–4 years of trumpet in jazz band
Band president in senior year
–4 years of varsity baseball
Team captain in senior year
2 years of JV XC and 2 years of Varsity XC
Co-captain senior year
–1 year of varsity squash
–AAU baseball
–4 years as a member of Model UN
Club leader in senior year
–4 years as a member of Young Democrats Club
Club leader in junior and senior year
–3 years as a writer/editor of a student-run news website
–3 years as editor of the school’s academic journal
–Founder and editor-in-chief of an online science journal in sophomore year
Students and faculty submit STEM works
–Admissions tour guide and Admissions prefect
–Openly secular club (club for atheists and secular humanists)
Objective:
GPA: 4.0 (school doesn’t do weighted GPA)
Rank: top 10%
–APs:
Junior Year: Chemistry, Spanish, US History
Senior Year: BC Calculus, Biology, Spanish,
Year-long STEM research project in chemistry
SAT: 1540
ACT: 34
SAT Subject Test in Math Level 1: 760
SAT Subject Test in Math Level 2: 750
SAT Subject Test in Chemistry: 740
AP US History Test: 5
AP Chemistry Test: 5
Other Info:
Race: Caucasian
FA: Will need financial aid
High School type: College preparatory school in MA
Applying to:
Applying: Stanford (Early Decision), UPenn, Brown, Pomona, Swarthmore, Tufts (sibling is an alum), Wesleyan, Northwestern, Duke, Emory, Northeastern, NYU, UMass Amherst
Intended Major: Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Chemical Biology, or General Biology
Stanford doesn’t have early decision, they only have restrictive early action and regular decision. And notifications for REA have been out for a couple of months now.
Anyway, if you’re asking whether or not you’re resume is competitive at these schools, you are. What matters now is now how much impact you have had in your community, your letters of recommendations, and your essays.
Not very high for any of those-all have such low acceptance rates that I can’t say you have a good chance. You appear to be qualified and I expect that you will be admitted to at least one of those schools.
You’re the typical BWRK, so admission to the top-top schools will depend on whether or not the committee likes you essays, recs, and your application package as a whole.
Stanford, UPenn, Brown, Pomona, Duke, Northwestern, and Swarthmore are reaches.
Tufts, Wesleyan, Emory, NYU, are achievable. NYU in particular will depend on which college you apply to. If not Stern or Tisch, you have a great shot.
Northeastern and UMass Amherst are pretty likely. Be careful of Northeastern’s yield protection, though.
@asianfang you do know Tufts is extremely difficult to get into, and that they protect their yield, correct?
@ANormalSeniorGuy apparently “bright well-rounded kid.” I had no idea either, haha.
Biggest problem I see no “hook” for schools like Stanford, Penn, Brown. Sure the scores are good, and sports ECs are great, top schools need more than that. They want someone who has “something” special… let that be awards, let that be impact statements on the community you serve… what make you stand out is the bottom line. Since you are from a college prep school in the NE, I’d think you have plenty of opportunities available to compete in stuff to win awards, that could count against you in the top school reviews. That said, I think UM(A) is safety, NYU, NE, and Emory (maybe) as decent shots, the rest are reaches IMO.
@SeinfeldFan1 I didn’t mean to imply that he was a shoo-in at Tufts. I agree: Tufts is difficult to get into and practices yield protection. But it is also not in the same tier as Ivies/Stanford/Pomona/Duke. To me, it’s about as selective as Stern and Wesleyan. I think OP has a better chance at Tufts than say, Stanford and Duke
@asianfang absolutely true, I like how you phrase it. Just meant sometimes Tufts is overlooked.
@SeinfeldFan1 @asianfang frankly BWRK seems to me like something a “well-rounded” applicant invented to make themselves feel better that they didnt maximize/perfect one thing, which is what colleges want. Depth vs Breath.
@ANormalSeniorGuy great point, I think you phrase it well.