Demographics
- US domestic (US citizen or permanent resident) or international student
- State/Location of residency: (state is important if you apply to any state universities)
- Type of high school (current college for transfers):
- Gender/Race/Ethnicity (optional):
- Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.):
US Domestic Citizen, Residency is in Alabama, Noncompetitive high school that only sends 2-3 seniors to top schools out of 300 seniors, Asian Female, No hooks
Intended Major(s)
ChemE/Neural Eng/BME/Neuro on pre med track
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
- Unweighted HS GPA: 3.989
- Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.434
- College GPA (for transfers):
- Class Rank: 3/315
- ACT/SAT Scores: 35
Coursework
(AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s))
AP Human Geography (5), AP Art History (2 lol), AP Chemistry, AP Psychology, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, AP Lang, APUSH, fulfilled the bare minimum for foreign language and other electives
Awards
- AIME Qualifier
- State award for some team I’m part of
- Will get AP Scholar with Distinction
4-5. Low tier school awards 
Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)
This is where it gets embarrassing
- Math team-no leadership here because we have coaches who do all of the leading, but did contribute to achieve team awards
- Debate team-no leadership positions available, but did increase team size because it kinda died since COVID and did train novices
- School sport-not good enough to be recruited but it’s fun, team won good stuff
- Lab research-not publishing research but still get to work there and conduct experiments and collect and analyze data and it’s pretty fun, it’s also relevant to my major
- Paid research internship that’s relevant to my major, did a lot of stuff that involves engineering, we made an impact solving the environmental problems in our area (don’t want to get specific to avoid getting doxxed)
- Hospital volunteering-150 hours, worked in departments that fit my interests
- Chinese school volunteering
Literally nothing else…the vast majority of those listed all have good time commitment
Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)
IDK man
Cost Constraints / Budget
(High school students: please get a budget from your parents and use the Net Price Calculators on the web sites of colleges of interest.)
No budget
Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below)
- Safety (certain admission and affordability)
State schools
- Likely (would be possible, but very unlikely or surprising, for it not to admit or be affordable)
My safeties lol, I’m pretty comfortable attending them so my mindset is reach or safety
- Match
University of Rochester??? UIUC??? Case Western EA??? Wake Forest???
- Reach
CMU, WashU, Emory, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, Rice, Duke ED
What are my chances?
1 Like
This means that your parents can pay $90k per year, or $0 per year?
Is physician or engineer your preferred career goal? Engineer is generally more attainable, with a shorter, less stressful, and much less expensive educational path.
3 Likes
Or you haven’t asked them yet?
2 Likes
I am assuming “no budget” means sky is the limit.
I don’t quite get why you feel your ECs are weak.
Majoring in engineering to go to medical is a tough path. Are you sure that’s what you want?
1 Like
What’s wrong with state flagship?
1 Like
I think you’ve got great ECs; you should definitely be proud of yourself and what you’ve accomplished in high school.
People often talk about the importance of having a Plan B if you don’t get into medical school (as about 40% of med school applicants don’t, I believe). Engineering is a great Plan B. The potential problem, however, is that engineering majors aren’t known for getting high GPAs. And med schools care about high GPAs and MCAT scores for admission. So this is definitely something for you to think about, but nothing that needs to be decided on at the moment.
As others have discussed, what does “no budget” mean?
With respect to your state schools, these are the ones that are accredited in the areas you expressed an interest in. Note that you may need to have more insight into a potential engineering specialty before you select which college you would like to attend.
- Auburn: ABET-accredited for biosystems engineering & ChemE
- UA-Birmingham: ABET-accredited for biomedical engineering, but not ChemE/Neural E
- UA-Huntsville: ABET-accredited for chemical engineering, but not Neural/BME
- UA-Tuscaloosa: ABET-accredited for chemical engineering, but not Neural/BME
- U. of South Alabama: ABET-accredited for chemical engineering
I will say that UAB is really known for its medical-related programs. Have you given any thought to the early acceptance program there? Early Medical School Acceptance Program at University of Alabama Birmingham - BS/MD Admissions by College Admissions Partners (currently having difficulties pulling up UAB’s website, but the linked post does give some food for thought).
2 Likes
@purplestaples your list of ECs is fine. Many folks applying to college have far less EC impact than you do.
You have excellent stats as well.
Your state schools in Alabama will be fine for engineering or premed.
I think the schools on your list are accurately listed.
1 Like
UIUC has a pretty new Engineering based Medical School. First of its kind in the country. They are very good for ChemE and basically any engineering.
Might be a low reach as you are OOS.
2 Likes
Clemson University is ABET-accredited for bioengineering; and the engineering college is well regarded. I know someone who got a degree in bioengineering there, and then went on to medical school.
My parents are both doctors and would gladly pay if I went to a top school
1 Like
I do want to become a doctor. I love engineering though as my main ECs as of right now are related to engineering.
1 Like
Are they willing to help with an expensive medical school education, on top of a potentially expensive undergraduate education? Have you had a money talk with them to find out what exactly they are willing to pay for?
Yes, they are literally willing to pay for any amount as long as it’s prestigious.
2 Likes
Ok, I’m glad you have had that conversation. That definitely opens things up for you.
But, how do they define “top” or “prestigious”? Admissions are unpredictable at the most sought after schools, and if you don’t get in to one of these - would they not pay as much for a school they consider not prestigious? Note that there are a wide range of schools (in terms of prestige) that will cost about the same.
I’m asking only so we have a correct picture of any constraints and can suggest schools accordingly.
And what happens if you don’t get into a “prestigious” university? Will you be looking for merit?
I would also point out that entry into a medical school is not based on the perceived “prestige” of your undergraduate school.
Does it really hurt for someone trying for prestige? I said so many times I would be fine with going to my state school if I get rejected everywhere. It will literally hurt me if I don’t at least try for a prestigious school.
The reach schools I just listed
Ok. I think your approach of state schools or elite schools is fine, since you’re ok with state schools.
Among your reaches, I think you’ve probably got a better chance at CMU as they try to maintain a 50-50 gender ratio, which will benefit you. But it’s very much a “fit” school so research it well to make sure you’d be ok there. If yes, an ED there would help you a lot.
You’re competitive at all the other schools too. I think you will likely get accepted at GT, UIUC, and maybe, WUSTL.
Are you looking for additional likely/match school suggestions? Or are you good with the Alabama publics as a fall back?
3 Likes
I agree that your approach is fine as long as you have your in state schools as a fall back. You are a competitive applicant for any of your reach schools. If you have a clear favorite, early decision can boost your chances at the schools that offer it. Are you aware that Emory doesn’t have engineering?
2 Likes