chance me please

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Want to see my chances for Columbia, WashU in St. Louis, Emory, Pomona, Cornell, Northwestern, and Duke plz.

School Profile : very low income
Ethnicity: Pakistani

GPA : 4.0 unweighted, not sure weighted as my school caps gap at 4.32

APs : Completed 9 so far - Opted for 5 more next year : Calc BC, Spanish Lit, Gov/econ, Chem, and Physics

SAT scores: 730 R – 760 M-- 720 W

Subject SATs : 800 US and 800 Bio(E)

APs :; : APUSH 5 ; AP Human geo 5 : AP ENG Lang 5 : AP Spanis Lang 5, AP Eng lit 5, AP Euro 5, AP Enviro 5, AP Bio 4, AP Calc AB 4

Note: Not a native spanish speaker, but did well on Spanish test (will that look good?)

Hooks : Very good musician, played in major competitions all over California

ECs: Model UN chair, Philosophy club officer. two time varsity cross country and soccer player. I play in the local youth orchestra and have won major competitions for solos in the county level. I also was on the 4th place academic decathlon team in California two years ago, and received seven medals at the county competition which my team took first in.
I have also been in my counties honor band for the las five years and have consistently received a superior rating in local solo festivals. Regarding sports I was named the most improved runner and best offensive player last year, being picked by my coaches.

2

@grunterbaum1

Columbia = reach
WUSTL, Duke, Northwestern = low reach
Cornell = high match/low reach

Good luck!

3

thanks!

4

What do you want to major in?

What is your hook that will excite admissions officers?

5

I’m planning on majoring in biology next year.

6

Hi!
Your classes are very impressive and I commend you on your work!
However, your ECs don’t reflect your passions. For example, since you wish to be a biology major, I expected to see more ECs that are biology-related, even if it is just a volunteer work,

7

thanks for the info!

8

Your scores, grades, and courseload seem great! Definitely competitive for the schools; nothing is really “holding you back.” I agree though that your EC’s are not really bio related. For EC’s, you are definitely supposed to do what you love, but since you plan on majoring in bio, shouldn’t you love bio too? :slight_smile: Not that you can’t like a lot of things, but philosophy and model UN don’t speak science or STEM.

Keep in mind that all of those schools are top schools…
Duke + Columbia- relatively high reaches
Ponoma, WUSTL Emory- low reach
Cornell, Northwestern- reach

Bio is a popular major, so there won’t be a lack of highly qualified aspiring bio majors. Be sure to apply to match schools you love and safeties!

9

Thanks!

10

Duke and Columbia are high reaches. Pomona, Cornell, and WashU are reaches, and Northwestern and Emory are low reaches/high targets.

As the other posters have said, these schools are really competitive, so even if your test scores and grades are amazing, it’s really your ECs/essay that’ll set you apart. Maybe try volunteering at a hospital/research facility or joining bio-related clubs at your school?

11

thanks

12

.

13

thanks for posting on my chances thread ! Does your school rank? You’re already a competitive applicant, but a good rank (if your school offers it) could help even more. And frankly speaking, unless you have experience living in a hispanic country and talking to natives, your spanish proficiency won’t be impressive. Lots of people become proficient after studying the language at school for multiple years. Your extra curriculars are great and it’s okay that they’re not bio related imo. It shouldn’t hurt your admission chances since they’re such strong ECs.

Columbia- mid to los reach. Have seen people with similar stats get wait listed or admitted.
WashU in St. Louis, Emory, Pomona, duke- high match
Cornell, Northwestern- higher matches than the others imo because Ive seen seen some really good kids get rejected.

Overall , I really think you can get into some good schools.

14

@sahar1811 Thanks!