Chances for UPenn, Northwestern, Cornell, Tufts

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi, I was wondering if I have any shot of getting accepted to Northwestern, UPenn, Cornell, or Tufts, either early decision or regular decision. I will be a senior this coming fall. I live in New Jersey, and I believe i am within the top ~3% of my class of about 530 students (potentially in the top 10). My dad also went to Cornell.
GPA:
my school does not use the 4.0 scale. instead we take our class averages and add 6 for an honors class and 10 for an AP class, then average them all together. my gpa for freshman+sophomore year is 101.95 (it has not been updated to include junior year yet, but it will be higher). I have gotten all A's for the year so far with 3 AP classes (chem, stats, US history I). I took APUSH II over the summer, and I earned an A in that also.
SAT:
combined score of 2220 (800 math, 770 writing, 650 reading) *will my reading hurt me?
ACT:
took once, 32 composite
SAT II:
800 on math II, 800 on chem, considering taking one of the bio ones
AP:
4 on chem (sadface), and 5 on statistics. will take bio and calc (probably BC) this school year
EC:
*interact club 9-12
*boys tennis 9-12 (jv 9th grade, will be captain this year)
*USTA team tennis for 3 years
*tennis lessons for over 7 years
*french honors society 10-12
*ESCAPE club (environmental club) 11-12
*english department award 10 (given to the students with the 2 highest averages in honors english)
*second place in chemistry olympiad test in my school (not sure if this means anything)
*volunteering at an assisted living place for the elderly (started recently, going 1-2 times a week for a couple hours at a time)
*summer job working as a cashier at a grocery store (between 10th and 11th grade)
*summer program at northwestern for medicine and leadership for 10 days (the program gave a letter of recommendation, and noted 73 hours of educational events. met with real doctors to experience the field of medicine).</p>

<p>Hopefully I didn't forget anything. I know I'm not too great, but I can hope for the best, right? If you don't think I have a shot here, what other college(s) do you think might be a better match? Thanks.</p>

2

<p>I also want to go into the medical field, if that makes a difference or not.</p>

3

<p>Excellent chance at Cornell, very good shot at Tufts, UPenn and Northwestern are solid reaches. I would say you probably won’t get in either, but it’s not unrealistic. </p>

<p>Yes, your reading will hurt you. I recommend taking the SAT in October.</p>

<p>No, you do not need to take the Bio SAT. Chem and Math II are enough.</p>

<p>Will the cost of attending such schools be a problem for you? If you are seriously considering medical school, you do not want to attend a school like Cornell, which may place you in serious debt (unless your family can afford it or expect enough financial aid). Medical school is a fortune and you generally want to be in no debt when/if you enter medical school.</p>

4

<p>I already took the SAT three times. I heard taking it more than that looks bad. I might consider retaking the ACT, as I only took it once. I’m pretty sure this won’t affect anything, but my non-biological uncle (I guess?) went to Northwestern as well. And will the fact that the program I did was at Northwestern help my chances there, or does that not matter?</p>

5

<p>bbbuuummmmppppp</p>

6

<p>anyone else?</p>

7

<p>You have a great app! I agree that the bio SAT II is unnecessary and taking the SAT again may look sketchy. If you really want to take the ACT again it can’t hurt but it’s not a must. To be honest the evaluation above seems spot on and I’m not sure how much you can improve your chances at this point. Just don’t stress out about it and send in the apps. You are certainly a competitive candidate at any school.</p>

8

<p>Thanks! Does anyone know which is the hardest to get accepted to or some kind of order between these four?</p>

9

<p>I’d definitely say in terms of difficulty it goes: UPENN, Northwestern, Cornell, Tufts</p>

10

<p>Interesting. I’ve heard that Tufts is harder to get into than Cornell, possibly because it is smaller? And an unusually high amount of people from my high school have been accepted to UPenn recently: 6 this past year and 12 the year before. I guess the difference in difficulty for being accepted is very small between these four.</p>

11

<p>Buuuummmppp</p>