SAT I: 1570 (CR/W: 770 M: 800)
Math II: 800, Physics: 790 (this one was a bit annoying because I consistently got 800s in practice)
UW GPA: 4.15 (My school counts unweighted A+ as a 4.33)
W GPA: 4.60
Rank: 1/437 but I don’t think that my school provides rank to colleges
Rigorous courseload, 10 APs including 3 lab sciences between Junior and Senior year
Awards/Achievements: >Won school’s science, history, English, and Spanish awards (one selected for each grade)
[QUOTE=""]
National Merit Semifinalist
New Jersey Governor’s School of the Sciences nominee
Several minor 4-H awards, not sure if they’re worth listing
National Honor Society
Spanish National Honor Society
National Hispanic Recognition Program (redundant because of National Merit)
[/QUOTE]
Subjective:
Extracurriculars: >NJ Science League
[QUOTE=""]
FRC Robotics Team, community service coordinator, build team, programming
Marching Band, saxophone section leader
Jazz Band
4-H Herpetology club. Teen leader and treasurer.
Student government representative
Teen volunteer for library summer reading program
Summer band camp for elementary school students
Tutoring for NHS and Spanish NHS
Various community service opportunities provided by 4-H and NHS
[/QUOTE]
Summer Activities: Volunteering, robotics training, and marching band preseason. I also spend a lot of time pursuing individual interests like fishing and reptile ownership. Spent a lot of last summer looking after a family member with dementia.
Other:
Go to a public school in NJ which I would say is relatively competitive
Ethnicity: Multiracial–Black (Antiguan), White, and Hispanic (Guatemalan)
Gender: Male
Intended Major: Bio (possibly pre-med?)
Income: 75k-ish
Thanks for the help in advance. If you clould spare some advice, it would be appreciated. I feel like my biggest weakness is inconsistency/incompatibility between my ECs.
Hello,
I can see that you are very interested in band and music but your intended major does not correlate with your extracurricular activities which can be things that you should consider.
Also, it is good to see that you are in leadership positions for various clubs but the most important thing is why you did the activities and what outcomes you achieved. I cannot tell from what you wrote, but I hope you can focus on achievements.
Your SAT is excellent and as long as you write good essays, you can actually hope for the dream colleges because you are the minority according to your ethnicity.
Another question–is it worth it for me to apply EA to Princeton? It’s my first choice but I feel like it won’t actually increase my chances of getting in all that much, and seeing how it’s likely I’d be wasting my early slot, I’m wondering if I should ED to JHU instead
I don’t usually reply to these chance threads because I don’t feel I have much to add. However, in your case, it seems completely absurd that you would not simply apply to whichever of those schools you want to attend, and do ED only if you love that school the most. Otherwise apply EA to Princeton if that’s your first choice.
Your top rank in high school and your extraordinarily high test scores demonstrate that you are a stellar student with the ability to do well at any college. You are involved in your band and music and your activities sound like a real person and not someone who has been programmed to show leadership. You obviously aren’t sitting around doing nothing, which is what is important. And I like the herpetology!
I truly hope college admissions hasn’t gotten to the place where someone who sounds like a great candidate for any candidate would get shut out. Why not give your top choice a shot EA? Obviously you need some safeties, too, but you should aim as high as you want.
(Disclaimer – I have no professional knowledge so take my opinion with a grain of salt.)
I don’t think a student of your caliber should ever apply ED. You’ve taken away all the power you have in college admissions by doing it and you have a lot of power.
Thanks for the feedback. I guess I should just go with my gut. I just feel kind outmatched in terms of ECs, mostly because I kind of just went through high school taking opportunities as they presented themselves instead of actively searching (although I feel like being genuine and going with the flow can be a perk in and of itself at times).I didn’t even know that extracirricular activities had anything to do with college admissions until halfway through my junior year.
@datboi17 Not necessarily. I think being a minority would give me a bigger boost if my ECs were great but my scores were slightly lower, but it’s the other way around. Even if that was the case, you can never be so sure.
Also, as far as Rutgers goes, what kind of shot do I have at getting a Presidential Scholarship? My GC mentioned it to me the other day, but I don’t know much about the kinds of stats and credentials it takes.
@Amduseus you need to apply to Rutgers New Brunswick by 12/1 to be considered for the Presidential. Our Valedictorian had lower SAT scores than you, white female whose family income in in the $200k range. I think your chances are very good.
@BurntKnight Well, premed is a possibility rather than a decision that I’ve already made at this point. If I end up choosing Princeton (provided I get in), it’ll likely be because I’ve decided on a different path.
@Amduseus Princeton is great for premed. Maybe you could do ED one of your other top choices if you feel like playing it a bit safer. Other good schools for pre med in your list are Brown, Penn and Duke. Another great premed school is Yale. I haven’t heard very good things about JHU pre med though.
In my non-expert opinion, your very strong academic numbers coupled with being URM and in-state make you strong candidate for Princeton. I would encourage EA. If admitted, non-binding offer would allow you to apply elsewhere and compare packages. Work hard on those essays. (BTW, an essay that links your experience caring for an elderly relative with dementia with your interest in medicine could be quite poignant.) Good luck!
Oh, I should mention a few things that I’ve found out since making this thread:
-I took the SAT twice, one with the essay and one without, and got a 1530 and 1570 respectively, but it seems that Princeton only considers SAT with essay. I called admissions and they said I should still send both, but I’m still wary about it.
-Class size is 469 rather than 437 (no big difference)
-Unweighted is on a 4.3, rather than 4.33, scale (also minor)
@skylover I’ve been thinking about how you mentioned that my major doesn’t correlate with my activities, and I do see how overall, I don’t really have multiple ECs in one specific concentration other than music.
What bugs me is that I feel like the only way that I would’ve had extracirriculars that “told a story” is if I had engineered them to do so. The ECs I chose to do are the result of me doing what personally felt natural to me; I didn’t even know that ECs had anything to do with college until the end of Junior year. I know a lot of people who could care less about some of their ECs but did it because it looks good, and in all honesty, they’re much more appealing as applicants than I am. I’ve formed a lot of bonds and picked up a lot of skills by doing the things that I’ve grown to love, but now I feel like it’s come back to bite me because I didn’t do things strategically enough.
This is an equation for almost universal acceptance. Unless there is some major problem (discipline, essays, recommendations) I’d be shocked if you didn’t get accepted into all the schools listed above.
There are very few URM students with high scores like you. Almost all of the top schools will be fighting for you.
Pick whichever school you like the best and apply early. If there is no clear cut choice, wait until the RD round and wait for them to start wooing you.
Would it be realistic for me to apply for the Trustee Scholarship from Boston University? From what I’ve seen, I should be academically in range for it, but I definitely think my other factors are on the weaker side.