Find me some non reach schools and chance me Brown ED

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Demographics

  • US domestic (US citizen)
  • State/Location of residency: WA family moving to NC maybe
  • Type of high school: large competitive public
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity: Asian Female
  • Other special factors: N/A

Intended Major(s): Anthropology maybe Chem too (Pre-med I think?)

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.88 4.0 A 3.3 B+ 3.0 B
    G9 S1: 3.4 (poor organization) S2: 4.0
    G10 S1: 3.7 (health issues and 3 Ps) S2: 4.0 (health issues, 2 Ws)
    G11: S1: 4.0 S2: 4.0 retook a class I withdrew the year before
    Community college anthro class: 4.0
    My dip due to health is completely understandable but I’m worried about how my first semester G9 is gonna look
  • Weighted HS GPA: N/A 4.35 based on online calculators
  • College GPA (for transfers): N/A
  • Class Rank: N/A
  • ACT/SAT Scores: not taken yet but expecting 1550+

Coursework
(AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s))
AP Chem, AP Bio, AP Pysch, AP World history, AP Calc AB, AP Computer Science (half only)
8 honors courses
Senior:
-Ap Calc BC
-AP Stats
-AP Physics
-AP Gov
-AP Art history
-Honors 12 English
-Health, PE

Awards
some HOSA state awards 2 top 10, 1 top 3 made internationals
Gold Presidential Volunteer Service award 2x
4th in state for a fundraising competition

Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)

  1. Co-captain and mentor (11 and 12) for a fundraising program for a cancer NGO. Led and formed a team of 20 high school students. We raised 35k and placed 4th. Mentoring teams this year.
  2. Seattle Youth Board member of a Indian NGO (9,11,12)
    I created indian history seminars for 200+ participants, helped in annual events like recitals, food drives, walkathons, and covid projects mostly for blind or tribal kids
  3. Founder of tutoring group for lower caste kids in indian public schools (11, 12)
    I don’t really know how to describe this it’s not an NGO (I really hate kids making those)
    I connected with a public school in my parent’s home state and started tutoring the kids there via whatsapp
    Recruited more people and currently have 24 tutors and 37 pupils
    really important to me because I want to help social mobility and overcome these barriers (education is the main one)
  4. HOSA (9,11,12)
    just a member, competed in some events, learned a lot, attended internationals
  5. Volunteer tutor (9,11,12)
    tutored indian kids in our native language (south indian one) and culture
  6. Personal history research paper (12)
    Wrote a paper revolving around the caste system (history and now) and a social conversion movement among lower castes
    submitted to the concord review awaiting reply
  7. self-learning hindi-urdu (11,12)
    because of Bollywood
  8. Violin private lessons (9,12)
    Not very good but I like it
    Assists teacher in organizing recitals
  9. JV sport (9,12)
  10. Shadowing dentist (12)
    I like interacting with kids and now I actually floss
  11. Babysitting unpaid (11,12)
    my toddler brother and his friends lol
    His friend is casually teaching me mandarin for chocolate

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)
AP world history teacher and AP chem: VERY strong they saw me struggle with health, and persevere but still a great student. Will ask them to focus on my health issues in rec.
AP chem: top student, knows my circumstances and struggles
AP world history: started liking history after the class lol, but saw me persevere and the only AP class I didn’t drop. Will help with research paper editing in the fall.

I had severe chronic pain and costochondritis that started in early 10th grade. Hurt to talk, breathe, walk, live, function. Almost dropped the entire G10 S2. Admitted to Hospital pain program. Slowly got better and graduated from the program last month. My grades dropped (somehow I did better than the beginning of freshman year) and stopped doing ECs. Took some P grades and withdrew from two classes. COVID gave me a big break to recover. Bounced back junior year (still affected though).
Cost Constraints / Budget
(High school students: please get a budget from your parents and use the Net Price Calculators on the websites of colleges of interest.)
None

Essays: 110% effort I know this can make or break apps can’t really guess though but I’ll be true to heart and try to make my passions show through
I do not want to write about my illness

Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below)

  • Safety: pls help
  • Likely: UW? NC State?
  • Match: College of William and mary
    Wake forest? CWRU?
  • Reach: Brown (ED) chance me?
    -Rice
    -Amherst college
    -Pomona college
    -Duke
    -Georgetown
    -UNC chapel hill
    -Pitzer?
    schools that are more laid back, collaborative, flexible with curriculum

Concerns: a lot over my grades. I stress so much of my grades when I was sick even though I tried my best and am super proud. Regret not trying hard at the beginning of high school.

2

Beloit could be a good low-match/safety. It’s especially known for anthropology (has an anthro museum on campus) and is strong in the sciences too - great place for a bio-anthro premed.

UNC Asheville would be a safety - could be a great option if you’d be converting to in-state tuition for part of undergrad. Public LAC in a progressive (and very scenic) area. WWU for a WA in-state safety? When will you know what your residency forecast looks like?

If you like Pomona and Pitzer, consider Scripps as well - the anthro department is great, Keck Science is shared with Pitzer, and you can take classes throughout the consortium. More merit aid available than at Pitzer fwiw.

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Well, my family is planning on moving after I graduate but it’s still around an 80% chance.
Beloit excited me but then I saw it’s only 3% Asian and on top of that it’s a really small school. I want a larger Asian community maybe 8%+. I also care about name recognition a bit even if I don’t want to admit it.
Would UNC charlotte be a safety?
I don’t think women’s colleges are my cup of tea even with the consortium.

4

You have a unique profile. One thing to consider, if the health problems are ongoing and may cause the need for emergency medical care you might want to limit yourself to schools close to good medical. That could be a deciding factor on some of the schools on your list. I would say you have a decent chance at Brown just because your ec’s are unique and genuine as long as you have test scores to allow them to get over the grades and feel comfortable that you have the brain power to do well there.

5

Re: Asian percentage - that’s fair… though it’s worth noting that the racial demographics are only for domestic students. 18% of Beloit undergrads are international, and the top 3 countries are China, India, and Vietnam. So I’d guess that the actual percentage of Asian faces you’d see around campus is a bit higher than the 3% suggests. It definitely is on the small side though.

In terms of your own physical capacity, would a smaller campus be helpful, or would getting around a larger campus be a non-issue?

If you want safeties with name recognition, then larger publics are probably the way to go. Pitt would be worth a look - it’s kind of like the public version of CWRU - strong for anthro/bio/premed. (Not a safety in terms of getting merit and/or Honors College, but probably a safety for general admission - also, admissions are rolling so applying early will both maximize your merit chances and get an acceptance nailed down early.)

Brandeis might check the boxes in terms of sufficient size and diversity, strength in your areas of interest, reputation, and a good likelihood of acceptance.

6

Thank you so much! I totally understand the health concern my parents are talking a LOT about it. That’s why they’re really pushing Duke on me even though I don’t totally vibe with it.

I’m confident about how my SAT will be and have been getting 4s or 5s on AP exams. Even on World, I got a 4 which I took when I was sick. My first quarter senior grades will also strengthen my academics. Just concerned bc a lot of people at my school have a 4.0.
Do you think it would be fine to write about how I got inspired to learn and help issues around caste? I wanna connect that to how I’ve examined the history but am also focusing on the future.

7

I’m drawn to small class sizes but would prefer a medium sized institution. Even though Pomona and Amherst are small they have the consortiums which make them feel so much bigger.
I think I’m good with safeties but am more in need of some matches and low reaches.

8

Yes. That is what I assumed you would write about. It has the capacity to be extremely interesting and its obviously a genuine interest.

Also, I get where your parents are coming from. Medical care needs to be easily available when you are accessing it on your own. A small town emergency room can cause more problems than you can imagine. I don’t think you need to be at Duke, but it sounds like you need to be somewhere with easy and quick access to specialized care. Amherst is probably not that place, for instance.

For safeties, I would suggest only having a couple. Maybe driving distance to your parents in Washington and one that is driving distance to north carolina (in case they move there). Maybe Wash U in St. Louis? That really looks like a match to what you are looking for an assuming your SAT comes in where you except, I would call it a “match” school for you, plus good access to medical care.

9

If you like Brown and Case Western, consider the University of Rochester. IME kids who like these tend to like all of them.

Pitt is also possible, but it’s bigger.

Both Pitt and UR have terrific hospitals right next to campus.

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If you like W&M and Wake, it would make sense to look at URichmond also. That would fall in the competitiveness range that you’re looking to bolster. Maybe Tufts as well.

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So - you are choosing schools in the old and new state. You likely won’t qualify for in state tuition if you are waiting until right b4 college to move.

Why do you think you’ll get a 1550 on the SAT (or then a 35 on the ACT) ?

I’ll look at you as a TO - or a 32 ACT - for safeties, if you like small, you can look at the US News LACs and go #30 and below. Depends where you want to live but a Dennison, Dickinson, Gettssburg.

NC State - a match.

W&M, WF, and CWRU - reaches

Your reach schools - i don’t see any happening. If you get the 1550 maybe - but still unlikely. Perhaps Pitzer - but then consider Occidental.

Good luck.

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12

Based on your interest in Brown, this site supports inclusions such as Amherst, Pomona and URochester:

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13

well just for my safety but I figured that out. To my understanding, I’ll get in-state tuition after my first year of college.

Well, I have done a lot of extensive prep for the SAT. At least 15+ full practice tests that mimicks the environment on top of sectional exercise/review. In my prep batch, I always scored among the highest and the kids who scored the same in practice did so on the real exam. I also scored 97 percentile on the PSAT in 10th grade without studying which is equivalent to a 1450. Not a bad score at all. Sorry if this comes off as rude I understand how some students may overestimate their abilities whether it be test scores, essays, LOR etc.

Why do you think NC state is a match. By their common data set 75% SAT is 1400.
W&M, WF, and CWRU I think I have around 50 percent chance of getting in despite their acceptance rates of around 30%. I don’t think I have anything lacking in my application to not think I have a decent shot. Of course, everything is up in the air.

As for my reach schools why do you think so? I know they are reaches for everyone but I think (or hope) my profile is strong enough to have decent shot. Esp since so much relies on essays.

14

If you are moving to North Carolina and want to stay in the southeast Some others to consider small to midsize

Reach Emory, Tulane
Match University of Miami
Safety USF Saint Petersburg campus, UNC Asheville, college of Charleston, Rollins college

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15

I’ve changed my school list a bit:
Safeties:
-UNC Charlotte

Match:
-University of Rochester
-William and Mary
-Wake Forest University
-University of Washington

Reach:
-Brown (ED)
-Rice
-Amherst college
-Pomona college
-Duke
-Georgetown
-UNC chapel hill

Any suggestions are open! Not actually in love with a lot of them and still a work in progress
want
-laid back environment
-flexible curriculum
-close to a city (suburbs of one is OK)
-medium-sized (unless very close consortium)
-diversity

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16

Well - first off, for NC, you’d be considered OOS - I believe.

I think the three matches are reaches (maybe CWRU a a high match) - because they are top schools. For W&M, you are out of state - many with your stats this year got waitlisted.

Many schools don’t count 9th grade - but many do and I held that against you. Admittedly, I did not see you listed both semesters.

I’m not an AO - none of us are. But you have many students on the CC that go for gold thinking they have a safety and they don’t. Better to be cautious.

It sounds like you’ve done your research - so that’s good. And if you are comfortable then that’s what matters. I also don’t believe til I see - so I get you feel your SAT will be a certain score and I hope it is - but again, I don’t believe it til I see it.

btw - you asked how your first semester will look. Most will probably overlook due to the increase but you had the same in 10th - so yes, I did take notice of that.

One last thing - I’ve read various on residency - some say you have to live there 12 months (but any student could say that) and others say you need to prove financial independence - so you didn’t live with mom and dad. Not sure which will apply…but NC OOS is a tough get - hence I put NCSU a match - granted, you’re not doing a STEM major.

You asked for an opinion; I gave you mind. Don’t shoot the messenger…you can accept or not accept as you choose.

Good luck

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17

I am interrupting this thread to say OP you have a very distinctive voice – it jumps out, and is a big asset for you! Please make sure your essay sounds like you, I suspect it will be very helpful during the admissions process. I can’t chance, but wish you the best of luck!

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Thank you so much! It means a lot to me :slight_smile:

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19

Thank you for the time to respond to me. I’m really sorry if I came across as rude earlier. You’re taking time out of your day to help a random stressed-out teenager on the internet. Thank you.

I understand that admissions are crazy and that everything is uncertain. That’s the very reason why you always hear stories about the kids who end up getting rejected almost everywhere. For NC schools I’ll be applying as an out-of-state applicant but I will try to get in-state tuition a year after living there if I end up attending (first getting into) UNC chapel hill.

I know this may seem a little petty but do you still think I don’t have a chance at my reach schools? I at least thought I was a somewhat competitive applicant, even if everyone else is too. I like to think that my personal qualities will really shine in my letters of rec and that my passions would be heard. But I just like to be hopeful.

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Whole heartedly agree with this sentiment. You have a gift for expressing yourself in plain, unapologetic, compelling English that is very rare in anyone, let alone a teen. Don’t let people who supposedly knows better edit that out of your essays. I would hire you as a baby lawyer in a heartbeat. I tend to think that will make a lot of these schools that are reaches for anyone more accessible for you.

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