Asian male
Public school in midwest
First Generation
Chemistry/Biology/Environmental Science
4.63/5.00, 1500 SAT (720 W, 780 M), 5/536
UW: 3.94
14 APS, 7 Honors: AP world, AP Euro, AP Micro, AP Gov, AP Lit, APUSH, AP Stats (5), AP Chem (5), AP Lang (5), AP Psych, AP BC Calc (5), AP Bio (5), AP Physics C (5), AP Environmental
AP Scholar w/ Distinction
NHS
AP w/WE Service
Chemistry Olympiad (received highest score of my school)
Tennis captain
Vice President Math Club
Head Coordinator of environmental preservation project (9 people and I had ~30 hours)
Topsoccer (worked with kids with motor function issues)
Work 15 hours a week
1 from Anatomy/Ethics teacher and one from AP Stats teacher
Both should be pretty good
No budget
Schools
IU
Purdue
WashU
Cornell (ED)
Vanderbilt
Northwestern
Can you clarify what this means? Are you saying you haven’t discussed with your parents and figured out a budget, or that you can pay in full up to $90k per year?
To confirm: neither of your parents has gone to college anywhere in the world?
For us, certain classes, such as APs are weighted at a 5.0 if you get an A, 4.0 if you get a B, etc. For Honors classes, they’re weighted at 4.5 for an A, 3.5 for B, etc. A 4.63 is pretty good considering it’s my cumulative, as no one can take all AP classes. I’ve never received lower than an A- in any class.
Yeah, premed. Was leaning more IU since they’re slightly better for that but wanted to apply to Purdue as well since they’re the big state schools here.
Why is IU better having been to both multiple times - they are different. Not sure one is better but that’s up to you.
In the end, it’s your gpa, mcat and other factors that will matter vs the where.
The other thing - you have no budget but think 8 years, not four. Another $400k. Will it matter Vs full pay at Cornell etc which will be another near $400k. Something to think about b4 you ED.
Just be aware that many schools that ask for two teacher LORs want one from a STEM teacher and one from a humanities/social science teacher. So, you might want to reach out to your admissions counselor to see if your anatomy/ethics teacher will count as a humanities/social sciences teacher or not. If not, I’d suggest you find a different teacher for this.
Also, seconding @tsbna44’s advice to think about budget needs for 8-years of schooling (4 for college and 4 for med school), as it could end up being about $800k with some of your current schools.
Wishing you the best as you embark on the college admissions process!
So where I always run astray with a student like this is - why not go to an Alabama like school - tuition is $5K with that GPA (after $28K automerit)…it buys in smart kids, has an Honors college, the dorms are unbelievable, and they are 58% OOS - including 1500 from neighboring Illinois and 269 from Indiana. And it’s $20K all in. But then someone else will say and we don’t know if it will matter to OP - but only 106 of 8,037 first year are Asian - and that may be a valid concern. They have the Mcullough Medical Scholars which is nice.
Arizona will be $30K off (off of $40K tuition - but at some point, how is that different than IU?
If you want a smaller school and want to keep cost down - look at schools like Butler, Bradley, Drake, Dayton, some of the SUNY campuses (not the main ones) and others. Denver is another with great merit to get you under $50K, etc.
That’s just if you’re looking at an 8 year view but a lot depends on what you want in a college.