Chance me for biological sciences!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

Hey, all. Thanks for reading. Here’s some background: I’m a white male from Kansas in a medium income bracket looking to major in Biological sciences or Astrophysics. Haven’t decided which is better yet, but one of the two. Maybe doubling.

UW/W GPA: 3.8, 4.3, strong upward trend (Started with a 3.4 Freshman year)

ACT: 33 (36 E, 30 M, 33 R, 34 S, 33 W), taken twice, thinking about taking once more

Awards: National Merit Commended, the highest awards for classwork from my nationally-ranked high school, AP Scholar with honors, various decorations for Orchestra at the state level

4 AP Exams under my belt: 5 on Lang, 5 on Euro, 4 on APUSH and 4 on Physics 1

ECs: I’ll start small and work big: I play intramural tennis for my school, mostly for fun. I also write novels in my free time and have won NaNoWriMo four times. I used to be in Boy Scouts and am an Eagle Scout, my project involved constructing signs around a local park. I am a Varsity member of my school’s Scholar’s Bowl. I am involved in four NHS organizations as a member and one- History- as President. I am First Viola on my school’s orchestra and I also tutor violin for a living; I am also a member of my district’s invitation-only Honor orchestra and will be playing keynote to my city’s symphony in a month’s time. I am currently involved in my district’s iGEM project investigating the applications of CRISPR gene editing on antibacterial resistance; and I am the founder and president of my school’s BioClub and our own, independent iGEM team, currently brainstorming for project ideas.

Senior Course Load: AP: Lit, Phys2, Calc AB, Gov, Bio; Honors Engineering; Honors Orchestra; and Gifted.

Extra, potentially relevant information: I travel a lot, and have been to 32 states and 9 countries in the last year; I was raised by my single mom; I’m told my essays are the most powerful part of my application; and I am a self-published author.

So, yeah. That’s what’s up. Think it’s enough? I have no idea what to expect.

Thanks for the input!

2

No idea if you will be accepted, but your applications you should focus on the big stuff. If your big stuff doesn’t catch the adcoms eye, the little stuff won’t matter at all.

3

OP - I think you are on your way to having a strong application. No guarantee other than you are interesting enough-- especially if your essays are as good as you say they are-- that you will get a serious look.

Have you decided on ED, EA, RA?

All the best to you.

4

@kaukauna haha thanks. What could I do to make it better? And I’m still thinking, split between RD and EA

5

Tgmeier36 - Your personal story is pretty much written at this point (and it’s a good one!). You’ve got strong essays, so the thing to focus on is finishing this semester as strong as possible so that upward trend with grades continues. Another thing you could sweat a little are your recommendations. I expect, given all your outstanding accomplishments, that you will find good and well qualified people willing to help with this. Make sure the willing people are able, that the recommenders represent different aspects of you, and that you maybe help them with key points to make about you, to the extent that is appropriate. Best of luck to you.