Chances at Cornell, Yale, UMich Eng, Stanford?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey guys,

So I know it’s really close to the ED Deadline but I just wanted a general idea.

College List (I’m putting my thoughts on my chances as well):

Cornell (Most likely applying ED, I’d say mid reach)
Yale (High reach)
UMich Eng (EA, I’m a sibling of a UMich student and in state, take that as you will)
Stanford (Reeeeeach, haha, just for the hell of it, I probably wanna go here for grad school)

Profile
-Asian American
-Male

Academics
-GPA (Unweighted): 3.75 (Low I know but an upwards trend throughout HS)
-GPA (Weighted): 4.05
-SAT I: 2330 (770 CR 780 M 780 W)
-SAT II: Math Level II 790, Biology E 750 (retaking in Nov)
-PSAT: 221, NMSF
-ACT: 36 (2nd sitting), (E 36 M 35 R 36 S 35)
-Courseload: IB Programme, Expected IBs: HL Math, Physics, Biology, English, History, Spanish, usual electives

Awards/Recognition:
-NMSF, applied for Finalist standing
-National Honor Society

Extracurriculars:
-Student Council - 4 years
-Nationally competing Extreme Martial Arts Demo Team
-Boy Scouts - Life rank, working on Eagle
-Relay for Life - Board member of school chapter for the annual American Cancer Society fundraising event
-Science Olympiad - 4 years, no board system, regional finalist
-President and founder of School Ping Pong Club (not really gonna put this lol, the club got banned after a year)

Athletics
-Varsity Track - 3 years, got letter 1st year
-Varsity Marching Band - 3 years, got letter 2nd year, section leader

Employment
-Paid Employment at local gymnastics facility (2 years)

Essays
-Not sure, hard to be critical of my own work. Can use some more editing

Recs
-Counselor: Good relationship, probably good
-Physics Teacher: Great relationship, almost certain good
-Biology Teacher: Loved me, good relationship outside of school, she implied it would be a glowing rec

Community & Service or other:
-None significant other than required for Boy Scouts and Relay for Life Fundraising

Hooks(?):
-None, being Asian maybe equals anti-hook

I would love any thoughts or advice! Thanks to any who give feedback :slight_smile:

2

To clarify, I’m asking because I’m not sure if my mediocre GPA is counterbalanced enough with my other stats. Also, I’m not too confident in my essays, but I’m hoping they will improve as I edit them.

3

The 36 ACT certainly doesn’t hurt. Colleges tend to favor GPA - 4 years of HS is a better indicator than 3 hours in a test center - but your academics and test scores are such that you’re “qualified” for these schools. Of course, 30,000 applicants are “qualified” and most are rejected, so don’t expect too much as an asian male applying for STEM (or so I assume from your IB courses).

I do think you’re likely in at UMich, as an in-state applicant with a decent GPA (for an in-state kid), perfect ACT, near-perfect SAT, and enough ECs to avoid the “just studies all the time” label.

4

I think you best chances are UM and possibly Cornell. Forget about Stanford and Yale (though, from past experience, I know that @notverysmart would not like my last comment, but I respect his opinion anyway!)

5

UMich CoE should be a match to high match depending on how is your upward trend. Your overall GPA is a little bit weak but still within the admittable range.