Hi, I’m getting really nervous about college applications and narrowing down my huge list of colleges (right now I have 25+)
white female from Midwest
-GPA 4.0 (unweighted)
-full IB diploma candidate
-ACT composite: 34 (single sitting, got a writing score of 7 - is this a huge detriment?)
-SAT: 1470 (superscored - don’t think I’ll end up submitting my SAT scores)
-probable National Merit Semifinalist
-690 Math II SAT Subject test - planning to retake in fall, wasn’t prepared the first time
ECs:
-2 summers of unpaid research internship at a top pharmaceutical company (8 weeks at about 35 hours per week each summer) (this year I wrote a paper during my internship and my mentor is submitting it to be published later in the year)
-Co-president of student fundraising club that donates over $10,000 a year to local children’s hospital
-Co-president of Art Club
-3 years of JV cross country, Varsity lacrosse for past 2 years
-National Honor Society
Community service:
-teaches a watercolor painting class at a local nursing home once a week (since last year)
-VBS leader and food pantry volunteer at my church
Major:
-Want to major in neuroscience and go on to PhD or possibly med or law school
Schools I’m looking at:
HIGH REACH:
-Notre Dame
-University of Southern California
-Vanderbilt
-Northwestern
-University of Virginia
-Rice
-UT-Austin
REACH:
-Tulane
-Wake Forest
-Boston College
-Emory
SAFETY
-IU and Purdue (in-state)
-Villanova
-SLU
-Miami University
-Villanova
-Kentucky
-Alabama
I guess, if you have a chance, to just tell me if my reach/safety lists are sort of accurate for my profile? Merit money would be really important for my family, so I’ve visited both Kentucky and Alabama (where I can get pretty much full-rides for NMF and they have honors colleges), but I’m worried a degree from those schools won’t be seen as positively as degrees from my “reach” schools. Thanks so much!