My list of 9 is:
Caltech, MIT, Berkeley, UChicago, Cornell, UC Santa Barbara, UIUC, UVA, VTech
GPA:
Weighted: 4.26
Unweighted: 3.77
Course load:
When a class is not AP, assume honors. Total of 11 APs over high school career. 6 senior year. Non-academic classes not listed
By year:
Sophomore:
AP world (A-)
Junior:
AP Lang (A)
APUSH (A)
AP Physics 1 (A)
AP Micro/macro (A)
Senior:
Calc BC
AP Stat
AP Lit
AP Gov
AP Physics 2
AP Physics C
Non A grades listed here:
AP World: (A-) relisted for completeness.
Algebra 1: (A-)
Geometry: (B+)
Algebra 2: (B+)
Precalc/trig: (B+)
Latin 1: (B+)
Latin 2: (A-)
Extracurriculars:
Started tutoring organization
Computer club
VASOS stream monitor (service)
Debate
Captain of trivia club, top 5 scorer at district bowl
Governer’s economics challenge team member (only 4 per school)
Ex-co-captain of rock climbing team
Science fair, regional 1st place, state qualifier.
Your strong point is standardized testing. Your grades are probably your weak point. ECs are OK. I would categorize Caltech, MIT, UChicago as high reach and Berkeley/Cornell as mid reach.
I would agree with the other posters. I would even go as far as to say that UIUC is a safety. What state are you in?
Also, can you please chance me back?
I think you have a shot at all these schools. Obviously great standardized test scores, and from what I’m understanding with your GPA scale (I think it might be how mine works too but I was confused so thanks for the explanation) you’re in a good spot for GPA too. A lot of these schools are unfortunately unpredictable, but I wouldn’t say you’re out of reach. Definitely fair chances just like anyone else with your stats. I agree w the other posters on where they placed you. Good luck. Can you chance me back?
I’d say your chances at UCSB, UIUC, UVA, and VTech are great, and pretty good for Berkeley and Cornell. As for Caltech, MIT, and U Chicago it’s hard to say… Obviously those three are a reach for just about anyone, but your standardized test scores are incredible, so that’ll definitely bump you up. Your ECs are solid, maybe not amazing in the eyes of MIT and Caltech, but still pretty good.
Definitely expand upon some of your bigger scientific accomplishments in your essays (I know that not all of those schools have extensive supplemental essays, but just do what you can). If you can make yourself seem interesting enough in your essays it could compensate for some of the other weaknesses in your application, like GPA, that you can’t do anything to change at this point.
Overall I’d say you’re a really qualified applicant with a couple of weak spots that you’ll need to do your best to compensate for. Best of luck.
Also, what’s your rank? Do you go to a really tough/competitive high school? Because obviously an A at a magnet school can be worth a lot more than an A at a public school depending on the class and teacher. Colleges will often take this into consideration.
@dirtyernst My school district does not provide rank, or even percentile. They only provide high and low GPAs. My school has a USNews silver; it’s in the low 600s rank wise. I’m not sure how much that counts.
