Guaranteed Chance Back

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey y’all please chance me:

Very competitive public high school in Texas
Rank (pending update - probably will go up): 68/647
GPA unweighted: 3.90/4.00
GPA weighted: 5.27/5.00

Major: either humanities or natural science (premed)

SAT: 2300 old, 1570 new
Subject Tests: 710 chem, pending math level 2 and spanish
ACT 33

Relevant Classes:

PLTW biomedical sciences (project lead the way) - principles of biomedical sciences, human body systems, medical interventions, biomedical innovations

ap phys I - 4
ap world history - 4
ap calc AB - 5
ap spanish lang - 5
ap stat - 5
ap chem - 5
ap eng lang - 5

ap eng lit
ap bio
ap calc bc
ap spanish lit
ap principles of comp sci

EC:
-Classical indian dance for 10 years, debut solo performance summer after senior year
-bollywood dance 7 years, taught to kids in the community for 4 yrs. performed at several regional conventions and one international convention
-girl scout for 6 years, gold award coming probably in September, and my project is medicine - related, benefitting intellectually disabled students
-subvarsity tennis team for 3 years and played varsity matches
-spanish nhs vice pres
-stuco general member
-shadowed a well known cardiothoracic surgeon
-doing research at a university lab
-medical club
-pan american student forum of texas - president at school level
-TEDxYouth volunteer
-academy (school programs - Health Science) ambassador

Awards/Honors:
-HOSA (placed regionally)
-skillsusa (placed regionally and in state)
-Mu Alpha Theta
-probably AP Scholar, don’t know yet
-maybe National Merit semifinalist
-academic award
-national spanish exam gold award
-NHS
-spanish NHS
-certified CPR trainer

Community Service:
-volunteer at 4 different hospitals over 2 summers
-volunteer at temple
-building library at local hospital
-Girl Scout Gold Award
-retirement home volunteer club treasurer, vice pres

I know for sure that I want to go to med school, so I’m looking into 7 yr programs. I also want to have the option of going the normal route though.
Please chance me for these schools/programs?

WashU - University Scholars in Medicine
Vanderbilt
Cornell
UT Austin (in state, not auto admit)
Tulane
Rice (in state)
Northwestern - HPME
Stanford (dream school but I know I have to be realistic)
University of Chicago
Princeton
NYU
UCLA
UC Berkeley
Johns Hopkins
Emory
Duke
Cornell
Columbia
Dartmouth
Brown (PLME)
UTD - PACT

You don’t have to do all of them, it’s a long list, but please try to do as many as you can and I appreciate it so much! Also, it would be great if you could suggest some other schools I should look into.
I will chance back!!!

2

I can only give suggestions for Stanford. Your SAT scores are good and your rigor of selected courses is outstanding. Your ECs are within the normal range except shadowing the surgeon. If your interning with the surgeon was substantial, you might combine it with your passion to become a medical doctor and write an essay about that. I believe your essay might be a difference maker.

Good luck. You know the odds of admission to Stanford so only you can decide if it is worth the effort of submitting an application. If you do submit an application you must put forward your best effort or don’t bother to apply.

3

You have a great profile. The Indian dance is unique. I’d say you have a safe shot at all of the schools you’ve listed except for Princeton, Stanford, and UChicago, but those are reaches for everyone. My advice would be to go to those schools’ profiles and find out what they look for in an applicant. But, then again, make sure not to superficially mold yourself to a school. Take his advice for a grain of salt - I’m only a senior in high school.

Chance back thread:

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1903498-separate-my-college-list-into-low-medium-high-reach-match-or-safety-i-will-chance-back.html

4

Your stats and extracurriculars are fantastic. The only “issue” I see is class rank – colleges like to see that top 10%
Here is my unprofessional opinion of your listed colleges. As many of your listed colleges are ivies, I simply listed them as reaches. You have as good a chance as anyone for them, but nobody has a good chance really.

WashU - University Scholars in Medicine --high match
Vanderbilt – high match
Cornell --high match/low reach
UT Austin (in state, not auto admit)–safety
Tulane-- low match
Rice (in state) — match/high match
Northwestern - HPME – high match/low reach
Stanford (dream school but I know I have to be realistic)–reach for everyone
University of Chicago–low reach (if you rock those essays)
Princeton–reach for everyone
NYU-- match
UCLA --high match
UC Berkeley --high match
Johns Hopkins --high match
Emory --match/high match
Duke --low reach
Cornell --high match/low reach
Columbia --reach for everyone
Dartmouth --reach for everyone
Brown (PLME) --reach for everyone
UTD - PACT – not familiar with this school

Chance me back?

5

@ucresearcher444 Thank you for the suggestion! I appreciate it!

6

@ap012199 Thanks! I posted on your thread.

7

@speedy212 Thanks so much, this gave me a lot of insight! I posted on your thread as well. My class rank will update when school starts and based on last semester’s grades, I’m expecting to be in the top 10%. (I screwed up by taking IB classes freshman year at an EXTREMELY competitive school)

8

I have to completely disagree with @ap012199 in saying that you have a “safe” shot at all the schools listed except Princeton, Stanford, and UChicago. That is very wrong. Most of the schools on your list are reaches. In fact, Brown PMLE has a LOWER acceptance rate than Stanford (~3.9% vs ~5% for the 2015 entering class). For most of these schools, unless you have something along the lines of an Academy Award, Grammy, or Nobel Prize (or are a recruited athlete for an important team) - you do not have a “safe” shot. I am sure you may get into some of the schools on your list, probably at least one or two reaches (maybe more or less, who knows?), but that does not change the fact that odds at admission are incredibly low. I wish you the best of luck, and please take advice in the “Chances” forum with a grain of salt.

9

I think I have an interesting perspective considering my mother was a carbon copy of you, with a little lower SAT score. Indian girl from Texas, very strong grades and did Indian dance. My mother was very lucky and got into her dream college, but I don’t see you getting into many of these schools unless you paint a great story for yourself. Don’t push the dance thing, as far as I know, most colleges don’t have Indian dance programs, and if they do they probably aren’t recruiting for them. The dancing is unique, it just isn’t the type of unique the colleges are looking for. The Spanish also doesn’t seem like something that would get you in, you haven’t gone far enough with it, write it down and leave it at that, don’t push it on your application.

Where I do see success for you is the medical field. You clearly want to become a doctor, and have strong academic credentials. You need to make yourself stand out some way through this, think about how many Indian kids there are in Texas and think about how many of them have good grades and want to become doctors. If you can find some way to stand out with your achievement in the sciences/ medical field, you will have success, but you need to keep in mind that there are many kids applying to those colleges who look very similar to you. If you can’t find a way to make yourself stand out by the time senior year comes around, look elsewhere. What undergrad you went to doesn’t really matter in the medical field anyway, just what grades you got while there.

10

@yikesyikesyikes Yeah, I know more than to base all my thoughts about my admissions chances around what other 17 year olds say about me/my stats. Just wanted get an idea of where I stand, since when I started this process, I was nowhere/knew nothing. I thought I would have no chance at all at top colleges. Being realistic is the hardest part of this whole process :frowning:

11

@dkgjd932 Ok. Yeah, I think there’s been a large influx of immigrants from India over the past 2 generations, so it’s going to be harder for me to get in. Do you think I could get into UT Austin if I emphasize my interest in medicine? I’m not auto admit. Really the biggest weakness I see on my app is my rank, which is what let’s you be auto admit, so I think I have a pretty good chance at honors but not sure?

12

@dkgjd932 also, could you suggest some other schools I may have a good chance of getting into?

13

@ambitious2468 Look into UVa, Michigan, and UNC Chapel Hill (direct peers with UC Berkeley and UCLA).

14

@yikesyikesyikes sorry, I misspoke. Change “safe” to “ok”

15

@ambitious2468 I think your biggest weakness is not your rank/grades/standardized tests, but rather the fact that there are a lot of people like you applying to those colleges.

16

That’s fine @ap012199 , but I still wouldn’t consider a 3.9% admission an “ok” chance.

17

Hi! I think your SAT score is very spectacular, and I also think you have a very good range of EC’s to showcase your passions. The only thing that may hold you back is your rank, even though your GPA is high, as well as your chem subject test, especially if you need to show proficiency in a certain science. Otherwise, I’m sure you will probably get into all your schools that have ~20% acceptance rates, and for the rest, you have as strong an application as anyone else!

18

You have excellent stats and look competitive for many schools on your list. Since you plan to pursue a medical career, you want to keep undergrad costs as low as possible. That said, I would remove UCLA/UCB from your list since as an OOS applicant you will receive no financial aid and it will cost you and your parents $55K/year ($220K/4years). This money would be spent financing Medical school and not your undergrad.

Good Luck.

19

I think you have a great chance at all of these schools- I’m honestly blown away. Stanford seems like a likely school, don’t count yourself out. You’ll definitely get into NYU and other schools in that tier. Overall, great work! You’ll do just fine.

Chance back: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1904474-chance-me-for-the-following-rising-senior-with-huge-upward-trend.html#latest ?

20

@hyungiwosotha Thanks so much!!! I posted on your thread.