<p>Chance me for Columbia, Barnard, NYU, UPenn </p>
<p>GPA: 93 </p>
<p>All honors or AP classes for all four years of high school (only 7 APs offered and I took all 7 and the rest are honors)</p>
<p>I go to a religious school so I take 3 religious classes as well. </p>
<p>Live in MA, Caucasian, Female, middle class income, no legacy </p>
<p>Planned Major: Neuroscience </p>
<p>SAT II: Chemistry 720, Planning to take one or two more </p>
<p>SAT: Will take in march, expecting around a 2200+ </p>
<p>ECs: (2 most important categories first)
1. Neuroscience related
-Intern at neuroscience lab this coming summer
-Finalist in essay contest about mental illness
-Started a blog for high school neuroscience enthusiasts
-Will participate in Brain Bee competition, currently self-studying neuroscience material
-Hopefully will spend some time volunteering with neurodevelopmentally disabled kids, possibly during a gap year</p>
<ol>
<li>Bnei Akiva (youth group)
-Summer camp for 5 years with this youth group, and will work there next summer as a counselor
-Started a chapter of it in my area this year (11th grade)
-12th grade leadership program run by it next year
-President of local chapter
-Weekend retreats a few times a year, community service projects, etc. -Will hopefully be going on a gap year program run by it before entering college </li>
</ol>
<p>Other:
Litmag all 4 years
Drama club all 4 years
Social Action Club founder and director- last year (gr 10)
Edited parts of a few books
Helped with website for various community organizations
Library volunteer summer after 9th grade
Student Ambassador for school- all 4 years
Participant in Art Club-9th grade
Hip Hop Club- 10th grade
Various poetry awards
Heart Mind and Soul youth organization participant
Ran fundraise for Tay Sachs Cure foundation in school last year
Various other community service pursuits
Director of PR for JSA (a student run organization).
National Honor Society- 11th and 12th grades Sent from my iPod</p>
<p>Your gpa and other stats are a tad low. However, your Ecs are very good as long as they all actually happen and you stay dedicated. Just get a nice high SAT and you should be fine. Good luck!</p>
<p>Yeah you definitely have a good shot at all those schools. I’m planning on studying neuroscience (currently a senior) and I would recommend you rethink the schools you’re applying to. I would not apply to NYU if you want to study neuroscience. Instead you should look into JHU (if you’re interested in becoming a neurosurgeon) or UChicago (if you’re interested in the computational aspects of neuroscience… they offer a computational neuroscience program). Brown is arguably the best Ivy in terms of its neuro program and also has a diverse selection of majors i.e. cognitive science, cognitive neuroscience, neuroscience etc…</p>
<p>Also if you want a safety you should look at Pitt I know it does not have the ‘name’ like all these other schools but it’s neuroscience program is top 5-10 in the country on both the undergraduate and graduate level. Also based on your stats you have a very good chance on receiving a large amount of merit aid.</p>
<p>good EC’s, Keep with those and the good GPA, only suggestion try and do more hands on science, I noticed you interned at a neuro lab do more of that. Try to do an experiment of your own, if possible. Take as much science as possible.</p>
<p>Penn and Columbia might be a little bit tougher for you to get in to, but I think you have a decent shot at worst for all four of those. Good luck!</p>
<p>Those are all really great/selective schools. If I was an admissions counselor, I would be extremely impressed with all of the goal oriented neuroscience work that you have done. The stuff that you have done is incredible. I wish you the best. You’re going places.</p>
<p>Your EC’s are fairly strong and unique… Yeah your sats and other stats may be a bit low, but will this hinder your admittance to a great degree? I am inclined to think not. You’ve good pretty good chances.</p>
<p>Definitely take into consideration what @potentialpanther said regarding schools for neuroscience. And make sure to find some safeties with great neuroscience programs. I am sure there are a number of these.</p>
<p>impressive stats! ECs and accolades really reflect your interest. lots of kids say they want to study neuroscience but don’t really pursue anything relevant to it outside of school (i know a few kids like that.) things to consider: </p>
<p>-how many kids from your school are applying? if you don’t get in somewhere, consider how many talented kids they had to choose from.
-how many subject tests are you willing to take? definitely take one or two more in science and math. your chem score is great, but a bit low for a neuroscience major (DON’T retake it, though. spend your time doing something more interesting!)</p>
<p>ECs are strong, but can’t give you a solid chance with A) more SAT IIs (if your next SAT IIs are in the low 700s, it won’t do you much justice given the selectivity of your top schools) and B) an SAT score (predictions, goals, and practice tests scores never suffice for actual SAT results).</p>
<p>Until then, you show great passion in your ECs. I hate the word ‘passion’, but the way you’re able to craft a ‘private/public setting’ for yourself - showing things that are relevant to your major, neuroscience, and things relevant to your life outside of your future career/academics, like your religion - will bode you well. Make sure you mention them, especially the latter, in your essays.</p>
I know it does not have the ‘name’ like all these other schools but it’s neuroscience program is top 5-10 in the country on both the undergraduate and graduate level. Also based on your stats you have a very good chance on receiving a large amount of merit aid.</p>