Basic info:
asian male, california, both parents went to college, pretty high income, private jesuit school
Academics:
competitive high school with 400 ish students (does not rank but at least top 10%)
3.86 UW, 4.32W, UC GPA = 4.4 (for reference for UC schools)
taken max AP/honors every year but school limits pretty heavily (2 freshman, 3 sophomore, 4 junior)
Honors/AP: freshman - alg2,english, sophomore - precalc,english, chem (self-studied for ap test - 4), junior - englishlitAP, bioAP, calcbcAP,spanish 3H
SAT: 1550 superscore (750 EBRW, 800 Math), highest test = 1540
SATIIs: Math 2 (800), Chem (780)
EC’s:
VEX Robotics (9-12)
win various local and state tournaments and awards
attend CA state championships every year
(hoping to make it to worlds this year - would this look good or is it too common?)
3rd degree black belt in Taekwondo, working towards my (4th) master degree (since i was 6 y.o. - 12th grade)
assistant instructor - lead classes individually including color belt classes and black belt classes closer to my own level
School “Shadow guide” (11-12)
act as guide to prospective freshman (basically just take them along with me during school day)
Teacher assistant for Spanish (11)
mainly grading assignments and papers for teacher and occasionally helping out students
Volunteer at local hospital (11-12)
will have ~150 hours by senior year
just simple work around hospital as well as interaction with patients
Volunteer at soccer camp for kids with autism (10)
pretty self-explanatory
work at seasonal hot chocolate shop (9)
simple tasks like being a cashier, making drinks, and administrative work
immersion trip to Cambodia (11)
helped at local school, teaching robotics
tutoring club at school (11-12)
tutor in math, science, english, and spanish
teacher assistant for catholic high school entrance exam, called HSPT if you’re familiar (11-12)
I am very interested in the sciences and I will mostly likely major in something related to biology or chemistry. What are my chances for the UC schools and UMich? Also, do you think T20s, especially JHU, are viable options or are my extracurriculars too weak?
Thanks!
Overall you are a competitive applicant. I am sure you are aware of that UCLA/UCB are Reach schools but reasonable Reach schools. You several options from which to choose from in the Spring.
Best of luck.
2018 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 4.20 or above capped weighted and not major specific:
UCB: 37%
UCLA: 41%
UCSD: 70%
UCSB: 80%
UCD: 89%
UCI: 75%
UCSC: 92%
UCR: 96%
UCM: 98%
Capped weighted GPA is the UC GPA most quoted in the UC statistical data available. Only UCLA and UCB have published uncapped GPA admit data on their website. UC Capped weighted GPA is also used to determine UC eligibilty.
25th-75th percentiles for Fully Weighted UC GPA for 2019 admits:
UCLA: 4.36-4.63
Unfortunately UCB is only posting Capped weighted admit GPA for 2019 but their academic indicators show the majority of admitted students are in the 4.4-4.6 uncapped weighted range.
I don’t think that attendance in Hopkins’ CTY programs would increase one’s chance of acceptance at Hopkins. These programs are bought-experiences; as such, attendance in these should not tip a CTY-attendee-applicant’s admission outcome favorably. Perhaps the question in Hopkins’ supplemental application on one’s CTY experience is (solely) for their collection of data on how attendance in their programs might correlate with the strength of the applicant.
My son with similar gpa and test scores as yours, applied successfully to Hopkins RD last year, and I don’t think his multi-year attendance in CTYs helped him explicitly in his application. It seems to me that among the selective schools which evaluate applicants holistically, Hopkins weighs an applicant’s quantitative academic stats more so than other schools; hence my ‘evaluation’ of you as a strong candidate at Hopkins (my son did not apply to the UCs and Michigan, so I cannot comment about them).
“My son with similar gpa and test scores as yours, applied successfully to Hopkins RD last year,”
That’s great, I think though that comparison is apt only if the state, race, ses are also similar. Asian male, high SES, STEM, from CA is a tough demographic and that’s not even considering the private h/s part. I’d recommend applying to Hopkins ED if parents can afford it, EA to UM along with a few UCs and see what happens. I have seen a lot of students with your profile, you should get into all the UCs except UCB and UCLA, where I think you’ll get into one, but not the other, but don’t ask which one! UM is a match for you, 50/50. Good luck.
Thanks! I agree it is tough living in the Bay area with so many competitive students, but then again I have had a lot of opportunities that many people don’t have.
@Gumbymom Does attending COSMOS increase chances of getting into certain UCs? Also, would I be able to send recommendation letters from UC professors for my UC application?
COSMOS is a nice educational EC to have on your application, but it does not give you an advantage for any of the UC’s.
The only UC that accepts LOR’s is UC Berkeley and LOR’s are by invitation only to a small group of applicants. The rest of the UC’s sometimes ask for LOR’s when they request a supplemental review due to special circumstances listed on the application. Again, this is by invitation only.
He put these down on his application:
-9th through 12th grade, tutored Russian at school;
-10th through 12th grade, introduced Russian culture to elementary school students;
-11th and 12 th grade, tutored middle school student on Math;
summer prior to senior year, volunteered in a soil science lab at Hopkins, sorting mud and leaves (wrote about this lab experience, but did not ask the professor for a recommendation letter);
-11 th grade, school trip to St. Petersburg, Russia. He participated in National Spoken Russian and Russian Essay Contests, and won a few prizes.
Athletics: he played badminton competitively and coached at a couple of camps for novice players.
For the Hopkins specific question on CTY programs, he just answered ‘CTY summer programs’ and did not give any specifics.
He applied as an International Relations major, with Economics as his second. My son’s ECs are truly ordinary (especially when compared with yours, for example); apart from his quantitative stats, I think what really helped him was his essays (I give credits to all of his English teachers), his demonstrated continued interest in Russian, applying to a less competitive major, mostly likely strong LORs, and perhaps geographic advantage of being local in Baltimore.
From Hopkins: https://apply.jhu.edu/discover-jhu/get-the-facts/
“Applicants - Meet the Class of 2023
For the class entering fall 2019
Applicants: 30,164; Enrolled: 1,363
Admitted students in the top 10% of their class: 98%
Middle 50th percentile*: SAT Composite: 1480-1550 (new scale) / ACT: 33-35
Race/ethnicity breakdown:
American Indian/Alaskan Native: 3%; Asian/Pacific Islander: 31%; Black: 13%; International: 14%; Latinx/Hispanic: 16%;Unknown: 2%; White/non-Hispanic: 21%”
Note that the cohort of self-identified Asian/Pacific Islander is bigger than that of White/non-Hispanic by 10%.
