Chance Me Pls? (t20s + ivies)

Chance Me / Match Me!
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I would really appreciate receiving feedback for the colleges I intend to apply to this year along with advice and recommendations for more schools. Ooof this is long

Desired Major: Biochemistry on Pre-med track (for schools that do not offer, I will apply under Biology major)
Cumulative GPA (4.33 Scale): 4.611 Our school does not give us unweighted, but on 4.0 it should be near a 4.0 as I have only received one A- the rest are As and A+s
Rank: 1/382

AP Classes (includes senior schedule, haven’t received any ap scores yet): Stats, Lang, Lit (will not be taking this exam), Gov, Spanish, Chem, Calc BC. Honors: Geometry, Pre-Calc, Chem, English (9th and 10th)

I attend a STEM magnet school in my county with rigourous courseload since my freshman year. Here we take math, science, and an interdisciplinary studies class that we learned statistics, coding, CAD, etc. Through this program, we also conduct semester-long science research every school year.

BEST SAT: 770M 720R 17W - ive taken this three times and that is in one sitting
SAT II: I will take Chem + Math 2 this Aug - so I can’t predict my score
ACT: 31C (27M/30S/35R/31E/08W)

Race: AA (first gen American)
Gender: Female
State: Michigan
Income: mid 60-65k

ECs:
NHS (11th grade trustee) 10th-12th
FRC Robotics (few minor leadership roles - planning dinners, head of the business team: partnerships, also work on outreach) 10th - 12th
Stay Woke (President next year) - We have discussions surrounding current social justice topics. Had a movie night fundraiser my junior year and donated money to non profit organization. Plan to hold more in the future. 11th - 12th
JV Tennis 10th - 11th
At my church, I often volunteer at various events they hold for children and assisted in teaching Sunday school to the kids 2016 - now

I do plan on applying to volunteer at a hospital throughout the school year which is min 4hrs/week

Schools:
UMich - Ann Arbor
Wayne State Univ
MSU
Stanford
UCLA
JHU
Spelman College
Howard Univ
Xavier Univ (Louisiana)
Harvard
Yale
Columbia
UPenn
Georgetown

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Congratulations on our accomplishments but UCLA will be full pay as an OOS applicant so you are looking at $65K/year to attend with little to no financial aid. Race/Ethnicity not considered in the UC admissions review.

Best of luck and you are a competitive applicant. I would look at the Claremont Consortium Colleges instead of UCLA if you are wanting a CA school.

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Edit: Forgot to add household size: 4

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@Gumbymom Thanks for the advice! I was wondering why no fin aid though? I am on the schools reduced lunch program which I know some schools require you to know or that doesn’t matter either?

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How much can your family afford to pay each year?

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@suzy100 not much at all…our finances are very tight hoping to get a scholarship for undergrad that covers nearly or all tuition

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@goneaway: California UC’s are public universities funded by California resident taxes so the bulk of financial aid is given to in-state students. UC’s are need blind meaning they do not consider your ability to pay or not pay in making admission decisions.

Many of the out of state public schools give in-state students better financial aid and preference. That is why I suggest if you are interested in California, then look at private schools such as USC (University of Southern California), the Claremont colleges, Occidental which do not differentiate between in-state and out of state applicants.

Run the Net price calculator for each school on interest to get an idea of affordability. Since Medical school is a possibility in your future, you want to keep your undergrad costs as low as possible. Your in-state options in Michigan would be worth your time pursuing.

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@Gumbymom Thanks for the advice!

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Your hook as an AA, first-gen, and STEM major is very strong, milk that. You’re going to have to demonstrate interest in biochem though, none of your ECs are related. I suggest mentioning why you’re interested in it in one of your essays.

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@daunt18 Thank you for the biochem advice

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Focus really hard on getting into Umich/msu if you want big scholarships

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bump

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Robotics: good. Please don’t tell adcoms you plan dinners or take other ancillary roles. Likewise, fundraising isn’t as important as the actions otherwise.

You have a nicely balanced list. Understand that the tippy tops will look for how you stretched and some good you’ve done in your community. If there’s more than just watching kids at church - or if you can add that, between now and applying- all the better. Are they involved in community actions, etc? Sometimes, the point isn’t just helping, but other ways to work alongside adults.

And the essay isn’t where you explain your interest in a major.

Sit down and make sure you have a good understanding of what the more competitive schools on your list look for. Then you can get a better sense of how to present yourself.

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@lookingforward Thanks so much for the advice on robotics, but on the applications don’t they want to know your positions? Also I am somewhat confused in what you mean by “are they involved in community actions.” Are you referring to the purpose of the events held…?

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Yes, but planning dinners doesn’t show her robotics experience. Just find a good way to describe her role. And I meant is the church involved in more she could do than children of members?

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@lookingforward The thing is the part of the team I belong to is not the traditional programming, building, wiring. Our part focuses on team image, especially at competition, and partnerships with businesses (major part of our team). Would that show robotics experience even though it’s not the most commonly thought one? Oh, and yes my bad the events we hold are community events and aren’t even restricted to anyone at all

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@skieurope is there a way for this thread to be deleted?

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No. Per Forum Rules, posts are not deleted on request.