Waldorf from public art school at beginning of junior year for more stem classes.
Coursework: No APs, but I did independent studies in calc 2, and college level physics my junior year, and Linear Algebra, Astrometry and more in independent study senior year.
Awards:
Presidential Volunteer Service Award
Questbridge College Prep Scholar
Hershey’s Heartwarming Grant
Mines Medal of Achievement in Math and Science
XXX organization Honored Volunteer
Fein Fellow
National Waldorf HS Gold Scholar
High School Ambassador

Extracurriculars: Include leadership & summer activities

Spanish Club- President and Secretary, December 2022 - Present, 5 hours a month.
Neurodiversity Club- Co-founder and President, March 2023 - Present, 3 hours weekly.
Elective chorus- Lead soprano, September 2022 - Present, 3 hours weekly
All school chorus- Lead soprano, September 2022 - Present, 2 hours weekly

Guitar Studio- Student, 2016 - Present, 14 hours weekly.
Mile High Guitar Ensemble- First Chair Guitar, 2018 - Present, 2 hours weekly
XXX Organization- Highlighted volunteer, 2020 - Present, 10 hours weekly
Tao of Boxing- Pugilist, 2020 - Present, 5 hours weekly
Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center- Volunteer, 2022 - Present, 20 hours monthly
Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts- Board member and Instrumentalist, 2017- Present, 3 hours Monthly.
Rugby Football Club, Team Captain, 2017-2020
I Am Strong (Ma was’Ake), Founder, 2021- Present

Rugby Academy - Coach, May 2022- Present
Nano Bella - Social Media Marketing Manager, December 2021- Present
Starbucks Barista - June 2023-Present

LOR:
my councilor adores me and has made it really clear she believes that I can go to a top school and that she wants me to.

My math teacher has been my mentor in my independent studies, and also wants me to be able to attend a top school, I am sure this will be glowing

Language Arts Teacher is my favorite teacher, I am really close with this teacher and I know he wrote me an amazing rec.
Essays:

Main essay is ab boxing math and music and how they taught me skills that allowed me to escape attemped rape, and how I created my non profit to share skills with other women.

Second essay for questbridge is about my love of cassettes and acoustics and my research project on acoustics and applications of acoustics in astrophysics

Third essay is ab overcoming misogyny in rugby becoming the first female team captain in Rugby Colorado history and returning to my old team as a coach to empower other young women.
Schools:

I have already been accepted to pitt with the law school guarantee.

Ranking for national college match, MIT, Yale, Princeton, Caltech, Stanford.

Regular decision Harvard, Columbia, Penn, Dartmouth, Brown, Harvy Mudd, Georgetown, U Chicago, Northwestern, Carnagie Melon, Amherst, Bowdoin, Case Western, Hamilton, Hopkins, Middlebury, Swarthmore, Tufts, USC, Weslyan, Williams, Brandies, University of Rochester, Olin

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Is your acceptance to Pitt affordable? If so, shoot for the moon.

I am wondering why you don’t have more colleges on your Questbridge list.

And in your other list…are you sure these will be affordable colleges for you? It’s a pretty reachy list. But if Pitt works for you…go for it!

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Please be careful about posting information that might identify who you are. I removed your HS name and the names of a couple of orgs where you are listed on their website.

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Thank you! but i feel like the highschoo thing is important. that isnt the name of my higschool. It is a type of school, like montsourri. its a non traditional type of school that there are tons of all over the world. it is a unique thing, and i didnt think it was too identifying! ur so right ab the orgs tho! rudolph steiner education is a big thing tho!

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yeah pitt gave me a full ride! the schools on my list all have pretty good financial aid. i used their cost calculators and ill be able to afford them!

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If you get accepted.

Good luck.

You have a sure thing already. So…go for it.

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You can use the edit button and adjust what you feel should be there. For your HS, I would describe what type of HS it is rather than listing the name. With so few kids, and your hometown being relatively obvious based on your activities, I think it is best to not include the HS name.

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Waldorf isnt the name! its the type of school :slight_smile:

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I do not think this is a hook for college admission purposes…

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it is for questbridge bc of money stuff!

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Got it. Just be careful. You are listing a lot of specifics that make it relatively easy to identify who you are.

From the Forum Rules: Be mindful about what content you contribute. After a short grace period, posts are locked and you won’t be able to self-edit or delete them.

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Have you considered writing a country song about your experience?

If you ever think your life sucks,
Like you ain’t got no luck…
Well I got hit by a truck,
And got back up.

:slight_smile:

What type of environment would you prefer? (location, school size, social vibe, rural/urban/suburban setting, etc.)

You already have a great safety with Pitt. Ideally Questbridge will match you with a school that you will enjoy attending.

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I’m not a QB guru but why would you apply to schools like Bowdoin, Swarthmore and Tufts outside the match program vs. having a longer match list? It seems like that would give you better odds so I’d use every match slot available if the schools you list are Quesbridge partners. Or am I missing something?

If you can afford Pitt, unless you get the Cathedral of Learning or something else, and while I don’t know your family finances, I can’t imagine how you’d qualify for QB.

If QB stats are unweighted, your GPA is a tad low and SAT solid.

Best of luck.

QuestBridge | National College Match Finalist Profile

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A few posts ago, the OP wrote:

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The student said they got a full ride to Pitt…and that is why it’s affordable.

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I missed that - thanks

Oh, i see it came in a later post - someone had asked. Got it. Hadn’t gotten that far.

I was stuck on - and I don’t know the answer - but if someone had QB schools on their list, why would they not apply to them through QB?

I’m sure there’s a reason - interested to learn.

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Congratulations on your achievements.

OP, I would be interested in knowing what Pitt scholarships have been communicated already?

I would also encourage you to rank 15 schools on QB…is there a reason you only ranked 5 schools? If your EFC/SAI is zero or close to it, your chances of becoming a finalist are relatively greater.

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That’s what I was asking. Thanks

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I can see a student ranking only 5 schools on QB if the student prefers only those 5 (out of all of the QB schools) over a full ride safety. But then it makes no sense to apply to any other QB schools outside of QB.

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I hope OP is open to majors beyond Astrophysics.

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