Current junior - Am I on right track for selective schools?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello all, I’m a long-time lurker and finally decided to come out of the shadows. I am beginning to think about college applications b/c they’re only a few months away.

Indian male, solid upper middle class
My school is a quite competitive public school

My current list:

Purdue (in-state)
UC Berkeley
Johns Hopkins
Brown
UPenn
Stanford

Stats -

UW GPA from first 5 semesters: 3.81 (3.8/3.6 freshman year,3.95 both semester of sophomore year, and 3.76 last semester )
W GPA: 4.5
ACT: 36C,36 in all sections but Math where i got 35, 29 essay
SAT: 2380 - 800CR, 800M, 780W with 9 essay
SAT II’s: Chem- 800, taking Math 2 and USH later
PSAT (redesigned) - 1510 (probably getting NMSF)
Class rank: top 3% (school doesn’t give any more info other than if one is top 3% or not)

Current courseload with grades last semester:

AP Human Geo (A)
AP Biology (A-)
AP Capstone 1st year (B)
AP Stat (A-)
APES (A)
APUSH (A)
French 4 (considered IB) (A)

Past AP exams - 5 on all:

Physics B (before it was discontinued in favor of Phys 1 and 2)
World Hist
Chem
Macro/Micro
Calc BC
Comp Sci A

EC’s:

Robotics Team (9-10, dropped for time pressures this year)
Chemistry Club (10 onward, hoping for officer next year)
Geography Club (co-President and co-founder)
Neuroscience Club (co-President and co-founder)

got second place in state Chemistry Olympiad first-year in sophomore year, going to try again this year. Also waiting for results for RSI app and results for Geography Olympiad.

no hooks… if anything anti-hooked. Parents are immigrants but were well-off in home country and attended college and the like.

I’d be seeking to major in something like Chem or Bio.

Any feedback or anything I can do to improve in the next 1.75 semesters before apps are due will be appreciated. Thank you!

2

bump

3

If you have been lurking here for a while, then you must know that your list is very reach heavy. Purdue is a match, and perhaps UCB , but the others are all reaches for everyone -even those with almost perfect score and all the AP’s. You have no sustained EC’s, or anything compelling enough for competitive consideration for the “lottery” schools.

If your parents can afford it - you could look into Johns Hopkins for Early Decision.

4

Purdue is no problem at all. You should be able to get into a great school, but keep in mind that the other schools you listed have an arbitrary admissions evaluation process that nobody can predict. You have great stats and great ECs that qualify you to get into those schools, but so does everybody else applying, and most of them will still get rejected.

5

Your academic credentials and ECs look like a competitive package. That said, you should not count on admission to any place that has a less than 10% acceptance rate. Purdue is likely. I’d find a few more safeties that you’d be happy to attend to round out your list.

If you haven’t done so already, speak to your parents about what they are willing to pay. I’m sure they must be very proud of all that you have achieved.

6

thanks for the feedback all. I know that the bottom 3 schools and berkeley to some extent are crapshoots. Are there any other safety/match options you’d recommend? Also if I increase the GPA to around 3.85 will that have any real impact on my chances or is it no difference after a certain point?

7

Relax. You will get into a good school if you set your sights on a good school and not an elite school.

Pick your top 3 elite schools and take a shot. Your stats are fine, but there is a certain randomness to admissions to those schools. Don’t fall in love. Don’t get hurt if you don’t get in. (applies to all of your list except Purdue) Focus on just those 3. Give them the attention you want from them. Learn about the schools and visit. Stay in contact with admissions.

Pick 3 really solid schools (like Purdue, Minnesota, Notre Dame). Most likely you will get accepted at one or more of these types.

Pick 3 absolute safeties. These are schools you have guaranteed admission and are 100% within the budget.

Be fully prepared to go to any of your choices and be happy.

8

You could add: Cornell (somewhat less of a crapshoot because your stats are very good), Case Western (safety). How about Washington University? Northwestern? They are reaches, but for your high stats, may not be as random. I am assuming all these are affordable for your family.

Public U’s: your neighboring states all have excellent public universities: UIUC, Univ. of Michigan (can be reachy), Ohio State

Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Wash. U could be a better shot via ED. Many high performing kids in my kid’s school choose the ED route if they want a prestige school admission (but this ED strategy doesn’t work effectively for the super high reaches like UPenn, Stanford etc.) It’s something you should discuss with your parents.

9

Alright, thanks for the advice everyone!