Hi everyone! I’m a white female rising senior at a very small independent high school in northern Virginia (graduating class of 10 people). My parents locked in my in-state tuition rate in 2000, and I won’t qualify for financial aid, so I plan to stay in VA.
My plan is to apply early action to UVA, then regular decision to W&M, JMU and VT. UVA is my top choice right now, but William and Mary is just slightly behind.
Intended Major: Biology, physics, environmental science/studies (definitely hard science)
GPA UW: 4.0 (no weighted GPA)
Course load: Since my school is so small, I haven’t had the option of taking AP or IB or honors (for anything besides science) classes. Also, our electives change quarterly, so I’m not listing them, but I’ve taken a wide variety.
Junior- Spanish, Calculus BC (taken online), Topical English, Honors Physics, Psychology
Senior- Spanish, Linear Algebra (taken online or at local community college), Senior English Seminar, Honors Environmental Studies, Cellular Biology
Also, I took Latin I- III in middle school. With my math classes, I finished the classes my school offers in my sophomore year, and I was the first student ever to do that, so I’ve been teaching myself/using other resources since then.
Extracurriculars: Three years of playing soccer, basketball and running for my school, yearbook editor in sophomore and junior year, student representative on school event committee, consistently working on our school vegetable garden for the past two years, organized school wide bra/pad/tampon drive for homeless women, performed in two plays in fall of 2015
Volunteer/Work History: 150 volunteer hours at a science summer camp for preschoolers during summer of 2014, worked there all summer in 2015, 2016.
175 volunteer hours with the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History through their teen volunteer program also attending additional trainings and master classes (2016)
100 volunteer hours with a local retirement home (school year 2015- 2016)
100 volunteer hours with an NSF funded resource center for out-of-the-classroom science education (2016- 2017)
This summer, I worked as a communications intern with NASA as a National Space Club Scholar and I’m published twice on NASA.gov (woohoo!!)
500 hours throughout the past four years with Together We Bake, a job training program for women in need of a second chance
I also volunteered with various DC events: the March for Science, the People’s Climate March, World Oceans Day, National Fossil Day, Earth Day 2016, and DC Pride
No official job during the school year, but I have babysat for the same family at least twice a week for three years now which counts in my book.
Testing: 1480 on SAT (760 for reading, 720 for math)
What do you all think are my chances for getting into UVA (College of Arts and Sciences) and William and Mary? I’m planning on JMU and VT as safety schools, but let me know if that doesn’t sound realistic. I can answer any questions too. I’ll also take any feedback. Thanks so much!