Chance Me! (Though it does come down to luck for the top schools...)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi CC, I made this account exclusively to post this! I’d like to remain unknown, but I know that a MILLION of my classmates and their parents are snooping on this side of the forum especially, so some of my descriptions will be vague otherwise a google search would turn me up lickety-split (if you find out who I am… oh well :-")

Yes, I know it gets less predictable the more exclusive the college gets. Still, I would like HONEST opinions (but please don’t bash me into the ground…) as I’d like a few more eyes to judge me.

Without further ado…

BACKGROUND:

Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Asian
What I would like to become: a physician-scientist (hopefully in derm). Yes, I know. HIGHLY AMBITIOUS.

ACADEMICS:

GPA (unweighted): 4.0
GPA (weighted): 4.61
Rank: Top 1%

AP Scores:
six 5’s (Bio, English Lang, Macro, Micro, Chem, Comp Sci) woo!
three 4’s (Physics 1, US Hist, Calculus BC) eh.
… one 3 (Physics 2) UGGGGHHHH!!! ARRGGGHHHH!!!

SAT Scores:
SAT I: 2280 (8 on the essay) 720 R, 800 M, 760 W
SAT II: 800 M II, 790 Bio M, 790 Chem, 700 US Hist.

EXTRACURRICULARS:

  1. Founder of a 2-fold initiative: eliminate food insecurity from my local area's homeless veteran population, and expose adolscent special-needs kids to humanitarian work. We raised $2400 worth of items for our first fundraiser.
  2. Treasurer for 2 clubs (Key Club and a special-needs club)
  3. Head for one of my school's Student Council committees
  4. Editorial Board Member for my school's magazine
  5. Speech and Debate Member (Degree of Special Distinction)
  6. Violin II in an exclusive orchestra

No sports

VOLUNTEER WORK:

  1. Key Club (100 hrs.)
  2. Volunteer at a Hospital (68 hrs.)
  3. Volunteer at a Veterans Hospital (142 hrs.)
  4. Volunteer Researcher (intern?) at a derm lab (341 hrs.)

RESEARCH:

Been doing research at the same lab since my summer as a rising junior. A patent has been created by my mentor based on my research’s current results, and I even received a mini grant ($2500). The other 3 recipients of this grant (out of a nat’l pool of 65) were graduate-level students

AWARDS:

  1. See RESEARCH's last sentence.
  2. 1st Place in a state essay competition open to all public schools in PA ($3000)
  3. 1st Place at state PJAS
  4. Top 10 in the nation for the Creative Communication Essay Contest ($25, published in an anthology)
  5. Various smaller awards ranging from my school awards to regional awards.

NOW, to the admissions stuff:

  1. Common App Essays: Have been spending and will continue to spend a ton of time on them (still haven't gotten them to how I want them to sound)
  2. Recs: Hopefully good; don't want to say anything that I have no proof of though. (I did ask if they would write me a STRONG rec letter to which they said yes, so hopefully that's a good sign...)
  3. IDK about financial aid; need to look into that (def. qualify for some amnt. at the ivies though)

PROSPECTIVE COLLEGES (# = my ranking):

Uber Reaches (Guaranted Med Programs… SO hard and SO exclusive):
University of Pitt (#1 or 2 for Guaranteed Med Program)
Case Western University (#3ish for Guaranteed Med Program)

Reaches:
Harvard (#1 or 2)
Princeton (#4)
U Penn (#5)
Yale (#6)

Safety:
University of Pitt (#7 for Honors)

HOOKS:
Ha! Don’t even have a hook for my broken fishing rod.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP! I sincerely appreciate the time and consideration you have given to my post :slight_smile:

Thoughts? Opinions? Should I go with what I have or reconsider?

2

You have all uber reaches with the exception of Pitt. Add some matches. Aside from that, you’re as qualified as anyone else.

3

At this point, I’m also looking at getting into med school, since I really do like the sciences. So as long as I do my best at Pitt Honors, keep doing what I like, and do well on the MCATS, and get into a good med school (even more cutthroat than college admissions I’ve heard), I’m a happy camper :smiley:

I also forgot to add my shadowing experiences, but unless they affect my app significantly, I won’t name the doctors/professions. Just wanted to throw that out there!

Edit: Found out what a match is (determining which college is right for you based on your interests). We’ve already decided Pitt if the rest fail since I get free tuition, the campus is nice, and the curriculum is good. Not to mention that I have lots of science-based connections around here!

4

I think all of the ivy’s are a bit of a reach. I have an older brother (Asian, M too lol) and he ED’d to Penn and got deferred then rejected and he had similar ECs and slightly better stats. Everything is a crap shoot so no one can really say. Definitely try the ivy’s because you never know

5

A match is a school that isn’t too selective and wouldn’t be too hard for you to get into, but it still isn’t a guarantee.

6

@whooosh Where did he end up going if I may ask? And how has he enjoyed the college experience there?

Edit: @CaliCash Ahh, I see. Will have to look into that!

7

I agree with @Calicash. Your ECs are good, and your scores are decent, but given the competitiveness of those schools/programs, you should add some more matches. Chance back?: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1778302-chance-an-asian-yale-duke-williams.html#latest

8

@tenderp He ended up going to state school. The least selective college he applied to was JHU/Northwestern/WashU even though those were considered low matches for him. I would highly recommend applying to some safeties/low matches if you don’t want to go to state school because racial profiling is real lol. Luckily, he is enjoying his experience and is doing very well academically! If you’re looking into med school, don’t sweat too much about going to a top undergrad, especially with today’s economy. Guaranteed med programs are great, but just make sure wherever you attend, maintain a very high gpa and do everything it takes to get into med school. Then you can say you graduated from that particular med school and never even have to mention your undergrad education. Good luck!

9

@supercilious (copied this from an earlier post since I’m too lazy, haha) At this point, I’m also looking at getting into med school, since I really do like the sciences. So as long as I do my best at Pitt Honors, keep doing what I like, and do well on the MCATS, and get into a good med school (even more cutthroat than college admissions I’ve heard), I’m a happy camper :slight_smile:

@whoosh I kinda want to go to Pitt Honors instead of the other ivies anyways (with the exception of Harvard) since I have all these connections (and I’m already getting paid part-time to work at the lab) so any matches/additional safeties are unneeded for my circumstances. Buuut, the ivies are nice because your chances at med schools are better if you have a 3.8 at Princeton than at Pitt (THEN AGAIN, you can’t really compare GPA of these two schools since Princeton will have a different student body, but you see where I’m shooting at… this is also why some people regret going to an ivy instead of a guaranteed med program) If I get into guaranteed med, i’m taking it, haha.

10

Bumping once in case anyone else would like to give some advice and comments. Thank you for your help! The comments so far have been really helpful!

11

I think you are a very competitive applicant to ivys although obviously no guarantees. Is there a reason you’re only applying to two guaranteed med programs? There are many more that are easier to get into than UPitt and Case Western’s. Those could serve as matches, and with more programs the higher likelihood one will take you in for guaranteed med.

Honestly, I’d maybe look into retaking SATs, especially with Writing being an easy fix of just an essay (plenty of guides here on CC that practically guarantee at least an 11). I’ll repeat the same advice you gave to me lol in that maybe go further in depth with research.

I wouldn’t worry too much about the Physics 2 score, SATII>APs any day. Assuming your essays are good (and seeing your stats they probably will be) I think you’ll likely get into an ivy/guaranteed med program or two.

12

Fingers crossed, haha, and I didn’t want to list all the med schools, just the top 2 here (but yeah, most of them haha), but I’m also especially interested in applying to Northwestern’s and Brown’s (still need to look into the others)… though they are still competitive, haha.

I’m hoping to match to derm (as of now… but minds can and will change) years into the future if I continue to pursue a medical career, and so attending/doing well at a good (not just any) medical school will be important to match for a derm residency (since it’s pretty competitive).

I’ve been contemplating retaking the SATs, but decided not to. However, I do know that I will do better on the essay if I were to retake it, I’m just not sure if it’s worth my time to bump up the 8 to a 10-12. Any suggestions on that part as well? Do colleges take the essay portion of the SAT seriously (it’s literally the most formulaic thing ever, but that day I blanked out for a few minutes after receiving a really confusing prompt…)?

Fingers crossed with the research as well! I’ve submitted a paper for consideration already and will hopefully present at a conference in November (right after earlies are due).

13

Nothwestern’s hpme and brown’s plme fall into the uber uber reach along with rice-baylor I’m pretty sure lol. But yeah, I definitely think you’re on the right track to your medical career. I’m pretty sure I’ll try and follow the traditional route, even with the MCATs.

I used http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/1525053-defeating-the-sat-essay-in-2-days.html the night before and got an 11. Even if you don’t do any prep for the other categories, getting a 780 would be enough for you on Writing with a superscore. Colleges can see your SAT essays but I doubt they really play that big of an impact - I only brought up your essay because I think it’s an easy fix for you to get a higher SAT score.

What are you earlying?

14

I think that you’ll probably get in a school outside of your safety at least. Your stats and everything are competitive. Research, if successful, can definitely be a positive. Also, judging from your posts, I think that you could probably bring life to your essays and if your interviewed, can leave a good impression (I’ve heard these things don’t really help that much but can hurt quite a bit).

For specializing, I’ve mostly read that the USMLE may actually be more important than your medical school, though going to a better school wouldn’t hurt. Point is, don’t necessarily discount the less competitive automatic medical schools with undergraduate.

Regardless, good luck and don’t stress out too much since you’ve done mostly what you can.

15

@greenscreenbean I’m considering U Penn (though that’ll restrict me from everything else if I get in) or Harvard SCEA.

@andyis I’m really trying to get these essays to “tell them a story of me” I guess, but I’ve found that it’s been harder for me to do than my academic/creative writing essays, so hopefully they’ll come to life eventually :slight_smile: Fingers crossed I don’t get too nervous, say/do something stupid, or sound bigoted during the interview (if I get one)

Oh yeah, USMLEs are probably the most significant portion… but I believe doing well at a good medical school is also an important factor (when it comes to the competitive specialties derm)!

Thank you guys for the responses! They’ve really helped a lot :slight_smile:

16

Hi guys! Just wanted to update this thread in case it helps anyone else :slight_smile: I know I was scrolling through these a year ago looking for what it took to get into X college.

Since my OP, I was named a Siemens and Intel Semifinalist. I was between applying to Harvard SCEA or UPenn LSM ED. I ultimately decided on Harvard since I didn’t want to be restricted should I be rejected by LSM, but accepted by CAS. Harvard deferred, then rejected me, but Penn LSM accepted me RD!!!

I also got into Northwestern HPME, Brown PLME, WashU USP + Moog Scholar (full tuition), Columbia (LL), Williams (EW), Amherst (EW), and Pitt (Stamps Scholar). I was rejected by Pitt GAP (post-interview), Case PPSP (pre-interview), Princeton, Yale, and Stanford.

After looking at the list of colleges I wanted to be chanced on in the OP, I chuckled a little. BOY did things change.

With that said, I was faced with a very tough decision between LSM, HPME, and PLME. I ultimately chose LSM, as I hope to combine medicine with business someday and am ready to face the challenge of applying to med school in a few years.

CC has helped me immensely throughout this application process, and I am fortunate to have had so many people support me along the way. Thank you all!