Chance me: Harvard, Stanford, Johns Hopkins... also misc. questions

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello! I’m very new to CC…but could I get a few people to chance me for Stanford, UWashington, Johns Hopkins University, UPenn, Harvard, Duke, Northwestern (HPME) and Brown (PLME and not PLME)? Also UT Austin Honors or UT Austin merit-based full ride/tuition? Lots of schools, I know.
Perhaps breaking it up into dreams/reaches/safeties with my app would be an easier way to break them down?

———Applying for Fall 2019, btw———

Personal stats: ACT 36 (math: 35, sci: 35, reading/english: 36, writing: 9); Unweighted GPA is 4.00 and (School) Weighted GPA is 4.65. SAT 1560 (790 math, 770 r/w, 7/6/6 essay). PSAT 1500 (will probably qualify for and apply for NMS) (are SAT Subject test scores uber relevant outside of schools like HPME that require them? I’m taking chem and math II soon.)
Background: Multiracial (Asian and White), male, from TX, went to middle school and high school in OR nearish Portland.
Goals: Premedical studies or biochem to become MD/Ph.D after undergrad…but also interested in double-majoring in history if I can because I love learning about it or math because it’s satisfying (not at HPME, though, obviously).

ECs: (weak sauce, yup)
• JV/V water polo swing player team for 2 years.
• Varsity swim team for 3 years, 3 varsity letters and boys team 2nd in state. (Should I continue this in senior year? Or will I be fine focusing on sci. research at OHSU?)
• Job shadowed 8 physicians over the last year (mostly internist, others include 2x hematologist oncologist, wound care surgeon, ENT, general surgeon, emergency doc, anesthesiologist) and 2 surgical viewings (cardiothoracic and orthopedic) (~90 hrs total of all that).
• ~20 hours volunteering in hospital with patient interaction (continuing), projected 150+ hours of research volunteering at Oregon Health & Science University studying a certain molecule (and being trusted to provide a pivot to my OHSU mentor’s research path, so pretty meaningful I’d say), ~40 hours other misc. volunteering (including food bank packaging, serving food directly to homeless, hours volunteering at local runs), might be competing for ISEF and regional fairs later in the year (should I mention this at all during the application? all of the science fair stuff will be far after the app deadline)
• Child and adult swim instructor and lifeguard for 2 years.
• Co-founder and board member of UNICEF Club (3 yrs; editor and treasurer and spearhead-er of fundraisers) and MDJunior club (2 yrs; VP); NHS member (3 yrs), Spanish Honor Society member (2 years) (also thinking of founding a boba club next year. And/or a hiking club.)

*Note: the volunteering will continue at about ~4 hours a week for hospital. Also, the 150 hrs of research volunteering should have been accumulated by mid-November or earlier… (does this mean I shouldn’t apply early to schools like Stanford or Harvard? I should have my name listed as coauthor of a novel research publication by December…which seems too late…unsure if I can make any use out of that fact until I’m actually in undergrad ~_~)

Other:
• 4-HL IB Diploma Candidate. Have only gotten one IB test back so far; IB Chem SL = 7 pretty easily
• I have taken Calc 1, 2 and 3 dual-enrollment and 1 semester of university dual-enrollment linear algebra @ 11th grade. Started with Alg 1 in 6th grade.
• Teachers estimate top 1% of graduating class in recommendation letters despite no formal class ranking.
• Also, the rec. teachers are willing to emphasize whatever I would like them to in rec. letters… and one teacher is allowing me to write my own rec. letter and have her sign off on it (which is stressful because idk how to write a strong, glowing recommendation. Should I just stick to teachers that will write it for me?).
• My counselor knows me by name/face even though she has 300ish students that are her responsibility because I have very, very rarely performed less than perfect on any assignment—learning for fun is my thing (and apparently teachers talk about me?? not sure if that really even matters for applications besides maybe the counselor rec. letter). So a mediocre-strong counselor rec. letter.
• Also, my mentor (one of the more experienced, service-driven docs i shadowed) was CMO at his hospital system for a while and is very fond of me. He usually helps students that can’t get into an allopathic med school get into one…he hasn’t failed with any yet. I’m guessing his rec. letter for me would be strong (perhaps particularly for the direct med programs—unsure of how strongly they weigh rec. letters, though).

PLOT TWIST: Diversity card—I’m fairly obviously gay or bi (don’t kill me pls. ty) and am quite frankly not above stating this on applications if schools seem to be looking for diversity or if it will make me seem more like a human and less like a pile of mediocre stats. Explicitly out to my close friends etc. Dad and mom don’t know (or seem to act like they don’t know). They’re very religious. We go to church every single Sunday. Has posed a bit of a challenge that I’ve had to overcome in terms of who I am and how I see myself (i.e., identity) compounded by being multiracial. And might pose challenges with paying for college, should they find out. But that’s my problem to handle; all I need here is to be chanced for the aforementioned institutions. :slight_smile:

Suggestions for what I should do going forward are very very very welcome… cheers and thank y’all! :smiley:

2

These are all reach schools, except UW. Chances are going to be lousy for all these schools. They’re lousy for everyone, so you don’t want to ever count on admissions. UT-Austin doesn’t usually offer merit scholarships. For them, if you’re out of state they say, “Congratulations, you get to pay full out of state tuition, YAY!” Also, UT reserves 90% of their admissions for in-state.

Here’s my advice. Medical schools are mainly concerned with your grades and MCAT scores. Second, med school is very very expensive, so it pays to keep debt to a minimum for your undergraduate. I would recommend applying to all the honors programs you can, because that’s where you’re going to find your biggest scholarships. In-state is a good source. I know that if you go to TCU, you’ll get a university guaranteed full tuition scholarship. Same with Baylor. Alabama offers full tuition fees and books, and pays for your first year of room and board. You won’t find those scholarships at “elite” schools. Shop around and apply for every scholarship you can find.

3

These schools are all reaches but you have the stats to be in the ballpark for all of them. That said, if you are looking for merit, widen your search. Look at your instate school options and then places that give full rides for NMS. Your focus now should be on match and safety schools.

4

Thanks @coolguy40 and @momofsenior1 so much for the responses and the much-appreciated advice! I’ll be sure to look and thoughtfully consider my matches and safeties, esp. in-state.

I was curious about whether or not my listed schools were indeed attainable with luck or if they were completely out of reach for me, so thank you for addressing that as well! I’ll be adjusting my application list accordingly.

5

What is your financial situation? That is the most important question unanswered.

6

I’m right in the region of “too rich to qualify for need-based financial aid but too poor to just fork out the money for undergrad and med school without substantially stressful loans”…although again that situation is a bit uncertain/unstable. For the time being, I therefore feel somewhat forced to perform for merit scholarships (which I may end up actually needing in a worst-case scenario where I finish undergrad at an in-state college with $200k debt and few relevant research opportunities, hence barring me from med school).

Although, if I recall correctly, most of my targeted institutions practice need-blind admission so it shouldn’t be that relevant. (I think?)

7

Run the NPC for the schools on your list. There is often a disconnect with what schools think your family can afford and what they actually can contribute. If you are not going to qualify for financial aid, need blind is not going to help you. The reach schools on your list don’t give merit money.

If you are planning med school, you are super wise to look at getting the most merit aid possible and coming out close to debt free from undergrad. As a safety, you may want to consider St. Olaf. They have a very strong pre-med advising program and great med school placement stats and they are super generous with merit aid. You would be well above their stats and could potentially see a full ride and get a fantastic education.

8

The schools on the list aren’t out of reach, I just wouldn’t bet on an acceptance. When a school has a 95% rejection rate, acceptance criteria becomes subjective, so your stats are only one thing they look at. If they turn you down, it’s not because you’re not qualified, it’s because the high and mighty admissions people didn’t declare your application as “chosen.” It’s inconsistent and goofy. Either way, if you get top grades and MCAT scores, you have a great chance at medical school.

9

My only concern with attending the smaller liberal arts colleges like St. Olaf or even Santa Clara University is that I will not have enough meaningful research opportunities to make myself a competitive candidate for admission into good med schools—is this a valid concern that I should be taking into account when applying to undergrad? Or is my concern unfounded and/or able to be easily worked around?

Assuming that my notion of liberal arts colleges generally having fewer research opportunities than bigger name schools like Duke is accurate, should I balance the lack of research opportunities offered by these institutions with the financial aid/scholarships they offer in my decision of where to attend after graduating HS?

10

I wouldn’t worry about research. Medicine is a very practical science that relies on the ability to use applied knowledge. Just find a university you like and you can afford and get top grades.

11

From what I see here, you definitely have what it takes to get in. Of course, with schools that have such low acceptance rates, a lot of it will come down to the overall story you craft in your applications through your essays and whatnot. I would also encourage you to see if you could take one of your existing ECs and go above & beyond to show initiative/leadership with it outside of school.