SAT Score: 2290
ACT Score: 34
GPA: 4.35
Essays: Mediocre
I have a leadership position at the hospital where I am volunteering and I have a leadership position on my school’s academic team.
I am applying to all the top ranked schools like Harvard Princeton, Stanford, UChicago, Johns Hopkins, while also UC schools like UCLA UC Berkely, UCSD.
Any idea on what my chances are to get in to these kinds of schools?
Your academic scores objectively are solid, depending on the rigor of your schedule how well you performed in each of the four years. However, your ECs are rather sparse; typically, top-ranked schools like to see a nice, small breadth of ECs with a clear focus. Given the little information you’ve provided, all of them seem to be reaches-high reaches, save for UCSD, which might be a high match-low reach.
Why are your essays mediocre? You should make every effort to perfect them if you can given the limited time left before applications are due. There’s a college essay forum here if you need assistance with that.
What is your unweighted GPA and what major are you applying for?
@IBscholar as far as my ECs go I think Im pretty good tbh. I have been volunteering at a local hospital for over a year and I have gotten a leadership position within the volunteer program. I have been part of my schools academic team for the past two years and as a senior i have become a captain. I have also participated in cross country at my school for three years. Over the summer I have continued to show my direction in the field of medicine by participating in a summer premed program at UC Irvine.
As far as my essays go I have worked on them A LOT but i just have not always been the best writer and I have not had anything incredibly unique happen to me so im just guessing my essays are not going to be the best of the best. They are still good but for top ranked schools i think they may be mediocre.
And as far as my Academic rigor goes I have taken 9 APs and 4 Honors classes however I have a COUPLE B’s in APs and the rest being A’s.
@QuiteAverage90 my intended major is Biochemistry and my UW GpA is 3.9.
P.S. Thanks a lot
That’s better! I was running under the impression that all you had was the academic club and the hospital; the XC and UCI premed is more encouraging, though I still worry that your ECs may be a little too local (assuming you live in SoCal as I do).
I guess the best thing to focus on then is ensuring that your essays are better; just because something unique hasn’t happened to you doesn’t mean that your essays are inherently mediocre! You can write an amazing Personal Statement plus Supplementals on almost anything that matters to you. Again, utilize any tools you have within your grasp and ask for people to take a look at your essays if you truly believe they’re mediocre, because mediocre won’t cut it for selective schools.
Harvard, Princeton, UChicago, and Stanford are reaches. (They are reaches for everyone.)
Johns Hopkins is a Low Reach
UCB and UCLA are High Matches
UCSD is a Match
@IBscholar I also went to India in 2013 summer where I got to job shadow a pediatrician which is something that is not local if that help. My general common app essay basically talks about all these experiences (job shadow, UCI, Hospital) and how they impacted me to pursue the medical field.
Obviously the only thing that you can do now is make your essays better. A bad essay can forfeit anyone’s chance of getting into these top-tier schools.
UCB/UCLA - high matches
UCSD - match
The rest - reaches
@uclaparent9 I am also doing USC, WashingtonU in St. Louis, Columbia and Northwestern. What do you think about those?
UCLA-low reach
UCB-low reach
UCSD-match
rest are reaches, maybe JHU is the best one.
chance back?
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1845367-chance-i-ll-chance-back.html#latest
honestly, i think stanford would be good, if your essays are awesome.
I consider you a match for USC.
Assuming you’re in California and your test scores are single-sitting (not superscored), I think you’re in at all the UCs. They are largely stats based and you surpass the sat 75th percentile at ucla and Berkeley by a long shot, plus the gpa is on par. The ivies are reaches, just like they are for everyone else. Good luck!
Ya i would say ur a reach at all of the ivies and their peers (ie hopkins, northwestern, wustle)… USC is probably a match. Berkely and ucla are probably high matches
Do you have a safety? I don’t see one…
@intparent YES. i have many safeties i just havent mentioned them because i do expect to get into them i was just wondering about my chances for these harder ones. in case youre wondering theyre SDSU(which has already accepted me), CAL POLY San luis obispo, UC riverside, UC irvine, UC Davis.