Chance my son for UCs, Cornell, NorthWestern, JohnsHopkins, CMU, and Rice

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Basic info:
Asian male, California, both parents went to college, pretty high income, small public high school

Academics:
competitive high school with 350 ish students (does not rank but at least top 10%)
3.94 UW, 4.33W, UC GPA = 4.65 (reference for UC schools)
Honors/AP:
freshman - Alg2, sophomore - Precalc, Chem, AP European History, junior - AP Calculus BC, AP Chem, APUSH, Spanish 4H, Band 4H, senior - AP Bio, AP Physics, AP Gov, AP Spanish, Band 4H
AP scores: AP Euro: 4, AP Calc BC: 5, AP Chem: 5, APUSH: 5
SAT: 1520 (Math: 800, R&W: 720)
SATIIs: Math 2: 800, Chem: 800, Bio: 790, Spanish: 720

ECs:

  • All 4 years of HS Marching Band. Won many regional awards. Section Leader for 2 years.
  • 1st chair Euphonium in HS Symphonic Wind Ensemble for 2 years.
  • Play Trombone in HS Advanced Jazz Band for 1 yr.
  • Volunteer at local hospital (10-12)
    will have >400 hours by end of senior year
    just simple work around hospital as well as interaction with patients
  • Shadowed a Dr. in a hospital in Summer of 10-11th grade.
  • Internship at MedCSI program at Stanford 11-12th grade.
  • work at local Bakery 11-12th grade.
    simple tasks like being a cashier, making drinks, and administrative work

Awards:

  • Part of SantaClara County Honor Band 2018, 2020
  • Part of California All State Band 2020

I am very interested in the Sciences and I will major in Chemistry / BioChemistry. Also, I want to continue being part of the Marching Band and Concert Band in College and maybe Minor in Music. What are my chances for the UC schools and Cornell? Also, do you think T20s, especially JHU, NorthWestern, Rice, CMU are viable options or are my extracurriculars weak?

Thanks!

2

@Gumbymom is the UC expert. (I’m not sure about your UC GPA calc, but she can comment on that.)

For the T20, it’s a general story: your son’s resume looks good, but so do most who apply. Colleges with admit rates in the single digits/low double digits are effectively reaches for everyone. Have good matches and safeties.

3

I am assuming your 4.33 GPA is the capped weighted UC GPA and the 4.65 GPA is the fully weighted UC GPA?

You are competitive for all the UC’s but UCLA and UCB are Reaches but attainable Reaches. Best of luck.

Some UC Statistical admit data: https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/freshman-application-data-2019.pdf

2018 Freshman admit rates for UC GPA (most current) of 4.20 or above capped weighted and not major specific:
UCB: 37%
UCLA: 41%
UCSD: 70%
UCSB: 80%
UCD: 89%
UCI: 75%
UCSC: 92%
UCR: 96%
UCM: 98%

4

My son’s school publishes the UW, W, and UC GPA. The 10-12th GPA is 4.65 which I thought was the UC GPA. I’ll get the latest GPA in a day or two.

5

The heading says ‘chance my son’ but the closing says “I am…”

If you are the student- get off CC and go do something else to distract yourself until results come out. Seriously.

If you are the parent- you can help him best by dialing the anxiety back. It’s the end of January. March/April are coming. It doesn’t matter even the tiniest bit what anybody here says.

If you are so anxious about this that you are looking for affirmation on CC think how anxious your son is- for himself and for fear of disappointing you. If you think you are hiding your anxiety, you are almost certainly wrong. Every year I see students whose parents are disappointed in their college outcomes and cannot (or do not) hide it from the kids (even when they think they have). Last year I watched a girl who ‘only’ got into JHU fall apart b/c she knew her parents were going to be disappointed in her. I watched her parents be shattered by the realization their daughter felt like a failure- b/c of how she had internalized their hopes and expectations.

6

I am the parent. And, I thank you for your helpful words.

7

This used be a little easier even just a few years ago, given the percentages that Gumbymom gave, your son should get into most if not all the UCs except UCB and UCLA where typically a student with you son’s profile have gotten into one and not the other. For the other five, they’re going harder than the published percentages because of the demographic, male Asian, STEM from the bay area. If any of the colleges are a first choice and you can afford them, I’d strongly recommend ED. The ECs are a little light wrt leadership roles but you could maybe find a college that values music, as that looks like what the colleges will see your son contributing in. Good luck!

8

If a music minor is an option, either Vanderbilt or Rochester could be considered as well.

A slight concern is that even though the SAT 1 is over 1500, a score of 1520 is slightly lower than what an high achieving Asian STEM student would score (typically closer to 1550+) and Santa Clara County has multiple high scoring students, especially in the Silicon Valley pressure cookers like Saratoga, Monta Vista, Lynbrook, Paly, and Gunn.

These days, high schools in the area like Homestead and Mountain View also have their share of high scoring students.

9

My son got 1520 the first time he took SAT-I in 10th grade and was done with SAT-I. He concentrated on the subject SATs.