Hey everyone! It’d be lovely if you all could help provide some colleges that would be matches for me - I’ve got the reaches part down pat, but I am completely clueless as to which colleges would be a good fit for me.
Here are my stats:
School: small (a little over 1000 people) public school
Gender: F
Race/ethnicity: Filipino/Chinese
Intended major: Molecular Biology/Biotechnology, minor in Communications/Journalism
State: California. The haven for overcompetitive, overachieving people. :’)
GPA: 4.00 UW, 4.67 W
Rank: 3/~370
ACT: N/A
SAT II: taking Math II and Chemistry
SAT: (took old SAT, not superscored) 2360 - 800M, 800W, 760CR
AP scores: WHAP (5)
Current AP’s: English Language, APUSH, AP Chem
Senior AP’s: Calc AB, English Lit, AP Gov, Spanish IV, Biology
Extracurriculars:
Science Olympiad (11-12): placed in regionals
Founding member of Home Ec Club (11-12), currently Treasurer
Performed (Ensemble) in school performance of Aladdin (10)
Performing in talent show (11-12(?))
Cross Country/Track (9)
Tennis (11-12(?))
Volunteering clubs (CSF, Key Club - served as Secretary/Treasurer) (9-12)
Help tutor students in HYPE (tutoring club at lunch) (10-12)
Officer in GSA, helped to publicize Day of Silence (11)
Commissioner in Leadership, helped with rallies, posters, and promotion for the school (11-12)
Summer activities:
9/10, 10/11, 11/12 (?): volunteered extensively at a senior living facility
Awards:
1st place (x2) & 3rd place (x2) - submitted stories to our school’s Literary Journal Contests (10-11)
Academic Block K (10-11)
Community Service Block K (10)
Cross Country Block K, Best Freshman Girl (9)
5th in Protein Modeling, 1st in Invasive Species - Science Olympiad Regionals (11)
So far, the reaches I’ve come up with are:
Stanford
MIT
UC Davis
UCLA
Harvard
Yale
Matches:
U Wisconsin
U Washington
Would you all be able to suggest any other schools that might help expand my matches/safety list? If you have any insight, how good are these schools for molecular bio? (I’m planning on going into genetic engineering in the future, if that provides any context).
Thanks so much!
@desideratum - I wouldn’t really call UCLA or UC Davis reaches based on your credentials. Have you looked into UCB, UVA, NYU, or UNC? All of these schools have great programs for your intended major, and I think it would be fair to say that you have a good shot at getting into at least one of them.
UCD is def not a reach. I think its a low match/safety. I think your chances at elite schools are decent, but of course they will be reaches for everyone.
@Dunboyne Stanford gives us around 34K a year, but we (me and my family) haven’t looked specifically into any other colleges (financially). I’m honestly not sure about our financial situation, but my mom just got a new job this year, which significantly increases our household income, as she hadn’t had a job for five years beforehand.
@SJNccc Thanks for the advice! I have looked into UCB and NYU, but not extensively.
Anything out of state is welcome as well! Preferably East Coast, but honestly, I’d be willing to relocate pretty much anywhere :’)
Penn State has a really good biotechnology program, but you’re above their averages. University of Michigan is very good for the sciences, as well as UVA (like the other commenter mentioned). Even though it’s an Ivy, I think you would have a good chance of getting into Penn. Johns Hopkins is also a really good choice, it really just depends on what you’re looking for in a school (size, location, campus life). Best of luck!
PSAT - 1420/1520; since I live in CA, I don’t really think I have a chance for National Merit (I might barely, based on some of the predictions on CC, but I doubt it)
@bodangles Nope! Do you have any experience with anyone who’s gone there and loved it?
Ahhh. It sucks that a lot of state colleges are public and don’t offer as great of financial aid to OOS students
(This isn’t really a requirement, but I’d be excited if my prospective school has a good basketball/football team xD Bama’d be set for the latter!)
I live in PA so I hardly know anyone who’s even been to Alabama period, but there are lots of supporters of the school on this website. (Easy to tell why with their automatic merit scholarships for out-of-staters: http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out-of-state.html – up to full tuition.) Would be a good financial safety. They seem to really be putting effort into attracting high-stats students.
With your stats you would absolutely go to Alabama tuition-free - guaranteed. You might even get close to a full ride with some of the additional scholarships they offer to top students.
Thanks! @bodangles & @STEM2017 I looked at the scholarships, and they are really, really great.
Also - if this changes things, I did qualify for NMSF.
(And as another EC, I play/have self-taught ukulele (~6 months) & guitar (~3 years) and have my own Youtube channel for music stuffs. Really random, but thought I’d mention it. Oh, and I’ve also written articles for Thought Catalog/RealTalk (basically, editorial websites).)
