Final School List: Additional Input/Suggestions?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi all, </p>

<p>Here is my final (mostly) school list:
REACH Schools:
1. Stanford University
2. Washington University in St. Louis
3. Duke University
4. Northwestern University OR Brown University</p>

<p>MATCH Schools:</p>

<ol>
<li> The University of Chicago</li>
<li> Cornell University</li>
<li> Case Western Reserve University </li>
<li> University of California Los Angeles</li>
<li><p>Oregon State University Honors College</p></li>
<li><p>Grinnell College</p></li>
<li><p>College of the Holy Cross</p></li>
<li><p>Haverford College </p></li>
<li><pre><code> Carleton OR Davidson College (?)
</code></pre></li>
</ol>

<p>*University of Michigan OR University of Wisconsin?? (NO Honors Colleges at both)</p>

<p>SAFETY Schools:</p>

<ol>
<li> Oregon State University</li>
<li> University of Oregon</li>
</ol>

<p>**I am concerned with research opportunities in the biology department. The bigger schools on my list meet these interests and the small LACs I chose have a couple professors that match my interests. However, Carleton and Davidson DO NOT have professors doing research I am interested in. How important is this to take into consideration?</p>

<p>Career Path/Goal: Graduate school or Medical school</p>

<hr>

<p>Other Background on me:
*GPA: Unweighted-- 4.0 Weighted--4.162 (rank 7/392; top 1%)
*ACT: 29
*Financial Situation: struggling
*Race: Asian and Pacific Islander
*Resident of Oregon</p>

<p>*Freshman Classes: Biology, Spanish II, Adv. Algebra, English 9, World History, Wellness, Weight Training, Web Design I</p>

<p>*Sophomore Classes: Chemistry, Spanish III, Pre-Calculus, English 10, US History, Geology, Marine Biology</p>

<p>*Junior Classes: AP Chemistry (score: 4), AP Calculus AB (score: 5), AP Government (score: 3), English 11, Honors Spanish IV, Honors Physics</p>

<p>*Senior Classes: AP Biology, AP Physics, AP Statistics, AP Spanish V, English 12, Web Design II, World History II</p>

<p>*Extracurriculars: </p>

<br>


<br>

<p>(Freshman-9th)
Honorable Mention in Microbiology at the district science fair, qualified for statewide science fair </p>

<p>(Sophomore-10th)
1st place in Microbiology at the district science fair, Award for Best Representation of Field Knowledge, 2nd place in Microbiology at the statewide science fair, Award for Best Use of SI, qualified as student observer at the Intel-International Science and Engineering Fair </p>

<p>(Junior-11th)
1st place in Microbiology at the district science fair, Best In vitro Project Award, Scholarship to Oregon State University-$2000 for 4 years, Best in Fair at the district science fair (11), 1st place in Microbiology at the statewide science fair, Scholarship to University of Oregon-$5500 for 4 years, Best in Fair at the statewide science fair, 3rd place in Microbiology at the Intel-International Science and Engineering Fair</p>

<p>Will also be applying to Siemens and Intel STS competitions this fall.</p>

<br>


<br>

<p>*Career Interests: Pre-Medicine; Major in Biology related studies, preferably Microbiology & Immunology or Biomedical Engineering</p>

<h2>*Personality: Reserved, humble, studious, hard-working, conservative, diligent, self-motivated, and meticulous</h2>

<p>Thank you very much for your time and suggestions! It means a lot to me!</p>

2

<p>Your ECs are great, but get that ACT up to 33+. 29 is way below the standards of your reach schools.</p>

<p>UChicago and Cornell are matches for very very few people. For everyone else, including you, they’re reaches. If a school doesn’t have research that you’re interested in, spend your effort applying to other schools.</p>

3

<p>Try the SAT (after practicing). An ACT of 29 is on the low side even for your match schools. For example, according to the Common Data Set for Grinnell, 29 is just above the 25th percentile - too low for merit aid.</p>

4

<p>How much is cost a concern?</p>

<p>If you intend to major in biology and/or go to medical school (note that pre-med does not require a biology major), you want to pay more attention to avoiding debt. Medical school is expensive, so you do not want to drag a lot of undergraduate debt through medical school, and biology majors do not have good job and career prospects at the bachelor’s level (where most end up at after not getting into medical school). Most public schools do not give much (or any) aid to out of state students.</p>

5

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>Thank you so much for your feedback and responses–it is much appreciated! I just had a question about schools such as UChicago. I’ve been to their college visits and they enphasize that applicants are NOT just a test score or just a GPA. So how important do you think a test score really is in my case with a good GPA and ECs? Thanks again!!</p>

6

<p>Look at the Common Data Set for each school (google it) and you will see how your test score stacks up against the admitted students. If you are below the 50th percentile, you are looking at a reach school. If you are below the 25th percentile, you are looking at a serious high reach.</p>

7

<p>I think you have too many schools! Applying to 15 schools means a lot of essays and a lot of money. You should try to get it to 10 or fewer</p>