Hi guys! I already posted before, but I have some new universities I would like to get chanced on and some new stats/information.
SAT: M 770 CR 800 W 800
Total: 2370
SAT II: Math II:800
Chem:800
GPA: 3.75 Cum UW
UC GPA: 3.88 if Honors classes do not count as UC approved honors and 3.96 if they do (does anyone know anything about this?)
Cum Weighted: 4.03
Weighted Classes:
Soph: Honors chem, AP Euro
Junior: AP Chem, AP Lit, Honors Spanish IV
Senior: will be taking AP Bio, AP Lang, AP Psych
Extracurriculars:
- Piano (9-12): Completing all 10 levels of Certificate of Merit Evaluation Exam, received branch honors and qualified for musical convention recital in level 8, receiving senior award (completing 3 levels in HS)
- Conducted Research at Schmahl Science Workshops (10 summer-12): Submitted research on Parkinson’s Disease to Contra Costa Science and Engineering Fair (won 2nd place, alternate for CA State Fair)
- Attended Telugu (Indian Language) School: Completed all 4 levels of telugu school, learned to fluently speak, understand, read, write Telugu
- 250 hours volunteering at Veterans Affairs Hospital (9-12): Honorary Volunteer at Veterans Affairs (Volunteer 200+ hours)
- Internship at UCSF vascular surgery lab (11 summer): conducted vascular research along with other faculty at lab
- Solo author of submitted research paper/article (11th grade): Submitted research paper on Parkinson’s cure to Elsevier Editorial for Parkinsonism and Parkinson’s article to Imagine Magazine of JHU Center for Talented Youth
- Submitting research project on Parkinson’s Disease to Intel STS and Siemens National Competition (11,12)
- Attending Stanford Pre-Collegiate Conference (12): 1 of 50 students in CA selected to participate in conference where we share and discuss our scientific research with professionals and other students
- President and Founder of Charity Dress Club (10-12): Raised money and collected clothes to send to underdeveloped countries around the world: Sent two cargo shipments overseas to India and raised $5000
- Active Member of School Congressional Debate Team (9-12): Varsity member of congressional debate team in grades 9-12, won 3rd place in 2 invitational tournaments (Congress 3, MLK) and won 2nd at Congress summer camp in HS
- 224 PSAT score: Likely national merit semifinalist
- CSF (9-12): Active member of DVHS CSF for 5 semesters, 60 hours volunteering
- Piano Volunteering (9-11): Played piano for elderly at senior citizen homes: 50 hours
- Athletics (9-10): Captain of school Junior Varsity volleyball team
- Work experience (10-12): Teach piano to elementary and middle schoolers around my community
Hooks: N/A
Ethnicity: Asian Indian
Income: 150,000+
Intended Major: General Biology, Molecular Biology, Human Bio, or Neuroscience (which is least competitive?)
hoping to have good essays in which I talk about my dad having cancer and how it dropped my grades, but how I became motivated and used this pain to become motivated in conducting research,etc. Do you think this is a good idea?
I think rec letters will be 6-7/10 for johns hopkins and cornell.
thank you so much!
@kobe24mamba https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist#/list/search/all If the honors classes are on this list (for your school), then they are UC-approved.
I think Duke, Cornell, Emory, St.Louis, and Johns Hopkins are reaches (they are reaches for everyone). I think UCLA and UCSD are in between match and high match, and UCI and UCSB are matches.
You have an interesting application. If your father’s illness genuinely led to your grades dropping than this is definitely a legitimate and appropriate thing to explain. You have some pretty strong research work that you’ve done and that will impress Johns Hopkins, Wash U, Cornell and Emory particularly if you want to major in a related field. Your GPA is relatively weak and yoru curriculum is a bit light on rigor. I would have expected to see AP Calc BC or even College level math. I can’t comment on the California schools. Hard to say how good your rec letters will be but you can control your essays. Good luck
i just found out that I received a 2 on my AP Chem test:( and a 4 on the AP Lit test. How will this affect admissions chances? Not planning on sending the chem score, but do you think I should to show that I at least took it?
@kobe24mamba I do not think colleges care very much about AP scores (for admissions purposes), because of the fact that the test is graded on a bell curve. I think low AP scores only hinder your ability to get college credits for those classes. I’m not sure what the credit policies for Emory, Wash U, Cornell, and Johns Hopkins are, but for the UCs at least, the worst that can happen is that you don’t get the credits for AP Chem. I don’t think it hurts to send your score, because like you said, it does show that you at least took the test.
just found out my UC gpa is a 3.96, not a 3.88. Chance me based on these stats please?
Your grades are probably lower than most people applying to those schools, but your ECs and Test Scores are really impressive. I would say those factors combined with the Early Decision should give you a good shot to get into Hopkins
@QuiteAverage90 lol what? How is Emory a reach for everyone? They have over a 20% acceptance rate. It’s definitely a match here. Shows you really have no clue what you’re talking about. Just like this whole forum.
@jaze445 My bad. Now that I think about it, Emory IS a match. However, I stand by my position for Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Wash U, and Duke.
do you guys think I should apply ED to JHU or just apply RD so I can send in first sem senior grades? I feel like I will have a higher chance in ED but theres also the possibility that they would like the upward trend in GPA
No it’s a very tough school for premed. But you have a good shot at WSTL and Emory.
Don’t dwell too much on the grade drop and your father cancer. In general it’s not a good idea to explain grade drop. Only counselor should mention it. Also your essay should be about you and not your father, I think I’ve read essays about kids whose father was dying and it was mentioned but not dwell on it. Not to make it a sob story.
UC GPA seems oddly low, but everything else should be able to cover it. UCB and UCLA look like reaches, while all the other UCs seem to be a solid matches. The top 3 are very GPA heavy, so it can go either way with them.
@DrGoogle I saw that for UCs many essays talked about family struggles, and the good ones did not dwell on the emotional part but rather talked about how the event influenced them to do particular things in their life that is seen in other parts of their app. For example, I will talk briefly about my father’s illness but center it on its influence on me and how it led me to research. Is this a good idea for only UCs or could I take this approach for the other universities?
@michelle426 Yeah, I wish my UC GPA was higher:( I’ve gotten 9 B’s in soph/junior year combined that’s why. Do you think UCSD would be a match or a reach? Do you have any suggestions on how to maximize my chances to be accepted to UCLA and the private universities like JHU to attempt to make up for my low GPA?
@DrGoogle also what school were you saying is tough for premed?