Chances at UPenn, Cornell, JHU

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Asian
State: NJ
School: Too Competitive</p>

<p>GPA: 3.87-UW, 4.17-W (school doesn't rank, probably top 5% of 700)
SATs: 800-M, 750-CR, 730-W, 2280-Total
SAT IIs: 800-Math II, 800-Chem, 720-Bio M (only Honors Bio)</p>

<p>APs: Physics B (4), Chem (5), Calc BC (5), Comp Sci A (5), Eng III (4)
Senior: AP: Bio, Stat, English IV, Euro, Art History; Honors: Latin IV</p>

<p>Recs: Counselor - Awesome, Teachers - One Amazing other Good
Supplemental: Research Professor and JSA advisor</p>

<p>ECs:</p>

<p>Involvements:</p>

<pre><code>- Medical Careers Club (10-12), Officer 12
- Science Competitor's Club (10-12), Officer 11-12
- JSA (9-12), Officer 11, VP 12; Regional Cabinet Position 11-12; also write political articles for its newspaper
- NJ Science League (10-11); Chem I and Chem II
- NJ Science Olympiad (11); organized first team from my HS
- NJ Chemistry Olympics (11); Second place at state level
- Central Jersey Math League (11-12)
- Latin Competitions/Involvement (9-12)
- March of Dimes (10-12); Officer 12
- Robert Wood Johnson Mini-Medical Program (11)
- Columbia SHP (gonna do in 12)
</code></pre>

<p>Volunteering: </p>

<pre><code>- Hospital (10-12): 150+ hrs
- Senior Center (10-12): 100+ hrs
- March of Dimes (10-12): 50+ hrs
</code></pre>

<p>Research:</p>

<pre><code>- For two summers at Waksman Institute at Rutgers U. On second summer now. Conducting research involving drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies). Will compete in Intel/Siemen's with work. Rec from prof + supplemental research paper.
</code></pre>

<p>Awards:</p>

<pre><code>- USNCO Semifinalist
- Chem Olympics (2nd place state level)
- NJ Science League in Chem II (top 10% scoring)
- AIME Qualifier
- North Jersey Science Fair Finalist - Attended ISEF
- Will Compete in Intel/Siemens
- Four Best Speaker Awards in JSA
- National Latin Exam: Silver (9), Gold (10), Gold (11)
- Princeton University Latin Competition for Three Years: 2nd, 4th, 3rd places over three years
- Other minor awards in Science/Math
- Probably NMS Finalist (PSAT: 229)
</code></pre>

<p>Colleges:</p>

<pre><code>- UPenn (ED and RD)
- Cornell (ED and RD)
- JHU (ED and RD)
- Duke
- WashU St. Loius
- NYU
- UMich
- Rutgers
</code></pre>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>i'm just curious....why is your username princeton if your not applying there? but anywho....</p>

<p>JHU, NYU, UMich are somewhat matches.
Cornell is a low reach
Upenn is a reach ( but very likely)
Rutgers = safety i suppose?</p>

3

<p>If you go to a competitive NJ school, colleges will know exactly where you rank. Hardly any competitive schools "rank" but school profile and counselors let them rank you very closely.</p>

<p>If your school sends more than 10% to ivies and doesn't have many legacies and recruited athletes, you have a shot. It's all within the context of your school and your state. Asian, math, medical club, NJ, competitive school make things tough. It will help if you're low income but you're in an incredibly tough pool.</p>

4

<p>Yeah, I hate this stereotype...can I help that I was born an ambitious Asian kid in NJ? I'm not low income, I want to be a doctor (hell so does half the Asian population in this country), my school is like 40% Asian :( ... WHY should these things matter? College admissions should be based on merit alone. Anyways, this has been regurgitated enough on this forum. Thx for the replies, keep um coming. </p>

<p>PS: I live in princeton, NJ and the zip code is 08540, hence the name. I had even wanted to apply to Princeton U for a time, but having lived 10 minutes away from it, it has lost its flavor for me. It seems too humanities focused w/ not enough emphasis on research. Believe it or not, I have found the facilities/professors at Rutgers comparable to those of Princeton's, if not better. And, whether you want to believe this last bit is your option completely but, I actually worked at Waksman with a girl who took Rutgers over Princeton for UG studies. Not that I would do the same, but her decision was admirable (she saved a lot of money and feels like she's getting a better value). Anyway, I would prefer schools like UPenn/JHU w/ their research/medical focus over a bureaucratic, elitist institution like Princeton anyday. I'm sure all Ivies are similar, but I'll take my chances outside of this state.</p>

5

<p>Many kids choose their state school over any ivy for a simple but large reason: MONEY. Heck, most Americans don't apply past their state schools because of cost.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, merit is only part of admissions to a top college. If you go to Princeton HS you're pretty much screwed, it's full of kids connected in academia and legacies to ivies.</p>

<p>I would ED JHU.</p>

6

<p>QUOTE:
PS: I live in princeton, NJ and the zip code is 08540, hence the name. I had even wanted to apply to Princeton U for a time, but having lived 10 minutes away from it, it has lost its flavor for me.</p>

<p>the same thing happened to me and Upenn!!! ( i live 10 minutes away).</p>

7

<p>collegekid100:I see what you mean...I'm pretty sure I was going to choose JHU ED over the others eventually anyway. The school interests me more than the others in terms of research and opportunities and I have friends there who have said great things about it. All I have left to do is visit lol. </p>

<p>you'll see...: haha, i guess most Ivies are overrated?</p>

<p>Thx for the replies.</p>

8

<p>No No No geographical desirabilty is a big factor. I live about 10-15 minutes from WashU but would rather not attend. College should be about independence and learning; two things that are severely stunted if you choose to attend a school in your hometown</p>

9

<p>Strategy will be everything in these wildly competitive years. JHU will take you ED so as not to risk losing you to a higher ranked college while improving their yield.</p>

10

<p>thx. bump bump</p>

11

<p>come on, more responses plz. I'd like more input. bump</p>

12

<p>Omg bump...</p>

13

<p>Your ECs are strong, but perhaps a bit too diverse? Well-roundedness, I hear, is no longer the "in" thing. GPA is decent, SATs are in range but not exceptional. SAT IIs are pretty good (save the Bio score). Chances:</p>

<p>UPenn - Reach (you stand about as good a chance as any other Asian applicant ED or RD :))
Cornell - Slight Reach (probably accepted ED, otherwise tougher time RD)
JHU - In ED, Match RD
Duke - Slight Reach
WashU - Match (probably in either way)
NYU - Low Match
UMich - Match
Rutgers - Safety</p>

<p>You should add another safety or two (Penn State? UMD?). If JHU is good with you, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't go for it ED. There can't be too many places that are better for premeds and it has relative prestige. Good Luck.</p>

14

<p>UPenn : reach
- Cornell: high match/low reach
- JHU : high match/low reach
- Duke: high match/low reach
- WashU St. Loius: high match/low reach
- NYU: low match/match
- UMich: low match/match
- Rutgers: Safety</p>

15

<p>thx. I may add Penn State to that list as a safety. Bump last time.</p>

16

<p>i'd be surprised if you were rejected from all of those other than Penn RD and Duke RD. IMO, you'll get into Cornell ED or RD, JHU ED or RD and Penn ED.</p>

17

<p>Your stats and choices for schools are pretty similar to mine (well, you do look like you have better ECs), so I can safely say that you are definitely a candidate for all of those schools, with Penn maybe being a low reach. In my opinion, you should just work hard to keep your GPA up and continue your research interests. If I were in your position, I might even consider not EDing at all so that I could view financial aid and scholarship offers from various schools instead of being tied to one school ED that might not give you a very good aid package (this won't matter if your family can shell out the funds though).</p>

<p>Chance me back?
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=372096%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=372096&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

18

<p>thx for all the responses. I promised not to bump again, but I need more feedback.</p>

19

<p>I dont know if you are bragging or what, but if what you are saying is true than i think you have a great shot at getting into any of those schools</p>

20

<p>I'm not bragging by any stretch. My GPA isn't killer and my SAT isn't stellar for "an Asian kid from NJ". Granted I have some decent science awards/involvement, but I have no sport and no instrument. I'm too "typical Asian" from the perspective of adcoms. So, you just never know, which is why I'm posting in the first place. Besides, I'm not full of myself and aiming for HYPSM like many other people...</p>