Chance Me: Rising Senior Applying Reach-Heavy [4.0/1580 for Pre-Med + Econ]

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Demographics:
US Citizen
Public High School (not anywhere super competitive)
Asian Female
Hooks: none

Major: not sure, probably double major in something pre-med and economics – want to study healthcare management

Stats:
GPA: 4.0/4.7
Class Rank: 1/~700
SAT/ACT: 1580/35

Coursework:
(listing only honors and AP classes with AP scores)
AP Calc BC - 5
Hon Spanish, Hon History, Hon Chem, Hon English, AP Stats - 5, AP CSP - 5
Hon English, Hon Spanish, Hon Orchestra, AP Physics 1&2 - 5&4, AP CS - 5, AP HuG - 5
Hon Spanish, AP Chem, AP Bio, AP Psych, APUSH, AP Lang (scores not released yet)
Planned for next year: Hon OChem, Hon Anatomy, Hon Orchestra, AP Physics C, AP Econ, AP Lit, AP Spanish Lang

Awards:

  • placed 1st in a local team competition which involved researching and presenting a unique project by analyzing publicly available data
  • placed 1st in a local science-related essay-writing contest
  • won a local award in recognition of accomplishments (academics, character, service, etc.) (top 10 out of 200+ applicants)
  • Ivy League school’s book award

EC’s:

  • Interact Club: president for 23-24 year (3rd year being an officer), attended RYLA, will graduate from RLI this month, serving on Rotary District Interact Board as a representative and as District Governor-Elect (will be DG starting July), founded 2 elementary/middle school branches of Interact Club (40+ members), helped organize school fundraiser to raise money (almost $900) for a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping underprivileged people with disabilities
  • Bank of America Student Leader - selective paid summer internship that involves working almost full-time at a local non-profit to learn more about nonprofits and management things - summer 2023
  • volunteered at a local science-focused museum - did demonstrations, helped set up shows to promote scientific enthusiasm for museum guests (100+ hours)
  • fundraising committee member of a local library (solicits sponsorships and helps organize fundraisers, galas, etc.)
  • Science Bowl/Ocean Bowl - have been doing SB for the past 5-ish years, captain of Ocean Bowl team
  • violin - 5+ years, weekly lessons, 2nd stand in a youth orchestra, made All-State last year (not this year tho cuz I didn’t take orchestra)
  • job - worked 10+ hrs/wk for over a year, kinda quit but not really (it’s complicated, owners and I are still on good terms tho)
  • paid internship with a local nonprofit in summer 2022 - broadcast journalism, interviewed with leaders of local nonprofits, wrote, recorded, edited podcast segments that are now published
  • 35+ hrs shadowing GI, cardiothoracic surgeons, derm, etc.
  • NHS

*Unable to volunteer/research at most, if not all, local hospitals/universities because of age restrictions

Essays/LORs/Other:
Essay: 7/10 maybe? haven’t started bc I am stuck on ideas but hoping it will be decent
LORs:

  • counselor - probably 6/10, our school is pretty big so she’s not going to spend a ton of time on my letter but unlike a lot of other students I’ve made appointments with her and talked with her so probably a little stronger than a typical student from my school
  • science - meh? getting mixed signals but she is the sci teacher I know best so maybe 6-7/10?
  • english - also meh but I think she would write a decent letter - 7/10, maybe 8??
  • other - worked with this teacher for the past 4 years, is not an academic teacher but we have a VERY good relationship and she helps me a lot with ECs and college things, wrote the rec letter that got me into Bank of America program - 10/10 probably

Budget:
None really - my family is high income and I am applying to merit scholarships

Schools:
*very reach-heavy but I would also be very happy to go to my safety schools
Safeties: UPitt, Penn State
Hard Target: NYU
Reaches: UPenn, Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Brown, Princeton, Stanford

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Any of those are possible. I think the essay is very important in your case. But also give your counselor a several page brag sheet in what she should know about you — accomplishments, strengths, likes / dislikes etc.

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Congratulations on your accomplishments in high school. You have a shot at any college in the U.S., including at your reaches. Having a legitimate shot, however, does not mean that it is likely you will get into them. I would peg all of them as low probability (less than 20%), though you could certainly be accepted to any or all of them.

Can you explain what you mean when you say that you’re getting mixed signals from your science teacher?

If you’re interested in studying healthcare management, have you thought about applying to schools that offer that as a major? Penn State and U. of Pennsylvania appear to be the only ones on your current list that do. Based off your current list, these are some other schools that might interest you.

  • George Washington (D.C.)
  • Georgetown (D.C.)
  • Northeastern (MA)
  • U. of Miami (FL)
  • U. of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
  • U. of Virginia
  • Washington U. (MO)
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Thanks for the recommendations! I’ll definitely look into them :slight_smile:

Perhaps “mixed signals” isn’t the best description — I’m just a little unsure about the letter. My science teacher said that she’d be willing to write a recommendation letter for me, but frankly she’s one of my scarier teachers and I’m not sure what she will include in her letter. I didn’t pay a lot of attention in her class, but I maintained good grades and participated a decent amount (probably one of the most involved students in my class considering everyone was usually hesitant to raise their hands with a wrong answer :melting_face:). She’s still the best candidate to write a math/sci letter though, so I’m taking my chances.

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I want to expand on this excellent advice. It’s not because you aren’t qualified. There are just FAR too many qualified candidates applying to FAR too few schools. I remember meeting the admissions head at Brown. She said the previous year they’d received 35,000 applications, 29,000 of which they’d deems fully qualified to matriculate. They had to choose 1600 from those. It will be that way for everyone of your reaches. As @AustenNut said, you could get into all of them, but you could get locked out from all of them. If that happens, it’s no reflection on your accomplishments. Good luck!

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I think NYU is a safety for you. Get more matches though!

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NYU is a reach for OP and for all unhooked applicants. NYU’s class of 2027 acceptance rate at the NYC campus was 8%.

They also offer very limited merit aid.

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You already know this, but you need to build out your list of targets. It’s hard to tell what you are looking for as you have both huge and medium size schools, and urban/rural/suburban schools on your list. Once you figure out what you are looking for, we can suggest specific schools.

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I’m ok with pretty much anything — I’d prefer a school that is urban or is close to a city, but I also like the campuses of rural colleges. In regards to school size, I don’t really have a strong preference, but I think a larger student body would fit me more. With that said, though, my first priority is the strength of each program/resources that would be available to me as a student. Even though I’ve decided I want to pursue healthcare management, I’m just now figuring out what I want to do, so a lot of my interest is in finding schools that have lots of general resources available to me to further explore my options.

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If I was advising my child, knowing what I know about the healthcare industry as a provider, I wouldn’t focus on prestigious, full pay institutions. I’d focus on good, but affordable publics and good privates known for solid merit aid. Then I’d have money left to pay for graduate school.

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I’m assuming you’re a PA resident? If so, Pitt and PSU are great options. Apply early and aim for Pitt Honors and Schreyer. Look at Pitt’s Med GAP.

If you prefer more urban you could try Ohio State. They offer merit which should get you close to PSU cost.

Emory would be another reach but excellent for healthcare.

Are you NMSF?

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I agree — and that’s why I’m applying for scholarships and being wary of high price tags. However, I’m applying for prestigious colleges because it’s generally easier to apply for med school as a graduate from a prestigious institution, and these schools also provide connections with lots of different types of people that you might not see at a less selective school. I’m fortunate in that my family can pay for my undergrad and grad with minimal student loans, so I’m not too worried about a budget (though I’m still applying for scholarships just to make it easier on them).

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I don’t believe this is true. Tagging med school admissions expert @WayOutWestMom to get her input.

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Yep, I live in PA! I plan to apply to the BSMD programs at Pitt, Penn State, and Brown, though they’re not a priority for me — more of a “let’s see if I can get in” application, since I wouldn’t be losing anything by applying to those programs. Pitt and Penn State are also my first application priority because of their rolling admissions policies. I’ll look into Ohio State and Emory!

I think I should qualify for NMSF, since I had a PSAT score of 1490.

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Prestige actually does not matter for medical school, grades and MCAT scores do. It is helpful if a university has an affiliated hospital for shadowing and research, but these activities can also be done during the summer.

Since nearly every school has a “Why us?” essay, I’d encourage you to start thinking more deeply about why certain schools appeal to you.

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Thanks for your input! This issue has been a little confusing for me, because opinions seem mixed based on the articles I’ve read, so I’ve been trying to “play it safe” and apply to more prestigious schools in case it affects med school admissions.

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Do you have a favorite amongst your reaches? If it’s Columbia, UPenn, or Brown, I would STRONGLY recommend applying ED since all have ED, especially if you are from an overrepresented state. Also, all your reaches are Hard Reaches for anyone so I would recommend also adding some other reaches that may not be quite so competitive.

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This is not accurate.

GPA, MCAT, volunteering and patient-facing hours are what gets one into medical school. Hopefully the CC expert, WayOutWestMom, will share her expert opinion.

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My top program is UPenn’s LSM program, but I don’t feel committed enough to actually ED to UPenn in case I get into the school but not the program. It’s an issue I’m still on the fence about, but I should hopefully have a final decision in the next few weeks!

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This simply isn’t true, unless you mean by “easier” that the schools tend to have better standardized test takers who in turn perform better on the MCAT.

Med schools really don’t care very much where a student attends for undergrad (Don’t believe me–read about it here in survey of med school adcomms: Using MCAT Data in 2024 Medical Student Selection, p. 15.)

An applicant’s major and the selectivity of the undergrad attended are of “the lowest importance” for adcomms when making interview and admission decisions. Other factors far outweigh it.

There are many, many med schools that have outreach programs that extend invitations to all interested pre-meds who wish to attend informational programs about the school. Plus networking w/ admission committees is something pre-med hopefuls can do on their own or thru organization like AMSA, Alpha Epsilon Delta, HOSA and their campus pre-med club.

If you want to apply to a reseaerch-heavy list, go for it. Just don’t justify that decision by thinking it makes getting a med school acceptance easier.

FWIW, prestige school applicants don’t get any special consideration when it comes to GPAs either. A 4.0 from state U is gets more admission points than 3.5 from Penn, Princeton, Chicago or MIT

Edited to add: AMCAS holds a virtual med school admission fair every March with dozens of representatives from med schools from all over the country.Students can listen to their spiel and ask questions about their program. It’s an excellent way to network with admissions offices.

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