Chance me, Please

Hi guys, please chance me for UCs (especially UCLA and UC Berkeley), Boston College, Johns Hopkins, UChicago, or just any college/university you think would be a good fit for me. Any information or feedback is appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Current Junior

SAT I (breakdown): Superscored- 1510 (760 Math, 750 English) Essay: 23; One sitting-1500 (750 Math, 750 English) Essay: 21
SAT II: 790 Biology (M) (planning to take more soon)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.89 (UW); 4.45 (W)
UC GPA: 4.20
AP: Biology (4), WHAP (4)

Current Courses: AP Psychology, AP Chemistry, AP Calculus AB, AP English Language and Composition, APUSH, career pathway course (required for my school)

Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Red Cross (event coordinator); American Cancer Society (event coordinator); Relay for Life, CM Level 10 for piano; volleyball (only freshman year)

Volunteer/Community service: Volunteer at Healthcare center (~100 hrs); Volunteer at Hospital (~100+ hrs); Volunteer at Senior Center (90 hrs)

Intended Major: Biology or Biochemistry

UC GPA? https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

UC GPA is 4.20

Thanks!

In state or out of state? If OOS then only AP/IB count for weighted GPA. Also your school choices are reaches, even with your grades. Any safeties?

Do you have more ECs than the ones listed? Apart from the hospital volunteering they seem ordinary.

If you are thinking of a Bio/Biochem major, take out BC-it’s not really that well known for the hard sciences. Boston University would be a better alternative. Add USC and Emory as possible low reach/targets.

In state, and what do you think would be good matches?

When it comes to academics and school grades, you’re looking at very high chances. What other SAT II Subjects are you planning to take?

However, to be honest, although quite impressive, your ECs are slightly below average when it comes to the universities you listed.

UCLA, UCB, and USC would be great fits. You’ve got a solid chance with UCs, but these years, nothing is set for sure with UCs. Johns Hopkins and U Chicago are reaches, but you’ve got a chance nonetheless because of your scores.

I suggest you look into Pitzer, Hamilton, Middlebury, Tufts, and Grinnel. I’ve heard these places have great Biochemistry programs. I don’t really know where you’d prefer to go when it comes to the location of the university, but I hope this was helpful.

For OOS try Case Western and Georgia Tech as well as BU and Emory as I mentioned before. Match for Case Western and BU and low match for Emory and Georgia Tech.

Try to raise SAT to around the 1550 range to make the Ivies a closer reach. If you are around 1550 on the SAT, WashU, Vanderbilt and Rice would be reach schools worth trying as well.

For UCs Davis and UCSB are match schools. UCSD is a low reach.

You might be a viable candidate for Cornell ED. My son’s school had 2 ED acceptances to Cornell and your numbers are better than theirs. And this is a Top-25 high school in CA.

I’m also planning to take Math 2 and Chem for SAT 2, do you think that would be a good idea?

Also, would your high school itself be accounted for when they look at your application?

I also retook my SAT recently, so I’m still waiting for the scores.

Thank you for all your feedback!

@ang0318 Definitely take Math 2 and Chemistry. Given your Bio Subject score results you should get 750+ on the tests plus it shows your interest in the subject.

Most colleges will take into account the high school. You could also check Naviance to see how you compare to the typical accepted student from your school. Good luck!

In terms of your academic interests, you could read through here for further ideas:

http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/lists/list/colleges-to-consider-if-you-want-to-study-biology/117/

If you might want a purely undergraduate-focused college experience, you may want to consider some of @jinxorchestra 's excellent suggestions, particularly those that would be statistically competitive with your current schools of interest:

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-50-smartest-colleges-in-america-2016-10

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-610-smartest-colleges-in-america-2015-9

With respect to UCs strong in biological sciences, do not overlook UC-SD.

This site offers excellent data for individual colleges with respect to the new SAT:

http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/college-profiles-new-sat/

I would also consider Brandeis for Biological Sciences/Biomedical Engineering. Their ranking overall has been rising the last few years. If you feel adventurous and need a change from CA Tulane and the University of Miami could be choices to look at since not too many California kids consider them and their rankings are pretty high as well.