Chance Me for Ivies/Stanford, Brown PLME, Northwestern HPME

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello, I am a high school sophomore (incoming junior) who lives in California
Ethnicity: Eastern Asian-American

Unweighted GPA: 4.000
Weighted GPA: 4.667 (Sports and other non-academic classes not included)

SAT II: Math 2 (800), Chemistry (800)

AP Scores: Calculus BC (5), Chemistry (5), Computer Science A (5), Music Theory (5)

PSAT(10th grade): 1490/1520 (I know PSAT doesn’t count for sophomores)

SAT: Have not taken this yet, planning to take at beginning of junior year. Hopefully will get a score of 1550+

I would like to major in Biology or any related science and eventually attend medical school, possibly eventually becoming a doctor.

Freshman Classes:
Algebra 2 w/ Trig: A/A
Chemistry Honors: A/A
Spanish 2: A/A
Model UN (1 semester): A
Health (1 semester): A
English 9: A/A
Orchestra: A/A
Biology CP (Took summer before freshman year): A/A

Sophomore Classes:
AP Computer Science A: A/A
AP Chemistry: A/A
AP Calculus BC: A/A
AP Music Theory: A/A
Honors Orchestra: A/A
English 10 Accelerated: A/A
Spanish 3: A/A

Predicted Junior Classes:
AP Biology
AP Physics C
AP US History
AP Psychology
Spanish 4
Honors Orchestra
English 11 Honors

Predicted Senior Classes:
AP English Lit
AP Spanish
AP Gov/Econ
AP Statistics
AP Environmental Science (Maybe)
Honors Orchestra

Extracurriculars:

Violin is my strongest extracurricular. I have multiple state awards, including a couple 1st places at fairly well known state level competitions. In 8th grade, although this won’t go on my high school resume, I won 3rd at an international violin competition, albeit the international competition was not a super big one. I have performed as a soloist with multiple orchestras in California, and I also have multiple accolades in regional violin competitions. I’m the concertmaster of a community orchestra, and I will most likely be concertmaster of the school orchestra next year.

Other EC’s:
Presidential Volunteer Service Gold Award
President of my schools Science Olympiad Team
National Honor Society
Hospital Volunteer
Biomedical Research over the summer

I am planning to apply to medical research related internships next summer.

Because I want to go the medicine route, what else should I do to strengthen my application in that way? So far I’m doing some minor biomedical research, and I plan to apply to more serious medical internships next summer, as I’ve said earlier.

Any tips specifically geared towards Brown PLME or Northwestern HPME? I would love to get into either of those programs.

Any advice is appreciated!

2

Is your rank good? Your academics looks ok. Is your family rich? If so your academics is less weighty. EC is good. President of Science Olympiad is interesting as you are incoming junior. Your Chances are low like anyone but i would say 2% more likely than the average Joe.

3

@Interested1945 My school does not release rankings, but I am pretty sure I am ranked 1st in a class of 500-600. My economic status is upper/middle class.

4

Also, I forgot to mention that I’m taking Multi-Variable Calculus at a local community college junior year, and I’ll be taking Linear Algebra w/ Differential Equations senior year.

5

You have a decent chance but you are the stereotype which hurts you. You luckily have been able to play the school classes system to your advantage. Also you need to chill in your activities man or you will crash and burn the next two years. :slight_smile:

6

He will be okay. Yes, he is the stereotype, but he is the best of all those who are the stereotype, so there will be a place for him at a top university. You are amazing, so you will be fine in the admissions game.

7

^ agreed.

Your stats are basically perfect, and there is no question that you are academically qualified to be at any of the top colleges. But the difference between getting in to two or more Ivies and getting rejected by all of them comes down to your ECs and maybe your essays. Your ECs look a little average for Ivy applicants besides the music which is great. If you are interested in medicine then you want to craft your application specifically for science.

I know someone who got accepted by Stanford, Princeton, Yale, MIT, etc. He had stats like yours and took practically the same classes you did, including the Linear Algebra. His ECs, though, are almost certainly the reason he got accepted into all those top schools. He conducted research for the majority of high school and won awards at the nations most prestigious science competitions such as Intel and ISWEEP.

To get into these schools consistently, meaning that you get into several of them instead of getting into one or zero, you need to show that you are:

  1. academically capable, which you are

  2. passionate about a subject matter

  3. extremely skilled at your passion, meaning that you are nationally ranked or similarly qualified, depending on the field you are interested in

I see that you have a good amount of ECs related to medicine, but you need more. Is there a class or a teacher at your school that would allow you to do research? Getting accepted to a local science competition is the first step towards a larger event. You should also start some sort of club at your school related to research or biology, since getting several leadership positions is important. Maybe start a website that teaches the fundamentals of biology to elementary school students. Any EC that shows you have initiative, talent, and drive is a good EC to add.

8

@doorrealthe I’m planning to apply to some serious medical internships next year, which will hopefully allow me to do conduct research in a lab, and present my work to an audience. Does this sound good? Also, I’m the president of my school’s Science Olympiad. Doesn’t this count as a school club related to research and biology? Thanks for taking the time to write such a great reply.

9

The issue will be the lack of experience in a health delivery setting. Or advocacy. So many kids claim they want to be docs, how much they want to help people…then they have nothing where they, well, helped people, related to health issues or promoting well-being. Think about it. School clubs won’t replace this aspect.

10

HYPS is going to be really tough, I’d narrow down to Brown or Northwestern and apply early decision. Though I’m not a big fan of ED (it limits choice and benefits the college), given the difference between acceptance rates for ED vs RD it would make sense to apply ED if it’s clearly your first choice. If you go RD with the colleges, the de-facto admissions rate for Asians will be around 5% for most ivies, 1–2% for HYP and S.

11

Glad to help!

To be respond to @theloniusmonk, Brown PLME and Northwestern HPME are nearly as competitive as HYPS. All are reaches, even for the most competitive applicants in the country.

I saw that you are the president of your school’s Science Olympiad, but I feel like you can add another club in. For example, I was one of the editor’s in chief of my school newspaper as well as president of a business club. Having at least two leadership positions in clubs is good, otherwise admissions officers will wonder what you do after school unless you play varsity sports or work at a job every day

12

@lookingforward gave you some great advice. Consider putting more effort into actually helping others. The hospital volunteer is a good start, but how often do you go there? Off the top of my head, you could do 10 different ECs related to helping others. Start a website to promote good diets in teens. Start a YouTube channel about the largest health risks for high schoolers. Shadow a doctor or researcher. Maybe even try making a company that sells something healthy, such as a fruit drink, cheap sunscreen, recycled bags, etc. Anything that shows you really want to get started helping others now

13

Many kids serm to be intimidated, so working directly with the needy is good. Face to face. Sometimes your role is secondary, but you put yourself in the environment.