Chance this rising senior for JHU + WashU + Vanderbilt + MIT + Ivies

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Before I start I just wanted to say that I understand that each school on my list has its own environment and vibe. I’m using some of these schools as a way to judge the competitiveness of my application since all of them are at a high level - but some are at higher levels than others. My dream school is JHU, but I would appreciate if you could indicate the competitiveness of my application at each school on my list. Assume all schools are RD applications.

Schools:

Harvard
Princeton
Dartmouth
Brown
UPenn
Cornell
MIT
JHU
Washington University in St. Louis
Vanderbilt

SAT: will not report
ACT: 36 (36 writing, 36 math, 35 reading, 36 science), 11 composite essay score
SAT II: Biology M (800), Chemistry (790), Math II (800)
Weighted GPA: 4.65
Unweighted GPA: 3.99

AP Tests: Bio (5), Chem (4), Macroeconomics (5), Microeconomics (5), Psychology (5)
AP tests that I’m taking this year or next year:
Physics C: Mechanics
Calc AB
English Lang & Comp
English Lit & Comp
APUSH

EC:
Research last summer on GFP, this summer I’ll be researching fungal drug resistance, but no papers yet
200 hours volunteering total
TA for a senior-level biochemistry college class at Rutgers University
MUN, Secretary General
Bollywood dance for the past 5 years (Co-President of volunteer teen committee, raising over $6,000 for educating poor children and women in India)
Running a bimonthly trivia night for adults and teens at my local library for the past 3 years

Honors/Awards:
National AP Scholar
National Merit Semifinalist
USA Biology Olympiad semi-finalist x2 (top 10% in the country in 2018)
UToronto International Biology Scholar in 2018 (top 20 in the world)
Some state level competitions in biology, chemistry, and physics, have won awards ranging from 1st to 3rd place
3 gavels at Princeton Model UN Conference, lesser awards at other conferences

Recommendations:
8/10 chemistry/physics teacher; she loves me and she let me read what she wrote for research programs, but I haven’t seen other people’s recs so I won’t be able to judge

8/10 Algebra 2/Statistics teacher; she loves me and she said she wrote me really good recs about my personal growth in her class for programs, but again, no standard of comparison

9/10 (at least) both supplemental recs, I know both recommenders will have extremely positive things to say about me
Suppliers are the co-coordinator of the Trivia Night at the library (did her masters degree at UPenn) and the professor of the class I will be TAing at Rutgers (did his PhD at JHU)

Demographics:
School: Public magnet
State: NJ
Race: Indian
Gender: Male
Income: I’m not getting much financial aid

Thanks for your help!!!

2

You are a competitive candidate for all of the schools on your list. Of course all of the schools on your list have acceptance rates of 15% or lower so definitely have a safety in mind.

It seems like Hopkins is your overwhelming favorite school so I would advise applying ED to maximize your chances at acceptance. RD to your other schools or use ED 2 on your second favorite. I believe Vandy has ED 2 and WashU is implementing ED 2 this year.

3

Yep, @Hamurtle is right. Your stats get you a ticket to the lottery. But it’s still a lottery, so have a backup plan. Good luck!

4

You are a competitive applicant. I think that you have a good GPA, amazing test scores, good recommendations, and now all you need is an amazing essay. If you’re able to write an amazing essay, you’re likely to get into at least a couple of the colleges on the list.

5

@Hamurtle Thank you for your input. I do have some safeties and matches, but I wanted to see whether my application was competitive for a T25. Hopkins is my dream school, so I’ll see if I can ED.

@washugrad and @IvyDreams13 Thanks for your help. Are my ECs and awards competitive as well?

6

If you’re sure you want JHU, definitely ED. This past year there was a huge difference in admission rate between ED and RD.

7

Just out of curiosity, how do decide how good a teacher rec is? why would LoRs from teachers who ‘loves’ you only be an 8/10? Would any of your teachers write “in 25 years of teaching, @molbiohemonco1 stands out as a student who …”?

Agree with the others: ED for JHU.

8

@molbiohemonco1 your extracurriculars are good but they would like to see that you have a life outside of your schoolwork and extracurriculars so make sure that you are able to write an essay on a related prompt if they ask you to. Overall, if I had to give you a percentage, it’s about 50% for Vanderbilt, JHU, and Washington University in St. Louis and 20% to 40% for the rest.

9

@collegemom3717 I don’t really have a point of comparison, so I’m not sure how to rate the recommendations myself. I know that both my math teacher and my chemistry/physics teacher speak very highly of me, as they have told me multiple times that they hope I get into an elite school. I’ve also asked both of them for letters of recommendation before, and they have always been happy to oblige. I’m not sure if either of them would write “In 25 years of teaching…”, because they both seem very unbiased in class. However, I have had extensive discussions with them outside of class regarding my future career plans. I do know that they are both willing to write me very good letters of recommendation to help me get into one of the schools on my list.

@appalachymom My issue with ED is that my family makes too much money to get much financial aid according to the NPC but not enough money that I can keep my options open after undergrad. I am very interested in cell/tissue engineering, biochemistry and molecular biology research, and I don’t really want to be a doctor. At the same time, I might change my mind later and pursue med school. If that is indeed in my future path, I do not want to be crippled with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt from JHU. My state school (Rutgers) will almost certainly give me a large merit scholarship, and I’ve seen multiple students in my school with my scores and GPA get full rides from Rutgers in the past. If I do ED to JHU and I am accepted into their biomedical engineering program, I won’t be able to accept an almost debt-free education from Rutgers.

I guess a couple follow-up questions (for both of you guys, or for anyone else who cares to answer) could be; are the world-class research opportunities available at Hopkins worth the extra money spent, compared to a maximum spend at Rutgers of $32k over 4 years? Is it worth being middle of the class at Hopkins versus top of the class at Rutgers for med/grad school?

As always thanks for all of your help in advance.

10

Save your money! If you go to med school you will def need it and if you go the PhD route you can let JHU pay you to do it there- and you will be grateful to not have the debt :slight_smile:

11

You are a competitive applicant. Your stats and ECs are good. Write amazing essays and you could get accepted to any of these schools

12

All that was said in the OP was that you expect little financial aid, not that finances could be an issue. I would never recommend ED if a student needs to have financial options from which to choose. I was only speaking about acceptance to JHU, which is much more likely in ED.

Many students would like to use ED for the improved odds in admission, but cannot use it (for financial reasons).

I know nothing specific about Rutgers, but I have no doubt that with a high level of motivation, a great work ethic, and your apparent potential, you could achieve your career goals from Rutgers. As @collegemom3717 said, if you pursue a professional degree (MD, etc) you will be glad to have no debt, or you could possibly go to JHU for PhD. In fact, I’ve read in the field of biomedical engineering at least a Master’s is often necessary for jobs in the field.

You are going to be TAing a class at Rutgers while you’re in high school?

13

Sorry for the very delayed reply @appalachymom . Yes, I took the class at Rutgers last year, and I received a very good score in the class. This year the professor allowed me to TA under him.

I’m not entirely sure if finances are an issue - I would need to speak to my parents about that. From my own estimation my parents would prefer that I took the full ride at Rutgers over an ED admission at JHU, because they are afraid JHU would not provide any financial aid once I was bound ED to the school. Another follow up question - do schools offer the same financial aid ED as they do RD? Or do they offer less financial aid ED than they would RD?

14

This is the first, most crucial conversation to have.

JHU commits to meeting ‘full financial need’- BUT: they get to define what that need is, and they get to re-decide every year you are enrolled. They can- and I know families where they have- reduced the amount of aid materially in subsequent years.

15

@molbiohemonco1 It’s hard to know if schools will offer the same financial aid in ED as RD. I know that many schools that meet full need say they do (and I expect that many with a lot of money do), but there’s no way for you to get a definitive early answer. You can run the NPC to get an idea of what to expect, but you won’t know for sure until you receive an offer.

There is no way to compare official financial packages between schools if you use ED. That’s the risk you take with ED, a risk that MANY students are unable to take.

You need to talk to your parents about money and run the NPC. It can be an eye opener.