Chance Me: Washington University, Vanderbilt, Emory, and Rice; Princeton, Yale, and Stanford

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I’m planning on applying to the colleges listed in the title, along with safety schools such as Miami-OH and Oklahoma. I also have legacy to Stanford (post-grad parent) and Yale (undergrad parent), but unfortunately little donation. I am currently a junior/rising senior.

GPA: 199.3/50 (one B+, everything else A/A+) for 3.986
My school doesn’t weight, but I used GPACalculator.net and got 4.66W/4.27UW

My school has a laude system, as well as APs, but not IB.
Laude: 25 points (calculated essentially as 1 per each laude semester)
AP:
AP Gov (4)
AP Calc (AB 5) (took Calc 2 at local college [97%])
APUSH (unknown, likely 4/5)
AP Chem (unknown, likely 4/5)
AP Lang (unknown, likely 4/5)

Class Rank: We don’t technically have a class rank at my school, but I am definitely in the top 10 out of ~240.

Testing:
ACT:
1st Time:
34 composite
33 eng
33 math
33 reading
36 sci
28 writing
2nd Time:
35 composite
35 eng
36 math
33 reading
36 sci
09 writing
PSAT:
1500 composite
750 EBRW
750 math
225 NMSC selection index (expecting National Merit Semifinalist)
SAT I: unknown, June test date waiting for scores, expecting 1500+ but only took it for National Merit
SAT II: none taken yet, planning on chem and math 2 in August

Extracurriculars:
club involved in building a memorial (founding member, president, 100s of hours of volunteering/raising money, total about $30,000 to date with goal of $100,000)
FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America, Nationals Qualifier)
Key Club (service club associated with Kiwanis, DCON rep)
Science Club (officer, we don’t have titles)
Link Leader (help freshmen, orientation etc.)
Academic Decathlon
Math Team
Cross Country, Swimming, and Track varsity athlete

Employment: I will work at a pool this upcoming summer

Honors/Awards:
FBLA Nationals Qualifier
2nd in State Math Competition
Swimming Rookie of the Year
Track Athlete of the Year

Recommendations:
AP Chem teacher, science club advisor, and key club advisor
APUSH teacher, cross country coach

I am interested in both the sciences and social sciences, but if I had to declare today I would probably choose to major in Chemistry. I am fairly confident I can get into at least some of the first group, but my financial situation is unfortunate: I qualify for very little financial aid but even with my parent’s support I’ll have to take out loans unless I get financial aid/scholarships. I am a white male.

Next Year:
AP Psych
AP Bio
AP Physics
French 5 (honors)
Symphony Band (honors)
Calc 3 (at local college)
AP Lit
AP Stats
Senior Phy Ed (required)

2

Legacy doesn’t apply for post grad only undergrad. So you are only a Legacy for Yale. Since this is the case I would SCEA to Yale,and ED2 to Emory or Vandy.

Stanford-High Reach
Yale-High Reach (Reach for SCEA)
Princeton- Reach
Emory- Reach (High Match for ED2)
Vanderbilt- Reach (High Match/Low Reach for ED2)
Rice- Reach
WUSTL- Reach

I’m not comfortable saying any of these elite institutions are matches for you unless you apply ED to Emory or Vandy. There admit rates are all low. Your EC’s are not focused, you seem uninspired. Your best bet is probably Vandy or WUSTL as they like High stat students like yourself.

3

@VANDEMORY1342 Thanks for responding.
Regarding legacy to Stanford, I do think I am eligible: “The University Undergraduate Admission Web site defines an applicant as a legacy “if at least one parent or stepparent received an undergraduate and/or graduate degree from Stanford.”.” (http://www.stanforddaily.com/2009/12/02/legacies-a-fifth-of-the-class-of-2013/) However, I am not sure how much of an impact this will have.

Regarding my ECs, I am somewhat confused by you saying that they are unfocused. I go to a rural high school in a small town, and there are very limited club/EC offerings. What recommendations would you make for me going forwards? I don’t want to drop any of my ECs, especially officer positions. I get that there is a large range of topics, but why is this a negative?
Thanks

4

@VANDEMORY1342 every school has its own definition of legacy. In this case, Stanford would apply for OP.

@Boolin You have the stats to get into all those schools, but that doesn’t mean you will get in. Yale, Princeton, and Stanford are high reaches simply because it is for everyone. I think you will get into Emory, Rice, and WUSTL, but you could also just as easily be denied. I think writing a good essay is most important for you to stand out from other high achieving applicants.

5

“Regarding legacy to Stanford,… However, I am not sure how much of an impact this will have.”

In an article that Stanford sent to alumni, they said that being a legacy ensures that two people will look at your application. That is all. In the same article (and another send more recently), Stanford talked at great length about the importance of “diversity”. The percentage of white students that they accept is a lot lower than the percentage that exist in the country. Even without this, Stanford is a very high reach for pretty much everyone. I doubt that your chances are any better than the 4.8% of applicants that they accept, and it might be lower. From the same article I was under the impression that my kids would be legacy also at Stanford (I got my Master’s there), but I also had the strong impression that legacy status, plus the fact that at least one of my kids has never had a B in her life, wouldn’t help.

I agree with @VANDEMORY1342 that you don’t have a match or a safety on your list. I do think that you have some chance at some of the schools on your list, but I wouldn’t count on it. I think that WUSTL is one of the ones where you have a chance and that it is also a very good university in an attractive location. Thus if I were you I would leave it on the list (subject to NPC, see next paragraph) but consider it to be a reach (but not an wildly unrealistic reach).

Your stats are impressive. I think that you have an excellent chance at getting into an excellent university, but I think that you need to keep thinking about where to apply. Also, you need to find out how much you can afford, and be aware that just because a schools says that they match “need”, does not mean that their definition of “need” corresponds to your reality. You need to run the NPC on each school that you want to apply to and have a chat with your parents regarding what they are willing to pay. With your stats you should be able to avoid debt for undergrad.

I think that you would be almost a shoe-in at McGill if you wanted to look north of the border. McGill won’t care at all about your ECs, but will like your excellent grades and SAT.

6

Your academic qualifications are outstanding!!!..but pretty average for the type of student applying to Washington University, Vanderbilt, Emory, Rice, Princeton, Yale, and Stanford. Most, if not ALL, applicants to these schools boast a perfect 4.0 UW GPA and near perfect SAT (1550+) or ACT (36) scores. What you need to do is stand out among them, and the only way to do so is participate in unique ECs and achieve an award (or something of the equivalent) on a national or international level. As of now, your ECs are pretty generic and all over the place – that is to say, they do not show your focus or intent on pursuing chemistry in college. I understand that you may go to a high school that may not offer you very many opportunities, but colleges want students in the same situation who have found a way out of this, and either find new opportunities or create new ones. For you, it just looks like you have merely taken what has been offered in front of you. People who are admitted into these schools are the kinds of students who have done research at a university-affiliated lab in high school, have published articles in scientific journals, have won in international competitions (ISEF, STS, Google science fair, etc), and have made a significant impact on their school and community. Unfortunately, as of now, your ECs do not reflect that kind of emphasis on science/chemistry, so I urge to you participate in more activities that directly relate to that field, and perhaps even enter a competition or science fair to show these colleges you mean business. I would say Washington University, Vanderbilt, Emory, and Rice would be regular reaches for you, while Princeton, Yale, and Stanford are high reaches or out of reach, simply because of your lackluster ECs. Good luck!

Please chance me back here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1995754-chance-me-low-gpa-rank-cornell-rice-wash-u-ucla-etc.html#latest