help a lost junior find match/safety schools!

College Search & Selection
1

Hello everyone! I am having a hard time finding schools that I actually like and I can actually get into. Usually, it’s one or the other. I’m going to put my stats + ECs + what I’m looking for down below, what do you guys think I should apply to?

Demographics: Midwest middle-class white (please do not take this as me trying to use this in a wrong way, it is just a fact about my demographic!) transgender male at a pretty good public school of 1600 students.
income per year for family is 110k. Would like to not graduate with hella debt but right now that’s not much of a concern.

Intended Major: Biology/Biochem, pre-med. might do neuroscience.

GPA: 3.9
SAT: 1560 might retake idk (Essay 6 6 4 but I will make up for that with essays + AP scores)
No sat IIs yet
our school does not rank students

Coursework: Mostly honors classes, took a bunch of dumb theatre classes sophomore year which was a BIG mistake I know :(. This year i’m taking AP chem, AP lang, AP US History, AP Calc BC, and AP Psych, and next year I’m planning on taking a bunch more APs and multivariable calc.

Awards: Won a district poetry contest, it is currently being reviewed for state. nothing other than that- help!? nominated with my friend for a state theatre award but i didn’t win so I don’t think that matters.

Extracurriculars:
Theatre (9-12) I spend over 200 hours per school year working on technical theatre crew, currently the head of the lighting crew.
Sign Language Club (10-12) - I started this because I’m really passionate about learning languages and especially ASL and I teach a class every week about it even though I’m not certified or anything lol
chemistry tutoring - not much to say here I tutor some kids for free in chem 1 and it’s really fun
Will be inducted into NHS this year

research - I did a summer research program that was intended for undergrad college students this summer at my state school and got to present my work, it was pharmacology related.

Volunteering: Working on Gold Award for scouts that get college test prep materials to kids in need, I lead a volunteer group that goes once a month to work with immigrants, I’m also planning and leading a week-long girl scout camp this summer.

Essays/LORs: I would say I am pretty good at essays, but I don’t really have any close teacher relationships as I haven’t had any of them for more than one year and my school is fairly large IMO. They would be from my English teacher and my math teacher.

What I’m looking for in a school: Urban campus in a major city, strong biology/premed program, >2000 students, opportunities for pre-med extracurriculars during college. I don’t really care about sports or greek life, as I’m not doing either.

What I’m already looking at: Emory, Northeastern, Boston University, Fordham, NYU, Reed College!

2

Well that’s putting things in the wrong order. You are only allowed to borrow $27K over your four years. Your parents have to cosign for anything above that.

Nice stats. I have no idea why you would want to retake and waste a perfectly good Saturday morning.

Look at Ohio State.

Run the Net Price Calculator on each school’s web site. NYU is particularly known for being very expensive on not offering much Financial Aid.

3

You definitely don’t need to retake the SAT. Great score.

I would add Case in Cleveland to your list to review as well as U of Rochester. Both would be matches.

4

Drexel in Philly, U Miami, George Washington, Tulane for safeties? Your stats are excellent, IMOP do not take the SAT again, maybe take a few SAT subject tests this year instead. Have you considered Columbia, Penn, Georgetown, Northwestern?

5

@momofsenior1 I really like rochester after looking at it, thank you!!

@UGG2023 I’m planning on applying to Drexel now! I have considered, especially Columbia, but I just don’t think I have the ECs for it, do you think it would be worth the application fee? :slight_smile:

6

Not sure if it has the desired academic programs, but Macalester might hit the other preferences.

7

You have great extracurriculars and the nomination itself is an honor. Yes, apply to the reaches…you never know!

8

To be a true safety it has to also be affordable. Until you know what affordable is it will be difficult to know what a safety is. Matches for students with your stats can be difficult. You are an excellent student and are academically qualified for any school you might apply to. For you the difference between a match and a reach is going to be just how selective the university you are applying to is. I would have a good conversation with your parents about budget. As has been mentioned anything over what the Stafford loans will give you will have to be provided by them or money they will co-sign or borrow for you. How much are they comfortable with? There are schools nationwide that fit your description and one mentioned already was Case Western another even safer bet might be the University of Pittsburgh (with your stats there might be merit money involved there). Good luck.

9

Loyola Chicago, St. Louis University come to mind for pre-med. You would probably be eligible for significant merit. You really need to run the NPC for your schools to see what’s financially viable.

10

What amount will your parents contribute toward your college costs?

Have you run the net price calculator on the web site of each college of interest?

Remember that medical school is very expensive. If you choose a lower cost college, will your parents offer money toward paying for medical school?

Have you considered the public universities in your state of residency?

11

So, I’m going to push back on your “I took a lot of dumb theatre classes.” Here’s my background: I’m a PhD who teaches college classes AND dual credit courses in high schools. I have four kids. My oldest kid (who is a senior majoring in engineering) got a full tuition scholarship in the engineering school at her university (a decent university for sure but nowhere on anyone’s academic top 10 list). This means we’ve just had to pay for room, board, and textbooks. This is HUGE. She is set up for the world with no one having gone into debt.

Why did this child get this awesome scholarship (which was decided upon by the engineering faculty)? Was it because she was an awesome kid who took multiple AP science classes her senior year? Absolutely not! She only took AP Calculus and the second AP Physics her senior year. She was in regular English due to schedule conflicts with other classes, and she’d already taken regular government and economics in past summers in order to…focus on her extra curriculars. She was in debate, theatre, and choir activities throughout high school. These activities absolutely gave her confidence (nothing like trying, failing, dusting off and trying again) and the people skills to interact well with the professors who were on the scholarship committee. Absolutely play up your ECs and invest in those instead of taking so many AP class. One college I’ve recently worked for is going to stop accepting AP tests for English. By piling on all those classes, you are only developing one side of yourself. And, you are heading for burnout senior year IMHO.

Since you say you want to attend medical school in the future, you want to take into account undergraduate costs. Your parents make good money but aren’t really “rich” by any means. You will find yourself in the position at many places where you won’t qualify for financial aid and will want to get scholarship money instead. Many high status schools will not give you much in the way of merit scholarships. I feel like, with your stats, you could get awesome scholarships in places. Especially if you’re kind of a “unicorn” like my daughter was–i.e. you’re not the typical applicant to that program. For my oldest, both her gender and her outgoing nature have totally helped her in her chosen field. She already has a high-paying job lined up for after college. This is due in some part to the skills she learned through those extra curricular activities (along with her college learning of course). Be sure to play the experiences you gained in ECs up in your essays (esp. the Gold award stuff as that shows a lot of persistence and ingenuity).

Working with very academically-focused high school seniors and juniors sometimes leaves me troubled. I just really want to tell them…it’s okay to be a kid. Don’t let your pursuit of some dream school steal away the last true bits of your childhood! Don’t angst so much about how many quality points you are going to get added to your G.P.A. or if what you’re doing will look good on a resume or application. Focus on developing as a person, and you’ll end up where you are supposed to go!

12

University of Wisconsin. It tics all the boxes you list, unless you are actively seeking to get out of the Midwest.