Chance me for Carnegie Mellon, MIT, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, Harvey Mudd, Johns Hopkins, Stanford?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Thinking about applying for top schools in the fall is making me dizzy and I think I need some people to give me a realistic view on things. I feel like my circumstances make it so that I’m not the average student, although my stats might say otherwise. I’m already expecting these to be reach/high reach schools, but I’d like your guys’ perspective on this. I’d like to attend a top school and apply to as much possible. However, application costs can get hefty so that’s not a good idea, and I’m currently trying to make a list.
I am lowkey expecting to get roasted because this is one of my first few times on College confidential and I don’t hear too much good about this site lol

School: Public school in north California
Rank: 10/230 (just above 5%, my class is slightly competitive)
Test Scores and GPA:

  • weighted: 4.1/5.0
  • unweighted: 3.9/4.0
  • PSAT: 1370 (640 reading and 730 math)
  • SAT: 1370 (640 reading and 730 math)
  • SAT II: planning to take physics, math II, and U.S. history in June
  • AP: World History (3)
    Gender: female
    Race/ethnicity: Asian
    Hooks: first generation student
    Income: <$21,000
    Intended major: Biology, Molecular Biology, Microbiology, or Genetics

Grades:

  • Freshman year: all A’s both semesters;
    schedule: honors english, honors math, biology, p.e., french 1, geography
  • Sophomore year: all A’s except B’s both semesters in AP World;
    schedule: honors english, honors math, chemistry, french 2, AP World, p.e.
  • Junior year: all A’s except a B in APUSH for first semester; for second semester, I currently have all A’s;
    schedule: APENG, APUSH, AP Physics 1, AP Calc AB, french 3, U.S. government/ethnic studies
  • note: as you can tell, my school offers a decent number of honors and AP classes, but I am very limited until junior/senior year
  • senior year schedule: AP Literature, AP Biology, AP Statistics, AP Calc BC, AP Physics 2, AP French Language

Extracurriculars/community service:

  • Mathletes (3 years, current VP)
  • Key Club/National Honor Society/California Scholarship Federation (2-3 years)
  • Volunteered at a library helping clean/shelve books and helping patrons with using the computer/printer (3 years, 116 hours)
  • Volunteering at a hospital information desk (2 years, 84 hours)

Awards:

  • my mathletes team has won 3rd place my freshman year and 5th place my sophomore year at the final competitions
  • I won a scholarship for being top scorer in my sophomore year

Summers:

  • Attended COSMOS at UC Santa Cruz (completed a bunch of microbio lab work and some course work, finished an online research project and a group research project and I had to present both)
  • For two summers I attended a small program at my local high school doing community service projects

Extenuating Circumstances:

  • Being a low income student has been tolling. My family in the past has struggled to afford basic necessities such as heating and food.
  • I grew up with an abusive father, who we either had to deal with or become homeless since my mother couldn’t find a job (she’s uneducated). Mainly my father would get physical, abuse drugs, and gamble a lot of money away.
  • I struggled with anorexia up until the start of high school. I’ve dealt with bullying from elementary school up into high school. Depression hit hard from 8th grade through my sophomore year (I never found help until recently because I wanted it to be confidential so it wouldn’t affect my parents). I also face chronic fatigue and low blood pressure which is wildly debilitating so when I’m not studying, being at school, or volunteering, I am most likely sleeping (this taught me to work more efficiently).
  • I got a concussion during first semester of junior year, and that made it difficult to keep my grades up since my symptoms lasted over a month.

Other notes to maybe consider:

  • I’m hoping to attend MITES, YSP, SIP, HSHSP, or SMYS this upcoming summer. If not, I’m planning to arrange to get biomedical research done at a nearby college over the summer and into fall. I’m interested in competing in INTEL in the fall.
  • By studying the SAT over the summer and taking the exam 1-2 more times, I am expecting to score 1500+ in the fall. I just took the SAT this month and I’ll consider posting my results next week if this thread is still alive.
  • I have actually done a bit of figure skating my freshman and sophomore year until moving on to play some ice hockey my sophomore and junior year. I stopped because of my concussion.

Thank you for reading all that!! It’s a lot. As much insight as possible would be appreciated.

2

oh I forgot to add… I identify with LGBTQ.

3

You can take a look at previous UC admission rates by UC-recalculated weighted-capped GPA here:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-general/2127392-faq-uc-historical-frosh-admit-rates-by-hs-gpa-2018.html

For the super-selective colleges, see:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/2095312-generic-chance-answer-for-super-selective-colleges.html

4

Your SAT is too low for those schools.

5

Unweighted GPA seems low given the number of Honors/AP classes taken so far.

Also it seems unusual that your PSAT and SAT scores line up exactly the same given that PSAT is out of 1520 and SAT out of 1600.

Right now you have too many reach schools. You will need to find one that is a safety both academically and financially.

6

The biggest concern would probably be you SAT scores. If you study up over the summer, hopefully you can bring those scores up. Breaking the 1500 mark would definitely increase your chances, especially with the very competitive schools, but I think if the rest of your application is strong, you can hover a little below that, maybe 1450.

Don’t worry about the AP’s. If you’re school doesn’t allow you to take them early on, the universities won’t punish you for that and they will be notified as well. Just make sure to score well on the tests you are taking this year.

Your EC’s are a little weak. The research you did helps, but it appears you aren’t really involved in a lot during the year, either academically or non academically.

Having research, MITES, or Intel would definitely help you stand out but it will not compensate for the other weaknesses in your app. I think if you’re able to bring your scores up and get involved a bit more now over the summer, or during senior year, AND you are capable of writing good essays, you stand a good chance to get in, especially if your app mentions things like Intel or MITES.

Best of luck!

7

Based on your academic interests and current profile, you might look into schools such as Mt. Holyoke, Reed and Carleton.

8

Your SAT scores are low. That being said, your “life story” reads like a person who has succeeded in the face of much adversity. Can I make a suggestion? I think given how strong your grades and potential are, if you go for schools in the next category down and really focus on what you want, your results will be great. I really like your interest in genetics and how you have work experience. Can you build up your interest there by getting a Summer job ( even volunteering in a lab?) Also, any way you can get a science teacher ( female) to mentor you and point you towards others who can help you?
My suggestions would be to really work on individual parts of the SAT ( break it down and master it). Then focus on your interest and get very specific. I think you will do well in many respects. I wish you the best of luck.
Final suggestion would be to expand beyond CA where your competition will be stiffest. Apply to schools on the East Coast or in the Midwest who also offer the same expertise. There you would be someone from the opposite coast and there will be less students from CA applying.

9

The PSAT is not scaled to 1520; it is truncated to 1520. Any verbal or math score from 760 to 800 is simply reported as 760. Therefore, PSAT and SAT scores of 1520 or below should match approximately, assuming that no underlying improvement has taken place.

10

You should know about the ELC (Eligibility in the Local Context) program for the University of California:

http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/california-residents/local-path/index.html

If you are one of the top 9% of students in your California high school (and you state that you are in the top 5%), and you take the minimum course requirements, you should be offered admission to at least one campus of the University of California, although not necessarily the ones you have listed, Berkeley and Davis.

11

Thank you all!!

@Hamurtle Agreed, I have a fat list of safety schools including CSUS’s and UC’s

@yeehaw23
Yep, I tried to start science olympiad, science NHS, and Mu Alpha Theta clubs at my school this year but the only one that got approval was science olympiad #:-S and aside from me, there were 2-3 other people willing to commit to training for science olympiad (which is definitely not enough) so that was kind of a bust … It might give you perspective if I tell you that my school severely lacks both opportunities and motivated people. It is to the point that a senior previously (kind of similar to me, did Mathletes, research, and community service) was able to get into Stanford mainly
because he demonstrated initiative through independent research (I mean, he was also valedictorian but I’m sure you get the gist).

@Happytimes2001
Aha thank you for taking those adversities into consideration, it makes all the difference. In October/November, I created a file of professors doing research at nearby colleges for me to contact hoping to get a lab volunteer position, but I still haven’t written and sent out emails because I’m busy trying to get through schoolwork while taking care of my mental health. I’ve begun reviewing for the 4 ap exams and 3 SAT subject tests and believe me when I say it is A LOT, especially since my APUSH teacher doesn’t “teach” (so I’m reteaching myself everything through AMSCO) and apparently the SAT II Physics includes all topics in AP Physics 1 AND 2 (so I’m basically teaching myself all of Physics 2 too).
I would really like to attend a school on the east coast. The issue though there is Affirmative Action, which makes getting accepted more difficult for me just because I am Asian, and since affirmative action is banned in California, you’ll see schools like Stanford and Berkeley with a high Asian population, which lowkey gives me hope. I’m just in a weird situation there right now, and I haven’t looked much into Midwestern schools yet.

12

Re: #9

In practice, UC Merced tends to be where ELC students who applied to UCs but did not get in anywhere else get offers to.

Also, top 9% is based on UC recalculated GPA meeting a benchmark GPA set by a recent previous class, not your high school’s definition of rank.

13

If the SAT score can be improved, I would suggest Case Western and Tulane, especially if you have a pre-med focus. And if you do score a 1500+ WashU could be a target.

14

If you are referring to Prop 209, it affected only state governmental institutions like UC Berkeley, and not any private institutions like Stanford.

15

Hello! Heres is my honest opinion given what you have told us, I’m going to be as honest as I can (as I can relate alot with your circumstances), and hopefully I can give you some piece of mind or clarity. (◕‿◕✿) Here are my comments regarding the schools are applying to:

School: [Not considered in admission]
Rank: [Good]
Test Scores and GPA:

  • weighted: [Sufficient]
  • unweighted: [Sufficient]
  • PSAT: [Not important]
  • SAT: [Sufficient]
  • SAT II: [Not Important]
  • AP: [Not Important]
    Gender: [Not considered]
    Race/ethnicity: Asian [Not important]
    Hooks: [Good, being first-gen means you can get away with more]
    Income: [Add this to hooks]
    Intended major: [Hard major choice for these schools, each are very competitive, but I believe you can do it!]

Grades - GPA matters most, so don’t worry about any of these.

  • senior year schedule: [Challenging course load, good]

Extracurriculars/community service: Above average ECs, but nothing unique (Ivy league level extracurriculars that is) I am afraid (Internships / Business founders / app developers / national athletes / published papers)

Awards:

  • Above average but not unique (national awards for research / debates / science / math )

Summers:

  • [Good, COSMOS will be a boost for UCs and so will community service]

Extenuating Circumstances: [Very strong personal story and circumstances, amazing essays topics. If done masterfully, would demonstrate amazing personal qualities]

Other notes to maybe consider:

  • Passionate and well-focused. This should be a good sign for personal qualities.

Here is my rundown for your matches:

Possible Reaches/Matches: Carnegie Mellon, UC Berkeley, JHU, and Harvey Mudd (These schools you will have a good chance of being admitted given your ECs, circumstances, and academics. While some may be more difficult than others, I believe you have a decent chance of admittance given what you have told us. If your essays were done amazingly then that should outweigh your scores and etc.)

Extreme Reaches: MIT and Stanford (Unfortunately, while I believe you have a chance at these schools, your competition is astronomical. Even for the finest students, the possibility of admittance is very slim. You have students across the world who have founded companies, attended internships abroad, created patents and won national awards with scores beyond comprehension. I am not saying you don’t have a chance, but rather, it is good to understand what your up against, that is. (◕︵◕))

16

@BigGreenTractor I hadn’t thought of the AA perspective in CA. While you have a strong story, be careful not to fall into the category of blaming circumstances like poor teachers and lack of interest in the student body. This happens in every school. The important thing is to be seen as someone who works thru adversity and doesn’t let anything stop them.
I’d get busy contacting people and keep working as you are. Many people who are very successful have backgrounds like yours and would love to reach out and give someone a helping hand.
Get those SAT scores to match your grades. I know this might/might not be easy but it’s important.
Best of luck to you.