Chance me for the schools I'm applying to [Equestrian going premed for rare diseases]

Chance Me / Match Me!
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(if you happen to actually know me… no, you don’t.)

Demographics
US citizen
Lives in MA
Large public high school (2k+ kids)
closeted queer (applying under "female, she/her), Asian (Pakistani), has multiple disablities (think 5+ disabilities)
First-gen immigrant/resident in US, lived in US for 15 years

Applied as a Biology major under the pre-med track (although I plan to do Bio on pre-med track w/a dual minor in French and Theater (or dance))
My career goal is to be a pediatric geneticist and find cures for kids with rare diseases (like myself!) - which I wrote about in my essays.

3.8 GPA

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.8
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.4 Weighted, I think? It’s out of 5.0 for the weighting system.
  • Class Rank: we don’t do class rank until Q3, but I’ve been told I’m in the top 10%
  • ACT/SAT Scores: going test-optional for all schools!
    Competitive equestrian, planning to ride on a collegiate team (be it D1 or club-sport level), also riding on the National level (A/AA circuit in Hunters/Eq over fences +flat)

Coursework
APs: APUSH, AP World History: Modern, AP English Lang, AP French.
I did 2 dual enrollment courses at a local university- the first year I got a C (it was in their pilot program, with a 10% acceptance rate), and this year i’m in level 2, applied nutrition and will declare the grade (it’s an A+)
All other classes are Honors or Accelerated classes.
Major related courses: Honors Human Anatomy and Physiology (got an A), Honors Biology (I think I got a B+ or an A-), Honors Chemistry (got an A), Honors Physics (I think i scraped by with a B).

I also took Dance 1 in freshman year (got an A).

I don’t have many awards that I received in high school, but i did get First Honor roll in 9-10th grades. I don’t know if they continued it this year.
I also got the Award of Excellence from the Congress of Future Medical Leaders.

ECs:

Paid Research Affiliate (12th- present)
The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Collaborating with other team members in clinical genomics, variance pathology, and rare genomic sequencing to diagnose and treat patients. Doing Graduation Capstone with the Broad, will be signed on through to med school to work for them. I am the youngest person in the Broad’s history to be employed. Working in ClinGen + with the Rare Genome Project.

Member (11th and 12th)
National Honors Society
Participated in service opportunities presented by the Chapter, inducted in junior year.

Senior Class Representative (12th), Student Government Executive Board (12th)
Student Government
Senior Class Representative, led the planning of senior class events and collaborated with other representatives to create new ideas for the student body.

Member (9th-11th), deaf co-President (12th)
American Sign Language Club
Was a member for three years before leading ASL Club in senior year. In charge of planning club-sponsored events and meetings.

Member (11th), Alumni (Present)
Award of Excellence, Congress of Future Medical Leaders
Learned from Nobel Prize Laureates in Medicine, observed live surgeries, and received an Award of Excellence.

Creator/Leader (11th-12th),
Exploring Films and Literature: Trauma in Media course
Created a new English Language Arts interdisciplinary course at high school, leading efforts to get the course into the school catalog for future years.

My essays were pretty good, people have told me I’m gifted at writing, so I should be fine? I did any and all optional essays, too.
My Common App essay was all about me being deaf, and how I’ve had to overcome obstacles, etc.

Uhhh, we’re applying for financial aid.

Schools

  • Safeties:
    -UMass Amherst (EA)
    -UVM (University of Vermont) (EA)
    -GWU (The George Washington University) (RD)
    -UWash at Seattle (RD)
  • Targets:
    -BC (Boston College) (ED2, may roll to RD if deferred from ED1 school)
  • The College of William and Mary (RD)
    -CWRU (Case Western Reserve University) (EA)
  • Reaches:
  • Middlebury College (RD)
    -NYU (New York University) (RD)
    -UNC CH (UNC Chapel Hill) (EA)
    -Northeastern University (EA)
    -BU (Boston University) (RD, applied for Trustee Scholarship)
    -Wesleyan University (RD)
  • High Reaches:
    -Amherst College (RD)
    -Williams College (RD)
    -Tufts University (RD)
    -USC (University of Southern California) (EA)
    -Brown University (ED1)
    -Cornell University (RD)
    -Harvard University (RD)
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I can’t chance you, but congrats on your achievements.

Are you being recruited for any equestrian teams?

What is your annual college budget, and your Fafsa EFC? Have you run the net price calculators to get cost estimates for all the schools on your list?

Your safeties, besides u Mass (I assume your Naviance shows it’s a safety/your HS GC agrees), aren’t safeties. None of the rest have highly likely admissions for you, and some may not be affordable even if accepted. (Safeties have to also be affordable).

What are your AP scores?

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I think the only safety on your list is UMass.

The rest are reaches of some sort.

Why are you going test optional? A strong test score could help you.

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Your reach schools get a lot of pre-med applicants. I think only USC might be approachable for you. The other reaches seem super tough for bio/premed track.

Also consider total cost of education. You may be ok with a full pay private college then med school expenses. Many kids try for a cheaper college, however.

Best of luck and nice work on a lot of applications! You should have good news in there somewhere.

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I’m going test-optional as I really didn’t have time to take either the SAT/ACT, honestly.

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I didn’t share my APUSH score (it was a 1, and it still boggles my mind since I had an A in the class).

I’m not being recruited for any teams, unfortunately- my riding journey in itself has been really sporadic due to outside circumstances, too.

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Your profile is so unique. You’ve done a lot. Given first gen you might get into more than it seems.

I’ll just say I would add UVM as a safety too. Can’t see how you wouldn’t get in but as earlier posters seem to disagree, it’d be wise to take their concerns into account. You might add a UNH or U Maine based on others feedback or another safety.

Make sure to show love to those that track demonstrated interest.

It’s hard to tell - just very unique.

Good luck

Miami of Ohio would be a safety and has an entire equestrian program. It’s very well respected.

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I would apply to the genetic sciences program at UCONN. If med school doesn’t turn out, it would still put you in a great position to apply to their genetics and genomics masters program.

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Thanks for that info. Please do answer the budget and Fafsa EFC questions. Posters can’t really help until we know that info.

I agree with tsbna that Miami Ohio could make sense, pending budget info.

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Our income is 75k/yr right now due to a major income drop- I don’t remember what our FAFSA EFC is.

And at this point, all my schools are set- I’m applying this year and have sent my ED1 + EA apps already.

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Agree re no safeties other than UMass; how about Holy Cross and Clark? UMass Med School and Hospital are in Worcester and there might be good volunteering and/or research opportunities there. You may be able to get merit (20k) at Holy Cross.

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I appreciate the advice! I had considered Clark long before I finalized my list, but ultimately, it just didn’t seem like a school I’d thrive at. Thank you, though!

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I think you’ll get into UMass and UVM and probably UWash at Seattle. The rest are reaches, in my view. You say you got a “1” on the APUSH exam - did you not take the exams for the remainder of your AP classes?

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Will UMass be affordable for your family without taking out more than the $5.5k first year student loan?

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No, I didn’t. I just- I was incredibly burntout and the timeline of when I had to take the AP exams was…untimely. One of my parents left the country for six months, and my grades dropped (I got a B in one class, As in the other) as a result, and I didn’t want to push myself further.

I will be getting the Seal of Biliteracy, though, this year. I’ve taken the test for it.

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I believe so! I’ll be trying to pitch in any money I get from work as well.

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Holy Cross?

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It’s in a sketchy part of Mass, my parents didn’t want me to check it out.

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So this is a concern. It will show schools a time management issue. This may be an area to focus on - it’s not easy, even for adults - figuring out balance so that you have time for your studies most importantly, then other items of interest, and eating and sleeping are paramount. You may be taking on too much.

Depending on what your family has saved, you may struggle with the OOS publics short of those that give merit.

UW, for example, has a $61k cost so even with merit can you afford it ? $50k plus

You may say you are done with apps but you should go school by school and ensure via the NPC that you can afford. Part of that is discussing budget with your family.

You want to make sure you are able to attend college and not strain your family.

You also need to work to establish balance on your life. I see from your first message you have some disabilities. Please don’t over extend yourself but things like taking AP tests are critical as is ensuring you applied to the right schools, even if that requires another app or two.

Eat and sleep, focusing on academics and college apps are most important. Than all the extras.

Best of luck.

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Hi, thank you for your advice!

Our income is set to go back up to 250k+/yr by next year, so yes, hopefully.

One of my main issues is time management- and i’m working on it. I’ve already disclosed my disabilities to the schools. (ADHD, NVLD, etc).