Chance me for Brown, UPenn, Cornell, and Berkeley

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I posted this earlier, but it somehow got removed.

I’m currently a junior, and here’s my hypothetical application:

GPA: 4.0 (unweighted)

APs:
Sophomore year- AP World History (5), AP Biology (4), AP Calculus BC (5), AP Calculus AB Subscore (5)
Junior year- AP United States History, AP Language and Composition, AP United States History, AP Statistics
Senior year- AP Microeconomics, AP Psychology, AP Computer Science, AP Gov., AP Spanish 4

SAT/ACT/SAT II

SAT: 1530 (740R & 790M)
ACT: 33 (35E, 35M, 31R, 30S)
SAT II: Biology (760)—planning to take Physics, Chemistry, and Math 2 as well

Gender/Ethnicity: Female Asian

Background:

  • Immigrated to U.S. when I was 9
  • low-income

Extracurriculars:

Clubs:

DRAMA/THEATRE
Joined freshman year. Earned Thespian membership this year. Planning to run for an officer position next year.

MATH GROUP
Joined junior year. My school placed 2nd at the regional competition

ROBOTICS
Joined junior year. Placed 3rd at the regional competition

SCIENCE BOWL
Joined junior year. Team captain

PROGRAMMING CLUB
Joined junior year. Secretary

Jobs:

PEER TUTOR
Got employed by my school to tutor students after school.

PERFORMING ARTS CENTER TECHNICIAN
Got employed by my school to help with technical aspects during school concerts and other events

Community service:

VOLUNTEER AT A LOCAL FAMILY THEATRE
Started junior year. Volunteer once in three weeks

I am planning to go into computer science or biology major and am considering these schools for ED:

-Brown
-UPenn
-Cornell
-Berkeley

Thanks!

2

You are in the ballpark. Your chances are whatever the admissions rate is for each one.The acceptance rate at Brown. is about 9 percent. That’s about what your chance is. What state do you live in? Berkeley does not provide financial aid to out-of-state students. I am assuming you are applying for aid since you said you are from a low income family.

Are you applying a few places where you will get automatic merit aid?

3

I live in WA. I’m planning to apply to other colleges as well, but these four are the ones that I’m particularly interested in. Right now, I’m not considering financial aid. I’m just wondering where I stand right now so that I know what I need to improve on.

4

If you are low income, how will you pay for college? If you do not have a source of college funding, you cannot go to UC Berkeley, so don’t waste an application there.

Like I said, you are in the ballpark. There’s nothing else you can do except continue to do well this semester and the first semester senior year, and make sure you do your best on the application essays. About 1 of every 11 applicants is accepted to Brown, and that includes “hooked” applicants like athletes, legacies, and under-represented minorities. So for your demographic cohort, it’s probably closer to 1 of every 12 or 13 applicants. Your chance is no better or worse than that.

You SHOULD be considering finances. If you are from a low-income family, will you be able to afford to fly across the country a few times a year?

5

You are a competitive applicant. Your stats and ECs are good. Write great essays and you could get accepted to any of these schools