Chance Me (Ivies, UChicago, Georgetown, etc.)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi everyone,

I am currently a rising senior ('21) at a top prep school (think Deerfield, Hotchkiss, Exeter) applying to 23(!) schools.

College List:
Yale
University of Chicago
Columbia
Johns Hopkins
Dartmouth
Brown
Cornell
University of Pennsylvania
UC Berkley
UCLA
USC
Georgetown
Emory
Washington University, St. Louis
NYU
Boston University
Boston College
University of Virginia
University of Michigan
University of Rochester
UCSB
William & Mary
University of Massachusets, Amherst

Stats:
GPA: 3.95/4.0 (Unweighted)
ACT: 35 (36 Superscore)
Nearly all honors classes (school does not have AP courses; honors is highest designation)

Senior Year Course Load:
Cell and Molecular Biology (honors)
Linear Algebra and Multivariable Calculus (honors)
Spanish 5 (advanced)
English
US History (honors)

Awards:
National Merit Semi-finalist (anticipated; 1500 PSAT score is well over the cutoff)
AP Scholar with Distinction
Model UN Best Delegate

ECs:
DECA (3 years; founder and president)
Student Affairs Committee (3 years; chair/president; oversee 100+ clubs and student organizations)
Varsity Soccer (4 years; captain)
Asian Students Association (4 years; president)
Internship at political journal (4 years; published many articles, interviewed various politicians and officials)
Research Intern (2 years; worked in department of biomedical engineering at a top 10 school)
Piano (12 years; various state-wide awards)
Model UN (4 years; pod leader responsible for coaching new students)
Yale Young Global Scholars (1 year; studied politics, law, and economics)
Prefect (like Harry Potter!)
Physics and Chemistry Peer tutor (3 years)
Volunteer in political campaign (3 years)
Marketing Intern for Silicon Valley Start-up (1 year)

Essays (rating 1-10, details): N/A
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 10/10
Teacher Rec #2: 18/10
Counselor Rec: 9/10
Additional Rec: from Engineering Professor 7/10

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major and College: Biological Science & Econ double major
State (if domestic applicant): MA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Private (boarding)
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 250k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): N/A

2

First, let me State you are a talented student and will have some good choices at the end.

But 23 schools??? What was your college counselor’s reaction? You really should be leveraging their expertise, and I can’t believe they think this is a good idea. They should further be able to give you a recommendation on a target ED school, given your strengths and historical placements from there.

My read is that you have solid ED chances at places like Hopkins, Dartmouth, Brown, and Cornell. If you would be happy at one of them, my recommendation is to take advantage of ED. But you should simultaneously apply EA to Michigan as well.

I think aiming higher can be a risk, given I don’t see a strong spike in what you wrote. If you are not ready to give up on more selective schools (Yale, Columbia, Chicago, and UPenn), then apply to one of those EA/ED, and have a number of other applications ready to go in case it doesn’t work out early.

3

What is you intended major?

23 schools is a lot. The quality of your essays is likely to suffer. It becomes more likely that you will forget something when you have so many applications to send in. I would try to trim the list. For now try to get it below 20 schools. Make sure that you keep two safeties.

I think that you should look through your list and ask yourself whether each of the schools on your list is worth the added expense compared to U.Mass in-state. U.Mass is a very good university.

Columbia is a big university in a big city. Dartmouth College is a lot smaller in a rural location. Do you have a preference?

Is Rochester better than U.Mass for your likely intended major(s)? Is UCSB going to be worth the full cost out of state price?