Chance Me 
Hello! I’m just really stressed if I even stand a chance.
Background:
I go to a small medical public magnet school in Florida, with no sports and not much choice of classes. The classes that I’ve taken can be considered very rigorous in the context of my school. I’m a first-gen and female Indian, rising senior. Assuming I have a pretty good essay, how much of a shot do I got? As for recommendations, I’m super close with all of my teachers, super close with counselor as well. Also, very low income.
Intended Major: Psychology/Neuroscience somewhere in that ballpark
Here are my stats:
SAT: 1360 (670 Reading, 690 Math)
ACT: none
GPA: 3.956 (UW) / 5.089 (Weighted)
Rank: top 5%
AP’s
9th Grade:
10th Grade:
11th Grade:
- AP Research
- AP Calc AB
- AP US History
- AP Chemistry
12 Grade: (the plan)
- AP Biology
- AP Calc BC
- AP Psychology
Dual Enrollment
English 1/2 (A)
Preparing for Student Success (A)
Government / Economics (planned)
Awards:
District HOSA 2nd place (10th grade)
State HOSA Finalist (4th place) (10th grade)
District HOSA 2nd place (11th grade)
AP Scholar with Distinction (next year I think)
AP Capstone Diploma (next year)
Principal Honor Roll
Extracurriculars/Clubs:
~1000 hours of community service, 900 from nursing home
- Dance (9th)
- Officer in Dance Club (10th/11th)
- National Honor Society (11th)
- National English Honor (11th)
- Mu Alpha Thetha (11th)
- PISA participant (10th grade? I think …idk if this even matters)
- Future internship for senior year (requirement from school)
- Participated in annual school fashion show (9, 10, 11th)
- School newspaper editor (10th grade/planned for 12th grade)
- GSA (11th)
What are my chances??? I know I’m out of state and it will be more difficult for admission, but I also plan on applying Early Decision.
Any suggestions on other uni’s that I may have a chance at?
Thank you 
By law, UNC-CH can only have 18% OOS in the first year intake- and that include recruited athletes. Because they meet need for OOS students, and they have a high profile, the competition is fierce for those places. Although your GPA is super, and you have some nice ECs, your SAT is in the bottom half of the admitted students. I wouldn’t bet the ranch on an offer.
Do you think I have a better chance at Wake Forest? I don’t really know how different the two are
I think you have a great chance as your EC’s line up well with intended major, especially that 1000 hrs of volunteer service (WOW!). IMO, it might be a good idea to bump up the SAT to around 1470 (75th percentile for UNC) and take a few sat II’s as others have mentioned. You said you have an internship senior year and if that’s related to your major then even better. Perhaps you could even try to secure a virtual internship over the summer for a lab.
If testing is rly not your strength, try looking into the UC’s. They’re going test optional next year iirc (don’t quote me) and Berkeley and UCLA have absolutely top notch bio related programs. Good luck on all your apps!
Thank you for your reply and good words! As for applying to UC’s, I’m not really attracted to the idea of moving to California, as I want something different weather wise as I am from the Miami area. However, I will look into it!
Testing wise, I think I will have to rely on other parts of my application, as corona virus has diminished the chances of testing and I plan to apply ED. If I get the chance, I will try to test however. Thanks!!
Again, your SAT is skirting the bottom 25% for Wake Forest. Of course, SAT isn’t everything!
But, WF has ~25% overall acceptance rate. Aside from the 1000 hours of volunteering (across 3 years- the equivalent of 3 summers working 40 hours week x 8 week or ~1 day week during the school year) your ECs don’t look like what I would expect from somebody looking to go to a school nicknamed “work forest”!
Grade 9: Volunteer, Dance, Fashion show participant
Grade 10: Volunteer, Dance (officer), Fashion show participant, School newspaper (editor)
Grade 11: Volunteer, GSA, Fashion show participant, member of 3 honor societies
Grade 12; School newspaper (editor)
Please understand: I am not dismissing your ECs! as I said above, you have some nice ones. But I do know that one of the things that super-selective colleges look at is depth in ECs, commitment over time, evidence of growth / leadership, etc. That might be here for these- I just can’t tell from here.
If I were on the adcomm I would wonder about how you get to be editor on the school paper as your first job, about why you dropped it the next year, and are then an editor again. If I remembered that you go to a tiny school I might interpret that to mean that it is not an especially demanding role. That could be a grossly unfair interpretation- but I think it helps you to see how it might look from the outside. Similarly Dance- start in Grade 9, officer in Grade 10- and then dropped in Grade 11. Lots of possible reasons (injury being a super common one). But cumulatively, from here, it looks as though your ECs would have left you with time on your hands. If so, what did you do with it? were there non-school things that you were doing? (sometimes students don’t realize that activities that are not through school count as ECs).
In terms of acceptance? in terms of student experience? So what is the reason for these two in particular?
I really do like the location/weather aspects of these two places, among other things, and I feel really drawn to both universities, therefore being my top choices. I know the basic differences between the two, such as size, location, etc. but I’m not sure how different it would be towards my intended major and chances at med school.
As for the EC’s, dance was not a class until my 11th grade, being only a club for the previous years. I took the class under “Dance Repertory 3 Honors”, and the club was removed, that’s why it’s “dropped”. As for newspaper, it was a class under “Journalism”, which is typically Yearbook, however the year I joined (10th grade), was when we started the school newspaper and it was both part of the class and as a club.
Most of the time I had on my hands didn’t go used. I went to Saturday school (religious) every weekend and also volunteered at the nursing home every weekend, but that was about it, along with HOSA (very big in my school).
Thank you for responding btw!!
Given that these are both reaches for you, what are you thinking for match & safety.? (both financially and in terms of admission)
University of Miami, University of Florida, and Brandeis (might be a reach?) those are my next options. However, I dislike the idea of staying in Florida, and therefore I am leaving UM and UF as last resorts… they may be reaches to others, but I feel they are more matches for me as I am from Florida and many many many students from my school get in
Are finances an issue, or can (& will) your parents pay whatever the tuition is?
Also, you have 3 large state unis, all in the south and 2 small private universities, one in the south, one in the north can you say more about what you are looking for beyond pre-med and warm (which leaves you hundreds of choices).
Finances are not an issue, especially for UF and UM, I’m not exactly sure of what I’m looking for, I’m really just trying to learn more about universities I think I have a chance at and trying to see if I can see myself being a student there. However, I do want a city or suburb area. Other than that, I don’t have much specifics. I know I will make the most out of wherever I go.
WF and Brandeis run $75K/year. Always start with the money part- there is nothing worse on CC than when students get into their ‘dream’ school- and find out they can’t afford it!
That is true, but seeing as though WF is 100% need-based, and Brandeis is similarly up there, I was not too worried about the price, my parents will pay and I also plan on doing work-study or part-time job. One of the reasons I was thinking of applying ED to UNC was because I would be eligible for the Carolina Covenant, letting me graduate debt-free, therefore I thought I would have no reason (financially) to say no if I was to be admitted.
The details matter here. WF ‘meets full demonstrated need’- as they evaluate it. You need to run the EFC to see what they think your need will be- many, many students discover that what their family can actually afford to pay is less than what a university thinks they can- and should- pay.
The Carolina Covenant is similar- it ‘meets need’- but from their website: “If you are from a family with an adjusted gross income (AGI) that is at or below 200% of the poverty guideline, you may qualify for the Carolina Covenant”.
Remember that many schools (including UNC) are not need blind, so they consider how much financial aid you need when deciding whether to offer you a place.
So, so far you have 2 in-state affordable options that are matches for admissions, a need-blind / meets full need / stats match in the North (Brandeis), and 2 NC options, both of which meet need, one of which is need blind and both of which are reaches. So- you are getting there! Do some exploring of schools like the ones you prefer to find more strong matches/soft safeties.
And, seriously, run some Net Price Calculators (NPCs) to figure out your Expected Family Contribution (EFC).
UNC is need blind and meets full need for all. I recommend using the NPC’s for all schools of interest, especially now during Covid.
UNC is a reach for you given your OOS status and scores. That being said, if you can pay the application fees without hardship it will not hurt to apply. Does your school have Naviance?
UNC does not offer early decision. You may apply early action.
If the NPC for Wake Forest shows a cost that is affordable, that becomes a nice ED option (it is a reach). Brandeis offers ED and IMO is somewhat less of a reach…but it must be affordable as per the NPC.
I would not ED to any school unless you are sure you would be happy to attend if affordable. You can head to medical school from any of your choices.
Make sure to have safety schools.
Best wishes!
Are you American Indian, or Asian Indian? If American Indian, do you have a tribal number?
Please do run the net price calculators as others have suggested. You have said you are low income, but also that your family will pay for college. You need to ask your parents what they can/will pay each year.