Hi! I plan on either applying for NYU CAS ED II or RD this year (pre-professional medicine track); I am a junior but am graduating a year early so hopefully that explains lack of testing. What do you think?
ACT (breakdown): 34C (36E, 35M, 34R, 29S) – Oct was my first time taking it, I plan on retaking to try and improve science score
Unweighted GPA: 3.7 UW, 4.3 W (low GPA due to mental disorders freshman year; I got a D in math but recuperated the next year by making up the course, getting an A, and earning a 5 on the AP Calc AB exam)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Calc AB (5), APUSH (5), will take: AP Lit, AP Calc BC, AP Chem
IB: IB History SL (Predicted 7), IB Chem SL (Predicted 6)
SAT 2: will take Math 2 and Chem in June (will submit predicted scores of around 750 on both)
Course Load: IB/AP Chem 2, Chamber Orchestra, AP Calc BC, IB LA 11, AP Lit, IB History SL, IB Spanish 4, IB Physics 1
Extracurriculars:
~Violinist w/ group for 12-13 years (selected to perform at international conference, selected twice to perform for state’s professional baseball team’s games)
~Interned in chem lab for half a year (submitted project to and won 3rd place in chem category @ regional science fair)
~Creator and President of Science National Honor Society at my school
~VP of Tri-M Music Honor Society
~Treasurer of Spanish National Honor Society
~Medical/Surgical Aide (volunteer) at local hospital
~Intern at district attorney’s office
~Coordinator of school’s online tutoring marketplace
~Volunteer through National Honor Society
Honors:
~Regional science fair 3rd place winner (Chem)
~State NHD 1st place winner (documentary), qualified for nationals
~Chosen as featured guest w/ violin group to play for Suzuki Association of the Americas Conference
~Western States Honor Orchestra Festival selected violinist (all 3 years I’ve qualified)
~Colorado All State Orchestra Festival selected violinist (qualified every year eligible)
Essays:
~Common App 8/10 – I wrote about my journey w/ violin and how it’s shaped me as a person. Has a strong ending, shows perseverance + adaptability, but still needs to be edited more.
~Why NYU 8/10 – It’s pretty decent atm but I plan on editing it to make it really good and it hopefully will reflect how badly I want to go to NYU.
Teacher Recommendation:
~One is from my Language Arts teacher and should be very strong as we are very close and I worked very hard in her class last year
~Also asked my AP Calc AB teacher bc I did well in her class and she really likes me. Hopefully a strong rec from her will prove I’m competent in math following a less than ideal freshman year
~Supplemental rec is from my violin teacher whom I’ve studied with for 14+ years, should be great
Counselor Rec:
~I have worked with her a fair deal due to planning on graduating early. She also knows about my mental health issues and will probably write about these extenuating circumstances in her letter of rec
Other:
Intended Major: Applying to “Pre-Professional Medicine Track” on common app, hoping to major in chem/bio and possibly also journalism or creative writing
State (if domestic applicant): Colorado
School Type: Public school, very competitive (#2 public school in state, #7 overall school in state, 10-15 each year go to ivy leagues)
Ethnicity: Asian (Taiwanese)
Gender: Female
Additional comments:
I’m not sure how the fact that I’m a junior applying a year early will affect my chances of getting in; I’ve stayed in constant contact w/ my regional admissions counselor and from what I hear, as long as I can prove I’m college ready, I should be ok.
I also plan on explaining my iffy grades freshman year in the Additional Info section, and my counselor will talk about it in her letter of rec as well. There is a pretty significant upwards trend and I’m praying that my ACT score will somewhat balance it out, but I’m still on edge about it.