Chance me for PYS, Williams, Amherst?

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Before we begin, thank you all for taking the time to help me!</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 800 (CR) 800 (WR) 780 (M): 2380 one sitting
[</em>] ACT: N/A
[<em>] SAT II: 800 (Bio-molecular) 800 (US History) 740 (Chemistry)
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.92
[<em>] Weighted GPA: ~4.5
[</em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 10%
[<em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 5 4 (Bio, US History, Chem)
[</em>] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Gov/AP Macro, AP Comp & Lit, AP Calc BC, Honors Physics, Honors Language, TA
In total, I've taken about 9 APs and 3 Honors so far at my school (including senior year)
[</em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): American Society for Cell Biology 2011 poster/abstract...but nothing else really major.
USNCO semi-finalist
NSL Bio Bronze medalist
Calgene Scholarship (regional)
ISEF regional 1st
Scholastic Gold Key
and some more minor awards
will coauthor 2 science papers, 1st author in one</p>

<p>[/ul]
Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Science Bowl (Co-Captain), Debate Team (Co-Captain), History Club (President), Community Non-profit organization (President), BME research at a UC
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: Paid summer internship at a BME UC lab, private piano teacher
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: ScienceBuddies, tutor, non-profit organization
[</em>] Summer Activities: research internship, CC course in writing, having fun like teenager
[<em>] Essays: Common app--ugghh, so hard to be subjective.. 7 or 8? I wrote about my father's influence on me; how his depression forced me to create my own brand of philosophy/faith.
[</em>] 2 Teacher Recommendations: haven't seen either.
[<em>] Counselor Rec: haha. 500+ in my class..c'mon.
[</em>] Additional Rec: haven't seen, but will probably be the better out of the three.</p>

<p>[/ul]
Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): CA!
[</em>] Country (if international applicant): USA
[<em>] School Type: public
[</em>] Ethnicity: asian
[<em>] Gender: female
[</em>] Major: I would be applying as a Molecular Biology/Biochemistry major at all my schools.
[<em>] Income Bracket: ~$100,000
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): first gen-immigrant (came when I was 5)[/ul]</p>

<p>My schools are ranked by preference:</p>

<p>Columbia
Stanford
Yale
Williams
Princeton
Amherst
Rice
Middlebury
Brown
Cornell
UC Berkeley
UC Davis
UC LA
UCSD</p>

<p>Just your average asian shooting for the stars =)</p>

<p>Thanks everyone, I really appreciate it. Let me know if you need any additional info.</p>

<p>Best,
Flamingo4</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>First gen for college admissions means first gen to attend college (anywhere), not first gen to the US (of course you could be both).</p>

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<p>columbia, stanford, yale, princeton, brown, amherst, williams: reach
middlebury, cornell, rice: good chances
ucb, ucla: great chnaces</p>

<p>female STEM
i believe you have batter chances compared asian males</p>

<p>good luck to you</p>

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<p>Great, thank you for your insight 20more and entomom.
What’s a female STEM?</p>

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<p>^it means Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. You have a better chance than most asian males since the STEM fields have typically been dominated by men.</p>

<p>Also, you’re the first person I’ve seen here on CC that also does history club! <em>virtual high-five</em></p>

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<p>STEM is science, technology, engineering and math. Bio is a plus/minus stem interest. That you are female and interested in STEM majors is a plus. </p>

<p>Your interest and success in science is a plus but your ECs are somewhat unidimensional which is both a plus and a minus- play up your passion for science to make it a plus. It sounds like you aren’t particularly interested in athletics which is a minus for Williams at least.</p>

<p>Reach: Columbia, Stanford, Yale and Princeton- you’ve got a good shot but they are reaches without a great hook which you don’t have;</p>

<p>Low reach: Brown, Williams, Amherst</p>

<p>Match: Middlebury, Rice, Cornell, Berkely, UCLA
Low Match-Safety: UC Davis, SCSD</p>

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<p>Ah, I see. Thanks for the chances guys!</p>

<p>I also didn’t know Williams emphasized athletics…Interesting. The non-profit organization I volunteer for is a dance troupe (which isn’t exactly hardcore athletics). </p>

<p>As for majors, besides mol/cell bio, I am also choosing biochem and philosophy as alternates. My essays tend to reflect my humanities side, and at first I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. But I am sending my ASCB abstract and the additional letter of rec from my research professor as supplement, in addition to a brief list of additional science-related awards, so I didn’t want to talk too much about science in my essays. Eh. Oh well! doonerak has good advice. </p>

<p>ojodeltigre: “HIGH-FIVE!”</p>

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<p>I’ve updated my college list:</p>

<p>Yale
Williams
Brown
Cornell
(maybe Stanford)
Middlebury
UCLA
UCB
UCD
UCSD</p>

<p>I won’t be applying to Princeton, Columbia, or Rice. Not good fits.</p>

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<p>I think you’ll get into all of the UCs and that you have a great shot at Midd, Williams and Cornell. For Brown, Yale and Stanford, you’ll have to make your essays stand out from the large number of other high stats Asians from CA in their pools.</p>

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<p>Middlebury and Williams are in rural area, and NE is very cold & snowy in winter. Do you like it?</p>

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<p>Thanks for the responses Cool5s and Waverly.
Cool5s: I do like the cold (I know, so not a good californian), but I have yet to visit these campuses in the winter.</p>

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<p>Stanford - Reach
Yale - Reach
Williams - Low Reach
Middlebury - High Target
Brown - Reach
Cornell - High Target
UC Berkeley - Target
UC Davis - Target
UC LA - Target
UCSD - Target</p>

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<p>Might look at a school like Holy Cross(don’t have to be religious) very good school not far from Boston. Holy Cross might have better science programs than Midd. HC offers good financial aid and has a January 15th application due date.</p>

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<p>Great, thanks for the insight Par72 and lexieam. Do any of you have an opinion on Swarthmore? (The deadline has been extended until the 15th.)</p>

<p>Par72: Thank you for the recommendation. I don’t know as much about Middlebury as I’d like to, so I’ll look into HC as well.</p>

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<p>How significant is the alumni interview for swarthmore applicants? I.E. the deadline passed for me to request one, so I don’t know if I should even bother sending in an application</p>

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<p>I’m surprised; why is Williams considered a “lower” reach than Yale/Columbia?</p>

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<p>As I’m sure you know, it’s truly impossible to actually predict admission chances at any of the top schools. There are so many applicants with great scores and grades applying that sometimes its just a gamble. All your grades and scores are right on target with every single school you listed, however, it all depends on what they are looking for. Maybe Amherst won’t be keen on your essay, but Yale will love it, and that will be the deciding factor, or maybe Middlebury really wants some ethnic diversity and that’s their deciding factor. In any case, you’re a strong candidate for any of those schools. It will all come down to what they’re looking for, and how you presented yourself. Best of Luck.</p>

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<p>Although I will mention- your school choices seem to be based on their rankings, seeing how Columbia and say Williams are two VERY different schools. I hope you put adequate time and thought into each choice because that’s you, yourself, can determine if your a good fit for that school, and if it comes across in your application that you’re not a good fit the school might not necessarily accept you, even if you’re very qualified. I think too many kids make the mistake of applying to schools just because they got good U.S news rankings, and don’t put enough time into actually tracking down the perfect school for them. (but thats a whole other story). anyway, you’ll probably do well anywhere you go, so it doesn’t matter all too much.</p>

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<p>Hi Carolineeleanor,</p>

<p>Thank you for such a thoughtful response. Indeed, Columbia & Williams are very different institutions; I think you’ll be happy to know that I ended up not applying to Columbia for the exact reasons. :)</p>

<p>See you around on CC!</p>

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<p>or at williams :)</p>