Chance me Ivies+UChicago, Tufts

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Currently high school Junior going into Senior year
What are my chances for?
Cornell CAS(ED)
UChicago(EA)
Tufts(RD)
Harvard(RD)
UPenn(RD)
Dartmouth(RD)
BU(RD)
BC(RD)
JHU(RD)
WUSTL(RD)
Carnegie Mellon(RD)
UMass(RD)(Safety)
ACT: Did not take
SAT: Old:1450/2220(CR:650 Math:800 Writing:770)(Single December) hoping for New SAT1540+/Old 2260+ on October SAT (preferably with higher reading)
SAT 2: (Math 2:800, Physics:790)
Class rank: School doesn’t rank, prob top 15% (one of the best high schools in MA)
UW GPA: 3.90/4.00 (3.96 Unweighted Freshman(3 regular 3 honors), 3.90 unweighted Sophomore(4 honors 2 AP), 3.86 unweighted Junior (3 honors 3 AP) (Downward trend but more challenging courses every year )
Coursework:8 Exams taken(All courses taken except for AP Chinese):AP Chinese(5), AP Music(5), AP Physics 1(4), AP Physics 2:(5), waiting for (AP Micro, Macro, Calc BC, and European History) in July.
Senior Year course load: AP Biology, AP Psych, AP Stats, Honors for rest
Awards: St.Lawrence College Book Award, Massachusetts state Math Leagues competition semi-finalist, Presidential Community service awards(All 3 years so far), AP Scholar with Honor, NHS.

Extracurriculars:
-Summer Internship for Biological stem cell research at the Massachusetts General Hospital(12)
-Summer Job at Dunkin’ Donuts(12)
-Community Service club(9,10,11,12):President (11,12)-Club helps to raise funds for homeless shelters. We raise more than 5k per year, local walk for hunger
-Volunteering: Senior center(20 hours/year) (9,10,11,12), Summer volunteering at local Hospital (80 hours/ year)(10.11) Program helping people with disabilities (20 hours/year) (9,10,12)
-Table Tennis Club(10,11,12):(Founder, President):Typical after school club
-School MUN (11,12):(Member)
-Math Team(9,10,11,12):(Member)
-NHS(11,12) (Member)
-JV/V Track(10,11,12) (Member)
-JV/V Swimming(9.10,12) (Member)

Essays/Teacher Recommendations:
Essay: Plan to write about how the difficulties I have faced being a lower middle income asian in an affluent white community with parents who can help me little and who speak little english. Overall emphasizing on how I have become more independent and mature in the last couple of years by taking on more responsibilities as a person.

Teacher Recs:Hoping for Bio and History teacher to write me those! Bio teacher loves me as I participate often and History teacher has had me since freshman year and has seen me move from regular to honors and on to AP (he likes me but I don’t talk much in his class though)

Apply for Financial Aid?:Yes
Intended Major:Biological Sciences
State (if domestic applicant):MA
Country (if international applicant):The United States of America
School Type:Public
Ethnicity:Asian(Yikes)
Gender:Male(Double yikes:( )
Income Bracket: 65K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):Nothing much, dad was first to go to college but mom didn’t go to college, 1.5th generation college? lol

Thanks, Everyone

2

Cornell (ED) - Accept, or Defer then Accept

UChicago (EA) - Defer then Reject (Unless your essays happen to be extremely good)

Tufts (RD) - Wait-List

Harvard (RD) - Reject

UPenn (RD) - Not sure … Wait-List?

Dartmouth (RD) - Admit

not familiar with BU

BC (Assuming you mean Boston College) (RD) - Admit

John Hopkins (RD) - Possible Admit

WashU @ St. Louis (RD) - Reject

Carnegie Mellon (RD) - Admit

UMass (RD) - Admit

Please note, this is my biased, unprofessional opinion, and therefore, some (or most) of these predictions are likely to be wrong. Also, without access to your essays, or teacher recommendations, I’m simply going off stats and ECs, which ARE NOT the only deciding factor in college admissions (though some people seem to think so…)

To increase you chances, I’d suggest changing your essay topic, or making it very unique (colleges get HUNDREDS of culture and hardship essays) At some schools, the first thing they do when looking at an application is read the essay, so if you don’t show them that you’re different than most of the applicants right away, you’ll end up like most of the applicants - rejected. If you really feel like you can pour your heart and soul into that essay - that’s fine, but just take a different route or different perspective on it to make your essay seem unique.

On top of this, your extracurriculars are good, but not mind-blowing. The summer internship with the cell biology research is definitely interesting. I’d suggest doing some more research in your senior year, and then market your self as a science-y student when applying to colleges.

Good luck!

3

Your profile is pretty average for these top schools, so you need to either find more realistic match schools or be prepared to start UMass next fall (and there’s nothing wrong with UMass.) Edit your essay repeatedly and have others give constructive feedback. Avoid a pity party and instead use one or two humorous examples of the language and income gaps to illustrate a mature and positive attitude. The Mass Gen internship sounds special enough to highlight too. Good luck!

4

Okay, so I know this is going to sound weird and a bit harsh, but the biggest change you should make is that you should apply to Mass EA (I say this as a Massachusetts resident). You will have a better shot at getting into the honors college, and it will leave you feeling better that you have one acceptance in light of the fact that I think you’ll be deferred from Cornell (sorry) and deferred/rejected from Chicago (I say this as someone going to UChicago). Your essay does not sound really unique to me, and I’m not sure I would go with what you have right now. You have a reach-heavy list, and I personally think it’s prestige-heavy.

5

You should have 3-4 admits including UMass, BU, and probably BC. Maybe Tufts

6

@Oregon2016 Thanks! I will consider changing my essay topic. Any other suggestions for improving my profile(SAT, Extracurricular?) I am applying to top schools just for the heck of it:) and am personally expecting rejections for most or all of the top 20s but applying just in case I get into one.(Gotta be optimistic, right?) Also, I may apply just ED II to Tufts(45% admit rate at our school for 40 people who applied) and one other reach school (WUSTL or CMU) (not BU and BC) if I get a straight rejection from Cornell ED(Not deferral, which is just as likely).Yes, I’ve got a ton of friends at UMass and would love to be at a PARTY SCHOOL.

7

@jarrett211 Thanks! I like the harshness! As I said in the last comment, I am applying to top schools just for the heck of it and just in case I get into one. My main interest now is Cornell and I have fallen in love with the environment and campus, but I am applying to UChicago not to get in and just for lottery in case I get deferred or rejected from Cornell ED, which is likely. Coincidence that I was thinking about UMass EA earlier today, guess I will consider that more:) I know and will change my essay topic, but what should I do to improve my application in case of my extracurriculares, and perhaps improve SAT CR?

8

You are missing out on a lot of great schools that you could actually get into. Do yourself a favor this summer and find three schools not on your list that you really love. Consider, for example, looking at CWRU, U of Rochester, or Union.

9

@Bjklw2a I think Tufts ED2 sounds like a wonderful idea. I think you will get into BU (I would recommend applying for the Kilichand Honors College (even though it’s very competitive to get in), as well as applying by the December 1st deadline for the Presidential Scholarship, which again, you probably won’t get, but there isn’t any damage in trying. I think you will get into BC, though it won’t be a slam dunk. For WashU, apply by their scholarship deadline and request an interview. I believe fully your essay topic is more important than any other change you can make right now, but for the Critical Reading, trust me if you could get a 1500, you’ll be fine. Your ec’s hopefully will convey a story about you.

10

BU is likely a match and BC a high match for you. All the rest, except UMass, are reaches of varying difficulty. I think you might consider adding a couple more matches.

Have you considered applying to any LACs? Some pretty darn good LACs and universities might be matches or high matches for you. Here are some:

  • Colby, Hamilton, Bates, Lafayette, Colgate, Macalester, Grinnell, Reed, Oberlin, Kenyon, Colorado College, U Richmond, Holy Cross, Bucknell among LACs
  • Wake Forest, Tulane, Northeastern, Brandeis, NYU, U of Rochester, and Lehigh among universities.

I think schools like those are going to be where you’ll find your private matches and high matches, your buffer zone between your reaches and safety.

11

If I were you I’d try to kick that SAT reading up a bit; shouldn’t be too hard to increase a 650. I had a 2220 SAT and got an acceptance from Cornell; however, I was wait listed from Tufts, NYU, Swarthmore (accepted off wait list), and Wesleyan–rejected from Columbia and Dartmouth. I think my big mistake was that Cornell was really the only school that I really knew, liked, and wrote about from that mindset. Know what you’re attempting to get yourself into. Everything else seems fine to me. Get that reading up though… Good luck!

12

@prezbucky Thanks, I am not looking at LACs, unfortunately, as I want to attend bigger schools with more diversity. I am also interested in either financial aid for out of state schools or less financial aid but staying close to home, which reach schools or BU and BC offer, respectively. I may also apply to Brandeis and Northeastern as 20-30 people from our HS get into each school annually, but for the others I am just looking to stay in Mass for college and not go elsewhere, unless it’s a reach school that admits me.

13

That’ll work. You already have two matches, so adding Brandeis and/or Northeastern would give you one or two more. I think three or four matches would be plenty.

14

I agree with what everyone else said, expand your horizons! I don’t mean to be harsh, but I’m not sure about the essay. I have similar circumstances but that’s not something I’d consider writing about in an essay- it comes off as more of a sob story. Unless you can find a really creative way to frame and write more about how you learned from the situation rather than the situation itself, I’d avoid it.

15

@crybaby777 I have not began drafting my essay and am just brainstorming for ideas so that’s good :slight_smile:

16

In addition, I noticed someone talk about how essays about culture are now not very unique. But since I spent three years of middle school in Asia, would writing something out of that be good? Still, would colleges want to see more stuff about recent high school years?